Our Readers Write
The Over-the-Hill Gang Speaks Out!
And an Unsolved Mystery —
Will You Have the Answer?
January 30, 2007
It's hard to believe that the last time
"Our Readers
Write" appeared, children of all ages were putting the finishing
touches on Halloween costumes. Now northern paddlers are chipping ice off
their cars' windshields, while folks living in more temperate latitudes are
making the most of the cool weather. Still, even if snow is falling
throughout Canoe Country, winter's grip on the land is loosening. The sun
climbs higher in the sky with every passing day, and southern breezes tease
us with hints of the spring to come. It won't be long before geese are
following the sun on its northward trek.
No matter what the season, however, canoeing and kayaking are never far
from the minds of In
the Same Boat readers, many of whom intend to keep paddling long
after their contemporaries have settled down in their La-Z-Boys for good.
You'll find a few of our readers' stories here. First, though, we invite
everyone to help us solve a mystery. The game's afoot, Watson! There's not
a moment to lose!
— Tamia Nelson and Farwell Forrest,
In the Same Boat
The Mystery of the "Adirondack Wheel"
Hi, Folks!
When I had access to the Adirondack Mountains in the '50s, I learned
about a single bicycle-wheel device which was designed to carry camping or
other gear. I think it was referred to as the "Adirondack Wheel," and it
was pulled like pulling a wheelbarrow backwards. I think there was also a
tumpline
used to assist in pulling, but an upper-body harness connected to the
device's handles would be a better way to travel.
I used to hike with 80- to 100-pound packs without too much trouble.
Those days are over for me now, though, and I'm looking for a better way.
If you know of such a device, please let me know.
Thank you for any help you are able to offer.
Will Koenitzer
• • •
Tamia replies:
You've got me, Will. Although Farwell and I kicked around the
Adirondacks in the '50s, '60s, and '70s, neither of us can recall seeing
anything quite like the gadget you describe. (There were once two-wheel
carts at the ends of some of the longer portages, but that's not the same
thing, is it?) Nor do I remember my sometime Adirondack
guide grandfather ever mentioning a one-wheeled cart, and a quick check
of my bookshelves turned up nothing relevant in either historian Paul
Jamieson's Adirondack
Canoe Waters: North Flow or Adirondack Museum curator Hallie Bond's
Boats and Boating in the Adirondacks.
In short, we're stumped. But maybe someone else can do better. What
about it, readers? Can you help Will out? If so, please drop us a
line. We'll pass your information along to Will pronto.
Moving on, now.… Tamia certainly struck a chord with "There IS a
Paddling Life After 50." Our mailbox overflowed with letters from
readers who refuse to let the calendar dictate how they live their lives.
Here are only a few:
One Foot in the Grave? Not On Your Life!
Hi, Tamia!
Great story. It puts it all in perspective as I turn 49 years old in
December, and move by myself to Washington, D.C., to a new job and to find
new paddling friends. Yes, new aches and pains, but I still play kick ball
with a bunch of 20-30–somethings — though I will throw in the
"old card" when I know I need a break. I want to enjoy life outside, not in
the Lay-Z-Boy®. Thanks again for a wonderful story.
Conrad J. ("Jim") Harbuck
• • •
Tamia replies:
Being able to play the "old card" sure is one benefit of advancing
years, Jim. And it's one I intend to use liberally!
Short and Sweet
Dear Tamia,
I have to thank you for a most fantastic article! Absolutely fabulous!
Thanks for the great read!
Margie Williams
• • •
Tamia replies:
Aw, shucks, Margie. You're welcome. 'Tweren't nothin'!
It's Just Common Sense
Dear Tamia,
Loved the article. More information in there than in most books. Of
course, the best part is that it's common sense that saves us. I just
finished my echocardiogram stress test and am set to go. My kayak is
hanging up in the garage right now, waiting for warmer weather. (Cold
allergies. If I was in the water…well…the other foot would be
where we don't want it!)
