Try it again
"I can't make you happy"
It ain't -me- I'm worried about!
Honestly, it appears that you have some interesting and useful things to say! (If that wasn't the case, I'd ignore it.)
You do -yourself- a disservice making it hard to read and not using a standard format (like capitalization). Is it that much extra effort to make your ideas more accessible?
(Fix it and I'll delete my comments.)
Not a race
It was an informal day amongst friends to celebrate the end of the race season. It was not an organized event.
Dan
http://www.westcoastpaddler.com
No competition?
It may have not been a formal race but there may have been informal competition. That could have had an impact on how risk was evaluated.
Race or not…
I was referring to the mindset of the paddlers more than anything, not necessarily that anything here was a formal race.
??
I lack the expertize to put in paragraphs on this format—its not like my word or word perfect where, if I hit the tab key I can add paragraphs—I am glad that you think I have something worthy to say but don’t care to spend the time or the effort trying to make it easier for you to read. Actually you are the only one who has ever complained. I don’t care if you delete your comments or not. If you would like however feel free to put it in any form you like. Just be sure to attribute the editing to you.
if it was a formal race
wouldn’t they have at least one chase/rescue boat close by to help them. My sense was it was simply a training day with a group of these extreme racers.
Like this
Use blank likes to make paragraphs (like everybody else does).
Try to use normal sentences instead of the run-on stuff connected by the odd multiple hyphens.
"but don't care to spend the time or the effort trying to make it easier for you to read"
It's not just -me-. Why should I take the care, when -you- don't take the care to present it reasonably?. If the author is clearly lazy in his presentation, the reader is not obligated to take any "care". (Note that you might not actually be lazy but the appearance does matter!)
"Actually you are the only one who has ever complained."
People typically don't want to take the time or take the risk. My only intent is to provide a benefit to you and, indirectly, to the other readers who might benefit from your posts.
-------------------
You provide a unique perspective, given your background. I'd like to see everybody benefit!
Here's an example with some very minor editing:
It's good stuff. Don't make it so hard to get to!
=========
When I go out on the ocean, even in good weather, I always have a VHF, compass, chart, GPS, tow rope, signal flares, cell phone, PFD, sling web, paddle float, pump. And, in all but the hottest weather, I am wearing a wetsuit (and in the hottest weather, I take it with me to put on if the weather changes). After September, instead a wet suit, it's a drysuit since, here in Maine, the water temp is quite cool.
I also always check the weather forecast, particularly paying attention to wind velocity and direction. And there have been plenty of times I've cancelled a trip due to weather.
The problem with these people is that they are not sea kayakers per se but so called extreme athletes. The fellow being interviewed emphasized repeatedly how fit everybody was, but not how experienced they were at ocean paddling.
First of all, I question how "fit" a person can be at age 60. Although, by the looks of him, he was in good shape for his age. As we get older, we get weaker. This is simply a fact of life and not to acknowledge it is foolish. Secondly, no matter how fit a person is at any age, the ocean is always stronger and if you don't exercise good judgment it will bite you--hard.
Finally, there is a attitude found in many "extreme" athletes, that they can overcome anything by virtue of muscle power alone. Here, you had 6 people in three boats setting off on an exposed crossing. It didn't say what the wind speed was when they started but it did say on the return trip that the windspeed was 85 kilometers (about 52 mph). They attempted the trip back in horrible conditions with no wet or drysuits, no VHF radios (and I suspect no rescue flares or other signaling devices) and apparently not a whole lot of seakayaking experience, except for the races they were in.
Granted, it may have been unpleasant to stay on the island to await calmer conditions or summon help but how many of you out there would attempt an open crossing in 52 mph winds without any type of rescue equipment other than a PFD? Better yet, how many of you would attempt such a crossing no matter what you had for equipment?
All that said, I also agree that it is a tragedy and my sympathy goes out to their friends and families.
When I was in
the US Air Force many years ago they periodically distributed magazines on both flying safety and driving safety. Both examined actual incidents, often in great detail, looking especially at the series of events and decisions which had led to fatal accidents. The purpose was solely to try to reduce the odds of similar accidents happening in the future. It made sense to me then and it still does now.
Yes
Yes, if it was formal, there might have been a "chase" boat.
"mindset of the paddlers" --> I think that's an important part of why things went the way they did.
so
how do you do that? Tried putting extra lines in but it doesn't post that way.
It’s simple
(By the way, read my post again. I made some additions to "my" part.)
OK. Now I get your problem (I think).
Just hit the "enter" key to get the blank lines. (You will need to hit it twice: once to end the current line, and again, to get the blank one).
It looks like you are trying to get stuff to go on to the next line by typing extra junk (like all those hyphens!). You don't want to use this techique because it makes stuff look like a mess to other readers unless they happen to be using the same window size, browser, font, etc as you.
Note that you can first type your message in MS Word or as an email. That way, you can also spell check it. Then cut-and-paste into here.
Try it.
got it
thanks
You’re welcome!
Cool. (Now I won’t need the can opener to get at the soup!)
careful LeeG
rvwen is a maven…
Whatever one needs, is what works
for them. There is a term used for the phenomenon of personalising Nature with human emotion etc. “The Bambi Syndrome”. My head is just too left brained to go there, but I understand how that works for others.
maven, what’s that?
and once again
You object but cannot control your mouse. Or making judgements for others what respectable behavior is.
This is a paddling forum. Someone else may benefit from the discussion. And if I were a family member I would encourage that.
maven
"An expert or connoisseur, often esp., a self proclaimed one"--Webster's New World Dictionary, Second Edition.
What I think he means is that she is the arbiter of good taste and manners.
got it
from B&B he’s the resident supporter of fundamentalist beliefs
no, that’s rWven, not rVwen
Kinda like confusing lesg and leeg.