"Eddy Rapid" ) writes:
"William R. Watt" wrote in message

Bill Mason and Eric Morse never took a lesson. Neitehr did nayone in my
family and some of them paddled for thir livlihood. I never had a paddling
lesson. Not needed.


Bill Mason did take lessons by learning from others. It's just that
personal instruction did not exist at his time. If you are ignorant of that
please read "Path of the Paddle" by Bill Mason, first edition, 1980, page 4:
"The fastest way to learn to canoe is with personal instruction. Another is
with the use of book. Film instruction is a third alternative. Probably the
best way is a combination of all three".

1. you are not defining "lesson". if I watched my father adn granfather
paddle and learned what people who demand payment
for "lessons" call the
"cree" stroke or the "Canadina" stoke as the natural way to paddle,
did I take a "lesson"? no way. did the cree? no way. no semantic games
please. a "lesson" is what somebody get paid to teach. watching somebody
at a distance who doesn't even know they are being watched is not a
"lesson", "formal instruciton", or "certified". what you are doign is
playuing into teh hands of control freaks who set up organizations, rules,
regulations, and certification to impose their way of doing things on others.

2. "the FASTEST way". maybe, maybe not. but if so, then still don't
need lessons. Mason is not saying you need lessons.


Bill Mason's son and daughter, Paul and Becky, are both very much involved
in personal instruction. Paul Mason has also been greatly instrumental in
establishing the standards for certifying canoeing instructors in Canada.

because that's what he does for a living. he gets people to PAY HIM to do
that stuff. he has a vested interest in getting peopel to pay him to take
lessons. he has a vested interest in the government arresting anyone
out paddling without a cedrtified operators permit, renewalbe annyally for
a good stiff fee which pays the salairies of a whole lot of government
job holders who pay union dues to puble sector monopoly unions. he has a
veste interest in armed government partol officers chaning down an
shooting paddler who do not hav an operator's permit to paddle their own
canoes and kayaks.

The reasons these standards were set was because people were being harmed
through ignorance. The reason the Ontario Recreational Canoeing Association
(http://www.orca.on.ca/About-Us/index.html) was set up was because 12 kids
died on Lake Tamiskaming due to ignorance of basic technique and safety.

damn they did not!!! they died because some fool camp counselors who were
being paid to lead the kids on a trip didn't know their goddamned asses
from a hole in the ground. sorry, mac, but its not only the paddler who
are misinformed. that incident is well documented. yiou don't need
lessons. what you need is maturity, experince, and common sense. what
those kids needed was a licenced guide of which there are plenty. not a
certified paddling instructor.


In the very precise sense of the word, in this regard at least, the kindest
thing that I can think of is that you appear very ignorant, William.

don't be condecending. perception is in the mind of the perciever. its you
who are ignorant my son. you're also having a bit of a problem with
language and logic. I blame that on teachers unions.


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