: That wouldn't help because the more experienced guys would say their
: experience gives them the "edge" over lesser experienced
: paddlers. What we all need is occasional reminders from friends to not
: take foolish risks. Those are the risks that we have to think about
: taking. That thinking is the major indicator that we need to back down. If
: ego gets in the way of clear thinking - then the thinking is dangerous and
: the risks should be considered too great a challenge.

: Robert N Pruden

You may be right on that one, Robert. I suspect we all extrapolate from our personal experiences, and unfortunately, I'm the most experienced paddler I've paddled with (it's a very small, shallow pool), and I find myself reining in those less-experienced, but then, I try to be very careful. I've got some serious responsibilities, and the chil'ren would be really torqued if I went off and drowned myself right now!

One of the problems with kayaking is also it's beauty; it doesn't take much money to get on the water with your own kayak, and there's no license of qualification to be allowed to do so. I'd suggest any youngster contemplating the sport, get some 'old fart' to mentor you. We're probably easier to keep up with (though until you learn proper technique, you're going to be in for a surprise), we've made most of the mistakes and survived (that's your cue, Robert), and we don't feel like we have anything to prove/aren't suffering from testosterone poisoning. And we all have great senses of humor (otherwise we wouldn't be paddling skinny boats with a hole in the bottom)! All generalizations with exceptions, of course. There's a hundred ways to skin this cat.
Keep on preaching, we're listening.