tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-53474638402985647602024-03-18T07:44:57.520-07:00Paddle CaliforniaThoughts from the world of kayaking centered in California. Ocean, whitewater, flatwater, wherever the paddling takes me. Trip reports, gear reviews, teaching and leadership, with pictures and video.Bryant Burkhardthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14962650670783506022noreply@blogger.comBlogger293125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5347463840298564760.post-9048980347582143512020-06-13T08:52:00.001-07:002020-06-13T08:52:42.026-07:00My Journey on RaceI often get a little introspective about kayaking on this blog. I believe that reviewing what we've done and learned in the past helps us learn more and make better decisions in the future. This is true of life as well as paddling and sometimes the two intersect, sometimes life seems more important than paddling. In this current moment of increased attention on the Black Lives Matter movement, with hundreds of thousands of people demonstrating in the streets to fight for justice, I think it's important we all take the time to reflect on ourselves. Who we are. How we got here. What role we play in society and what we can do to help others, whether they are paddlers or not. Because the kayaking community has a great tradition of helping its own, but who gets to be in our group reflects manner of the same prejudices and disparities as the rest of the world. If nothing else, let's increase our awareness of that reality.<br />
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/--OYhLIdJ7_U/XuTzV-1URJI/AAAAAAAAZvU/8oCVEmfO_F0VXxXaVnJ3St6NtiEn-Ne0ACLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/Bryant%2Braft%2Bguiding%2Bsmaller.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="756" data-original-width="538" height="200" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/--OYhLIdJ7_U/XuTzV-1URJI/AAAAAAAAZvU/8oCVEmfO_F0VXxXaVnJ3St6NtiEn-Ne0ACLcBGAsYHQ/s200/Bryant%2Braft%2Bguiding%2Bsmaller.png" width="141" /></a><span style="font-family: "arial";"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span id="goog_1617328388"></span><span id="goog_1617328389"></span>[1970’s] I grew up a white boy in a white farm town in Minnesota. There was literally one Black kid in school. The only other Black people I saw were on TV. Race wasn’t an issue because it didn’t seem to exist. Racism was an abstract concept, like an alligator, or monsoon. I was happy in a selfish way like all children should be.
That isn’t to say it was ideal. Far from it. My lack of personal interactions with People of Color made them something foreign. Not to be feared or looked down upon - my parents made it clear everyone was inherently worthy of my respect and friendship regardless of their skin color - but simply something unknown. And if you don’t know something it’s hard to care about it.
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<span style="font-family: "arial";"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px; white-space: pre-wrap;">[1980’s] When I got to a larger high school which was slightly more diverse, I was still surrounded by whiteness. I took AP classes and played on the tennis team - no People of Color so no racism to be found (I’ve later learned how absence can be the best proof of existence). By this point I realized some people were racist, but it seemed like an isolated, individual thing. Not my concern. My social studies and history classes taught us the evils of slavery and segregation, but they were clearly THINGS IN THE PAST. So much real history and current events which would have revealed a darker, less flattering picture of my country and peers was left out without comment.
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2015/05/18/407665820/why-did-we-forget-the-move-bombing" target="_blank">MOVE Bombing in Philadelphia</a></td></tr>
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I’m not sure how much the lack of color in the student body directly related to the slant of the curriculum. I’m sure some, but I also think the historical failings of America are always taught as someone else’s fault - for us we were the good northern whites, for others they were the noble southerners who opposed slavery but revered states’ rights. Whatever the excuse, nothing and no one ever really opened me up to the perspective of the marginalized and oppressed. All my education came from white people and was geared to assuage White Guilt. At the time it seemed simple truth. Only a sheltered high school kid would think truth was simple.
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[1990’s] After growing up in a small town, I moved to the big city of St. Paul for college. A liberal school with a large international population nestled in among old mansions and a growing Hmong community. Much more diverse than where I grew up, but not in a representative way. My dorm neighbor freshman year was a Black guy from Chicago. He was also wealthy, came from an elite private academy, a hell of a sharp dresser and made the ladies swoon. He seemed better off than me. I studied physics and continued playing tennis and was mostly surrounded by white people much like myself. The one Black kid on the tennis team had grown up around the world with diplomat parents. He had attended famous tennis academies, had private coaches, and was the #1 player on the team whereas I was a scrub on the bench. He wasn’t my equal - he was my better. Racism didn’t seem to have had much effect on those around me.
Of course, this wasn’t true. I never really bothered to learn the whole stories of those two gentlemen, or any of the other People of Color at my school, but in retrospect I’m sure they faced all kinds of challenges which would have stopped me cold. I failed to grasp that perhaps the reason why those Black students seemed so exceptional was because it took exceptional circumstances and character for them to make it to the same place where my generic, middle-class, white-ass education had brought me. A same result isn’t proof of similar ability if the testing conditions aren’t equal.
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.npr.org/2017/04/26/524744989/when-la-erupted-in-anger-a-look-back-at-the-rodney-king-riots" target="_blank">Rodney King Beating</a></td></tr>
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Graduate school brought me to Los Angeles, a more diverse city overall but not necessarily where I landed. My physics program had no Black students or instructors and campus was across the street from Bel Air. While the neighborhood had many more shades of brown, it didn’t have much Black. For the most part everyone I knew seemed colorblind and accepting of others and there just wasn’t any pressing need for me to look beyond my own experience.
After graduate school I eventually landed in middle management in a private education company in the same neighborhood. I was in charge of hiring instructors and part time staff and I never once considered race when interviewing. I made decisions based on experience and credentials - and gut instinct. Let’s not forget that every hiring manager knows they have to trust their gut when considering candidates. I didn’t really consider how my ‘gut’ always seemed to favor people who looked like me and came from similar circumstances. Those with a shared community and vocabulary. But I wasn’t racist, so that was fine, right? Implicit bias is a hell of a drug.
Looking back I think my track record on dealing with the people who showed up for jobs was fine. But I never really questioned exactly how those people made it in the door and why so few Black people even applied. I certainly never did anything to expand our pool of applicants. I never did any outreach to the Black community or sought to make our company’s services more readily available to the disadvantaged. We helped people get into schools, but only if they could afford us. That’s capitalism and I was there to make money for the company.
I never looked at how centuries of systemic racism, redlining, school segregation, and just plain racist people have greatly limited wealth and economic opportunity in the Black community. I looked at what was in front of me and tried to treat everyone equally without stepping back to see the inequality which starts at the beginning of every Black life and which I perpetuated. Making society better, more fair, was extra work and no one paid me to do it so I didn’t even think of the option. It’s so easy to be a good guy in a bad system as long as you aren’t the one being harmed.
[2000’s] Nearing my thirties, working in middle management for a company focused on helping mostly the privileged, and with lots of opportunities for advancement - I bailed on my career. Capitalism wasn’t my thing so I pursued my new sport: kayaking. If anything, kayaking is whiter than the tennis I had played in high school and college. Kayaking became my job (instructor), my hobby, and my source of friends and acquaintances. All white. My holdover connections from the past were overly educated white people or tenuous connections to my childhood white farming community. I didn’t have any personal connections to the Black community or any compelling reason to learn about it.
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.politico.com/story/2011/04/birtherism-where-it-all-began-053563" target="_blank">President Obama and Birtherism</a></td></tr>
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A solid decade of pursuing my self interest led to very little interest in the rest of society. But it’s not like I wasn’t aware. The internet really changed how information came in, and even before our current overload of social media it was impossible for me not to soak up what was happening in the rest of the world. It was impossible to live in society, interacting with others, catching snippets of the news, having small talk with random people, and not see the truth. In politics, social justice, economic welfare, racial equality - they were all a hot mess where those with advantage used it to take more advantage. Inequality, discrimination, and injustice were everywhere and obvious and I no longer wanted to be a part of such a stupid and cruel system. I bailed on society.
Of course, that’s perhaps the greatest example of privilege there is. I had the resources to do nothing but eke by a meager living and spend only on myself. The freedom to ignore the evils of society because they weren’t visited upon me. Some years I technically lived in poverty, but I never felt poor. I was a well-educated white guy and if I wanted to make money I could always get a job. If I really needed something I had family and friends who would help me (and could afford to). It wasn’t that I had done anything special to have such resources available. Just by who I was born to and how my skin color had smoothed my way through life, flowing around obstacles and intermingling with other like-colored individuals, I accumulated a vast wealth of social capital that allowed me to step away from any responsibility to anyone outside my insular bubble. I could afford to be selfish. The world doesn’t give that same opportunity to everyone and eventually I’d have to confront that fact.
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.bryantburkhardtkayaking.com/" target="_blank">My Paddling Memoir</a></td></tr>
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[2010’s] My life changed in many ways when I hit my forties and decided to turn my hobby of writing into a new career. I studied the craft of writing, and that included reading widely and listening to different voices. In the past, the stories I read were often centered on straight, white, male heroes. People like me. And the authors who wrote those stories were usually the same. As I branched out, I discovered so many new stories and perspectives. So much wonderful talent and humanity. And if I wanted to write more than self-insert hero fantasies, I needed to understand and appreciate the full diversity of real-world people in order to bring it to my characters and books.
But what started as an effort to improve my work became a chance to improve myself. Fiction tends to hold the truth up in a way that makes it clearer than reality. It also led me to many great people who happened to be authors of color. I became aware of marginalized communities as individual people, and once you start to see people it’s hard not to listen to them. And I heard the same stories of discrimination and prejudice over and over again. Black kids who had no access to decent textbooks, much less AP courses. Black authors who continually get praised for speaking so well, as if it’s a surprise someone with their skin color can be eloquent. Black physicists who still get mistaken for waiters when they show up at a fancy dinner in a tuxedo. In a myriad of ways, in every aspect of life, the experience of being Black in America was so much different from my own, with so many more obstacles that no one should have to overcome.
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/race/reports/2018/02/21/447051/systematic-inequality/" target="_blank">Racial Disparities in Wealth</a></td></tr>
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But those were just stories. Still a scientist at heart, I wanted data. I read articles and books, both scholarly and journalistic. I followed modern Black activists and learned more about their predecessors. I paid attention to the details. What I found didn’t just confirm the stories but expanded on the injustice in deeper ways. From the implicit bias which makes white educators look at Black children as more responsible for their actions compared to white kids, and white doctors believe Black patients are more pain tolerant so they under-prescribe painkillers. To the explicit bias of racial profiling in everything from traffic stops to mortgage loans. I learned about redlining and how our capitalistic system allowed the white people with money to force segregation upon Blacks while making a profit from it (segregation which is actually getting worse today). I learned about the Tulsa massacre, the MOVE bombing in Philadelphia, and the Jon Burge scandal in the Chicago PD. I learned how the Black Panthers started the idea of free breakfasts for school children while the FBI worked hard to get them killed. Through it all I found statistic after statistic that showed Black Americans were behind in nearly every measure of success, from wealth to health, from crime to education, and even in simple human respect.
And if Black Americans are behind, the obvious question is why? What could explain such discrepancies? I could only come up with two general answers:
1. Systemic racism. If our society has a racial bias that exists in the majority group, the ones who currently hold, and have always held, wealth, power, and influence, then it would create an uneven playing field which would result in unequal results.
2. Black people are somehow inferior. Whether it’s genetics or culture, it would take some across-the-board fundamental deficiency in Black people to explain why they are behind in so many areas of life.
When looking for an answer, my training has taught me to go for the simplest theory which explains all the data. That led me to number one. Because there are all kinds of problems and deficiencies with number two. Aside from being the basic definition of racism, blaming Black people for their problems doesn’t really explain a lot of the data. It doesn’t explain why police arrest Blacks at three times the rate of whites for marijuana possession even though they both use it at the same rate. It doesn’t explain why Black women with the same education and experience get paid less for doing the same job as white women, even if the Black women score better on every job metric. It doesn’t explain why so many people believed a Harvard educated American Christian was a Kenyan Muslim simply because he became President (and had brown skin).
But racism explains it all. Subtle racism like we see in our everyday lives and on social media. Overt racism like we saw in Charlottesville. Institutional racism like we see our criminal justice and healthcare systems. The truth is we all know racism was prevalent in the founding of our country. We all know it existed in law and practice well after the Civil War. We certainly didn’t end it in a generation - most of today’s political leaders were born before the Civil Rights Act was passed. In America, racism is the default and it should be assumed until someone can present a ton of evidence showing it no longer exists. I’ve never seen that evidence. Racism is the inescapable truth at the end of the road.
