rick stoehrer Posted September 3, 2008 Share Posted September 3, 2008 Well, after all the planning, running around, worrying, setting up and preparation the Rough Water Symposium went off again this past weekend. There were a few local faces recognized (the owner of one of those smiling faces nailed a combat roll for the first time - congratulations!), folks from away returning and then new faces/friends as well. It was a nice event. Weather was uncooperative - it was lovely. Friday and Sunday were just beautiful days by anyone's reckoning and while Saturday was a little overcast, there wasn't a single day that had wind helping to create any bump out on the ebbs. So, we had plenty of current and some standing waves but certainly not anything like we had hoped for...still nice and better to be on the smaller rather than the larger side. It's a juggle between folks being comfortable and challenged to learn and then not comfortable, too challenged and too stressed to learn. This was better than too much. The food was outstanding. Had a proper chef this year and he did a bang up job of feeding everyone! Good food and lots of it! Coaches/Guides this year did a nice job of making sure that each paddler got instruction/feedback and hopefully everyone walked away with new skills / thoughts / points of view. I know I did - got to work with Andy Stamp one day and in the night session preceding the class I saw the best explanation / group activity in reference to tidal cycles that I've ever seen. It was a really simple and effective means of illustration. Huh…he really is THAT good. It really was a pleasure to watch the art of what some of these guys do. Lots of great manufacturers were very generous in their donations this year. Lendal came up big with a paddle customized to the winner and Kokatat with a really nice cag. We had Gath and Predator each donate some of their excellent helmets and then Palm, Reeds, Northwater and Malone all coming up with some really nice kit. Folks really seemed to appreciate the donated gear and will use it for a long time coming! In short, lots to take away from the event at all levels; hopefully the paddlers found it to be as worthwhile, enriching and fun as the organizers, coaches and guides did! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djlewis Posted September 3, 2008 Share Posted September 3, 2008 ... got to work with Andy Stamp one day and in the night session preceding the class I saw the best explanation / group activity in reference to tidal cycles that I've ever seen. It was a really simple and effective means of illustration. Huh…he really is THAT good. It really was a pleasure to watch the art of what some of these guys do. Glad the RWS weekend came off so well (except for conditions)... congratulations! Can you share Andy's explanation/activity for tidal cycles, at least a sketch? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rick stoehrer Posted September 4, 2008 Author Share Posted September 4, 2008 Glad the RWS weekend came off so well (except for conditions)... congratulations! Can you share Andy's explanation/activity for tidal cycles, at least a sketch? Not to get into specifics (as I mostly just wouldn't do it justice) but using a piece of tow line illustrated the tug of war nature the Moon/Sun have with the tide. It was more than that, better but that's about as detailed as I'd offer. His explanation/illustration was really good: simple, dynamic. Excellent. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djlewis Posted September 4, 2008 Share Posted September 4, 2008 Not to get into specifics (as I mostly just wouldn't do it justice) but using a piece of tow line illustrated the tug of war nature the Moon/Sun have with the tide. It was more than that, better but that's about as detailed as I'd offer. His explanation/illustration was really good: simple, dynamic. Excellent. Interesting. After that long (and to most folks, probably boring) discussion on this board that John Huth and I had about how the tides actually work, I dreamt up a model involving a hollow rubber ball whirling around on the end of a rope (if the rope is attached to one wall of the ball, as you swing it in a circle, the ball develops a bulge in both directions, right?) So I'd really love to hear more about Andy's model/activity. Maybe send me a private e-mail -- djlewis at triadic dotty commie. --David. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pintail Posted September 5, 2008 Share Posted September 5, 2008 David, that is all very well; but your ball swinging on the end of your piece of line is not, itself, spinning on its own axis at the same time, is it? So that the bulge is always in the same spot (I do not see how you get <two> bulges) -- unlike mother earth... Sorry: I cannot much approve your analogy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djlewis Posted September 5, 2008 Share Posted September 5, 2008 David, that is all very well; but your ball swinging on the end of your piece of line is not, itself, spinning on its own axis at the same time, is it? So that the bulge is always in the same spot (I do not see how you get <two> bulges) -- unlike mother earth... Sorry: I cannot much approve your analogy. Only a model, Sir Godfrey, only a model -- not reality itself. What's lacking in the rubber ball model is the apparent movement of the tide throughout the day. But that part is easy to understand -- there are two bulges and the rotation of the earth makes them appear to move relative to us beings stuck on one place. The difficult part to explain -- and most attempts are too simplified, too technical, or downright wrong -- is why there are two bulges in the first place, one toward the moon -- easy to understand, you think -- and one on the opposite side from the moon -- how the devil can that happen? That's where the hollow ball comes in. In fact, both bulges are explained by the same concept -- that "centrifugal force" (not an actual force, but an apparent one, which will do for now) pulls the earth a bit away from the crust/water on the side facing the moon, and also pulls the crust/water on the side opposite the moon a bit more away. Presto, two bulges. But the one facing the moon is more the earth pulling away from the moon more than the water than the water moving toward the moon. So it probably wasn't quite the explanation you imagined. Now back to the ball model. Imagine the ball is flexy enough that it elongates (into an ellipsoid) along an axis in the line of the string. Ah, two bulges, one facing toward the hand spinning the string (the moon) and one facing away! And it's for roughly the same reason that there are two tidal bulges. Need more? Let's take if offline. We've been through this before, and I see people starting to yawn already. --David Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
subaruguru Posted September 7, 2008 Share Posted September 7, 2008 Only a model, Sir Godfrey, only a model -- not reality itself. What's lacking in the rubber ball model is the apparent movement of the tide throughout the day. But that part is easy to understand -- there are two bulges and the rotation of the earth makes them appear to move relative to us beings stuck on one place. The difficult part to explain -- and most attempts are too simplified, too technical, or downright wrong -- is why there are two bulges in the first place, one toward the moon -- easy to understand, you think -- and one on the opposite side from the moon -- how the devil can that happen? That's where the hollow ball comes in. In fact, both bulges are explained by the same concept -- that "centrifugal force" (not an actual force, but an apparent one, which will do for now) pulls the earth a bit away from the crust/water on the side facing the moon, and also pulls the crust/water on the side opposite the moon a bit more away. Presto, two bulges. But the one facing the moon is more the earth pulling away from the moon more than the water than the water moving toward the moon. So it probably wasn't quite the explanation you imagined. Now back to the ball model. Imagine the ball is flexy enough that it elongates (into an ellipsoid) along an axis in the line of the string. Ah, two bulges, one facing toward the hand spinning the string (the moon) and one facing away! And it's for roughly the same reason that there are two tidal bulges. Need more? Let's take if offline. We've been through this before, and I see people starting to yawn already. --David No, no...this is fascinating! Ern Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rick stoehrer Posted September 8, 2008 Author Share Posted September 8, 2008 No, no...this is fascinating! Ern some pics here....others should be on mikco http://www.ronster.newenglandintermediater...otoshare.co.nz/ video at... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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