Finally got on the water Friday after about a two year hiatus. We paddled out of Ridgefield and onto the Columbia River. The weather was partial sun and clouds, with moderate temps and a nice breeze blowing down the river. My seventy year old body was not battle hardened, and I had to chase everyone else all day. Even walking on the soft sand beach at lunch was a challenge. But it felt good to be outdoors again, and the ospreys were friendly. I woke up Saturday morning and my body hurt everywhere. Even my legs were sore and tired. The shoulders and arms were not functional. I decided to let Saturday be a rest day, not that I had much choice. Sunday morning I felt much better, and managed to get to the gym for some more exercise. Today (Monday) I will commute to work by bicycle. My hope is that I can kayak again before another two years passes by. Brad *************************************************************************** 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/ ***************************************************************************
It is strange how you can put a paddle down one day and not get back on the water for a long time. For me, the longest hiatus from paddling over the last 10 years has been almost a month, but then if I'm not paddling, I'm not doing much else! The dynamic has changed a lot lately though, so sometimes the thought of becoming an occasional paddler doesn't seem so far fetched. I think if I gave it up, though, my decline would be swift. But I'll thank Brad for at least making me feel younger today! Mark On 7/15/2013 6:39 AM, Bradford Crain wrote: > Finally got on the water Friday after about a two year hiatus. We paddled > out of Ridgefield > and onto the Columbia River. The weather was partial sun and clouds, with > moderate > temps and a nice breeze blowing down the river. My seventy year old body > was not > battle hardened, and I had to chase everyone else all day. Even walking on > the soft > sand beach at lunch was a challenge. But it felt good to be outdoors again, > and the > ospreys were friendly. *************************************************************************** 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/ ***************************************************************************
> From: Bradford Crain <drbc_at_pdx.edu> > Subject: [Paddlewise] Is this thing working > Finally got on the water Friday after about a > two year hiatus. We paddled out of Ridgefield > and onto the Columbia River. The weather was > partial sun and clouds, with moderate > temps and a nice breeze blowing down the river. > My seventy year old body was not battle hardened, > and I had to chase everyone else all day. Even walking > on the soft sand beach at lunch was a challenge. > But it felt good to be outdoors again, > and the ospreys were friendly. I know the feeling, totally! During an extended weekend I did a lot of photographing (birds musicians, and so on), carrying either the D600 (often with the AF-S VR 80-400), or the Nikon V1 with something lighter. Felt like a whole day at the gym afterwards, could barely move around on Monday! My, what over two years absent from paddling, and three months after the heart attack, it really tired me till I felt like I was close to dying. And I am not really back to my normal self yet! So planning & training, before returning to paddling, and regular exercising, as much as I can, that's imperative - I know that now! Good luck, Brad! yours, Tord *************************************************************************** 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/ ***************************************************************************
I know what you mean. I turned 69 a couple days ago. I had intended to try to roll 69 times that day over the course of a couple of hours, but I woke up with no energy and, the promised high being in the 90s, decided to cancel. I did do some rolling the two previous weeks after not doing any for the previous two or three years, but it certainly seemed harder than it did five years ago. It can't be because I'm older; it must be due to lack of practice. I'm currently planning a camping trip in the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore next month, and saw that I could get a 50% reduction in camping fees if I only had a Senior Pass for federal parks. So I drove over to the Mississippi River Visitor Center this morning and bought one for myself. I don't know why I didn't do this years ago -- I've been eligible for seven years. Finally tried out my Sony RX100 camera with the Meikon/Meike waterproof case on the water. The case is about the size of an amateur DSLR with a prime lens, has a good grip, and is easy to operate. It floats with the camera inside, so on local lakes I don't bother to leash it like I did the old Nikonos V. The case is just barely small enough to tuck inside my PFD when rolling, and the OP/TECH Fast Cap I put on it does a pretty good job of keeping water off the lens when rolling. I've had to reorient the Fast Cap, though, to minimize water droplets on it when I'm paddling with it open; it now opens to the right instead of down. All camera controls work except the wheel on the back, but that affects mainly setting manual exposures, as there are workarounds for the other functions. Focusing can be problematic when glare and reflections obscure the view screen. When using the no-brain multisegment auto focusing, it frequently focuses on the kayak's reflection rather than on the paddler, whereas with flexible spot