I’m still not done with my journey. I’m not perfect. I don’t know it all and I don’t do enough to help fight injustice. I have racist thoughts and say racist things without knowing it. But I’m trying to be better. I try to fight my implicit biases and listen to others when I’m called out. I try to be anti-racist instead of silently complicit. I try to be an ally and raise up voices from the Black community. I think less of myself than I used to but I’m more at peace with who I am, flaws and all. And that is what I’d like people to take away from my journey. Not so much about me and where I’m at, but that it’s worthwhile to do the work. It’s worth it to admit ignorance and be uncomfortable around a topic. It’s time well spent listening to others, especially those who are different from you, and offering them the basic kindness of understanding. It’s worth it to enrich ourselves but more importantly it’s necessary for the well-being of our Black brothers and sisters. We owe it to them because Black Lives Matter. Always.
We can’t change where we started but we don’t have to be stuck where we are. We all have a journey and it starts with one step. Be brave. Listen.</span></span><br />
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Bryant Burkhardthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14962650670783506022noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5347463840298564760.post-13685909815694341912020-04-23T07:37:00.000-07:002020-04-23T07:37:51.329-07:00So There Was This Time When...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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If there's anything kayakers like (almost) as much as paddling, it's telling paddling stories. Around the campfire, while sitting on the beach, or even while kayaking, we all love to share our past adventures and hear about what other people have done, be it large or small. Stories are one of the strongest bonds that tie humanity together, and while they can serve as a pleasant way to relax in good times, they also serve as a support system and a way to strengthen communities during times of stress.<br />
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As someone who's shared a lot of stories (shameless self-promotion: my kayaking memoir <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Paddlers-Journey-Adventures-wisdom-gained-ebook/dp/B0113EDCR4/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8" target="_blank">A PADDLER'S JOURNEY</a> is available in paperback or ebook), I encourage everyone to take some time to write your own stories down on paper or computer. Maybe even record a video. Save your stories now while so many of us are alone and isolated and with each passing day our memories of what really happened fade a little bit more. Share them with your buddies or your local kayak club. Or save them for your kids when they get older (and can handle the truth). You'll find the process of writing or recording will force you to remember more. It will make the images clearer and the idea behind the store more forceful. It will give you more happiness in the moment and it will save some for posterity.<br />
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And as a writer and paddler I have a few pieces of advice to get the most out of your stories (caveat: feel free to ignore everything I say because what works for one person doesn't work for everyone. Find your own path).<br />
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- Think about your audience. When you're telling someone a story, that person is right in front of you and you automatically tailor what you say to who they are and how they react. Writing is different. You have to think about who you want and expect to read this. Are they a paddler? Do they know what a boof or a pourover is? Will they want to hear about a grand adventure they might never be able to do themselves or would they like to hear about something that reminds them of what they've already experienced? Do you want them to learn a little more about who you are as a person or do you want them to have a good laugh? Maybe your audience is just yourself, and you want to record your stories so you don't forget the little details later. Until you know who you are writing for it's very hard to get anything right.<br />
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- Think about the point of the story. When we're talking in real-time, we normally share a series of events that can ramble around and around, even circling back before arriving at a theme, but when you organize a story into a different medium it becomes necessary to have a point to the whole thing from the start. A thread the action carries through it. It doesn't have to be something deep and grand, but it should be something relatable. Something like: mishaps happen to the unprepared (and it's funny!); it takes courage to attempt something that will change you; friends in hard times are important. Sometimes you won't really see what your point is until you finish the story - but that's a good time to go back and start again! Which leads to the most important point:<br />
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- Editing is necessary. Everyone's first draft is pretty crappy compared to what they are capable of. You might be able to get something down on paper the first go-round that is easy to read and gets the point across, but I guarantee you will be able to improve it if you take another look and spend a little more time on it. Editing isn't everyone's favorite thing to do, and it might not be necessary if your goal is simply to record the facts, but it really is the best way to get something out of your own writing. It's when you have a chance to analyze not only what happened but how it sits in your mind and fits into the bigger picture. It allows you the creativity to change and improve how you word things. It's the core of what writing really is.<br />
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I hope you all take the time to write out your stories. Share them - you can do it here in the comments if you want. I've shared many over the years, but here's one I don't think I've told before, just to show that it doesn't have to be a long epic, it doesn't have to require near-death experiences or hilarious adventure. It just needs to connect us to the humanity in everyone.<br />
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<b><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The Best Tip</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I've taught a lot of kayak classes and the particulars tend to blend together, but one sticks out not for what happened on the water but afterward. There was a mother (mid 40's) and daughter (college student) in a beginning whitewater class. Neither were great athletes or outdoor adventurers. They both did fine, as I recall, but it was clear the mother had signed them up as a bonding experience, and me and my fellow instructor were wise enough to stay out of their way and let them enjoy their time together. After our wrap-up for the two-day class the mother came over with a big smile and gave us a generous tip - more than enough for the two of them. Always nice to get some extra cash for having the sense not to work too hard.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">A few minutes later, as me and my buddy were cleaning up gear, the daughter came over, a little hesitantly. She said she didn't have any money, but she was an art student and she had made a couple postcards as a class project and wanted to give each of us one. I think we all knew that a couple of river bums who lived in tiny rented rooms weren't really the art-collecting type, but we expressed our gratitude and she rushed back to her mom. I headed home and threw the card in my desk drawer.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Here's the part where you might expect me to say I still have that card. Maybe even framed it and put it up on a wall now that I have a house (and a daughter) of my own. But I don't. It's long gone. I mean, it stayed with me for half a dozen moves and it was always right there in my desk whenever I sat down to write. But years ago I needed to send a thank you note to a friend who had been there when I needed them. I knew what card to send.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">You see, the card had made me feel good about myself for having helped another person feel a little joy. It only seemed proper to send it along to give someone else that same feeling of satisfaction and gratitude. And that's my tip to you: art is meant to be shared, and in so doing it honors both the giver and the receiver.</span><br />
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<br />Bryant Burkhardthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14962650670783506022noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5347463840298564760.post-68724746842395870462020-04-15T09:15:00.000-07:002020-04-15T09:15:23.534-07:00Kayak Lessons: The Path Less Evil<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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One of the best life skills you can learn through paddling, yet one many paddlers seem oblivious to, is how to manage group dynamics. You can learn a lot about this when paddling with your friends or a relatively small group of like-minded paddlers, but the best lessons come through large group paddles like those associated with a kayak club. These paddles create many opportunities similar to our experiences in society itself: how to coordinate and communicate with others, how to reach compromise, how to deal with people at different skill and knowledge levels, how to share and take turns, and even how to deal with a-holes.<br />
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Imagine the following scenario. You're on a group paddle with a dozen or more club paddlers heading down the coast. You reach a shoal between the mainland and a large island. You can cut through the rocks but it looks rough in there, or you can go around the island which will be a lot longer and at least partially into strong headwinds. Neither is an appealing choice, but the shoal would be genuinely dangerous to some of the weaker paddlers in your group - we're talking certain swims, likely boat damage, possible bodily injury. And if you go around the island the strong paddlers (including you) will likely be needed to support, and maybe even tow, the weaker ones. You come together as a group to discuss options and one guy (there's always one guy) says you should just go through the rocks. It'll be fine (he means he will be fine). And if anyone doesn't want to go that way they can go around on their own. This proclamation is met with a long pause.<br />
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It's at this point you think it all could have been avoided if people had listened when you suggested a paddle on the other side of the Bay. You all could have been paddling in a sheltered cove. Maybe taken a lunch break on a white sand beach where there's an ice cream stand and a beachfront brewery. Instead of choosing between epic disaster and a long slog, you could have been munching on a waffle cone and sipping a Guinness. But no, everyone wanted to do something else. No one listened to you then so why should you speak up now. Let them follow the fool into danger if they can't see the better choice is to go around and keep everyone safe.<br />
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And lots of folks will keep silent for various reasons. Maybe some share your distaste in the poor choices in front of you. Maybe some are just afraid - afraid of speaking up, afraid both choices will put them at risk, afraid people will think they are afraid. Maybe some really don't know how to evaluate the choices and don't know what's safe and what's not. So while it's natural to want to leave people to suffer for their own failures to make good decisions, at some point you realize what this means. It means Suzy, who brought three different delicious pies to share at the last meeting but can barely keep up with the group at best of times, will suffer, and suffer more if the group doesn't make the better choice now. It means Jim, the retired social worker who just started paddling but once gave you a lift home from a paddle after you lost your car keys, will suffer. As will some people who you don't really know but are probably decent human beings too. That's not really fair or decent.<br />
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You have the experience and abilities to know choosing the lesser of two evils means less evil, which is sometimes the best you can hope for. You know you should speak up. You should make the argument for the best course of action and you should do so determinedly and with passion to make sure the group arrives at the best decision. Not for your sake - you'll be fine no matter what - but for the sake of those who could use your help. That's what it means to be a member of a group. You look out for everyone and make the best of even the worst situations. Maybe you do it because it's the right thing to do. Maybe you do it because you've relied on others for help before and you're likely to need it again. Maybe you just do it because you really like Suzy's pie. But if we all help each other we all end up in a better place, because even the best solo paddlers got there with help from others. Paddling is a community (as is the whole world), and we look after our own (everyone).<br />
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<br />Bryant Burkhardthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14962650670783506022noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5347463840298564760.post-42851788868299811872020-02-10T06:40:00.001-08:002020-02-10T06:40:27.313-08:00Kayak Lessons: Beginner Rules and Developing Judgment<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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My daughter is now three years old and even though I try to let her learn about the world through experience and exploration I also give her some hard and fast rules: never touch the stove; don't play in the street; always tell the truth. When I taught people how to kayak I did the same: never kayak alone; always wear your lifevest; don't paddle beyond your abilities. But here's the thing, I don't follow those rules. None of the good kayakers I know follow them. Are we all a bunch of big hypocrites or are kayakers really just a bunch of three-year-olds?<br />
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The truth is: rules exist to take the place of judgment. Beginners (and toddlers) lack both the knowledge and experience to have good judgment so they need something to use instead to keep them safe until they have developed the judgment to make good decisions. Simple rules serve that purpose. But as you grow and develop in the real world you find out life is seldom simple and rules will never be able to guide you through all the complexities you will face in your paddling experience. At some point you leave the rules behind. Hopefully, by teaching people to follow rules that err on the side of safety, they won't break those rules until they are ready. It's not a perfect system but it works pretty well in kayaking (and many other areas of life).<br />
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So the questions comes in: when should we break the rules? For instance, I love to paddle solo. Some of my favorite memories and most rewarding experiences have happened on the water by myself. And while it's true that paddling alone is more dangerous than paddling with other paddlers of equal skill, not all danger is bad and more people is not always safer. Everything has risk, and judgment is knowing how to accurately assess that risk and make a good decision on how much you are willing and able to handle. I did a two-week circumnavigation of a remote island off the coast of British Columbia all alone (story <a href="https://paddlebc.blogspot.com/2009/09/home-sweet-home.html">here</a>), but only have a decade of experience and serious devotion to developing the skills and judgment needed to handle such an adventure. I never felt at any significant risk given my abilities and equipment even though I encountered conditions in locations that probably would have been fatally dangerous to an entire group of intermediates. But earlier that same year I made a bad judgment call that nearly cost me my life even though it followed good safety protocols - paddling a river I'd done many times before with a group of extremely skilled friends (story <a href="https://paddlecalifornia.blogspot.com/2011/09/astral-swim-contest-i-need-your-vote.html">here</a>). Everybody gets things wrong sometimes but it's extremely useful to know who commonly makes mistakes and why - so you can avoid them.<br />
