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Mike McCrea
 
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Default Trip Report - A gaggle...a herd...a flock...

....what is the proper term for a large group of paddlers? Something
alliterative - a pod or pack of paddlers? Or something more boating
related - a drift or a brace of paddlers? Maybe a clutter, or an
infestation? No, wait; I think "infestation" has already been adopted
by Jet-skiers.

Whatever the term, we had clutter. Twenty-seven paddlers in
twenty-three boats. For a trip that met at 8:00am. And people calling
about the trip wondered why I was starting so early; gee, won't that
cut down on the number of participants? Uh huh!

K1 - Stephen Forian, Markus Uilpert, Eric Simball, Jan Koppelman,
Kathy Resch, Ken Berg, Chris Davis, Dave Rogoza, Kara Brown, Lindsey
Bramwell, Kathleen Sengstock, Lee Plate, Markus Sheffield, Deletta
Scopel, Kathy Brown, Vic Chenowith
OC1 - Stuart Foote, Theresa Alexander, Mike McCrea
OC2 - Frank Rochowiak, Mary Beth Rochowiak, Zach Rochowiak, Rebecca
Rochowiak, Matthew Mahan, Sara Jean Mahan, Larry Zeafla, Laura Zeafla

Meeting at the Mt. Carmel Park & Ride the boat-loaded vehicles just
kept coming and coming. And, wonder of wonders, pretty much all on
time too. We off loaded boats and gear at Masemore Rd for a trip down
the Gunpowder and then shuffled half of the vehicles down to the Blue
Mount take out, trying to distribute the cars at both put in and take
out so that we wouldn't occupy every parking space at either location.

Arriving back at Masemore with the drivers we noticed a loaded canoe
trailer, and lo and behold one of the guides from this Oregon Ridge
Nature Center outing was our young friend Ben Porter, who was the
recipient of a shop rebuilt Probe 12 just a few years ago. From novice
to guide in a few short years. I attribute this to the proficiency of
Ben's instructor on his first outing in the Probe 12 - Larry Zeafla.

And, speaking of Larry, I once again imposed upon him to take charge
of a group of paddlers from our clutch of canoeists, our klatch of
kayakers. Twenty-three boats is at least one more that I can count,
even if I use my fingers and toes, and I asked Larry to take the first
group of 7 or 8 boats down. Ken and Vic took charge of the second bevy
and I took the third and last. Once again, having a selection of
experienced boaters along willing to be shanghaied into leading on the
spur of the moment raises my comfort level dramatically on large group
trips. Thanks again guys.

A brief safety spiel, a check to make sure I had everyone's name
written down, a few photocopies of the river map distributed and we
were off. Leaving five minutes or so spacing between each group we
made plans to stop and meet at predetermined locations en route
downstream.

My group included two tandem canoe pairs on their first moving water
trip and, while their skills improved as the day progressed, the first
few miles were, um, interesting. A couple of innocuous pins in narrow
spots required me to wade upstream, seize the stern of the canoe and
physically aim it at the opening before sending it through.

The remainder of the day's float was quite pleasant, our planned
stop-and-regoup spots worked perfectly. My novice open boaters ran the
final stretches with aplomb, including the quarry rapid (where I was
heartened to see Larry and Laura parked as safety in a mini-eddy half
way down).

Even the take out and back shuttle want smoothly. Not bad, not bad at
all for such a large parcel of paddlers. Or is that a rabble? Or a
rout?
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TreeMoose
 
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Default Trip Report - A gaggle...a herd...a flock...

On 28 Aug 2003 13:41:13 -0700, Mike McCrea wrote:

...what is the proper term for a large group of paddlers? Something
alliterative - a pod or pack of paddlers? Or something more boating
related - a drift or a brace of paddlers? Maybe a clutter, or an
infestation? No, wait; I think "infestation" has already been adopted
by Jet-skiers.

We had the same discussion a few years ago. It was settled by a
fisherperson on a pier as a group paddled out into Lake Huron into some
bumpy stuff. The response? "There goes a 'whole bunch of dumb' kayakers.
So - around here, it's 'a bunch of dumb' for the collective.


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Edward Walsh
 
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Default Trip Report - A gaggle...a herd...a flock...

I did enjoy the alliterative approach although there is sometimes a notable
lack of wisdom in groups!

Ed
"TreeMoose" wrote in message
news
On 28 Aug 2003 13:41:13 -0700, Mike McCrea wrote:

...what is the proper term for a large group of paddlers? Something
alliterative - a pod or pack of paddlers? Or something more boating
related - a drift or a brace of paddlers? Maybe a clutter, or an
infestation? No, wait; I think "infestation" has already been adopted
by Jet-skiers.

We had the same discussion a few years ago. It was settled by a
fisherperson on a pier as a group paddled out into Lake Huron into some
bumpy stuff. The response? "There goes a 'whole bunch of dumb'

kayakers.
So - around here, it's 'a bunch of dumb' for the collective.




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Mike McCrea
 
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Default Trip Report - A gaggle...a herd...a flock...

"Edward Walsh" wrote in message ...

I did enjoy the alliterative approach although there is sometimes a notable
lack of wisdom in groups!


If anyone ever doubted that all they'd need do is have a look at the
incredible furor of a certain group in response to a few visits from a
delusional sponson vendor :-)
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