Paul Tomblin wrote:
Weekend before last, I was paddling on my favourite local river.
snip
Don't scout leaders believe in giving lessons? They're a menace.

Yeah, maybe a menace and it's a real shame you injured
yourself but on the other hand kids on the water, that's
a *good* thing, right ?

--
Ken Fortenberry

In a previous article, Ken Fortenberry said:
Paul Tomblin wrote:
Weekend before last, I was paddling on my favourite local river.
snip
Don't scout leaders believe in giving lessons? They're a menace.

Yeah, maybe a menace and it's a real shame you injured
yourself but on the other hand kids on the water, that's
a *good* thing, right ?

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".


--
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_.

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

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.

In your defense, I have tought Guides canoeing on ponds. ( never moving
water ). It's not like the Scouts or Guides to leave themselves open to
litigation from parents if there is any incompitance. ( Perhaps
something you may want to look at ) .
There are other groups here that have access to canoes and equipnent.
Junior Forest Wardens in my community have 20 boats 18 open canoes and
2 sea kayaks as well as one club specific canoe and two rec kayaks. The
Boy Scouts have some boats and a trailer; church groups , Cadets and a
community next to ours have trailers and boats.

You are not getting much sympathy from this group. It is a little like
the kid on the Simpsons that goes " Ha Ha! "

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.

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

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_.

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, 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.


That's known, to us grizzled ol' highly-experienced old-school boaters,
as "the financial method of paddling". They go from bank to bank, and
leave you broke.


-Richard, His Kanubic Travesty
--
================================================== ====================
Richard Hopley . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. Winston-Salem, NC, USA
.. . . Nothing really matters except Boats, Sex, and Rock'n'Roll . . ..
rhopley[at]earthlink[dot]net . . . . . . . . . .. cell: (301) 775-0471
.. OK, OK; computer programming for scientific research also matters ..
rhopley[at]wfubmc[dot]edu . . . . . . . . . . . office: (336) 713-5077
================================================== ====================