On 1/11/2011 9:07 PM, Craig Jungers wrote: > I live in a town that is isolated from clubs and groups by a couple > ofhundred miles and have the sort of job that doesn't let me plan ahead > much.But it seems to me that people with good sized groups to paddle with > are both safer and more skilled than those of us who paddle mostly alone. > Heck... I don't even have access to a heated pool for winter practice. But > paddlers in Vancouver, BC, [etc.] have a great advantage in being able to join friends for a paddle and have friendly competitions for skills. Impromptu rolling sessions, sudden friendly races to the next buoy, someone to check your equipment (is my PFD strap twisted?) or to offer you a new or different piece of equipment to try just to see how you like it. All these are invaluable and largely absent for the solo paddler. > > The camaraderie is important all by itself but more than that the mixed > skill-sets of a group of paddlers is a wonderful way to ensure that > complacency is less likely to occur. Had Mr. Moses been paddling with > someone of more experience it's likely that they would have noticed the > tidal rips ahead long before they ran into the sort of trouble that ensued > for Mr. Moses. There is much of this I agree with, Craig. And, no question that companions are good to have for safety concerns, as well as filching their cookies and stealing their women. [G] Yet, as another often-solo paddler, I know that I am more mindful of my surroundings, more alert, more attuned to my own limits, when I can only depend on myself. I think I am a bit more reckless when someone else is along of similar (or better) skills and experience. Not to say I have completely avoided trouble when alone, but my focus is so much more intense I think I'm a better paddler and more cautious alone. Reflecting on times when I was in over my head, and could have lost my life, every incident was with one other paddler ... in fact close counterparts of similar curmudgeonliness. Reminds me, when are you coming back to my part of the world? When it warms up to Moses Lake spring temps here (about June, I think) I'll show you where the swans winter on Karlson Island, or maybe the secret lagoon over near Miller Sands which shelters acres of goslings. They would be good for a flatlander from the channeled scablands to know. Click on the chart image here, Craig: http://www.pbase.com/bartenderdave/mlrsnds There be mysteries outside, Jack. -- Dave Kruger Astoria, OR *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************Received on Wed Jan 12 2011 - 00:58:23 PST
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