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

[RodeoClown]

So that would have been 2006? This one? http://www.americanwhitewater.org/conte ... year/2006/

You keep telling me I need to learn the history, and I keep asking for it, but you never tell me.

[Larry Horne]

great pic of norwood btw.
the boy can paddle.

[yarnellboat]

Who's paddling "the stout drop"? Is that our boy FullG?

P.

Nevermind, I hadn't seen the vid. Go Gnarlz! As I said, I have no problem (or at least not as much) with you blabbing about what you're doing in a canoe, 'cause you're doin' it. Now put your money where your mouth is and try kayaking, C-1 and open boat slalom.

Those drops are scary, but you don't have to do much paddling to land in the pool and roll up!

[Kelly-Rand]

I got sucked in, it's late and still hot here in Boston. Waiting for Earl to open up some opportunities.
So, I started paddling open boats when I was 40. I was getting progressively better but my balance just wasn't getting to where I could run III drops consistently. After a few years I had the chance to try a C1 on some easy stuff and I realized that I could get a lot better at OB if I spent some time in a C1. Balance became much more important as well as being relaxed while your edges are grabbed by the current. So ten years ago I switched to a decked boat, I'm 57 now and a much better paddler. But, I am no longer after those big drops or creek runs. Knee problems, and just basic stamina have kept me from going beyond class IV boating. I've overcome the knee problems with a bit of walking so I can continue kneeling and enjoying my low saddle height.

While I was learning to C1 I became obsessed with technique to the point that I almost didn't enjoy paddling if I didn't see progress in making drops that I thought I should. After recovering from the knee injuries I realized I had to change my attitude or give up paddling because I wasn't going to gain stamina. So, began to paddle with whom ever would shuttle with me and I just practiced on becoming better at the technique and reading the river to use it to my advantage while hanging out with my fellow river runners. I guess you could say I'm a styling down the river, whether I can ever run a significant drop successfully I will never know. But, there is nothing like a C1 disappearing below the surface with single blade vertical in hand and with very little obvious movement being able to turn the boat and surface heading in a perpendicular direction.
I've heard second hand comments from twin bladers asking themselves will they ever boat as elegant as that.
Now this stylin thing is most prevalent with C1ners because it is part of the shtick, but it was an open boater who demonstrated it most effectively to me.
So getting back to the original post positing that some open boaters seem to have a chip on there shoulders, I would say I was in that category before the injuries I suffered, because I didn't feel I was successful unless I had conquered some rapid or river in my sights. I have since settled on just enjoying paddling for it's own sake and the people I'm with.
Some observations I've made is that I will always be a kayaker to the general public and to most casual kayakers just because a decked canoe is such a rare thing and you see what you expect to see not what you saw. Open boaters will always be identified as open boaters because of the form factor. The kayaking community has shrunk significantly compared to its presence a few years ago. The open boat community has become more noticeable at the rivers I paddle.
I have paddled my Old Town Kenebec on the same rivers I C1 and I am a much better open boater than I was. I can run it across holes that would stop me in a decked boat and I can run wave trains without filling up. I can do 360's in holes that I couldn't in a C1. I have a lot more confidence and understanding of the river now. So when I do go back to an open boat the learning curve will be more about the specific boat not the open part.

till next

[horizongfx]

I would say I was in that category before the injuries I suffered, because I didn't feel I was successful unless I had conquered some rapid or river in my sights. I have since settled on just enjoying paddling for it's own sake and the people I'm with.

DITTO
You have been weighed, you have been measured, and you have been found wanting. In what world could you possibly beat me?

[icyone]

Half the paddle -- twice the man/woman!

Says it all.....

[OhCeeOne]

I'm nobody. Hardly anybody knows me. I don't claim to know much but I have .02. To me, there are a more kayakers than canoers that don't get it on the river. They have no etiquette, they are not in touch with being part of something bigger. I see a lot of kayakers not looking upstream before leaving eddys, not caring about upstream traffic while surfing ( or not being in control enough to avoid collisions) etc... You just don't see open boaters doing things like this. I think, in general, because of the nature of each vessel, that open boaters are brought into the sport with a better understanding and education of river etiquette, rescue, and basic river knowledge. Now I also have great friends in kayaks with all of the above in place, and I will boat with anybody in anything so I'm really not a hater. But I do have a chip on my shoulder towards uneducated, rude, inconsiderate people who think, because they bought a boat and some gear, that it gives them the right to blunder down rivers with ill regard toward the core elements and the people that make up this great sport. Ask yourselves who really taught you what you know about the river. Did they teach you the basics. Did they teach you how to boat... or how to run the river? or both? GDI

[cmnypny]

I prefer open boating ... plain and simple

I do paddle with butt boaters but will not carry their lunch, water, or any of their other crap

I have nothing to prove to anyone but myself ... I like to push my limits from time to time.

I don't give a rats a.s.s. if someone is stupid enough to run 100 foot waterfall

It all about just running the river and enjoying the scenery

[econpaddler]

the only giant chip on my shoulder is my boat when I'm carrying it from the put--in.

[sbroam]

Ohceeone - you make some good points. To become a kayaker is relatively easy, to become an open boater or c-1er, you about have to seek it out.

[Mike Gardner]

I'm getting ready to help out this weekend at a Girl Scout paddling Jamboree the local council has had the last couple of years. Over 250 girls in canoes, kayaks and pedal boats. We get a couple dozen on local class I and fewer on class II in canoes. XL15's and as many borrowed solos as i can find. Here in Oklahoma, WW is not what usually comes to mind, but we have fun anyway. I started late in paddling -2005 at age 53 and have tried to give the kids an intro to a fun sport-single or double blades so they can see what a blast the outdoors is. Several decades ago this GS council had 2 girls abducted, abused and murdered and the scars are still here. Lots of parents don't even want their kids outdoors so we volunteers have to work harder. My goal is to someday get enough Scouts ready to go back east and meet the Lost Tribe on the river. I guess where I am meandering to, is, it really doesn't matter to me what you paddle, it's how you paddle-etiquette, good manners, whatever. Good natured teasing can sound bad when written, so be loose. Got to go and get stuff ready for the weekend. 3 daughters 1 son and 7 grandkids was good prep for the mayhem of little scouts in a big ol Grumman or packs of kids in yaks or flotillas of canoes.
BTW I don't think its "chips"-- just passion

[phreon]

Passion for CHiPs?


[img]http://bp0.blogger.com/_D78Trq6zDIA/RvI ... 5B1%5D.jpg[/img]

[cheajack]

This past weekend a friend of mine and I took our 12 and 11 year old daughters down a piece of the Nanty in tandem Captions. We were taking out at Surfing Rapid and a kayaker walked down from the picnic tables and asked my friend if he was going to get his canoe out of the way "anytime today?". My friend apologized and we got the boats and gear and kids up to the parking lot as quickly as we could. In this example it seems to me that the butt boater was carrying the chip.

[econpaddler]

My goal is to someday get enough Scouts ready to go back east and meet the Lost Tribe on the river.

You just let us know when you can be here.

[Todhunter]

This past weekend a friend of mine and I took our 12 and 11 year old daughters down a piece of the Nanty in tandem Captions. We were taking out at Surfing Rapid and a kayaker walked down from the picnic tables and asked my friend if he was going to get his canoe out of the way "anytime today?". My friend apologized and we got the boats and gear and kids up to the parking lot as quickly as we could. In this example it seems to me that the butt boater was carrying the chip.

My response wouldn't have been so kind. I hate jerks.