In a previous article, said:
Ok, you were in a kayak and couldn't avoid a boat load of little girls...and
you are ****ed. Get over it

I would have to concur. A canoe with neither paddle in the water is a
bit like a log, something I would expect on a river.

Considering how little control they had, they were moving pretty fast.
But they were doing that "everybody paddle on this side, now everybody
paddle on the other side" zig zag thing. They didn't take their paddles
out of the water until they were on a collision course with me.

If there is an up side you will be fine. You could have ripped up your
shoulder. That just refuses to get better.
Good luck and get well soon.

Thanks.

I would lighten up on the kids though. Was their master aware they hit
you?

Probably, but the pain wasn't that bad at first so I didn't complain to
him. It was only when I tried to take the kayak out of the water that I
realized how much trouble I was in.

The worst thing is that I was due to fly up to see my kids the following
weekend, but I can't fly with this stupid cast. By the time it comes off,
I'm going to have to do an Instrument Proficiency Check with an instructor
before I fly again.

--
Paul Tomblin http://xcski.com/blogs/pt/
please excuse my typing, but my whole left arm is in a cast. and i don't
mean _the king and i_.

The first time you were on moving water could you control your boat
perfectly or have you never in your paddling history run into anyone?

Other than the color of their life jackets being yellow, did anyone actually
say they were from the girl scouts? I don't remember you saying that you
actually heard that from them.

If these were boys scouts would you have been just as offended? You seemed
to really be dogging them out because they were girls.

C.

Courtney, don't you get it? Paul lives his life as an
angry man. He'll find a way to be angry no matter what the
scenario. You on the otherhand have your entire future
ahead of you. If you turn all events into discrimination
against women and girls you will turn out like Paul. You
are not a victim but you don't believe your not.

The first time you were on moving water could you control your boat
perfectly or have you never in your paddling history run into anyone?

Other than the color of their life jackets being yellow, did anyone actually
say they were from the girl scouts? I don't remember you saying that you
actually heard that from them.

If these were boys scouts would you have been just as offended? You seemed
to really be dogging them out because they were girls.

C.

..

In a previous article, "Courtney" said:
The first time you were on moving water could you control your boat
perfectly or have you never in your paddling history run into anyone?

As I said earlier, the first time I was on the water, I was given a few
minutes of instruction on basic canoe control before I was allowed to go
somewhere where I could be a menace to myself and others. This flotilla
of doom had both girls and boys in it, and most of them didn't know what
the hell they were doing. I think it's irresponsible of leaders to set
kids loose without basic instruction. If that had been my kids (and if I
hadn't given them instruction already) and I saw them lurching along like
that, I would have pulled them out of whatever program they were in and
found another program with competent leadership.

If these were boys scouts would you have been just as offended? You seemed
to really be dogging them out because they were girls.

What the hell difference does their gender make? I identified them as
girls because that's what they were, not because that makes any
difference in the idiocy of sending kids out with no instruction. I'd
like to know where you got this idea I was "dogging them out because they
were girls". I think you're revealing your own predjudices.


--
Paul Tomblin http://xcski.com/blogs/pt/
please excuse my typing, but my whole left arm is in a cast. and i don't
mean _the king and i_.

In a previous article, John said:
angry man. He'll find a way to be angry no matter what the
scenario. You on the otherhand have your entire future

*plonk*

Moron.

--
Paul Tomblin http://xcski.com/blogs/pt/
please excuse my typing, but my whole left arm is in a cast. and i don't
mean _the king and i_.

Courtney wrote:
The first time you were on moving water could you control your boat
perfectly or have you never in your paddling history run into anyone?

Other than the color of their life jackets being yellow, did anyone actually
say they were from the girl scouts? I don't remember you saying that you
actually heard that from them.

If these were boys scouts would you have been just as offended? You seemed
to really be dogging them out because they were girls.

C.


I'd like to know this too. If the girls were really part of GSUSA,
their leaders were not following the basic safety and training
guidelines of the organization. I do canoe instruction for my GSUSA
council, and we always start with flat water. Only girls 7th grade and
up can do any moving water, and that is only if they have already
trained on flat water.