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Studies have shown that adventure athletes are most likely to make serious mistakes of judgment at two different times in their careers. Not beginners. They tend to be pretty safe, following the rules because they know they don't know any better. But once they become new intermediates with a little bit of time and experience under their belt they often overestimate their own knowledge and skill, use their supposed judgment in a new situation, and get into trouble. It's the group that has paddled on several lakes deciding they are ready for a protected ocean bay without knowing what tidal currents are all about. It's the class III whitewater kayaker who thinks they can handle a new class III river because the rating is the same without bothering to understand how committing the run is or what type of hazards exist. They mistake their very limited knowledge and experience as a good basis for using judgment to replace the rules when they are not ready, or they misinterpret the rules because they don't use their common sense to carefully apply them.<br />
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We make this mistake so often in life as well: assuming our very limited knowledge and experience gives us good judgment when in reality we are simply clueless to the larger realities that exist and contradict our own perceptions. I see white people claim that racism isn't a problem anymore because they don't see it (<a href="https://racism.org/index.php/articles/race/white-privilege/1890-the-ultimate-white-privilege-statistics-data-post-2">reality</a>); people with no economics training claim our economy must be doing well because the stock market is rising (<a href="https://tcf.org/content/report/true-state-u-s-economy/?agreed=1">reality</a>); all kinds of folks believing gender identity is the same as biological sex because we were taught that as kids (<a href="https://time.com/5432006/trump-administration-transgender-definition-intersex-gender-sex/">reality</a>). Most of us have a lot of experiences in our lives but we fail to grasp how the big, wide world is different than our little corner. We are fortunate in that we have the ability to learn from others' experiences by reading and listening to people different from ourselves and those who have studied widely. Sadly, we too often rely on our own limited realities instead of seeking out knowledge that would greatly improve our judgments. We could become experts, or at least listen to those who are.<br />
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But that brings up the other people most likely to make lethal mistakes: the experts. Not because they are pushing the limits of risk on new and dangerous adventures. No, experts are most likely to get killed doing something they've done before - a familiar run or known location. Their mistake is they use their past judgment - I've paddled this river before and survived - instead of applying their full judgment on the current situation. Maybe the river is at a higher level, maybe the weather conditions are different, maybe they are not performing at the same level they used to. Judgment is only good if it is constantly questioning itself and using all knowledge and experience to evaluate current conditions.<br />
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This happens often in academic fields. While it is the nature of scientific discovery to always be questioning itself, which does lead to advancement and improvement, it is part of human nature for the individual scientist to lag behind. As someone with an economics degree from twenty-five years ago, I can safely assert that many things I learned in college are now inaccurate based on studies and findings that have come out since. But I regularly see experts and pundits in the media quoting the same historical ideas as if the world and our knowledge haven't changed. What my training did give me, what anyone can apply, is the format to approach new information and the tools to incorporate more facts into my evaluation of what is good. Raising wages doesn't necessarily hurt employment (<a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2017/01/economism-and-the-minimum-wage/513155/">reality</a>). GDP growth is not the same as a prosperous and healthy society (<a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/2016-us-vs-china-economy/">reality</a>). Just because you knew something was true before does not mean it is now, and basing your decisions off old knowledge is as reckless as basing them off no knowledge.<br />
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Kayaking, like life, is complicated. Most of us are past the stage where we should have to depend on blindly following rules we learned long ago. We aren't three-year-olds anymore. But we need to develop and refine our judgment instead of assuming the simple act of growing older is enough to imbue us with wisdom. Maturation only happens through careful reflection upon our own experiences and listening to and understanding the experiences of others. The best judgment is always improving and the truest bravery is admitting what you don't know.<br />
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<br />Bryant Burkhardthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14962650670783506022noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5347463840298564760.post-77109802397953229772020-01-14T12:07:00.000-08:002020-01-14T12:07:59.631-08:00Kayak Lesson: Good Outcome =/= Good Decision<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I have a kayaking friend who's, well, let's not call him old but just 'very experienced', and he likes to say that good judgment comes from experience - and experience comes from bad judgment. And it's true: we tend to learn best from our own mistakes. The problem is that we often don't recognize when we make a mistake of judgment because we assume that a good outcome means we made a good decision. Not true.<br />
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Because you have to understand the nature of risk is one of probability and consequences. If you run that rapid, what are the odds you'll flip? If you flip, what are the chances you'll swim? If you swim, how likely are you to get hurt (or killed)? Just because you get a certain result in a single roll of the dice doesn't mean it was likely or that the outcome was a result of skill and ability instead of pure chance. Most people, if they paddle away from a rapid, take that as evidence they made a good decision without critically examining what actually happened. Aside from leading to a false sense of confidence that will ultimately lead to disaster it also is a missed opportunity to learn from your mistakes without having to suffer negative consequences first.<br />
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Think about this in pure statistical form. How much would you bet on flipping a coin so it comes up heads? Odds are fifty/fifty, so it's worth a little risk. But if you won, would you then assume it proves you're really good at flipping coins? Would you stake your life that the next flip also comes up heads? Or would you realize your win involved a certain bit of luck and does not guarantee a repeat? If you have a fifty percent chance of returning from a kayak outing with a dislocated shoulder, you'd think long and hard before you headed out. If you chose to go and came back unscathed, and you did that again and again, the odds of getting hurt approach one hundred percent real quick - just like the odds of the coin will come up tails sooner or later (most likely sooner).<br />
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Studies have shown leading factors in deadly accidents for experts (people who have enough experience to presumably have good judgment) include underestimating familiar dangers and an unwillingness to re-evaluate decisions once they commit, even if a bailout presents itself. There's also lots of evidence that humans love to engage in ex post facto motivated reasoning: using our final position to justify the reasoning that lead to that state. We can do better, but only if we're aware of our natural shortcomings and create a decision-making model that includes our weaknesses and deliberate steps that help us identify and overcome them.<br />
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So if you run that rapid, get offline and flip, but roll up in an eddy instead of getting pushed into a sieve, count yourself lucky but also realize your decision-making was possibly flawed. If you take a newbie out on the ocean on a big day but manage to do a T-rescue before they crash into rocks and they don't realize how close they came to being reduced to sausage, instead of pretending everything is fine maybe admit it was a bad idea.<br />
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The same is true in life. My three your old daughter likes to lick things - her toys, her clothing, random objects she picks up on the ground. Most of the time she doesn't get sick, so she keeps doing it. Yet I'm pretty confident her current good health doesn't validate her decision-making, and the frequency with which she gets sick for ' no apparent reason' supports my argument that she should cut it out. And if you lie to your boss about sick days, cheat on your partner or your taxes, or spend your money on expensive vacations instead of fixing the old plumbing in your house, you shouldn't think that getting away with it makes it right. You might be fine in for the moment, but your judgment is bad and the probability of negative consequences will catch up to you eventually. So cut it out already!<br />
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<br />Bryant Burkhardthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14962650670783506022noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5347463840298564760.post-4370930391215483982019-04-19T07:35:00.000-07:002019-04-19T07:35:02.637-07:00Paddling Whitewater: Off the Couch<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Off the couch is an expression that comes up a lot in whitewater kayaking. It often refers to the first runs of the season after a layoff of several months; when you're skills are rusty, you're not in paddling shape, and even your gear is a little bit questionable (if you can even find it in the back of the garage). Sometimes you come off the couch because of an injury, or because you've been too busy to boat for a bit. Sometimes your period of inactivity is as much as a year, maybe even two. For me it's been three years since I sat in a whitewater boat, and four years since I paddled anything of consequence. That's not just off-the-couch, it's off-the-coma-bed.<br />
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But when my best friend invited me on a weekend of paddling a classic Class IV stretch of whitewater in far northern California it was too tempting to pass up. The Smith River has long been on my list of must-do drainages, and the NF Smith seemed within reason - maybe. Jumping back into whitewater at Class IV seemed reasonable - I used to paddle much harder stuff - but it also seemed like it might be a mistake to paddle a thirteen mile wilderness stretch, a river we didn't know, a long way from home, with only the two of us. When a storm came in the weekend before and the river spiked to 30,000 cfs, I definitely had second thoughts.<br />
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But things came together like all great river trips do. I went to the pool a couple weeks ahead of time to make sure my boat still floats and my roll still works. Yes to both, and I ended up spending most of my time teaching a newbie how to roll - so that muscle still works too. I replaced the gaskets on my drysuit, and as ugly as the result looked it was completely effective at keeping me dry. I even dug up my pogies and a thermos for hot chocolate.<br />
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At the last minute we acquired some local boaters for the first day of paddling. Probably because the flows came down to an ideal level: plenty of water to cover the rocks without being pushy. They even arranged a shuttle rig from some local rafting company which saved us time and money. And as if to confirm a divine blessing on the trip the day turned out to be sunny and warm. All good, right?<br />
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Then why did I feel so nervous? Putting on I had a few butterflies in my stomach. The first several rapids were class III or easier, but each horizon line had me wondering if I was really prepared and all-to-ready to let someone else lead the way. When we got to the first big rapid which required a scout the group ahead of us was busy recovering from a piton that lead to a swim. I got out of my boat to take a look and the butterflies had grown into condors flying circles in my gut. The rapid looked fine - solid class IV, but with an easy sneak route and several other options well within my abilities, even if my boat control was a pale imitation of my past grace and skill.<br />
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I looked at the rapid for a long time. Too long. Even watching the others go down the middle and cruise through without problem didn't quell my anxiety. I chose to run the sneak and it was as easy as it looked. I hadn't really paddled anything hard, certainly hadn't executed any diffucult move, but somehow having avoided the disaster my mind had created totally changed my outlook. I breathed deeper and started to trust that I really was a whitewater kayaker and not some impostor who didn't belong.<br />
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With eight miles left to go, I slowly loosened up. My strokes became more fluid. My boat more responsive. When I dropped into one of the harder rapids without any beta or anyone to follow I simply dodged a few holes and powered through the last drop without the slightest hesitation. I wasn't exactly the graceful paddler I used to be in my memory, and I wouldn't say I was strong and carefree. But I could handle it. I knew I'd be fine. And I was. I enjoyed the beautiful scenery: waterfalls coming in every hundred yards, carnivorous plants lining the shores, and even some caves to paddle into in a pristine wilderness. That's what paddling is supposed to be about.<br />
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The day ended with the locals heading home and me and my mate camping out under clouding skies and a decision on what to paddle the next day. We checked out a stretch of the Middle Fork that was lower and easier. Nah. Too easy. Too roadside. We checked out a stretch of the South Fork Smith that was higher and harder. No go. I felt more confident but not stupid. Two rusty paddlers didn't make for a good exploratory team. We decided to run the North Fork again. Maybe be able to enjoy it right from the start this time with the confidence of knowing everything goes. We could handle it.<br />
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But we didn't have to handle it on our own. We hooked up with another crew from Oregon, who knew the river well and gave us strength in numbers. Maybe we didn't need the support, but another part of paddling the river is meeting other members of the tribe and sharing some camaraderie and maybe even a takeout beer. I let them lead the way most of the time. I still ran the sneak on the hard rapid. I had come of the couch not to restart my career but to enjoy a weekend, and as the weekend wound down with each short rapid in the final miles I knew I didn't need to improve or test myself any further. I paddled some Class IV whitewater, but I was a pale shadow of my former self when it came to skills and abilities. But I was as happy as ever. I enjoyed myself immensely even knowing it be another year or several before I ever get back out on such a river. That was the real goal and the mission was accomplished.<br />
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<br />Bryant Burkhardthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14962650670783506022noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5347463840298564760.post-70377280982070094172019-01-05T19:11:00.005-08:002020-03-16T06:52:31.846-07:00Kayak Lesson: Expedition Mentality, Part 1I am no longer a kayak instructor. In all honesty, I no longer kayak, though I occasionally get out in the canoe with my family. But kayaking is still a part of my life in that it helped shaped who I am, and a lot of the lessons learned through kayaking are applicable to many other facets of life, and I do my best to remember what I've learned in one context and see how it can benefit me in other places. I thought it might be worthwhile to point these out and encourage others to use what they know to improve what they do (and maybe who they are).<br />
