sings_evil_twin

Hey Brad, THANKS! Made my morning. A moment of pure, unadulterated artistic wonder and beauty. Weird, but I had a sense of surfing a perfect wave. Okay, off to the contrived importance of downtown Boston... sing

A non profit can "advocate" on a legislative issue as long as it doesn't expend more than 5% of its organizational budget on such activities before crossing over the line into "lobbying." I really doubt that you would/could do that. Nothing precludes a club from taking an "official" (agreed upon by consensus/majority? depending on how the bylaws allow for such a position to be taken) position on an issue that impacts it, as long as you don't expend more than the 5% of monetary resources. The caveate is whether your own bylaws allow/accommodate taking such as position and the process for doing so. From what I can remember, the NSPN bylaws allow for a very powerful, self perpetuating board, making the decisions. All power is pretty much assigned to that small body. sing

Okay, for the budding surf kayakers. You can still join in but you must register no later than noon tomorrow. Conditions will be head plus in the AM with strong diagonal winds. Waves should drop to chest/shoulder (with some head sets) by lunch. Winds will also die down and become slightly offshore. You can always sit out the morning and the hit the smaller cleaner waves after lunch. Get amped! Cowabunga time! sing

The Rhode Island Surf Kayakers (RISK) will host the biggest surf paddling event of the year in the Northeast. The event will be at Lil Compton, RI. The break is known for nice steep peaks when the waves are coming in right! Grab your short boat and c'mon down (or up) to share the stoke, meet other surf paddlers, demo surf crafts, break some bread together. The event will take place on one weekend day between 11/25 and 12/9, depending on which day the waves arrive. You must sign up to attend this event. Hope to see you there! http://www.pioneerpictures.com/surf/RISK/index.html Aloha!!! sing PS. Sorry, having long boats on a crowded break with surf crafts and boardies is NOT safe. Long boats require exceptionally skilled riders to avoid the bongo (side)surfing that can take out a bunch of folks at a time. You may be an exceptional rider but we will still be afraid.

I'm making a trip up north today. Will drop a package off for you at NESC on the way back. Need room on my storage rack for something new. sing

yup. Takes more out of me to surf hard 3-4 hours than to paddle all day in a touring boat. Surfing is all about repeated sprints (and then sometimes trying to remain calm enough roll back up when you have minimal air in your lungs...). It's not like you can take your time and mosy out the break zone, especially on a decent wave day. The bigger the waves, the faster and harder you have to sprint to make sure you out the backside. Nothing worse then to almost make it out, only to get bow over stern, by a big breaker. Now, your calm and rolling skills get really tested. If you make it back up, then usually with barely any air left in the lungs, you had better sprint like crazy to make it out before another big one collapses on your head. Lots of fun, eh...? sing

It happens. Trying to be too "perfect..." Be truly "indifferent" to the results and play (you can afford too on a mild surf day at Nahant). The progression comes through success and failure. Kudos to you new bunch of NSPNers who seem to like the rough stuff. Wished you were all there about 5-6 years ago. Instead I ended mostly going alone (which also worked/works fine for me...). sing ex-NSPN but certified surf nut.

Surf prediction. It's not enough to know that waves are there but direction. Waves were coming from ESE this past weekend. You picked the place that was directly blocked by Cape Ann. Any thing more than a bump out there was wind driven. The more you surf, the more you will follow the forecast, wind predictions, satellite pics, triangulate bouy readings to figure where the best surf will be. And, you can get pretty good at it if you become obsessive like some of us are. sing