Loved my first season of kayaking in lakes around our area. Peaceful,
quiet, time to practice and enjoy.
Thanks for a great article.
Janice M. Biscoe
Falling Apart, but Paddling Together
Dear Tamia,
Great article. I'm an ole fart who is falling apart physically. The
really good thing is, I love kayaking and go every chance I get. I'm not 60
yet, but I'm pushing it — WAY out of my way, hopefully! Recently went
kayaking with my 28-year-old son, in Columbia, South Carolina. I can
honestly say "da boy" didn't out-paddle me (though he probably could have,
had he been a mean little son and tried to). Anyway, we had a really good
couple of days with the kayaks. I do mainly calm — as in "slick as
glass" — paddling. I love it! My wife and I are opposites there. She
can't swim too great, and we live on a river and creek! She's a very kind
wife, though, and she "allows" me to paddle to my heart's content.
Actually, I think she's glad I'm away from home so she can relax! Just
wanted you to know that people DO read the stories in Paddling.net. I know
I do. Ya did good. Good story, good information, and good reading. Thanks.
Kent
Fighting Back Against Back Pain
Hey, Tamia!
Great article! One note that was preaching to the choir, though: I used
to have terrible problems with back pain. Since I started paddling the pain
has become less frequent and more manageable. I woke up on the second day
of the 2005 Adirondack Fall Classic with the old back pain. Started the
race and did the portages no problem. Couldn't sleep well or sit in a car,
but I could carry a 48-pound Minn2 up the hills. Before I started this
insanity they call canoe racing I would have dropped out and suffered for a
month or so before it worked its way out. So now I subscribe to my friend
Jim Normandins' philosophy — "Paddle till you're 98"!
Charlie Swengros
• • •
Tamia replies:
Paddle till you're 98? Sounds great to me, Charlie. But why stop
then?
Another Paddling Prescription for a Bad Back
Nice article, Tamia!
Although I'm not yet 50 years old, canoeing was just what my doctor
ordered a few decades ago. I'd been a kayaker as a teen and had totally
forgotten about my skills until I went to the doc with bad back problems.
"Do more exercise to strengthen your back muscles," he told me, "or you'll
end up in a wheelchair sooner or later. And if you don't want to do it on
the floor, get in a boat." (He was a canoeist.) Needless to say, I got the
message, and I own more canoes now than pairs of shoes. And the doc was
right — my back problems are almost gone. ("Almost" means that I
always have an excuse to go canoeing.)
Happy paddling! See you on the water.
Peter Kozlik
CRCA Certified Canoe Instructor and Advanced Wilderness Medic
"At the foot of any rapid, it is far better to be sorry one did not run
the rapid than to be sorry that one did!"
• • •
Tamia replies:
Who can argue with a prescription to get out and mess around in a boat?
Not I!
Retiring to the Active Life
Dear Tamia,
Thanks for the great article on exercise — especially paddling
— and aging. I only took up sea kayaking three years ago at 50+ and it
has changed the course of my life. I am now planning to retire in 2008 on
the South Carolina coast just so that I can paddle year-round in both surf
and on flatwater. It was not an area I had previously even considered
living in. I visited Alaska last month for the first time and wistfully
looked at all the really exciting kayaking trips that one could take if one
was much younger, much fitter, and much more experienced than I, but thanks
to your article I think I have many good years of kayaking ahead of me. I
can roll my 17-foot Current Designs boat about 20 percent of the time, and
with a little extra practice in retirement, maybe I'll have a bomb-proof
roll in time for my 60th birthday.
