why do so many canoers have a giant chip on the shoulder?

[OC1er]

Eddy - you don't (heart) cboats, you (heart) open boats! You've trashed C-boats (and Cboaters) on here pretty consistently, stay true! It's really slow here today, I bet if you started in on the boatertalk board we'd have entertainment for a good couple of hours...

[TheKrikkitWars]

Personally... I could give two sh!ts less what type of boat people are paddling and most of the jawing back and forth is typically in good fun... although there are always a few exceptions.

I've definately met kayakers who find my choice to paddle a canoe to be a personal slight to them, I have a large selection of choice words with which to tell such people where to get off.

@ Gnarls: I find that kind of evangelising to be extremely annoying coming from kayakers directed at me, I have no reason to believe that they don't find that kind of approach just as annoying and rude when the boot is on the other foot.

There was a bloke who said "do unto others, as you would have done to you" I can't remember what he was famous for, I think he might have been one of the Beetles, but the Idea is a grand one all the same!

[FullGnarlzOC]

eddy, are you just being silly or are you really a complete whack-nut?

canoes are inferior to kayaks. they have big holes that let them fill up with water..

It's all in how you paddle, and how you look at it.


BTW.... JUST BECAUSE THE BOAT IS INFERIOR(arguably), doesn't mean the PADDLER has to be. Ever notice if there is a good canoer on the water.... all eyes are on them. Why is that?


oC1 - I meant - 'cboats forums'. lol.

[FullGnarlzOC]

I think i gave you guys the wrong impression... I dont slam kayakers too much. I have a sticker on the side of my boat that says 'Kayaking is NOT COOL"... that's about the extent of my trash talking. Except on here... on here(forum for CBOATS), I am rather outspoken in terms of kayakers.

But i kno it's to each their own... I know that I look very silly to them when I empty my boat, ect...

I do however...tell people if they want a challenge once again, they should try open boating...they make never go back. and people usually take that in fairly well.

[oopsiflipped]

you ever seen a three legged dog ride a unicycle? it's entertaining at first, but it gets old after a while.

maybe if you need so much attention you should be out on a corner somewhere with a sign yelling about obamageddon or something equally silly.

at least we know why you want 'to save' canoeing now. maybe you should try striding. they always get lots of attention. i just went for a pink helmet, myself.

[FullGnarlzOC]

"i just went for a pink helmet, myself."

well now that that's been cleared up.

[Craig Smerda]

i just went for a pink helmet, myself.

That'll go nicely along with your lipstick and unitard Gabe...

[yarnellboat]

Gnarlz,

I think the Beatles also said "you capture more bears with honey than with vinegar".

You might have more luck converting kayakers (and I think there's more effective ways to grow the sport) if you paddle with them, not against them. We're doing more of that out here, though not explicitly for the purpose of impressing or converting. I could do without that kind of evangelism in all its forms. It does come across as a chip on the shoulder and can wreck peoples' days.

I don't mind your sticker, I have a simialr Paul Mason t-shirt. I'm also a vocal advocate of the minority sports that I do, but because I enjoy open boating and telemarking and think they're cool and require something different, but not because kayaking and downhill suck. I get why lots of people don't want to canoe or tele, and I'm OK with that.

I'd rather support people who have an entry-level interest in ww canoeing and get them over "the class II hump" than waste my time trash talking people who are already happy doing something else.

Here's a thread from the local kayak club, a group we've also offered canoe lesson to if they'd like to try our boats:

http://www.vankayak.org/forum/index.php ... 3#msg14313

We'll probably interest more kayakers in canoeing by paddling with them than you will busting your bad butt to impress them. On the other hand, most kayakers I see on the river don't know anything about canoeing, so don't even get what we're doing or how it's a different challenge, and they don't care. So maybe neither of us will convert any kayakers.

Pat.

p.s. Tried an AB paddle and re-sold it immediately, the blade was too floppy for my taste and I already had lots of paddles.

[FullGnarlzOC]

pat - ur pretty much right in all of what you said. like i said before... you guys got the wrong impression. I'm only really outspoken in terms of kayaks on here... and if someone confronts me about why canoe instead of kayak...

I paddle with kayaks all the time.... and frankly, at the stage of the game I am at right now... and heading, that's all i can paddle with. It's the yakers that paddle the big stuff. how many OB'ers do you think Im going to run in to at the Racquette? Might get lucky, and meet some canadians...but we'll see.

i'm prob more well like by yakers than my own kind at this point. lol.

[TheKrikkitWars]

i'm prob more well like by yakers than my own kind at this point. lol.

That should tell you something about how you're coming across, because it sure as hades isn't positively.

[FullGnarlzOC]

I'd fit right in, in the kayak community. my views, goals, and reasons to paddle aren't in lined with most canoers. too each their own right...

like i said... i'm coming from a different breed. I dont expect that you would understand sir.

alright... im gonna go work on gettin this boat repaired. later homies.

[TheKrikkitWars]

like i said... i'm coming from a different breed. I dont expect that you would understand sir.

I understand better than you think, I just think you're acting in a very confrontational and immature way about your difference of goals and motivations.

[oopsiflipped]

well he is a yankee.















someone had to say it, since louie is apparently working for once.

[jakke]

C'mon guys... .

I think there is real value in the original question, but you let is spoil by the best example of what's in the question.

I've written 50+ lines post to Eddy, and decided to delete them after all, since it just makes no sence.

I think Dooley does a great job as "ambassador". People look up to what and how he's paddling. But most of the promotion about his runs are made by others (as far as I can see), and he's relative discrete. And there are other examples, on every level, not only class V.
That's the way to promote open boating. Show it on the river, and don't overprofile in discussing.

And yes, there are people talking nonsense about kayak is inferior to canoeing or "look what I can do".
And yes, it's good fun from time to time to bash about kayak, and I do like the "half the paddle/stick, twice the ..." quotes.
And yes, I sometimes have conflicts with kayakers who are not paying attention to whatever boat is on the river, but I would have the same discussion with other boat types. It's about fun, and responsible paddling, each on his/her own level/area of interest.

Since canoeing can be really individual oriented, there is a tendence to measure you skill on what rivers you paddled. But rapid mag had recently an article: "what if you add death to the equation", talking about how you explain why you run certain sections if there is a real chance you get off the river in a bodybag. And no matter which craft people are in, I really don't appreciate people going on such a rivers, over their skills and risking their arse and that of their co-paddlers.

But I like the idea: you're only as good as a paddler, as other paddlers estimate you. That means you have to paddle, not talk. And it's not only valid for paddling. And if you overestimate yourself, the river will correct you, sooner or later.

But hey, let's waste another interesting discussion topic on one of the only left open boater of this planet... .

[FullGnarlzOC]

lol. i dunno wut i am. im an army brat so ive been all over. i'd say yankee if anything. never lived down souf before.

sure wish i canoed when i was livin in colorado and seattle. i mean... talk about rain...

Jakke - welcome. they're r plenty of left handers. and i was pretty sure this topic was inadvertently about me/my type in the first place. Don't you think I might know reasons as to why people are paddling with 'a chip on their shoulder'... or you could just 'guess' why there people are there that are 'that way'. Just sit back and enjoy the show.

speaking of left handers.... Oliver... that dude can boat.