The Disadvantage of Dead Reckoning
Published June 14, 2010 | 
We told each other that we were the wildest
The wildest things we’d ever seen
Now I wished you would have told me
I wished I could have talked to you
Just to say goodbye – springsteen
The city of Two Rivers, Wisconsin has a Current Designs kayak on every corner along the main street. Kayaks also decorate the fronts of a variety of businesses in the area as well. The city even dedicated a park to the local kayaker’s called appropriately “Paddler’s Park”. Two Rivers is a kayaker’s town. Paddlers have the tireless advocacy of local businessman and kayaker Phil Rohrer to thank for the city’s attentions. Thanks to Phil and the local clubs he inspired Wisconsin had a paddler’s mecca in the making…
For some years now the local paddling clubs, the “Lake shore Kayakers” & “North East Wisconsin Kayakers” (often interchangeable to non-locals) held a variety of annual events; Kayak Week, held at Point Beach, Kayak Weekend at Paddler’s Park and an annual auction brought in out-of-towners, while regular Monday night paddles and other outings invited locals to get in their kayaks regularly and socialize. The fact that the city was buying into the theme just made things even more idyllic. There was something special going on. For awhile.
Of course, times change. Few clubs really do a good job bringing in young people. Some if truth be told, don’t really want to. (It’s hard enough to find young blood in sea kayaking as it is.) Without new blood and fresh energy, rot sets in. Some folks just stop paddling, some get wrapped up in their personal lives, some get political, others begin to take their “hobby” waaaay too seriously and reject anyone who doesn’t find the “religion”. Clubs split, treasured friends become “that jerk” and life moves on. It’s amazing how fast people forget that paddling is about well, paddling.
Even if moving on is inevitable, moving on should never make you so blind that you would let someone you once cared about work all day long to decorate and set up a meal for you and not bother to call or show up.
We drove for 3 hours to join a community of paddlers who once welcomed us into the sport. The city was there. The community was gone. The streets were still decorated with kayaks filled with flowers. Paddlers park was still a nice patch of green on the river bank. We even double checked with local paddlers to be sure the big gathering was still on. What no one bothered to tell us of course, was that they didn’t plan to show up. Friday we really didn’t expect anyone. Only the hardcore folks show up before Saturday. We stayed and played in the rain on Friday night. I played in a two foot surf for a time. Alone.
On Saturday we looked forward to folks coming in. We expected most of the “old familiar faces” to arrive after an all day navigation class. We spent much of the day hiking the wonderful trails at Point Beach State Forest including a beautiful section of the Ice Age trail. In the afternoon Mary took a bucket of potato salad up to donate to the evening’s planned pot luck. That was when we learned that almost no one planned to attend. I suddenly felt guilt for making a crack to one of the organizers that I hoped she had made a big cake.. (She did.)
Mary, Gryphon and I went down and sat at the beach for awhile. As Gryphon playing in the waves, we talked about a time just a couple years back when on a day like this the surf line was filled with kayaks right in front of where we sat. A small surf was a great opportunity for new paddlers to learn some boat control and for the old folks to try and grab a quick surf. In those better days there was lots of teaching going on, tips to be had, boats to try, and cameras everywhere. You could spend all day either paddling or just watching people play. Today, it was gray and spitting rain with only the sound of the surf, a child playing and the occasional call of a sea gull on the wind.
We talked about all those tables up by the shelter that had been decorated for a family that wasn’t going to appear and how we just felt sad. We watched Gryphon play in the waves for a few more minutes. Finally we decided we should just pack up our gear and drive home. It was over.. It was over even before we had arrived.
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2 Responses to The Disadvantage of Dead Reckoning
A sad tale.
Thanks for the post, Derrick. This, I’m afraid, is a sign of the times. Maybe it’s the high initial cost of getting into kayaking that can shake the resolve of younger people thinking about getting into it, and the “experts” can be a downer as well. Whatever the precise reasons, it seems to me that the apex of this particular bell curve has been passed, and it will be a while before it all comes back around. It will. Everything moves in cycles. But it didn’t need to be like this.