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| - | ==== Lost Paddle/Boat Stories ==== | ||
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| - | \\ | ||
| - | **Reivers Dustin** \\ | ||
| - | 01/17/05 #89 | ||
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| - | Several years ago Greg Barton used to show up for our Wednesday night\\ | ||
| - | paddles. On this particular Wed. it was blowing really hard from the\\ | ||
| - | South and no one was there when I showed up. I was still paddling\\ | ||
| - | the Victory (the one the Ryler paddles) and decided I could use a\\ | ||
| - | little rough water drill. Besides, I just thought, hell ... it's a\\ | ||
| - | lake. What's the worst that can happen? | ||
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| - | I had a lot of trouble carrying my boat, had second thoughts, and had\\ | ||
| - | put it back on the rack when Greg showed up. I talked to him a bit\\ | ||
| - | and he said, just go into it, then surf back. Do a few runs 'till\\ | ||
| - | you're tired, then pack up. His attitude was calm and I got the\\ | ||
| - | sense that he didn't mind keeping one eye on me. So I went for it. \\ | ||
| - | He was looking at me close at first, then he blasted off toward\\ | ||
| - | Strawberry point. I struggled until I got pooped, turned it around\\ | ||
| - | and was thinking: "yeah, me and my buddy Greg. Wait till I tell the\\ | ||
| - | guys that weenied out." I did two more to windward, and that last\\ | ||
| - | time I was hammered flat. That's when I noticed that I was wobbly\\ | ||
| - | and couldn't focus. | ||
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| - | I hulied just at the end of that downwind run and there was Greg outa\\ | ||
| - | nowhere. I was smart about hangin onto my boat, but in a blink my\\ | ||
| - | paddle was ten yard away. Greg somehow got my paddle and brought it\\ | ||
| - | back to me. That was an amazing sight to see. I think he was on his\\ | ||
| - | Speedster. Anyway, it was all I could do to drag my shit back to the\\ | ||
| - | truck. The story was no longer cool enough to tell anyone about. | ||
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| - | I have another story about dumping five or six times in the bay with\\ | ||
| - | Larry B. and Dennis Mowrey. By then I knew about holding onto paddle\\ | ||
| - | and boat no matter what. On this trip I got a taste of hypothermia. \\ | ||
| - | I remember thinking: "I can see the face of God. That means he can\\ | ||
| - | see me and it's time to decide now if I'm done." So that's when I\\ | ||
| - | fugured out that the paddle should not do anything but keep me on top\\ | ||
| - | of the boat. I learned a bunch from this one. | ||
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| - | Just after I bought the Speedster I dumped in that lumpy patch in\\ | ||
| - | front of the Gazebo on a Wednesday nighter. I had heard about using\\ | ||
| - | the paddle to swim with and tried to catch my boat. The problem with\\ | ||
| - | this technique is that it takes huge power. I got close, but\\ | ||
| - | couldn't catch the boat. I could barely sit upright after we fetched\\ | ||
| - | up against the shore. It was amazing how fast the boat had gotten\\ | ||
| - | away. | ||
| - | |||
| - | My last story is about taking Ryler on a storm paddle. We went to\\ | ||
| - | Marine park and he showed up w/o paddle leash. An unwanted vision\\ | ||
| - | entered my head, so we went up to Lake Padden instead. I have never\\ | ||
| - | seen anything like this before: the wind (Williwa's, I think they're\\ | ||
| - | called) would pick up water off of the lake and make a huge wall of\\ | ||
| - | mist go blasting across the lake. It took both of us to handle one\\ | ||
| - | boat at a time. We did several loops and I kept watching for one of\\ | ||
| - | those Williwa's. They seemed to come in sets at the West end. Sure\\ | ||
| - | enough one came about when I thought. The sound was scary as hell. \\ | ||
| - | I had made the turn into it at the right time. Not Ryler. He said\\ | ||
| - | he was blown off the boat. | ||
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| - | We fished all the pieces together, finished that loop and packed up. \\ | ||
| - | This was all perfect for me. I wanted the guy to have a humbling\\ | ||
| - | experience and he did. I've given Ry a paddle leash and hope like\\ | ||
| - | hell he uses it. Like most of us paddlers, he can summon huge level\\ | ||
| - | of effort at crunch time. Maybe that's what is so addictive: the\\ | ||
| - | edge, the zone, or whatever. | ||
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| - | Man, I sure love this sport. | ||
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| - | rd | ||
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