My guess is that it was a church group or Y group. Did you see any adults?

Pam

Paul Tomblin wrote:
: In a previous article, "Courtney" said:
:The first time you were on moving water could you control your boat
:perfectly or have you never in your paddling history run into anyone?

: As I said earlier, the first time I was on the water, I was given a few
: minutes of instruction on basic canoe control before I was allowed to go
: somewhere where I could be a menace to myself and others. This flotilla
: of doom had both girls and boys in it, and most of them didn't know what
: the hell they were doing. I think it's irresponsible of leaders to set
: kids loose without basic instruction. If that had been my kids (and if I
: hadn't given them instruction already) and I saw them lurching along like
: that, I would have pulled them out of whatever program they were in and
: found another program with competent leadership.

Well... first let me say that I'm a boy scout leader... nether the boy scouts
nor the girl scouts allow youth members of the opposing genders (there are no
boys in girl scouts and there are no girls in boy scouts).

That said... we've done canoe and kayak trips (we built our own kayaks... took
3 months in the church basement for each kid to complete... I had Marge Cline
and a few other instructors come out and do a class in a local lake before
we started using the kayaks we built... but, before we were allowed to do
any of that... myself and another adult went thru Safe Swim and Safety Afloat
training... and three of us huffed thru a lifeguard class (800 yard swim was
tiring), and became CPR certified... Scouts have lots of rules including
requiring training for adults, safety certifications and training for the
scouts.

We did a trip across the State of Illinois... hiking, biking and paddling...
the boys did enough miles to earn hiking (75 miles) and cycling (150 miles)
merit badges... canoeing merit badge doesn't have distance requirments so
they all earned that at summer camp.

Since the youth group wasn't paying attention to you but you saw them, did
you announce yourself or announce that you were passing? Even on bikes or
walking, if someone isn't looking at you and you are passing them, it's
polite to say "Passing on your right" (or left) or just say "On your right"
(or left) so they aren't startled when a object starts to pass... When kids
are goofing around, they are in a world all their own... think back to when
you were a kid... a polite word from the outside world usually gets their
attention back in order...

Here's a pic of our kayaks... cost about $25 per boy... the skin is that
plastic coocooning material they use to winterize sailboats and I got it
for $4 per boat from a local boat shop. Had each kid save 12*1 gallon
milk jugs with lids for flotation.. tied to internal wood frame...

http://www.chicagopaddling.org/lilyak.jpg

--
John Nelson
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http://www.chicagopaddling.org http://www.chicagofishing.org
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Lance LaFrinier wrote:
: Only if somebody teaches them to not be a menace to themselves and others
: first.
:
: 30 years ago when I was taken canoeing by my YMCA day camp, they spend
: some time in a secluded bay teaching us strokes and how to handle the
: canoes before being sent into a popular paddling area. These morons
: didn't even TRY to steer or stop. They didn't even say "sorry".

: Ok, you were in a kayak and couldn't avoid a boat load of little girls...and
: you are ****ed. Get over it

Three girls in a aluminum canoe ran him down?

--
John Nelson
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Chicago Area Paddling/Fishing Page
http://www.chicagopaddling.org http://www.chicagofishing.org
(A Non-Commercial Web Site: No Sponsors, No Paid Ads and Nothing to Sell)

"Three girls in a aluminum canoe ran him down?"

Not only that, but "when a gaggle of scouts came up the river" - they
apparently did so while paddling upriver.

Those must have been some menacing Girl Scouts, able to attain upriver
so fast that the collision was unavoidable.

writes:

"Three girls in a aluminum canoe ran him down?"

Not only that, but "when a gaggle of scouts came up the river" - they
apparently did so while paddling upriver.

Those must have been some menacing Girl Scouts, able to attain upriver
so fast that the collision was unavoidable.

They were probably trying to sell him some cookies

--
James jamesk[at]homeric[dot]co[dot]uk

We demand rigidly defined areas of doubt and uncertainty - DNA (HHGTTG)