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Expedition Behavior: We're all in this together<br />
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Let's say you're going on a kayak expedition. That could mean two weeks exploring a remote coastline, or a multi-day first descent of a river in South America, but it could also mean an after-work paddle on your local lake with a few friends. The same principle applies to each: everyone on the expedition is responsible for the team and we take care of each other.<br />
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If someone's food bag gets raided by raccoons, you don't let them starve the rest of the trip - everyone shares a little food because it will help them (and they will be strong enough to help you if you need it). If someone's foot peg breaks, you share your repair supplies to fix it. That's true if the break was a fluke accident or a poor decision. It's even true even if their boat is old, cheap, poorly maintained, and they forgot to bring their own repair kit. Regardless of the cause of a problem, be it chance or self-inflicted, everyone does what they can to solve it so the entire group can continue and hopefully thrive.<br />
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Some people on this expedition will be stronger than others. They'll have better skills, more experience, and better gear. Maybe that's because they worked harder to prepare, maybe it's because they have rich parents who buy them lessons and equipment. Those people will bear more of the burden than others: they'll tow the person who gets hurt, they'll explore the route and be first down the gorge. The good ones will do the extra work without complaint because they know it makes the team more likely to be successful, and they often realize they got where they are because sometime in the past someone better helped them out. It's a circle, not a line.<br />
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Now, you might like some of the people more than others. You might not want to go on another expedition with someone who constantly makes bad choices and shows no effort to learn or help others. You might want to spend some time paddling alone with the risks it entails. But while you are on an expedition, in the middle of the struggle, you know you have a responsibility to everyone else and trust everyone else to come to your aid if you need it. That's what expeditions are all about.<br />
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Life is an expedition. Sometimes it feels like we're on our own, but that's never really true. We buy our groceries from other people, drive to the store on roads built by everyone's tax dollars, and read interesting things on the internet posted by people we will never meet in person. You can try to define your tribe as an independent group, but they are really just one pod within the larger expeditionary force. Most people will treat their neighbors like an expedition member. The challenge is to treat the stranger the same way, especially the ones you will never meet. The mother in Detroit who still has to buy bottled water for her kids to drink while she showers with her mouth and eyes closed to avoid ingesting what comes out of the pipes. The father from Guatemala who has to decide if it's better to risk his children being killed by gangs in his home country or taken away and stuck in an internment camp while seeking asylum in the U.S. Life is a very hard journey for some and those of us who are having an easier time of it should use our skills and resources to help out those in need. That's expedition mentality.Bryant Burkhardthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14962650670783506022noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5347463840298564760.post-45016765075403827422017-07-31T15:03:00.000-07:002018-12-24T07:44:05.701-08:00Upon Further Reflection<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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As my regular readers may have noticed (if I have any left), I have not posted much in the past couple of years. The reason for that is simple: I haven't kayaked much. The reason for that is a little more complicated but can be summarized thusly: I have a child now. My daughter was born almost a year ago, and I am no longer a professional kayaker but a stay-at-home dad. Having a child doesn't inherently prevent one from paddling, but it does alter the choices one makes. I could kayak myself while my wife looks after our daughter, but my wife is my main paddling buddy and our daughter is too young to join us. We could get a babysitter, but then we would both be missing out on time with our child. We both choose to spend our time together as a family. It's a choice, and ultimately an easy one for me.<br />
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Most of my friends have been acquired through paddling. Everyone knows me as a kayaker. It's my identity. Many have expressed surprise, or even condolences, over my lack of kayaking. The thought of no longer kayaking seems crazy, possibly heretical, definitely depressing. How can someone whose entire life was built around a sport no longer pursue that sport? What about the livin' the dream? Again, the answer is fairly simple:<br />
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It was never about paddling<br />
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For fifteen years I worked in the kayak industry: selling them, teaching people how to use them, writing about them, playing around in them. But my dream was never about kayaking. My dream was to live a good life, be joyful, see beautiful places, soak up nature, find adventure and challenge all while surrounded by good people who cared for each other. Kayaking certainly brought me that, but it isn't the only path.<br />
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Now I get to relax (or collapse in exhaustion) in my own home at the end of a day chasing a baby around the house, I get to see the wonder of the world through new eyes, face the challenge of introducing peanut butter to an infant and figuring out how to teach her right from wrong, all surrounded by the most important people in my life who love me unconditionally and support me through all my travails. The dream is very much alive.<br />
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They say that life is about the journey and not the destination, but our choice of destination gives purpose to the journey and there are many routes to get where you want to go. If paddling brings you joy, as it does so many, then by all means pursue your passion to the fullest. But if you get the same satisfaction out of horse-riding, then canter on. Or bird-watching, or political activism, or needle-point. Whatever your choice, you will be better off if you don't confuse the activity with the outcome, the endeavor with the reward, or your own goals and aspirations with those of the people around you. I'll keep paddling, I'll post when I have something to say or show, and I hope to see others doing the same. Live your own dream and stay woke.<br />
<br />Bryant Burkhardthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14962650670783506022noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5347463840298564760.post-26880463365190427252017-01-31T10:21:00.000-08:002017-01-31T10:21:27.331-08:00Kayak Meme Machine 5Once again, this is to collect some of the memes I've created and shared in other places. You can see more in <a href="http://paddlecalifornia.blogspot.com/2015/12/the-kayak-meme-machine.html?showComment=1459372195563" target="_blank">post 1</a>, <a href="http://paddlecalifornia.blogspot.com/2016/01/kayak-meme-machine-2.html?showComment=1459372130061" target="_blank">post 2</a>, <a href="http://paddlecalifornia.blogspot.com/2016/04/kayak-meme-machine-3.html" target="_blank">post 3</a>, and <a href="http://paddlecalifornia.blogspot.com/2016/05/kayak-meme-machine-4.html" target="_blank">post 4</a>. Here are the latest:<br />
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Now one of my local surf spots, but taken years before I moved to the Mendocino Coast. Anyone recognize the bridge?<br />
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Everyone should recognize where this was taken. Always a challenge trying to work a specific landmark feature into a good action shot, but this one worked out pretty well.<br />
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Though you can't tell, this was taken just around the corner from the previous pic. And truth be told, it was a spilling wave wrapping around a point, not a surf break, so the perceived difficulty/danger in the shot is far greater than the actual. That's what we go for: make it look exciting but be in complete control the whole time :)Bryant Burkhardthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14962650670783506022noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5347463840298564760.post-6364232883249823592016-12-03T09:53:00.000-08:002016-12-03T09:53:22.272-08:002016 Holiday Sale on A Paddler's Journey<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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It's holiday season again and I'm making it easier to purchase my kayaking memoir, A Paddler's Journey. If you haven't heard me talk about it before, the book tells my story as a kayaker, from a complete novice floundering in the surf and on the river, to a highly respected instructor and expedition paddler. It's about paddling, but really about the journey we all take in life to find what we love, to improve ourselves, and to come to peace with our place in the world. Even if you've never touched a blade to the water you'll understand the action and recognize the lessons learned.<br />
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There are a couple different ways to purchase the book in print or electronic form, but the sale prices won't last forever. If you purchase a print copy through the CreateSpace site (a division of Amazon) and use the code<span style="text-align: center;"> </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 32px;"><b>XUW6M6ZV </b>you'll get $3.00 off the cover price. That makes it only $9.99!</span><br />
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<a href="https://www.createspace.com/5560631" style="font-weight: bold;" target="_blank">Paperback $9.99</a></div>
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And if you want a signed copy you can order that through my website. You can even tell me what you want on the inscription and have me mail it directly to someone special as a gift. I have limited stock on hand so first come first serve for Christmas gifts. You'll need to order by 12/15/15 in order to make sure it gets there in time. And if you order in December I'll even through in a free copy of my Paddle California DVD, highlighting some of the best kayaking our wonderful state has to offer.<br />
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(with free Paddle California DVD)</div>
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The digital version is only available at Amazon and at $2.99 - but for one weekend it's FREE! (only through 12/5/16)<br />
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And if you've already read the book, let me know what you thought - I love to get feedback. You can always leave a comment, or if you want to share your thoughts with the rest of the world, consider writing a quick review. (Reviews also help drive Amazon search engines, so just by leaving one you'll help other people find the book)</div>
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And for those who missed it the first time, here's the trailer if you want more info on the book itself:<br />
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Bryant Burkhardthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14962650670783506022noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5347463840298564760.post-4334425940604775612016-05-01T15:41:00.000-07:002016-12-05T11:14:11.045-08:00Kayak Meme Machine 4Once again, this is to collect some of the memes I've created and shared in other places. You can see more in <a href="http://paddlecalifornia.blogspot.com/2015/12/the-kayak-meme-machine.html?showComment=1459372195563" target="_blank">post 1</a>, <a href="http://paddlecalifornia.blogspot.com/2016/01/kayak-meme-machine-2.html?showComment=1459372130061" target="_blank">post 2</a>, and <a href="http://paddlecalifornia.blogspot.com/2016/04/kayak-meme-machine-3.html" target="_blank">post 3</a>. Here are the latest:<br />
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This is the inimitable Sean Morely in one of the first production versions of the <a href="http://paddlecalifornia.blogspot.com/2014/03/jackson-kayak-karma-rg.html" target="_blank">Jackson Kayak Karma RG</a>. He came up to the Mendocino area with a few of the Jackson folks to shoot a promo video. I tagged along to get a few shots of my own - and to try out the boat. Very fun design, but a bit bouncy on big waves.<br />
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This photo goes back to before this blog started: 2004, Ecuador. A really fun trip with a lot of cool guys. They didn't really like us riding on top of the bus, but it was crowded and they let us get away with it until we got back into town. Kind of cool that you can use public transportation for shuttle.<br />
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And here is my lovely wife demonstrating how to have fun while kayaking: smile and kayak. That's all there is to it.<br />
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<br />Bryant Burkhardthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14962650670783506022noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5347463840298564760.post-21928865725802659362016-04-10T16:22:00.000-07:002016-04-10T16:22:05.821-07:00Kayak Meme Machine 3Here's a few more of my memes. You can check out the earlier ones at the <a href="http://paddlecalifornia.blogspot.com/2015/12/the-kayak-meme-machine.html?showComment=1459372195563" target="_blank">first post</a> and <a href="http://paddlecalifornia.blogspot.com/2016/01/kayak-meme-machine-2.html?showComment=1459372130061" target="_blank">post two</a>.<br />
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This picture was taken on a trip to the Okisollo Wave off Quadra Island in British Columbia. You could sit on the wave all day if you wanted. When we got tired of waiting our turn, we'd drop in and join our friends. Three was a tight fit that never lasted long, but two people could hang out for a while. It looks so mellow, and felt mellow, but the current was eight knots and down in the pocket you were below sea level so it had an eery quality of speed to it. Read more about it in <a href="http://paddlecalifornia.blogspot.com/2012/10/okisollo-fun-tidal-wave.html" target="_blank">this post</a>.<br />
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This one's from <a href="http://paddlecalifornia.blogspot.com/2012/09/feather-fest.html" target="_blank">Featherfest </a>- the biggest whitewater festival in California on the North Fork of the Feather River. The class V Tobin section is only a mile long and roadside the whole way. Makes for quick laps, easy pictures, and lots of boofs :)<br />
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I love this shot I got of a little kid checking out the strange kayakers before we launched off Dillon Beach at the mouth of Tomales Bay (a write-up from the day <a href="http://paddlecalifornia.blogspot.com/2012/08/back-in-action.html" target="_blank">here</a>). He seemed so happy to check out our kayaks and not at all afraid of a fully geared up kayakers. Hopefully the memory will sit in his subconscious and we'll have a future kayaker a decade from now.Bryant Burkhardthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14962650670783506022noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5347463840298564760.post-52157946799023231212016-03-06T04:30:00.000-08:002016-03-06T04:30:02.927-08:00Legend in My Own MindWe all have egos. Kayakers may be a welcoming bunch, always ready to welcome a new member to the club or show a stranger the line on a rapid. We rib each other over our gaffes, celebrate our swims with a bootie beer, and gather together in some of the most unflattering clothing the world can design. But underneath it all we have a little pride. We want to do well and be known for doing it. I am no different.<br />
