Paddling Fiction
 

wilko, I reread my previous post regarding your sad state of affairs,
and also want to express my regrets for your injury. What I wrote, is
that as someone else who does not bounce back up as easy as I use to,
or for that matter, bounce down in the first place! I have found that
getting older is the pits! I have always read your stories about "Dare
and Do" with some secret admiration, wishing that I could still "Do"!
Alas those days are past, and I must be content to paddle easy ways,
and leave the rowdy stuff for the younger dare crowd. But I have also
found that the easy paddle is still a joy, and I know that you will be
welcomed. Just bring your stories, RkyMtnHootOwl. 0v0

On 29 Nov 2005 09:20:54 -0800, riverman wrote:

Wow, sorry to hear about your wrist, Wilko. At least its not
springtime, so you have a few months of enforced rest and recuperation
facing you.

--riverman

Paddling Fiction
 

Robin, Myron, no worries. Although I have to forget about cartwheeling
for a while (at least when my personal doctor is around ;-)), that
doesn't mean that I have completely stopped kayaking. This past sunday
we ran the upper Rur in Germany, with a group of nine boaters from the
http://kanoforum.nl paddling forum where most of the paddlers knew
eachother from.

Funny detail is that one of the guys that I paddled with on Sunday had
known me since 1994 from RBP when we exchanged some e-mails but never
met me IRL untill now! :-)

So, I don't stop paddling, just took precautions not to be slowed down
by the injury. I paddled a creekboat instead of my trusted Flipstick
playboat to prevent me from playing. Good thing too, because we had a
swimmer at the bottom of this slide:

http://www.xackers.net/freewheelers/pictures/rur10.jpg

He got stuck upside-down for maybe 20 seconds, before bailing out. A
friend bailed him out while I had to get his boat and paddle, which
were stuck on a submerged rock in a micro-eddy at the bottom of the
drop against the wall (on the right side of this picture). Getting to
those rocks and climb onto them (covered in slippery silt) would have
been quite a challenge from a playboat.

Altogether a good day on the river with a nice water level and fun
company. :-)

Maybe another trip this weekend... :-)

Other impressions of a very similar trip (also with snow on the banks)
on the same river last season:

http://www.xackers.net/freewheelers/imagerur.htm

Wilko

riverman wrote:
Wow, sorry to hear about your wrist, Wilko. At least its not
springtime, so you have a few months of enforced rest and recuperation
facing you.

--riverman