>I agree with most of what you've said. However, it is also >the human condition to make judgements, particularly about >others behavour we don't understand. What bothers me about >so many of these posts is that, let one person speak a >thought outside of the conventional wisdom and everyone >piles on! That is the crux and what I reacted to. We (kayakers) ARE outside of "conventional wisdom." I run into people who already have a judgement about my kayaking from the git go, usually without any knowledge whatsoever to make such. The point I tried to make is also that these "judgements" can be very relative. Without even hearing the whole story, that person in the other thread was quick to judge. S/he should understand the same is being done by others as soon as they see a kayak on his/her roof rack. >The guy for whom this recent event became a trigger to vent >over past hurt and harm is just being human. I don't agree >with him. He's being premature before knowing all the facts. >On the other hand if that were me dangling from that chopper >with what looked like a lot of white caps below, I'm sure >all of my friends who do not kayak would say" What the hell >was he thinking". (Including my own wife by the way.) Exactly. My wife doesn't participate in many of my activities but thankfully she doesn't judge them but rather observes that I seem to function much better when I am active. She also notes how I handle myself in these activities carries over to how I handle myself in the other realms of my life. We can live in a contracted or an expanded world. It's our choice and we make that world for ourselves. >Personal freedom and autonomy is a beautiful thing. However, >just because we agree to suffer the consequences of our free >choice; it doesn't protect us against criticism, just or >unjust. Yes. There will be critics. We can ignore (the easiest). Or, we can choose to take the criticism and evaluate whether there is sufficient basis for it. There is constructive criticism and criticism that simply intended to demean and belittle. ?I can understand the feelings many have when they >say" It's not my choice but I respect the choice of others". This is preferable. I don't get into criticizing childhood friends who have chose to live a sedentary life, have become obese and are generally unhealthy. It's their personal choice but, yes, their choice also has an impact on me in terms of rising health costs, etc., early deaths, etc. Yet, I believe they are entitled to that choice. >Perhaps an equally human response is to say" It's not my >choice and I think he or she is nuts". Yup. Try mostly to keep that to myself unless it involves someone I have responsibility for, i.e. my family. >A life is a precious thing to waste. Absolutely. Some are alive but have spirits withered from fear and anger, etc. Some periodically explode from their "lives of quiet desperation." Better to live a life with courage and integrity and recognize these can be expressed differently by different individuals. Better to recognize that life is finite. We can die tomorrow out on the sea, or die of a heart attack on the couch with a remote in our hand. Either way, death comes to us all. Accept that as a fact and live fully, however that is expressed individually. >If we're willing to justify risk taking that >might result in death as opposed to the quotidian life spent >on the couch, then we're probably living in our own personal >coccoon. Most of us have friends, spouses, loved ones etc. >That freedom of choice usually impacts a lot more people >than the chooser. This is true not just of our kayaking. In most arenas of our lives, we make choices that have just as much if not more impact on others. We should be a bit more introspective not only about our "recreational" pursuits but about how we proceed with our lives in general. sing

The rescuer who died. Condolence to his family. But if you ask them, I bet they would confirm that he had been in dangerous circumstances before. It's familiar territory. When he trained to be a rescuer, he probably went through similar or even more challenging conditions. If not, how would even believe that he had the wherewithal to be able to "rescue" someone in dangerous conditions? The line between rescuee and rescuer is a very thin one. Both are "risk takers" to a relative to the general population. As a paddler, you are a "risk taker" compared to the increasing sedentary population. Don't want risk? Stay home. Anytime you call for assistance outside of your house (or from your house, for that matter...), you risking someone. sing

Anything can happen when you paddle, even flatwater. Someone may have to risk their lives coming to get you. For that matter, when you drive car to the put in, you could get in a car accident. Much higher percentage of probability. EMT and other personnel may have to risk their lives to get to you. Don't do it. Stay home. Don't go outside. Anytime you do, you can't avoid interactions with others and therefore put ohters or yourself at risk. Don't go out. Then we won't need lifeguards, Coast Guard, EMTs, police, etc. Don't be delusional that you will be safe out there. Don't go out. sing

You paddle? You risk taker!!! Life is safer when you stay home all day and watch TV. Best adventures are on TV. I love working my fingers on the remote. sing

contractor can't get out 'til next week to fix the gate. This can be rescheduled or canceled. Spring is around the corner... Lake practice, anyone? sing

the motor on the drop down metal gate for the main stairs going down to the gym got fried today. There is no other way to get boats down to the gym and pool. Given my luck with contractors I seriously doubt the motor will be replaced by tomorrow, never mind by next week. I will update as soon as I get a time frame. sing

Totally my call on this and not NSPN. One year we had pool attendee cracked up her car in a storm that hit right after a session. Sorry you're miffed. But, frankly, I wasn't worried about you. It's the safety of my staff that concerns me. Judy, or whomever is in charge can arrange with me a make up session. sing