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My <a href="http://paddlecalifornia.blogspot.com/2016/03/feeling-love-at-paddle-golden-gate.html">last post</a> was about the love I felt at the Paddle Golden Gate symposium, but one of the best feel-good moments came a bit later. It came from one of my students, an older gentleman who used to paddle whitewater but found himself in a long boat as he slowed down. He brought great enthusiasm to the class and was happy to talk to another river guy. After the event he searched out my book and sent me a quick email relating to one of the stories inside.<br />
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Several years ago he found himself in Pasadena, standing next to the Arroyo Seco. He wondered if it might be kayak-able and asked a local friend. He was told it rarely ran, but it had been done in the past. Some locals had done it a few years earlier and apparently had to hike out in the dark, only to find their shuttle vehicle locked inside the parking lot at JPL. But they had kayaked it.<br />
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That's chapter 12 in <a href="http://www.bryantburkhardtkayaking.com/bookindex.html">A Paddler's Journey</a>. My first introduction to creeking in California and still one of my fondest memories. Yes, we hiked out in the dark the first day. And our car was locked in. but we built a ramp out of stones to drive out. My buddies were covered with poison oak and we all had blisters the size of softballs on our feet. We came back the following week to hike in and finish the paddle out. Total success.<br />
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<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-3LB4aK_g81U/Vttwggv1_-I/AAAAAAAAQb8/WCZ2wP-FeFc/s1600/Chapter%2B12.1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-3LB4aK_g81U/Vttwggv1_-I/AAAAAAAAQb8/WCZ2wP-FeFc/s320/Chapter%2B12.1.jpg" width="228" /></a>It's nice to be remembered for what you did, especially if you had fun doing it. I'm glad some of my stories exist in the world even if I'm not there to speak them. Here's what I said about that trip in the book:<br />
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<i>When I think of the fun moments that paddling has brought me, the incredible views and exotic locations, one of the first images to spring forth is Andreas and Paul standing arm in arm posing atop a ridge overlooking the lights of a city of ten million people. The closeness and camaraderie we found on the Arroyo Seco is something you don’t get from the picnic grounds or a short hike to the falls. It sets us apart from those who never leave their concrete environment; it makes the hardship and struggle more than worth the effort. I overcame my fear and doubt and re-found myself through kayaking, and nothing would take that away again. </i><o:p></o:p></div>
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Thanks, Bix, for making me feel important if only in a little way.</div>
Bryant Burkhardthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14962650670783506022noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5347463840298564760.post-12831238144298538582016-03-02T06:50:00.000-08:002016-03-02T06:50:13.423-08:00Feeling the Love at Paddle Golden GateIt's been a couple weeks since the event but I've been on vacation and just found the time to sort through pictures and put some thoughts together. <a href="http://www.paddlegoldengate.com/" target="_blank">Paddle Golden Gate</a> is an amazing sea kayak symposium put on by my old employer <a href="http://www.calkayak.com/" target="_blank">California Canoe & Kayak</a> and my good friend Sean Morley. It's functionally the heir to the Golden Gate Sea Kayak Symposium which was the same basic event run by mostly the same people but under different auspices. Whatever you call it, the event is a gathering of some of the best instructors in the world, some of the most eager and dedicated students, in one of the most spectacular urban paddling environments at the base of the Golden Gate Bridge.<br />
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I've taught at the event since the first one back in 2009, and going back each year is like a class reunion - but with only the good people you used to hang out with, none of the annoying folks who you always tried to avoid. Since I moved to the Mendocino Coast a few years ago I teach less often and see my fellow instructors even less frequently, so it was great when I arrived at the Marin Headlands Hostel the night before classes started and I was stopped to get a hug or handshake five times before I could make it the twenty feet to check in and register. Some folks I hadn't seen in months, some in years, but everyone was happy and I spent the next two hours catching up with people before retiring to a surprisingly quiet room (dorm sleeping is all fine and dandy until you get one loud snorer in there).<br />
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The first day I got to lead a tour to Angel Island with Sean Finigan. Sean's from my old stomping grounds in Sacramento and we've paddled together a few times but never taught together. We had a class full of folks who, more than anything else, wanted to enjoy a day paddling on San Francisco Bay, most of them for the first time. We had to fight against the current and make a hard ferry across Raccoon Strait, but we were rewarded with a sunny, relaxing lunch in the middle of the Bay - California winter can be grand! After we rode the current back home we had a nice meal at the yacht club and more catching up with old friends and new. Couldn't have been easier.<br />
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Day two brought even warmer and sunnier weather, if that was possible. I was scheduled to lead one section of the combat rolling class and traveling instructor extraordinaire <a href="http://www.benlawry.net/" target="_blank">Ben Lawry</a> another. We joined forces in the morning to assess and divide up the students which lead to groups divided out by interest and ability, which allowed each of us to really address the needs of our students and everyone seemed to get what they needed out of the day. I got help from another new instructor - Mike Kowalsky. Sometimes it can be a little awkward working with someone you don't know - you step on each other's words, use different sequencing or progressions, etc. - but the whole day went smooth, trading off topics and letting one idea flow into the next. Another great day in the books.<br />
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The Saturday evening presentation was at the <a href="http://www.spn.usace.army.mil/Missions/Recreation/BayModelVisitorCenter.aspx" target="_blank">Bay Model </a>(a very cool place in it's own right). More great food provided by CCK, free beer provided by Ninkasi, and an amazing slideshow and story from<a href="https://www.facebook.com/jaime.sharp.35?fref=ts" target="_blank"> Jaime Sharp</a> on his circumnavigation of Svalbard. Brief summary: lots of icebergs, polar bears, and stunning beauty.<br />
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The final day was Incident Management, always a fun one. And yet another new instructor for me to meet and work with, this time Martini Ploug from Denmark who was paddling a brand new kayak model from Current Designs. Once again we worked together seamlessly and even had the treat of the Coast Guard joining us for a scenario - pulling an injured kayaker on board their forty-three foot lifeboat. The participants really appreciated the chance to actually make the radio call for help instead of pretending like you do in most classes. And even though the rescue was fairly quick and straightforward, it bought up a lot of thinking points for us to discuss afterward. A great way to round out three days of classes.<br />
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<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-wizHNmWr3MY/VtPOHzImqYI/AAAAAAAAQbY/HP7uzBS4ILI/s1600/DSC00395-001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-wizHNmWr3MY/VtPOHzImqYI/AAAAAAAAQbY/HP7uzBS4ILI/s200/DSC00395-001.jpg" width="200" /></a>Overall it was a great weekend. The classes were fun to teach and the students always eager and ready to soak up more. But what really makes symposiums like this so special is the mood that pervades everything. It's the joy of hanging out with old friends, seeing everyone gear up for their various adventures and then catching up over a beer at the end of the day. It's learning new tricks and tools to better do my job and getting feedback that it is working. It's an immersion in the sport that makes the whole larger than the parts. While Paddle Golden Gate is going to be a biennial event (next one in 2018), I look forward to Oregon's <a href="http://www.lumpywaters.com/">Lumpy Waters</a> in the fall, the <a href="http://www.americancanoe.org/?page=NPC">ACA PaddleSports Coference</a> here in California, and the <a href="https://stormgatheringusa.wordpress.com/event-details/">Storm Gathering U.S</a>. next year. And wherever you are, look around for opportunities in your neighborhood - <a href="https://sweetwaterkayaks.wordpress.com/symposium/symposium-details/" target="_blank">Florida</a>, <a href="http://www.qajaqpnw.org/" target="_blank">Seattle</a>, <a href="http://downwindsports.com/glsks/" target="_blank">Great Lakes</a>,<a href="http://www.pacificpaddlingsymposium.ca/" target="_blank"> British Columbia</a>, <a href="http://www.seakayakgeorgia.com/symposia/sea-kayak-georgia-skills-symposium-ocean-gathering-2015/" target="_blank">Georgia</a>, <a href="http://www.bofsks.com/">Nova Scotia</a>, <a href="http://www.greenlandorbust.org/optimist-kayakings-symposium-october-23-to-26-israel/" target="_blank">Israel</a>, <a href="http://www.bajakayakfest.com/">Baja</a>, the <a href="https://ukstormgatheringsymposiums.wordpress.com/">U.K.</a>, and many more. Thanks again to California Canoe & Kayak - it takes a lot of work to make these things happen but it is so worth it!<br />
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<br />Bryant Burkhardthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14962650670783506022noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5347463840298564760.post-2454669543923281972016-02-26T08:02:00.000-08:002016-02-26T08:02:19.566-08:00A Paddler's Journey on Sale for 99 cents!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I taught at <a href="http://www.paddlegoldengate.com/" target="_blank">Paddle Golden Gate</a> a few weeks ago (pics coming soon - I promise) and I received a lot of kind words from folks who had read my kayaking memoir, <i>A Paddler's Journey</i>. A lot of them said they wanted to share it with their non-paddling friends to let them know why we all love the sport so much. To make that a little easier and help spread the word, I've put the kindle edition on sale - now only 99cents! Only for a couple of days - goes up to $1.99 on 2/28/16 and then back to its regular $2.99 price on 3/1/16. So get it now or let your friends know.<br />
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I've also extended the holiday sale on the paperback edition. If you purchase it through the CreateSpace site and use the code<span style="text-align: center;"> </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 32px;"><b>XUW6M6ZV </b>you'll get $3.00 off the cover price. That makes it only $9.99!</span><br />
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<a href="https://www.createspace.com/5560631" style="font-weight: bold;" target="_blank">Paperback $9.99</a></div>
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And if you want a signed copy you can order that through my website. You can even tell me what you want on the inscription and have me mail it directly to that non-paddler who you want to understand what's so great about kayaking. And I'll even through in a free copy of my Paddle California DVD!<br />
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<a href="http://www.bryantburkhardtkayaking.com/bookindex.html" target="_blank">Signed Paperback $15</a></div>
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(with free Paddle California DVD)</div>
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And if you've already read the book, let me know what you thought - I love to get feedback. You can always leave a comment, or if you want to share your thoughts with the rest of the world, consider writing a quick review. (Reviews also help drive Amazon search engines, so just by leaving one you'll help other people find the book)</div>
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And for those who missed it the first time, here's the trailer if you want more info on the book itself:<br />
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Bryant Burkhardthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14962650670783506022noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5347463840298564760.post-39845859951891593052016-01-18T07:14:00.000-08:002016-01-18T07:14:52.361-08:00Cold Water VertigoIn a couple of weeks I'll be teaching at Paddle Golden Gate (renamed from the Golden Gate Sea Kayak Symposium). One of my courses will be on combat rolling, so as I was working on my syllabus I figured it would probably be a good thing to get in some rolling practice of my own. I've haven't been paddling that much lately and when I've gone out it's been for fun, not work. And just like any long-time paddler, us instructors can get a little lazy on skill practice - when it's cold out and you don't have to flip over, why bother? So I hadn't done much rolling, especially not in cold water. Time to make up for my laziness.<br />
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I went out on the river - the surf was big and nasty - and planned to get in some quick rolls and head back home for some housework and then a hike (getting in shape for a backpacking trip - there's always something to get back in shape for). I wore my drysuit, put on a nice neoprene skull cap under my helmet, even had my pogies on. The weather was mid-50's (this is California, after all) and the water was several degrees colder than that. Not the most frigid conditions for paddling, but cold nonetheless.<br />
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I paddled upriver a ways to warm and felt quite toasty before I started some bracing to loosen up and get my face wet. The cold water refreshed me and gave me the usual doubts - did I <i>really </i>need to go over? I did, so I rolled. My left side rolls felt fine. I'm right-handed and learned my right side first, but my left side has always been smoother and easier. I never try to muscle it. My right side worked but didn't feel as smooth. I was fighting it and wasn't sure exactly why it wasn't working so well. I kept rolling, mostly the right, occasionally the left. Over the course of half an ourh I probably did thirty or forty rolls, with some paddling breaks to stay warm.<br />
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While I was intent on smoothing out my technique I didn't pay enough attention to my location. I drifted a bit into the shallows and on my next roll attempt I hit the mud with my paddle (side note - diving blade angle not good). I struggled to pull the blade free of the mud and by the time it came clear I was low on air and quite discombobulated. I instinctively set up for a roll on my right side but I had no clue where the surface was and my roll failed completely. I pulled my skirt and quickly wet exited for some air.<br />
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In eighteen inches of water it should have been easy to stand, but when I tried to get to my feet I fell right back over. I held on to my boat and anchored a foot in the mud so I wouldn't drift in the mild current. The world continued to spin and after a minute I gave up on the notion of walking and crawled my boat into shore. A couple minutes of rest on solid ground returned the steadiness of the horizon and I was fine.<br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-45NcXq5A65c/Vp0A1uIqzgI/AAAAAAAAQa8/LJWqAtQO7l0/s1600/P1190603-1_360x480.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-45NcXq5A65c/Vp0A1uIqzgI/AAAAAAAAQa8/LJWqAtQO7l0/s320/P1190603-1_360x480.JPG" width="240" /></a>I've always known cold water on the inner ear could induce vertigo. It primarily happens when cold water gets in one ear and not the other - something facilitated by wearing a hood and twisting yourself upside down underwater. But I've never experienced it myself. I think it's because I don't normally spend that much time upside down. Quite disconcerting.<br />
