canoes?
where did you get the ideal that canoes are unstable?
We ask questions about boats and gear here for the same reason we ask them at the putin, around the campfire, and everywhere else paddlers gather…to get other paddlers opinions based on their life experiences. We know they are just opinions and should be taken with a liberal dose of salt. but every little bit helps before plunking down that hard earned cash.
Usually I’m just looking for enough opinions that agree with mine so that I can rationalize the purchasing decision I’ve already 98% made prior to plunking down that cash.
Rebuttal
In an attempt to smooth some obviously ruffled feathers, let’s go back to square one.
I will make another try to restate my case.
For the benefit of a few readers, I will try not to use any words that have more than two syllables.
If you want to learn, ASK QUESTIONS!!! Ask them on sites like this one! Ask them where you work! Ask them wherever you spend your leisure time! Ask your friends! Ask your neighbors! Ask anyone who will listen!
That’s the best way we learn! By asking questions!
Try to collect as many ideas, suggestions, thoughts, and opinions as you possibly can!
But DO NOT walk into a store and say, “I want to buy that one because somebody on the Internet said it’s the one I should get.”!
Take all the information you have collected, assimilate it, (OOPS! Sorry! Four syllables!) and use it as a guide to help you make up your own mind about where, how, and on what, to best spend your money!
That’s what I mean by, “Stop letting someone else do your thinking for you!”
Why is “thinking” such a difficult concept for some people to grasp?
Celia, you’re quite perceptive, aren’t you? You think I’ve got a problem? You got that right!
When some people buy a guitar, they think it automatically makes them an expert singer! By the same token, when some people buy a boat, they think it automatically makes them an expert on boating and water safety! They think they are qualified to hand out advice, and the advice they pass around can lead to, at least, dissatisfaction, and sometimes, trouble, especially where safety is concerned.
My main problem is with people that do not know what they are talking about, they are very much aware of that fact, and their only objective is to try to impress everyone with their vast (non-existent or imaginary) knowledge! People like that are the ones who will readily take advantage of a good and honest person who only wants to learn! And they do not care about the potential consequences they often create for the “newbie” or the learner!
I am very much aware that 99.9% of the advice offered here and other sites is valid and well-intended, but that remaining .1% represents that proverbial “bad apple”! Those are the one’s you must be leery of!
I have no patience or tolerance for people like that, and when I read their “advice”, or hear their comments at work, or in a car dealership showroom, or standing in line at Wal Mart, I have a tendency to be very lacking in tact and diplomacy and I usually say exactly what’s on my mind without mincing words! Especially where someone’s safety, health, or well being is concerned!
Granted, I may be a sucker for the uninformed person who sincerely and desperately wants to learn, and if anyone views that as a weakness or a flaw in my character, you certainly have a right to your opinion! But if you do, I have to question your integrity and your sense of ethics!
I have no intention of “moderating” my response! I see no need to do so. I see nothing wrong with telling the truth or “telling it like it is”!
You “guess” that I spend much of my time alone? You “assume” I’ve paddled a kayak for 60 years?
It is not my desire to offend or upset anyone, but hey! I gotta “tell it like it is”!
I really don’t think you would be making unfair, unfounded, and inaccurate assessments of people if you were aware of what it does to your credibility!
Deral
Definitely that yak.
deral = pamlico140 on amphetamines
60 years in boats
– Last Updated: Jan-03-08 8:01 PM EST –
Your words, at least half of it listed boats you paddle. 60 years in kayaks is not what I said. You said "rowboats, bass boats, bay boats, pontoon boats, deck boats, party barges, canoes, rafts, fishing tubes, and inflatable crafts I’ve either owned or fished out of in the last sixty years. The largest boat I’ve fished out of was a ship while crossing the Atlantic. The smallest was a wash tub I fished out of when I was 6 years old."
Your posts are all over the place. No point in trying to sort out the advice of the moment. But you seem to feel strongly about what kind of help or advice other people should consider. Can't figure why this is so important to you or any particular thread on this board though.
Personally, I go with someone below. I like that yak.
Erroneous Comments
That isn’t what you said? You didn’t make reference to my “60 years of paddling”? Please permit me a direct quote;
“your 60 years of paddling experience” (From your post, dated the second of January at 12:27 A. M.)
I have rarely seen anyone trying to paddle a bass boat, bay boat, pontoon boat, deck boat, or a party barge! Nor have I done much of it myself!
My posts are “all over the place”?
Guess you’ll have to refresh my memory on this one! For the life of me, I can’t seem to find my posts anywhere on this board except on this thread! Do you consider that to be “all over the place”?
I “seem” to feel strongly about what kind of help or advice other people should consider? Valid statement here! I’m not sure what you are getting at, but is it safe to assume you are referring to the statement I made about this being the wrong place to ask what kind of yak you should get?
The only reason I said that is because this is the wrong place to ask what kind of yak you should get! It is also the wrong place to ask whether you should get a pick-up truck or a sedan! Or a two-door or a four-door! Questions like that should only be asked of yourself! If you ask anyone else, you are asking someone else to do your thinking for you!
And yes, that bothers me!
I teach a specific skill/trade at a local college and my students range in age between 18 to 80 years of age. For the older generation, this is not a problem. But for a large percentage of the 18 – 25 year old group, before I can teach them a skill, I must first teach them how to think for themselves! It amazes me how many “youngsters” are either incapable of, or simply have no desire to think for themselves! Twenty years ago, there were very few of them. But their numbers are growing exponentially every semester! And when you and I reach our “golden years”, those same kids will be running this country! Yeah, that bothers me!
I will suggest again that you refrain from making unfounded accusations and inaccurate assessments! Please remember what it does to your credibility!
Deral
Don’t waste your time, Celia.
It’s hopeless.
Punctuation
You should try using the occasional exclamation point to emphasize your thoughts.
!!!
Where did you come from, anyway?
I went to a trade school called MIT, and
I think for myself. But that, somehow, doesn’t cause me to make decisions in a vacuum without asking people who might know a thing or two. I even ask dealers now and then.
The fundamental premise put forth at the start of ths thread is all wrong.
You teach in a trade school? I’ll bet if you taught a whitewater school, you’d use the Flushing Technique. “Just make up your own minds, walk in from where you swim out, and tell us how it went!”
Thanks - wasn’t going to
– Last Updated: Jan-04-08 12:15 PM EST –
That was my last reply. Agree there is no hope.
But I think that we do have an answer about why this guy is so wired. He's a teacher/prof who has been off for the holidays and hasn't had any kids to lecture at or fellow staff to complain with. My husband teaches at college, and also finds the current undergraduate crop to have some pretty alarming characteristics.
None of this explains why pnet is a substitute, but there is that free speech thing.
Himilayan, Tibetan, or Mongolian yaks…
they are all good to eat, so is doesn’t matter really. But if you are talking about a kayak, then there is lots to discuss.
Yakity Yak don’t talk back!
WOW
you seem to be getting very worked up about this. But, I think its perfectly practical to ask on a site like this. If you supply us with Height, Weight, Type of paddling youll be doing, what you look for in a yak, then many paddlers should be able to get an idea of an ideal kayak model or two. For Example, a 6’5, 275 lbs man who wants to Paddle in rough sea conditions and cover long distances might need something like a Tsunami 175 or CD GT titan, whereas a 200 lbs mid-size paddler who wants to paddle large lakes but wants stability and roomyness might need something like a Dagger Echo 14
Thanks for sharing, deral
You’re a real character who seems to know a thing or two about sharing his oral history.
I hope you stop in every now and then to straighten us all out. I still blame the kayak designer, though – for pretty much everything.