Michael Carakostas
Full Circle — The Wheel Turns Round
Dear Tamia,
Another one of your excellent articles, especially for us over 50 and
still kicking and paddling. I also enjoy following all the hyperlinks to
your earlier articles. The link to carts ["Rediscovering
the Wheel" -Ed.] prompted me to reply with a correction, however: There
are many carts that will fit in a kayak. Even properly sized
mid-mounted (as opposed to stern-mounted) carts will squeeze in — and
in narrower Greenland-style kayaks, too. It is a challenge picking the
right ones, of course, which is why I own six different carts to fit my
canoe, kayaks, SOTs, and rowing shell. But I never have to leave my cart at
the ramp or beach.
Joe Hamilton
• • •
Tamia replies:
Good point, Joe. Just because many kayaks don't have the carrying
capacity of most canoes, that doesn't meant there isn't room for a
carefully chosen cart. Where there's a will, there's a way — and your
home fleet is proof of that!
Keep On Keeping On!
Tips for Aging Paddlers
Dear Tamia,
As I was about to post the first review anywhere of my new Hurricane
Aquasports Santee Expedition Sport, I noticed your very timely article. I
have my first chemically-induced stress test next week, and am filled with
dread. I am closing in on 63 years old, 300 pounds, diabetic, hypertensive,
and had a stent implanted after a major heart attack in November 2003.
After a Hollywood acting career I retired to the Florida Panhandle purely
to pursue my first love — kayaking flatwater. I can add a couple of
suggestions for those amongst us combating the fragility of aging and/or
infirmity.
I carry a small plastic cylinder around my neck when paddling — the
type sold to beach-goers for swimming with keys, valuables, etc. It costs
under a dollar. Inside are an extra car key (used after shuttles), my
clearance pass for paddling restricted local waters, a large-denomination
bill for emergencies, three 325-mg aspirin, and a spray vial of
nitroglycerin. A friend who had her first heart attack on our river paddle
last summer thinks these last two may have saved her life. We also
discovered that even though one of us usually carries a cell phone in a
waterproof case, the hit-or-miss coverage often does not come through in
bucolic floats.
I just purchased a new invention from Bending Branches called the Kayak
Kickstand. It's a stabilizing device that clamps to the front of your
cockpit something like a double C-clamp and locks your double-bladed paddle
perpendicular to your boat. The extended, locked paddle then prevents
accidental tip-overs when entering and exiting, and with the addition of
one or two paddle-floats it becomes an outrigger pontoon that will prevent
[maybe "delay " might be a better word here -Ed.] capsizing in deeper
water. Unfortunately, the Trylon™ hull of my newest kayak is too
brittle to utilize this device. I hope to try it soon on my LiquidLogic
Stingray 14. I require large cockpits because following my heart
attack my leg muscles do not function well enough to get in and out of the
boats in the customary manner. I am forced to turn around in the cockpit,
then rise up on my knees while using my arms to help push me up. Paddling
with friends and clubs is an enormous boon to us codgers who refuse to
succumb to the recliner and armchair paddling.
Yours in the autumnal sun.
Ritch Brinkley
And that wasn't the last we heard from Ritch. He wrote back later to
say…
My stress test proved good news — my ejection fraction has doubled
my heart's capacity. Now if only I can hog-tie the diabetes. I am spending
the holidays in Raleigh, where I turned down an invitation to paddle the
Cape Fear River on a day knocking the 30s. I'll return to Florida for our
New Year's paddle. Our club, West Florida Canoe and Kayak, is sponsoring
the 6th annual Florida Paddlers' Rendezvous next October, and we're
expanding the invitations to Georgia, Mississippi, and Alabama. Looks to be
a big event, and I am doing the publicity.
"When you're lucky enough to be on the water, you're lucky enough."
• • •
Tamia replies:
That's good news, indeed, Ritch — and your Rendezvous sounds like
the event of the season for Southeast paddlers!
Water of Life
Dear Tamia,
Thank you for the article in Paddling Net. I didn't begin paddling until
I was 52. In fact I always wanted my own canoe but had no one who would go
with me. Then I learned about kayaks. I was working in a toxic environment,
however, and I was suffering from a knee injury and severe chronic
obstructive pulmonary disease. I was on a lot of prednisone, and my weight
went up to about 300 pounds. I began swimming, something I always have
enjoyed. Eventually I bought a Pungo Classic and got out in it a few times.
