On 15-Jan-2005, "Tinkerntom" wrote:

That is a wise newbie, but still a newbie to cold water.

Wise or otherwise, it is impossible to do cold water paddling
without at one point being a newbie. If you're never a newbie,
you'll never be experienced. Telling people to avoid cold
water because they're newbies is nonsense. Better to give them
useful advice and sources of where to learn.

Mike