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It wasn't a danger in my case - even though I was by myself, I was smart enough to practice in a protected place near shore. But if it had happened while out in the wild it would have been a different story. The good news about the effect is that it generally goes away once the water in the ears warms up - so even if you're floating in the swell it should subside after several minutes. But that means you have to be prepared to spend several minutes in the water; another reason to dress for immersion.<br />
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It's good to have confidence in your skills. It's good to have a combat roll that you believe will never fail. It's still necessary to have backup. It's still smart to practice and keep your experience fresh. Our bodies fail us sometimes, often in new ways we didn't expect, often through no fault of our own. Cold water vertigo seems to become more common as you age - and we're all getting older.<br />
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The solution is simple: earplugs. I've misplaced my own or I would have worn them. Not only does it limit the chance of cold water vertigo, it helps to protect the ear from <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surfer%27s_ear" target="_blank">surfer's ear</a>, a much more serious and long-term problem. I'm going out to new earplugs now :)Bryant Burkhardthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14962650670783506022noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5347463840298564760.post-15399752057347193042016-01-01T08:08:00.000-08:002016-12-05T11:13:06.176-08:00Kayak Meme Machine 2Just for the fun of it, I thought I'd take some of my favorite photos and turn them into memes. As near as I can tell, the requirements for a good meme are a square cropped picture, Impact font, and no limitation to facts or common sense. So I'm going to throw a bunch out and maybe they'll spread through the interwebs and bring a little light in the gloom of night. Or at least a chuckle from those who understand. And there are more collections of my Memes: <a href="http://paddlecalifornia.blogspot.com/2015/12/the-kayak-meme-machine.html?showComment=1459372195563" target="_blank">post 1</a>, <a href="http://paddlecalifornia.blogspot.com/2016/04/kayak-meme-machine-3.html" target="_blank">post 3</a>, <a href="http://paddlecalifornia.blogspot.com/2016/05/kayak-meme-machine-4.html" target="_blank">post 4</a><br />
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For the edification of my blog readers, this picture was taken in 2011 at Oceanside, OR. The paddler on the wave is Sean Morley, in the just released P&H Delphin. It was the day after the Lumpy Waters Symposium, the traditional 'Coaches Play Day'. The waves were big, but mostly friendly. A larger set did come in and catch a few of us inside, with one imploded hatch and interesting rescue to follow. Good times.Bryant Burkhardthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14962650670783506022noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5347463840298564760.post-82811524864640491422015-12-14T07:50:00.001-08:002016-12-05T11:11:59.176-08:00The Kayak Meme MachineIt seems like life has been heavy lately. Not just for me, but for the world in general. Terrorist attacks, vitriolic political debates, short and dark days of winter. I thought I'd lighten things up, at least for me, but taking on a fun little project that combines a few of my favorite things: writing, photography, kayaking, even a little graphic design. And there are more collections of my Memes: <a href="http://paddlecalifornia.blogspot.com/2016/01/kayak-meme-machine-2.html?showComment=1459372130061" target="_blank">post 2</a>, <a href="http://paddlecalifornia.blogspot.com/2016/04/kayak-meme-machine-3.html" target="_blank">post 3</a>, <a href="http://paddlecalifornia.blogspot.com/2016/05/kayak-meme-machine-4.html" target="_blank">post 4</a><br />
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I thought I'd take some of my favorite photos and turn them into memes. As near as I can tell, the requirements for a good meme are a square cropped picture, Impact font, and no limitation to facts or common sense. So I'm going to throw a bunch out and maybe they'll spread through the interwebs and bring a little light in the gloom of night. Or at least a chuckle from those who understand.<br />
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If you have any photos you'll like to contribute, just send them in. Or if you have a better caption for my pictures just let me know. Let's have a little fun with life even if we're stuck here on dry land.<br />
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<br />Bryant Burkhardthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14962650670783506022noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5347463840298564760.post-13908609985768239692015-12-05T11:06:00.000-08:002015-12-05T11:09:35.462-08:00A Paddler's Journey for the Holidays!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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My kayaking memoir, <i>A Paddler's Journey, </i>has been out for a few months now and I can't tell you how great it is to hear from folks who have read and enjoyed it. When I showed up at <a href="http://paddlecalifornia.blogspot.com/2010/10/lumpy-waters-and-sunny-skies.html" target="_blank">Lumpy </a>one of the participants searched me out to tell that her friend had read the book all the way through in one sitting and told her she had to get it. She wasn't reading quite as fast but was half-way through and loving it. A number of paddlers have expressed a little surprise that someone with my experience goes through the same issues: doubt, fear, frustration, failure. But that's kind of the point - the details may be different, the trips a little grander and rivers a littler harder, but we all really experience the same things. I think non-paddlers will get just as much out of it for the very same reasons.<br />
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So in light of the holidays, and hoping people might want to share with their non-paddling friends a little window in the world of kayaking, I'm putting the book on sale. If you purchase it through the CreateSpace site and use the code<span style="text-align: center;"> </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;"><b>XUW6M6ZV </b>you'll get $3.00 off the cover price. That makes it only $9.99!</span><br />
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<a href="https://www.createspace.com/5560631" style="font-weight: bold;" target="_blank">Paperback $9.99</a></div>
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<a href="https://www.createspace.com/5560631" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="105" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-6CcmWPB9HF4/Vb2QV0E5iLI/AAAAAAAAQH8/ghhrzUj9bXM/s200/createspace%2Blogo.png" width="200" /></a></div>
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And if you want a signed copy you can order that through my website. You can even tell me what you want on the inscription and have me mail it directly to someone special as a gift. I have limited stock on hand so first come first serve for Christmas gifts. You'll need to order by 12/15/15 in order to make sure it gets there in time. And if you order in December I'll even through in a free copy of my Paddle California DVD, highlighting some of the best kayaking our wonderful state has to offer.<br />
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<a href="http://www.bryantburkhardtkayaking.com/bookindex.html" target="_blank">Signed Paperback $15</a></div>
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(with free Paddle California DVD)</div>
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The digital version is temporarily only available at Amazon and at $2.99 you don't really need a sale price to afford it :)<br />
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Paddlers-Journey-Adventures-wisdom-gained-ebook/dp/B0113EDCR4/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8" style="font-weight: bold;" target="_blank">Kindle eBook $2.99</a></div>
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And if you've already read the book, let me know what you thought - I love to get feedback. You can always leave a comment, or if you want to share your thoughts with the rest of the world, consider writing a quick review. (Reviews also help drive Amazon search engines, so just by leaving one you'll help other people find the book)</div>
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And for those who missed it the first time, here's the trailer if you want more info on the book itself:<br />
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Bryant Burkhardthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14962650670783506022noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5347463840298564760.post-14910940363880111642015-11-28T05:00:00.000-08:002015-11-28T09:26:21.925-08:005 Life Lessons Learned Through KayakingI've learned a lot about kayaking over the years, but just as importantly, I've learned a lot <i>from </i>kayaking. The river, in particular, teaches us many things about overcoming adversity, making wise decisions, and staying humble. Here are five principles I've learned over my twenty years of whitewater kayaking that I try to apply to my life every day.<br />
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1. You have to commit if you want to improve</h4>
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If you only dabble in the sport, you might find it quite enjoyable, but the path to improvement is paved with consistent effort and dedication. There are no shortcuts around time in the boat. During the spring runoff of my first season, I boated seventeen out of eighteen weekends. I paddled with people better than me and listened to what they said. I worked on skills, I did drills, I took some beatings. But by the end of the snowmelt I paddled class four consistently and never looked back. Nothing says you have to be a class V kayaker to enjoy the sport, but there is a steep learning curve to get to a basic level of competency, and if you don't get there chances are you won't keep kayaking for long.<br />
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There are a lot of different things you can do with your life, but if you don't put much effort into any single area, you most likely won't get very far. We get more out of long-term relationships than transitory ones. We learn more, contribute more, and generally make more money and find success when we commit to a career path. You can change and adapt, maybe even start over in something completely new, but at the start you need to give it everything you've got if you want to get the most out of it. Life requires more than dabbling.<br />
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2. If you mess up, you can't just quit</h4>
Everyone gets off line once in a while. You miss your boof, you misjudge the current, you get flipped over. In the middle of a rapid you can't simply stop and get off. You roll up. If that doesn't work, you try again. You quickly take stock of the situation you're in now and come up with a plan to get back to where you wanted to be, or you find a new path to the bottom.The river doesn't quit so neither can you.<br />
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No one's life goes perfectly according to plan. We lose jobs, we say the wrong things at the wrong time, we make bad choices and suffer bad luck. But complaining about it doesn't get you anywhere. Neither does beating yourself up. The way to get ahead is to look forward and figure out how to go there, to make the best of whatever situation you've landed in. You keep fighting. And bonus points if you can learn not to mess up the same way again in the future.<br />
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3. Everyone is on their own path; enjoy yours</h4>
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Expedition kayakers have more air miles but they don't have more fun. Slalom kayakers have more skills but they don't get the best scenery. Playboaters learn to enjoy themselves without going anywhere. There are lots of different ways to kayak the river and each one is as valid as the others. Some people paddle class V in their first season; some stop at class III for their entire career. We all end up around the campfire at the end of the day swapping stories and sharing laughter.<br />
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Success is such a vague word, but so many people want to define it explicitly. Even worse, they let others define it for them. Chasing someone else's goal is never going to provide satisfaction. If you take a little time to decide what's important to you, what you want to get out of life, it becomes much easier to see the path to get there. Don't be jealous of someone ahead of you - they might be headed in the other direction. Don't worry if someone walks faster - they might have farther to go. Stop comparing yourself to others and you'll not only find more joy in your own successes but you'll be better at helping others achieve theirs.<br />
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4. The opportunities you skip are what you regret</h4>
Some rivers only run in big rains. Some require permits that are hard to get. Still others cost a lot of money and time. They're always worth it.When we look back on our paddling careers we remember the once-in-a-lifetime dam spill, not the day of work we skipped to go paddling. Eventually we make enough money that we don't even notice what we spent on that Grand Canyon trip. The more stories we have to tell, the more time we've spent with our paddling buddies, the bigger our smiles. What we regret is the river we never ran.<br />
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Life is about experiences, not things. Everyone knows this. Every old person says so. Yet we constantly make choices in our daily life that prioritize material goods over people and activities. We work hard now with the justification that it will lead to a better future. While it's fine to be responsible, it's good to build a nest egg and lay the groundwork for a successful life, it doesn't have to be at the expense of living in the moment. Take time off to spend with your kids. Blow the budget on a vacation to see old friends. And if you ever get a chance to go on a multi-week river trip - take it!<br />
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5. Who you go with is more important than where you go</h4>
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A lot of people kayak for the excitement. Or maybe for the scenery. Or the physical challenge, the mental challenge, or just because they like water splashed in their face. But we all love the community. We make life-long friends on the river, even if we just met them at the put-in that morning. We bond faster, deeper, and more meaningfully through our shared adventures. And in the end that's what makes kayaking great. I've had just as much fun on the local class II run with good friends as I've had on remote wilderness trips. I've had bad experiences on beautiful rivers when the group cohesion fell apart. The ultimate paddling experiences start and end with people whose company you enjoy and who you willingly trust your life to.<br />
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The same is true with work. The same is true with friendship. It's easy to fall in with a random group of people and even easier to let people stay in your life who shouldn't be there. Kayaking is a crucible that grinds away the outer shell and reveals who people really are, which makes it easier to choose who you want to hang with. But we can do the same in life, we just have to look a little harder. Pay attention to what is said and left unsaid. Observe how they handle themselves in stressful situations. Trust our instincts. Most importantly, we do have the power to choose who we want to spend our time with and who is a negative influence that should be avoided. Everything we do, every trip we take or day spent behind the desk, is either lessened or uplifted who we share it with. Choose wisely.<br />