In 2005 I joined the local outdoor club and had some very difficult,
embarrassing moments with my asthma and lack of strength or skills. I find
that "keeping up" often causes me stress, but when I am able to go out on
my own at my own pace I am good for six to eight hours on the water.
This summer I've been paddling a Pungo 140 and using a lighter paddle.
Still, it is hard to keep up with the 17-foot sleek kayaks, but when I am
by myself on the water I feel free and capable. I've even pretty much
learned how to get out of my kayak without soaking my whole body, and can
load the boat back on my van single-handed. The body weight has not gone
away, but my overall health and sense of well-being have much improved,
thanks to my time either swimming or paddling. In fact, I no longer take
blood pressure medication. Sometimes folks make fun of overweight women,
especially those of us who try to squeeze into a kayak, but I get more of a
backache from my Lay-Z-Boy® in two hours than I get in Pungo after a
full seven-hour day of sitting in it.
We all have to start somewhere. Paddling.net is an excellent resource. I
really appreciate it. Your article was very well worth reading by someone
with my health history. Ten years ago I didn't think I'd live to be age 50,
and if I did I saw an oxygen tank in my future. Now I dream of kayaking and
someday getting a big gal's sea kayak. Thanks again.
Linda S. Keith
Tamia replies:
What can I say, Linda? I don't think I've ever come across a better
example of grace under pressure. Thank you — and good luck!
Use It or Lose It!
Hi, Tamia!
I just read "One Foot in the Grave" with great interest. I can attest to
the fact that one can continue doing fun things even if they are a bit
strenuous. Since I grew up in Ohio and didn't move to New Hampshire until I
was 40, the only thing I knew about snow was that it had to be shoveled off
the walks. So it seems that some of the fun things came a little later in
life for me than for most people. I learned to downhill ski at age 42.
Racquetball was discovered at age 50. I did get into a canoe a couple of
times around then, but kayaking had to wait till 74, when I was forced to
give up racquetball because of a sciatica problem. Snowshoes came along a
year later. As I said, I seem to be a late starter. Nonetheless, unless one
uses the body, one is apt to lose it. Many years ago I promised myself that
I was going to wear out, not rust out. So far, by the grace of God, I've
been able to fulfill that promise. I do try to be prudent about
cold-weather kayaking, but managed to extend last year's kayaking until
November 30th. I too was told to keep the pulse rate at 120 or less, but
the more fit you are, the easier it is to do that. So at 78, I go out to
the barn and look fondly at my kayak, while I contemplate learning to
cross-country ski.
Take care!
Nick Maselli
Tamia replies:
Thanks for writing, Nick. There's always something to look forward to
when you're active, isn't there?
OK. That's a good note to end on. Whether you're a late developer or an
early adopter, it's obvious that the march of time needn't dampened your
ardor. Our readers' letters are evidence of that. And they're just a few
voices among many. Messing about in boats is obviously good for both body
and soul, whatever your age. In fact, it may just get better as the years
add up. It's like Gus McCrae, the former Texas Ranger turned rancher in
Larry McMurtry's Lonesome Dove, used to say: "The older the violin,
the sweeter the music." And there aren't many things sweeter than gliding
through the water with a paddle in your hands!
Our heartfelt thanks to everyone who took the time to send us their
comments and questions, hints and tips. Keep it up. After all, it's "Our
Readers Write."
A little fine print: We'll assume that it's OK to reprint
any letter you send us, unless you tell us otherwise. (Just put "Not
for Publication" at the head of your letter.) We will never put your
e-mail address online unless you specifically ask us to, however. Letters
may also be edited for length and clarity, and we'll add links to articles
or other resources wherever and whenever appropriate.
Copyright © 2007 by Verloren Hoop Productions. All rights
reserved.