[Paddlewise] Kayak Clubs and Paddling

Well, I've been paddling for 11 years, but Craig is right and I thank 
him for his kind words. Although I certainly enjoyed paddling the coast 
solo for about the first 5 years, it wasn't till I joined CKF that I 
really learned what could be done in a kayak and was pushed to greater 
things! I'm really amazed at the quality of instruction and inspiration 
I've been exposed to over the last 6 years or so! I've taken classes 
from the giants of the sport and have begun to feel they're not all that 
far out of my league, but have had the great luck to have spent most of 
their life in the sport! Certainly, the mild sea conditions of my home 
waters make them a lot less challenging than what the elite paddlers 
experience, but at least we try to push them as far as we can. I've 
taken classes with Jen Kleck, Nigel Foster, Sean Morley; I've landed on 
a beach just ahead of the Tsunami Rangers; I've wandered on a beach 
chatting and shooting photos with Micheal Powers, I've been washed under 
the Golden Gate Bridge; I've had photos and videos enjoyed by thousands 
across the world; I've housed two Paddlewisers, Craig and Jacqui Stone 
and paddled with two more from distant places, Jim T. and Richard C.; 
I've paddled alongside the largest animals to ever inhabit the earth and 
I'm not sure any of it compares with the good times I've spent with 
friends I would never have had had I not joined a club to expose me to 
something beyond my own world. It seems these last 5 or so years have 
been a lifetime until I look back and see what a short time it has been. 
I think of regrets as the wake behind my kayak, but when I'm feeling 
selfish, I only wish I could have started in my twenties and been a part 
of the sport as it really  blossomed. I consider myself blessed for my 
time on the water.

With the addition of so many new kayak acquaintances, it is inevitable 
that with all the joy must come some sorrow. Our club, California Kayak 
Friends just lost our President, Steve Holtzman to cancer. Steve had 
posted here to Paddlewise over the years and all that know him feel his 
loss. He brought to every paddle a boundless sense of energy and 
enthusiasm. He touched so many people that he paddled with and gave 
often of himself to the sport and will be truly missed.


Mark Sanders

On 1/12/2011 8:51 AM, Craig Jungers wrote:
> The luxury of having a good club doesn't preclude solo paddling. I was
> thinking more specifically of Mark Sanders who was a complete newbie just a
> few years ago but who advanced rapidly in the company of other paddlers. He
> writes often about how they stop for impromptu rolling sessions and they
> always have company for seminars (and the incentive to travel to them). Plus
> the apre-paddle sessions around a convivial table. You can't buy this sort
> of training!
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