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Of course, I've learned a lot more from kayaking over the years. Too many things to fit into a simple list, and I'm sure as I continue to paddle I'll learn many more. But these are five truths I remind myself of on a daily basis. How about you? What has kayaking taught you?Bryant Burkhardthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14962650670783506022noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5347463840298564760.post-29964897460638071862015-09-20T07:54:00.000-07:002015-09-20T07:54:00.123-07:00Lumpy Waters coming up!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I'm getting really excited about headed back to Oregon next month for one of the great kayak symposiums out there - <a href="http://www.lumpywaters.com/" target="_blank">Lumpy Waters</a>. Also really looking forward to seeing good friends, often for the one and only time of the year. I'm sure I'll have some pictures and video to share afterwards, but in the meantime, here's a link to my write-up from my first time at Lumpy - hard to believe it was five years ago...<br />
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<a href="http://paddlecalifornia.blogspot.com/2010/10/lumpy-waters-and-sunny-skies.html" target="_blank">Lumpy Waters and Sunny Skies</a><br />
<br />Bryant Burkhardthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14962650670783506022noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5347463840298564760.post-20385014813528417032015-09-16T07:49:00.002-07:002015-09-16T07:49:57.600-07:00Incident Report<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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In this day and age it seems impossible to have something interesting happen in the kayak world without it showing up on Facebook, getting discussed in forums, or even video appearing on the local news. And the news people aren't the only ones to sensationalize things - even your everyday paddler likes to talk about how crazy and extreme everything is. Then the internet outrage machine wants to pile on with their opinion - normally that someone did something wrong. Everyone has an opinion, it's easy to cast judgment, and the other guy is always in the wrong.<br />
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Debriefing incidents when things go wrong is one of the most valuable ways to learn and improve as a kayaker. But the essence of the process, the part that makes it worth it, is the time spent listening to those who were there and understanding exactly what happened and the steps along the way that lead to the final outcome. Looking at a single picture and claiming to have all the answers is a ridiculous way to go about it and does the opposite - it clouds the reality and teaches nothing.<br />
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Here in California we recently had dramatic headlines: <a href="http://sfbay.ca/2015/09/13/54-kayakers-rescued-from-tomales-bay/" target="_blank">54 Kayakers Rescued from Tomales Bay</a>! <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/whale-breaches-on-kayakers_55f6ff8ce4b077ca094fc8d8" target="_blank">Breaching Humpback Whale Lands on Kayakers</a>! Big enough headlines to grab the public's attention. And kayakers (of all levels) rush in to comment, both defending kayakers in general and attacking those who created such a visible spectacle. Neither does much good.<br />
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I wasn't involved in either incident. But I do know there are lots of ways they could have gone down. My experience as a kayaker and instructor tells me this. I've known incredibly competent and skillful kayakers to end up in really bad situations through very small errors in judgment. I've seen wildlife create havoc through no fault of the people involved. Every situation is complicated and has several sides and viewpoints, and the truth is a vague concept in the best of circumstances.<br />
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But I've seen folks calling the kayakers in both incidents morons, rookies, fools, criminals, and worse. I've heard lots of folks saying kayakers shouldn't be out there - regardless of the fact that hundreds and thousands of kayakers have done the same trips with no problem, regardless of the fact that at the time of both incidents other kayakers were around and even came to the rescue. There have been lots of opinions from folks with very few facts. What I haven't seen or heard much is careful analysis, history and background, or a detailed recounting from those involved.<br />
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Yes, it is illegal to approach within 100 yds of marine life. But the marine life apparently doesn't know that rule and they very often approach kayakers. Whales move much faster than we do, they often move long distances while underwater and out of site, and yet for all the many decades of kayakers watching whales in many places throughout the world this is the first time I've heard of contact - and it was only a glancing blow. Scary, but so far a one-of-a-kind situation.<br />
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And taking large groups out at night can be challenging, but once again it's something that's been done time and time again without a problem. Conditions can change rapidly and forecasts are often wrong. Those 54 kayakers who were 'rescued' were simply given boat rides from the island where they safely landed back to shore. Maybe mistakes in judgment were made, but I sure don't have enough information to say that.<br />
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I really don't like the easy judgment and criticism that flies so freely about the internet. I hate to see it being applied to the world of kayaking - especially from kayakers themselves. Let's all think a little before we respond. Consider the possibilities and maybe even give the other person the benefit of the doubt. We could all probably learn a thing or two from these incidents, but we have to try a little harder.<br />
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<br />Bryant Burkhardthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14962650670783506022noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5347463840298564760.post-89742289161150641532015-09-10T07:05:00.002-07:002015-09-11T07:03:54.948-07:00River vs. Ocean Rolling Mentality<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I was <a href="http://paddlecalifornia.blogspot.com/2015/08/surfs-up-if-you-can-find-it.html" target="_blank">kayak surfing at Big River</a> the other day, and on my paddle out I saw a big one coming and decided to turn and take it in. My takeoff was late but I managed to find the shoulder and start my run. That's when it hit me.<br />
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One of the features of that location is the near vertical cliff wall on one side of the river mouth. It often creates reflected waves that come at ninety degrees to the wave you're riding. The reflection comes down the line like a pulse of energy, and just as my ride started to crumble the pulse hit me and launched me into the air. I landed vertical, nose down, and drove deep into the building foam pile.<br />
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I tried to balance myself and even put my paddle out for support with the hope I could pop back up. My boat (a <a href="http://paddlecalifornia.blogspot.com/2013/09/kayak-review-necky-jive.html" target="_blank">Necky Jive</a>) is too long to loop even if I actually knew how to loop. But I thought if I could hold position my buoyancy would shoot me up and out and I'd at least be on the surface. That's when the rest of the wave collapsed.<br />
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The freight train flipped me over and drove me deep under. Now I was upside down with a pile of water on top and nothing but twisting, violent currents surrounding me. This is the spot where many ocean kayakers will wait for the wave to pass and then roll up. Here's why that's a bad thing.<br />
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While you're waiting, other waves are coming. The longer you wait to roll up the closer the next wave will be to hitting you. To fully take advantage of the lull between waves you need to be upright and paddling. It's great to be comfortable upside down, to think clearly and maintain your composure and awareness. But physically you can't accomplish anything. You're there to kayak and you do that upright. Take a lesson from river kayakers.<br />
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On the river, waves don't pass. They stick around. Holes can be even worse. It's possible you'll flush out and have a calm pool to roll up in, but you can't count on it. Being upside down is dangerous for the fact you might not go anywhere and for the fact you might go somewhere you don't want. It's essential if you're paddling hard whitewater that you roll up right away and get on with your paddling.<br />
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It's a normal progressioin in rolling on the river to wait. You get flipped in class II and there's probably a relatively calm patch of water after every feature. There aren't sticky holes. But as you move into class III, and definitely class IV, the rapids get longer, there are more features, and you can't always hang on until the flat part to roll. So you learn to roll in the mess.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo: Darin McQuoid</td></tr>
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The first key point is simply the mentality. There's no thought of waiting. If you're upside down you start rolling up. Ideally you don't even worry about a set-up position. From wherever you find yourself, tucked or leaning back, however your paddle is oriented, whichever side it's on, you simply roll from there. If you can use the momentum of the water to help you all the better.<br />
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That's the goal and it takes practice - the second key point. Everyone starts out rolling in flat water so it's natural to get used to that. And it's good to practice in the pool. But get your approach away from setting up and finding the right position. Stop looking for the surface. Change your understanding of rolling from a specific sequence of motions to a general concept of using your paddle and your body to bring the boat underneath you. Practice it from every position. Practice it in the current. Throw yourself in a hole or the foam pile and practice it there. There's a reason why playboaters have the best rolls - they flip themselves over in dynamic water on purpose all the time.<br />
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This is what you do if you want to paddle difficult whitewater. It's also what you need if you want to paddle rough water in the ocean. Too many sea kayakers seem content with the wait and roll approach. Their rolls depend upon specific techniques, often ones that bring them up lying on the back deck in unstable positions. That's fine to start, but don't stop there and let it become the habit. Learn some different rolls, work on both sides, and get really comfortable being upside down. Make your goal right away to be able to roll in the chaos and come up ready for more. It may take time and practice to get there, but you'll be a better paddler and a lot safer on the open ocean.<br />
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I don't know how I rolled up from my wipeout at Big River. It was all very confusing, but I felt water pull on a paddle blade and I anchored myself on that blade and used my hips to bring my boat underneath me. I felt the air and I was up - facing backwards and still in the middle of the foam pile. One stroke in the smooth water behind the pile and I was free. I saw the next, larger wave coming and paddled to the side to avoid the hit. After making my way outside, I picked my waves a little more carefully and caught better rides without needing to roll again. That's how it should be.<br />
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<br />Bryant Burkhardthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14962650670783506022noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5347463840298564760.post-55647184490272457132015-08-30T07:38:00.000-07:002015-08-30T07:38:28.707-07:00Surf's up - if you can find itThe Mendocino Coast is a pretty amazing place to kayak. It has everything you could want - big swells, mellow days, rock gardens, sea caves, tidal rivers, a little whitewater, and breathtaking scenery. It also has some surf. And there are some good surf days. But the truth is that most of the surf spots are a little junky most of the time. There aren't any place that consistently get good surf conditions. The mouth of Big River, just south of Mendocino, is a place that always has surf. Some days it even works well as a teaching spot. But it's never very good.<div>
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That doesn't mean that it can't be fun. We had 3' @ 16 sec WNW swell which are nice waves but they didn't really hit any of the breaks right. Big River had some fun rides, but it also had reflections that came at you sideways. And it was on a flood, so getting out wore you out before you caught a ride. Whenever I go surfing I call it successful if I get one good ride. That's about all I got today, but I did catch it on film and I did leave with a smile. Enjoy:</div>
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Bryant Burkhardthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14962650670783506022noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5347463840298564760.post-15569700463790872952015-08-23T08:18:00.000-07:002015-08-23T08:18:39.243-07:00The Art of Sea Kayaking: Awareness/Judgment<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-lX2amTEjYGA/VdDXdj2TjxI/AAAAAAAAQLI/SP1NeLjtJps/s1600/AoSK%2BBanner.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="144" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-lX2amTEjYGA/VdDXdj2TjxI/AAAAAAAAQLI/SP1NeLjtJps/s640/AoSK%2BBanner.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">This is part of a series of posts covering what it takes to paddle on the open ocean, exposed to swell and away from easy landings. I'll discuss the techniques and ideas I feel are important to understand in order to safely paddle in such a dynamic environment with the focus on how to approach thing instead of simply how to do things. While my intention is to help guide folks who are newer to the sport and possibly neophytes on the ocean, I hope some of the wisdom I share gives even the most seasoned paddler more to think about. This is not meant to teach any specific skills, but rather to inform people on what they should be learning and give some suggestions for going about it. Many of these things are covered in typical classes (some are not), and I highly encourage instruction from a skilled teacher. But I also know many paddlers learn through experience - properly so - and hope these concepts will lead to better learning experiences.</span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 15.3333330154419px;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="http://paddlecalifornia.blogspot.com/2015/05/the-art-of-sea-kayaking.html" target="_blank"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #47a5a5; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">Part 1: Introduction</span></a><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 15.3333330154419px;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="http://paddlecalifornia.blogspot.com/2015/05/the-art-of-sea-kayaking-technique.html" target="_blank"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #47a5a5; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">Part 2: Technique</span></a><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 15.3333330154419px;"><br /></span><a href="http://paddlecalifornia.blogspot.com/2015/06/the-art-of-sea-kayaking-rescues-and.html" target="_blank"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #47a5a5; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">Part 3: Rescues and Rolling</span></a><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 15.3333330154419px;"><br /><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;"><a href="http://paddlecalifornia.blogspot.com/2015/07/the-art-of-sea-kayaking-surf-zone.html" target="_blank">Part 4: Surf Zone</a></span><br /><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;"><a href="http://paddlecalifornia.blogspot.com/2015/08/the-art-of-sea-kayaking-forecasts.html" target="_blank">Part 5: Forecasts</a></span><br /><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">Part 6: </span></span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13.3333330154419px; line-height: 15.3333330154419px;">Awareness/Judgment</span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 15.3333330154419px;"><br /><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">Part 7: Seamanship</span><br /><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">Part 8: Working With the Water</span><br /><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">Part 9: Rock Gardening</span><o:p></o:p></span><br />
