Just strike up a controversy people will check in to see the responses. I like “Pretty Pictures-Just Pretty Pictures” much better. It has 145K views and 2.6K responses. Many of which are tied into paddling but not all. Of course, post what you want as long as it is civil, but I don’t think views necessarily equate to likes. Not everything has to be about paddling, but that is this site’s primary focus.
Here are a couple Photos that are water oriented if not paddle oriented. I sure would love to sail and paddle there though.
The cliff King Aegeus is purported to have thrown himself off of when thinking his son had died. His son Theseus forgot to change the ship’s sail from black to white on his return from Crete where he killed the mythical Minotaur. The sea is now called the Aegean Sea.
There used to be more than a few “paddling specific” topics that were “controversial” and generated robust (and even “heated”) discussions among the past PNet paddling enthusiasts: GP vs Euro paddles, SINKs vs SOTs, Brit style vs American (PNW) style boat, wetsuit vs drysuit, paddle leash or not, Goretex vs other “breatheables”, rolling or not, minimum length criteria for a “seakayak”, high brace vs low brace, RM vs composite, NDK vs everything else, etc.
The controversies have died down because (those I considered) the “hard core” paddling members of PNet have died or faded away. Just as some of the hard core paddling sites have faded away. There are not many of the original members left here to argue paddling related content with. That may be a “good thing”… LOL.
My preferences are GP vs Euro is both depending but mostly use my GP. Sinks vs SOT, Sinks but SOT have their uses for sure. Brit vs PNW is Brit. Leash or not I like a leash but don’t always use it. Gore-Tex but the others have improved enough I will use them too. Need to work on my roll but that doesn’t stop me. I like 16’ to 18’ sea kayaks. Low brace but high brace has its place. Composites defiantly but RM or Royalex (or its new replacements) if lots of rocks are involved. NDK are good but so are so many others. I had a chance to get a couple but didn’t feel the need to replace what I paddle. Kayak or canoe, for the coast and lakes, I use a sea kayak. For swamps and rivers, I prefer a canoe but will use my kayaks too. For camping I use both.
I like this topic (though a bit hijacked)
. GP V Euro paddle - Euro 100%
. SINK V SOT - SINK 100% (though I paddled a surfski for a couple years)
. Brit V NW - Brit 75% (though these days, don’t paddle much UK anymore)
. wetsuit V drysuit - drysuit 100% (when in MN, surf in WA) (neither these days - FL)
. paddle leash - 0%
. Gortex V others - any
. rolling V not - rolling 100% (for SINK, alone, ocean or other big water)
. length for SK - not much care, maybe over 16’ (though a couple that I paddle are <16)
. RM V composite - 99% composite (mainly for weight, the 1% would be for the oyster bed times)
. NDK V others - 80% NDK (though I don’t paddle them anymore - too heavy for this lightweight)
. skeg V rudder - skeg 99%
. tiny hatch forward of cockpit - 0%
. fishform V swedeform - fish 90% (def: see Swede Form Hull????)
. compass V gps - 100% gps (though I carry a compass in my kit)
. pfd - inflatable V not - 100% inflatable (though I am in the very much minority here)
Those pics remind me that I sometimes wish I could have been with the “experienced” used boats I have acquired over the years with their prior owners. I bought my Feathercraft Wisper folder sea kayak from a couple who took two of them around the Aegean coasts on a camping expedition for a month. They shared their photo logs with me and Poseidon’s castle was one of the stops that they recorded going ashore to visit, They enjoyed the experience so much they sold their pair of Wispers so they could buy a FC K-2 Expedition tandem for their next trip, the Adriatic coasts of Italy and Croatia.
And more recently I acquired a Northwest Discover that was retired from the fleet of an outfitter who operated in the San Juan Islands and Georgian Strait. It must have seen some great trips.
I do wonder where the weird British “surf touring” kayak I collected 2 years ago was used before it ended up in a western Pennsylvania yard sale.
I might have these wistful feelings about my various crafts’ histories and travels because my favorite book as a kid (and I still have a copy) was Holling Clancy Holling’s “Paddle-to-the-Sea”. I confess my love of that story contributed to my urge to take up paddling. (and my exasperating early experiences with flailing partners in tandem canoes at scouting camps lead me to prefer going solo.)
I recently gave copies of the book to both my daughters to ignite and incite the imaginations of their children. A proud grandpa’s gift to formative minds. I love the story and the pictures in the book I gave them.
The guide we had in Greece said she found a place on the Corinthian coast for a couple that wanted to rent a house and kayak from there. I must admit the idea has been paddling around in my mind ever since. I love the ancient myths and Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey so standing in the ruins of temples and cities from those days was a special connection I never thought I would make.
But where do you place your coffee grounds,
when all you see by the sea is this dive town?
As I guess down through the Aegeus for all us turning over pages,
when it’s back-in-black you’ll know that you’re ground down.
(And likely not me would wear that pfd,
for overheated in discourse I’d surely drown.)
PTFE? PFD?
Initially at the surface it’s repelling.
DWC? it’s wearin’ thin for me!
Don’t wise crack in armor floated hope is selling.
(something lurking deep beneath is just now welling)
(and the mystery in such grey things never telling)
To this day, when I see the Great Lakes on any map I am seeing a wolf’s head, a hanging gourd squash, a trapper bent under his packframe loaded with furs, a slab of coal and a bunch of carrots.