focusing sometimes its hard to see the spot to place it accurately on the subject; still, there are many more hits than misses. Automatic white balance is excellent, and with the live view histogram option, it's easy to override the auto exposure before snapping the picture. Another camera feature I like is the ability to save up to three sets of settings, including focal length. This allows me to quickly load different settings for use on water than on land. On water, for instance, I set a fixed shutter speed to minimize motion blur, whereas on land I might use program or aperture mode. All in all, a good combination of camera and case for sea kayaking. *************************************************************************** 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/ ***************************************************************************
If I remember correctly, one can purchase a Golden Age pass at any National Forest office for $10, provided one is 62 or older, and a driver's license is used to validate age. The pass does not expire, although the person may expire, and gives access to the national parks. The pass also grants reduced campground fees (you pay half the full price). I've also been using the pass in lieu of a Northwest Forest Pass for hiking. Brad On Thu, Jul 18, 2013 at 10:23 AM, Charles Holst <cholst_at_q.com> wrote: > I know what you mean. I turned 69 a couple days ago. I had intended to try > to roll 69 times that day over the course of a couple of hours, but I woke > up with no energy and, the promised high being in the 90s, decided to > cancel. I did do some rolling the two previous weeks after not doing any > for > the previous two or three years, but it certainly seemed harder than it did > five years ago. It can't be because I'm older; it must be due to lack of > practice. > > I'm currently planning a camping trip in the Apostle Islands National > Lakeshore next month, and saw that I could get a 50% reduction in camping > fees if I only had a Senior Pass for federal parks. So I drove over to the > Mississippi River Visitor Center this morning and bought one for myself. I > don't know why I didn't do this years ago -- I've been eligible for seven > years. > > Finally tried out my Sony RX100 camera with the Meikon/Meike waterproof > case > on the water. The case is about the size of an amateur DSLR with a prime > lens, has a good grip, and is easy to operate. It floats with the camera > inside, so on local lakes I don't bother to leash it like I did the old > Nikonos V. The case is just barely small enough to tuck inside my PFD when > rolling, and the OP/TECH Fast Cap I put on it does a pretty good job of > keeping water off the lens when rolling. I've had to reorient the Fast Cap, > though, to minimize water droplets on it when I'm paddling with it open; it > now opens to the right instead of down. All camera controls work except the > wheel on the back, but that affects mainly setting manual exposures, as > there are workarounds for the other functions. Focusing can be problematic > when glare and reflections obscure the view screen. When using the no-brain > multisegment auto focusing, it frequently focuses on the kayak's reflection > rather than on the paddler, whereas with flexible spot focusing sometimes > its hard to see the spot to place it accurately on the subject; still, > there > are many more hits than misses. Automatic white balance is excellent, and > with the live view histogram option, it's easy to override the auto > exposure > before snapping the picture. Another camera feature I like is the ability > to > save up to three sets of settings, including focal length. This allows me > to > quickly load different settings for use on water than on land. On water, > for > instance, I set a fixed shutter speed to minimize motion blur, whereas on > land I might use program or aperture mode. All in all, a good combination > of > camera and case for sea kayaking. *************************************************************************** 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/ ***************************************************************************
If I remember correctly, one can purchase a Golden Age pass at any National Forest office for $10, provided one is 62 or older, and a driver's license is used to validate age. The pass does not expire, although the person may expire, and gives access to the national parks. The pass also grants reduced campground fees (you pay half the full price). I've also been using the pass in lieu of a Northwest Forest Pass for hiking. Brad Yes, that's what I was referring to. The Golden Age Pass has been renamed the Interagency Senior Pass, but the Golden Age Pass is still accepted, if you have one. Besides the National Parks, it applies to U.S. Forest Service sites, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service sites, Bureau of Land Management sites, and Bureau of Reclamation sites. And that list includes the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore, one of the most popular kayaking destinations in western Lake Superior, with about 30 island campsites. Another popular national kayak camping destination near me is Voyageurs National Park, but they are not charging camping fees there yet. Chuck Holst *************************************************************************** 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/ ***************************************************************************
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