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Awareness/Judgment</h3>
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To see what you want to see, you have to know what you’re looking for. That’s a little trickier than it sounds. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;">When paddling along a coast there are some obvious things to look for. The beautiful scenery, the ocean waves, your paddling companions. But what are you looking </span><i style="line-height: 115%;">out</i><span style="line-height: 115%;"> for? What are the important signs of possible danger? What should you pay attention to and what do you need to anticipate. How do you spend all your time being aware of hazards and still enjoy yourself?</span></div>
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We all want to have fun when we paddle – that’s the whole point – but in a dynamic and possibly dangerous environment like the open coast you also need to constantly be watching for changes that might put you at risk. You need to know what’s happening, what could happen, and what you and your partners can do to deal with whatever does happen. It’s a general concept, lacking in specifics by its very nature, but it <i>is</i> something you can practice and improve.<o:p></o:p></div>
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You have to be aware, and awareness needs to be a continuous and fluid thing. If you’re trying to follow a checklist or a bunch of rules, you won’t do it as often and you’ll miss out on the beauty that’s around you. Awareness is a state of mind that you have to work at reaching, rather like meditation. Not only does it make you a safer boater but it lets you get more out of your paddling experiences.<o:p></o:p></div>
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In theory you’re paying attention to everyone and everything. That can seem overwhelming. Start by making sure you’re not focused on any <i>one</i> thing. Many people paddle just watching the boat in front of them. Or maybe the birds. Or maybe they get lost in a great conversation with the person next to them. You really can’t afford to do that on the ocean. Always keep looking around. Count the paddlers in your group. Look behind. Look up. Make sure to change your focus frequently and you’ll actually appreciate a lot more of the world around you as well and increase your awareness of risks.<o:p></o:p></div>
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The goal is to see the bad things coming before they arrive. You don’t want to all of a sudden realize the wind is very strong or that wave is very close. The truth is most disasters unfold slowly on the ocean, over a matter of hours. People get cold, conditions deteriorate, the group gets farther and farther from safety. These things start as small problems and grow, but if you see what’s happening when it’s still very manageable you can make small corrections that change the trajectory of the outing. Ask the person next to you if they’re warm enough. Figure out why your boat keeps wanting to go to the left. Stay close to shore if it feels like the skies are darkening. You have to see the problem building in order to cut it off while it’s small. Information is your friend. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Judgment is what you do with the information you are now aware of. It’s deciding a course of action, a route through the rocks or where to position yourself in the group. Whether to press on or turn back. It’s not always about making the safe choice – the safest thing is to never be out there – but about understanding the consequences of your actions and making sure you can handle the possible outcomes. It’s about balancing risk and reward, exposure and experience. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Without good information you can’t make a good decision. And out on the coast you are constantly making decisions, which is why you have to always be aware. The key is to start making those decisions with conscious thought instead of letting happenstance and habit dictate your actions. Gather the information you need by observing the physical world and consulting your own experience. Don’t be afraid to ask questions and get feedback from your companions, those who might know more and even those who definitely know less. Everyone is a part of the equation.<o:p></o:p></div>
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The hardest part to this for beginners is that they start out letting someone else make their judgments for them. It’s natural. Your instructor has more experience and knowledge so you let them decide. You join a club and head out on a group paddle with a strong leader. You go out with your more experienced friend who got you into the sport in the first place. It’s not only easier to let someone else decide, it allows you to pretend the risk doesn’t even exist. It takes away your responsibility and who wants responsibility when you’re having fun? Eventually that attitude will hold you back and put yourself and others at risk. So start learning how to handle things yourself right from the start.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Start by asking your instructor why they made that decision. Ask them what they see when they look out at the surf. Check your own compass while you’re following the leader. Try to guess if the group will go inside or outside that rock (and guess who’s going do the opposite of everyone else). Even if the decision is up to someone else, make up your own mind and see if it agrees with them. If not, start a discussion (not an argument) to find out why other folks came to a different conclusion. Paddle with your betters but aspire to be their equal. Recognize it takes time and effort to get there.<o:p></o:p></div>
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You don’t need to rely on the ‘experts’. Sometimes very skilled paddlers still have bad judgment. Sometimes they just have a greater comfort with risk. Sometimes they’re not around. If you’re paddling with peers, or maybe you’re the leader of the group, still ask for help. More people means more information, and good leaders take it all in. Ultimately someone needs to make a decision – non-decisions left up to the vagaries of groupthink are almost always bad. Consensus is fine as long as it’s spelled out. You need to know what others are thinking and feeling if you, or anyone, wants to make a good decision for a group. Ultimately someone has to speak the plan or lead the way.<o:p></o:p></div>
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The good paddlers are making these informed decisions constantly. They also keep a flexible frame of mind. Goal-oriented activities are the nemesis of good judgment. If you’re set on launching from a certain beach, traveling a certain distance before calling it a day, or feel a need to prove yourself to your peers, your judgment is likely to be impaired. It is possible to set and reach goals and retain good judgment, but it makes it harder. It helps to build up your judgmental experience by taking the pressure off yourself. Let your sense of what is safe and reasonable decide what your goal should be, not the other way around. Be willing to miss out on a good experience in order to avoid a really bad one. <o:p></o:p></div>
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The theory is to be aware and make conservative decisions. By having that as your goal you are already steps ahead of the pack. Here are some things you can do to get further ahead.<span style="line-height: 115%;"> </span></div>
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<b>Practice</b></h4>
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Start with the big things. You should already know the forecast for the weather (see the <a href="http://paddlecalifornia.blogspot.com/2015/08/the-art-of-sea-kayaking-forecasts.html" target="_blank">previous post</a> in this series), but you need to pay attention to how the weather is changing. Pay attention to the clouds in the sky – puffy white clouds are pretty but a line of grey clouds means something else. Watch the sea state – not only will you see if it’s getting windier but you’ll have a better chance at spotting whale spouts or sea lions popping up for a visit. Feel the swells pass under you – you’ll connect with the ocean and improve your paddling while also learning the pattern of sets for the day.<o:p></o:p></div>
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That same mode of thought applies to deciding where to go. When you look at the rocks, notice how the waves roll over them or deflect around them. It’s fascinating to see the interaction of water and stone, and also very informative to see how different size sets behave differently. Just like in the <a href="http://paddlecalifornia.blogspot.com/2015/07/the-art-of-sea-kayaking-surf-zone.html" target="_blank">surf zone</a>, patience is your friend as you evaluate ocean features.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Feel the wind on your face when you look around to pinpoint the direction it’s coming from. Look at the sky in that direction since it’s headed your way. Count the whitecaps you see – are their more where you’re headed? That means it’s windier over there.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Outside of the physical environment, the most important thing to keep watching are your friends. Where are they going? What are they doing? Are they all still here and upright? Checking in early allows you easy opportunities to avoid future difficulties. Offer that chilly person an extra warm hat or a snickers bar before they get hypothermic. Stop and fix the footpeg instead of constantly doing sweep strokes until your arm tires out. Notice your buddy’s stern is riding low and realize the hatch cover isn’t on tight while you’re still close enough to shore to make it back if you can’t fix it on the water. Some things are hard to see but if you ask a few questions you’ll learn a lot. And what you didn’t notice someone else might have. The strength of any group is their combined skills, awareness included.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Aside from the physical, learn to consider the psychological – it’s an important part of group dynamics and the key to smoothly functioning paddle trips. Is everyone comfortable with the route and conditions? Does everyone have the skills to deal with what might be faced? Communication is the key to group decision-making and getting everyone involved early is necessary to facilitate making the tough calls when things go sideways. In the end, someone needs to speak the plan and you'll get more agreement (and a better plan) if everyone has contributed and feels free to share their thoughts.<o:p></o:p></div>
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There are many ways to arrive at a decision. Some people suggest formulas, like the bulls-eye method developed by Body Boat Blade, which is good when making big decisions like deciding whether or not to launch (brief overview <a href="http://gokayaknow.com/index.php/sea-kayaking/sea-kayaking-leadership-and-risk-assessment-clap/" target="_blank">here</a>). But you won’t constantly be pulling out a chart every time you need to decide whether to go through the rocks or around them, or whether to paddle next to Bob or up front with Mary. I think you need something a little simpler and quicker for the majority of small decisions that get made every time out on the water.<o:p></o:p></div>
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The way I like to approach things is with a focus on PROBABILITY and CONSEQUENCE. Whenever I consider what could go wrong I also give it a likelihood. I could get attacked by a Great White at any time, but I know the odds are very remote so I don’t do much to adjust my behavior (though I don’t do rescue practice next to a rookery in the fall). A large set coming in after a lull is much more likely. If I paddle behind that rock how often does a wave big enough to break come by? Is it common for winds to pick up in the afternoon (yes!)? I use my past experience to estimate the likelihood of typical problems on the water and make my best guess as to what could happen. It isn’t perfect, but it isn’t random.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Once aware of what can happen and how likely it is, you need to consider how bad it will be. If I do get hit by that big wave, would I be able to brace and ride it out or does it slam into more rocks? If something is likely to flip me, will I be able to roll up? If I end up swimming, how cold is the water, how warm am I dressed, how far would I have to go? If Jimmy gets tired or someone blows out a shoulder, do we have enough strong paddlers to tow them to safety? Do we have communication gear to call for help? While a lot can go wrong, most of it can be dealt with as long as you have the proper equipment and training. So when I see a risk I don’t have to automatically avoid it. I can choose to take it if I feel the reward is worth it and the consequences are acceptable.<o:p></o:p></div>
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I don’t have a magic formula, but if there’s a high risk of something going wrong I still might try it if the negative outcome isn’t all that bad. Swimming into the beach on a sunny day certainly won’t ruin a surf session. But I stay away from low risk situations if the outcome is something I really don’t want to deal with, even if it’s unlikely. I stay away from rocks if I’m in my friend’s new composite kayak. I don’t go around that point if I know a squall could blow the group out to sea and it’s already getting late in the day. If it’s just me and my wife I’m much more conservative in my play, but with a larger group of skilled paddlers I know there are simply more resources to deal with whatever happens.<o:p></o:p></div>
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You can practice this judgment in retrospect. While that includes looking at situations that went wrong, it’s just as important to review when things went right. Too many people assume that a lack of disaster indicates good decisions were made. That’s simply not true. If you survived the first round of Russian roulette, it hardly proves your thought process is sound and definitely doesn’t suggest the second round will be equally as successful. <o:p></o:p></div>
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After every paddle take some time to consider the choices you made and think about how things turned out. Did you turn back in time? Was your route a good one? Did everyone have fun on the trip? Do you realize now that you would have been in real trouble if a large set came while you were exploring that cave? Reflection is the key to growth.<o:p></o:p></div>
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If you can, include others in the review. A fine time to do this is with a beer in your hand after a large and satisfying meal (on the other hand, a bad time to do this is after several beers and one too many roadside tacos). It doesn’t have to be formal or structured, but pay attention to those who have more experience and listen to those who don’t say much. We all have war stories to share and most of them have a useful lesson buried in there somewhere. It’s fun and educational at the same time.<span style="line-height: 115%;"> </span></div>
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<b>Conclusion</b></h4>
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<o:p> </o:p>You can normally spot the paddlers who are aware by watching their head. It swivels. They take in the whole 360. They’re the ones who saw the harbor porpoise, noticed Frank has a new paddle, and found the coolest slot to run. They’re having the most fun and make you want to paddle with them. That’s the paddler you want to be.</div>
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The ones who always leave the decisions to others. The ones who are up for anything but often end up needing help. The ones who are surprised by what the ocean brings. Those are the paddlers you want to avoid.<o:p></o:p></div>
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It’s an attitude. A choice. Being aware and making good judgments are skills to develop and practice. They go right along with a solid roll and the ability to back surf; with helping others carry boats and having extra chocolate at the lunch break. All things very much needed in this sport.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Bryant Burkhardthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14962650670783506022noreply@blogger.com0