Some thoughts on the water

Lake Michigan crossing fails

Much debate in paddling community about whether the fellow (in the link above) attempting a 90 mile crossing of Lake Michigan should have had his own support boat following him, instead of relying on the Coasties to save his butt. He does sound rather well prepared to me. I give him a "pass."

Great-White-Shark-Attacks-Kayakers-off-Massachusetts-Coast!

These gals mentioned above were crying their eyes out during an interview about their encounter with nature. I feel little sympathy for them, however. If you can't stand the sharks, don't go out in the ocean! 

Another article about the shark. How did both chicks end up in the water??

Oh. This is how they both ended up in the water:

sharkwatch/sharks-vs-kayakers-massachusetts-attack

The above article points out the number of kayakers is increasing. However, I understand from several industry pros that the number of participants in classes and symposia are dropping. Cynthia, from Sweetwater in Florida, told me that her local pros blame Meetup.com for the dropping number of student in their metro area.

I told her I do not believe the same to be true in the very active Washington DC paddling community. Yes, our paddling clubs use Meetup to schedule trips but a quick perusal of
Washington Kayak Club  will net the viewer at least a half dozen classes and featured symposia.

WKC was founded in 2006. I captained the group from Oct 2009 to Oct 2011, and have continued with an active role in the club. We have always offered professionals a chance to post classes or have them featured as events. However, another pro recently told me he thinks the WDC metro area is different from other areas. Statistically, we are more affluent, more educated, and more mobile. We are a transient community with many intelligent and well-employed people moving in and moving out all the time.

So I guess I can't hold our area up as a shining example against the argument that Meetup is detrimental to kayaking schools in the long run. This is a thought I will return to in the future.

cops-say-kayaker-lied-shot-himself-twice (what!?)

Either there's a bunch of paddlers who are nuts...or...the nutty are taking to kayaking. Hmm...

My husband has pointed out many times that when a hiker falls off a set of rocks at Great Falls, the news will always say "rock climber dies at Great Falls." This infuriates the Lorax! He fumes "that was NOT a rock climber! That was just some hapless fool!"

So I leave you with this thought:
Are the gals who had the shark encounter "kayakers" or are they "Kayakers?" Shit, Jesse, look what you started! Reflection is in order.