Article: "Freestyle kept me paddling"

[Glenn MacGrady]

"In 2017 I was struggling to stay interested in canoeing. A few years earlier I had sold my canoes and then in 2016 had purchased a couple of Pack Boats which I soon realized didn’t suit how I wanted to paddle. I wasn’t sure what I wanted but knew it didn’t include a double bladed paddle or sitting on my butt in the bottom of the boat."
. . . .
"At 77 now I don’t know if I’ll ever put a choreographed routine together but that doesn’t matter. I know I’m a better paddler today than I was – you really can teach an old dog new tricks. If I hadn’t made that first phone call and If I hadn’t gone to that first Freestyle event I probably wouldn’t be paddling today . . . ."

Freestyle kept me paddling – FreeStyle Canoeing

 

[kahel]

you really can teach an old dog new tricks

 

[lowangle al]

you really can teach an old dog new tricks.

Not so much when it comes to computer skills, for me anyway. Can someone tell me exactly what an URL is?

More on topic, I had a point a ways back when I didn't loose interest in canoeing, I just lost opportunities to get out. I worked all summer right till freeze up and had little time and energy to get out, other than for a few days in early spring. I had Grandkids at this point and they put an end to my winter trips in Florida. I started to question if I was still a paddler/tripper when I got out so little. Then one day I went to my local Cabela's. They had what I think was the last years production, 2014, of OT Trippers for $ 537.50. I bought two, I also found a perfectly fitting Tilley hat at a deep discount. I took these two occurrences as a sign from the Universe that my tripping and canoeing days were not over. It was shortly after that I got a place on a lake in Pa and got to do a lot of paddling in the shoulder seasons. I also got my first wood canvas boat around then which really reenergized my paddling.

Sometimes it takes an event or situation to readjust your attitude. Learning new skills will certainly do it, and freestyle looks like fun. The better you are at things the more enjoyable they become IME.

 

[Steve in Idaho]

I smile to myself when I hear paddlers behind me exclaim, as they are flailing away with their paddles, “look, he’s not paddling at all. He’s just sitting there with his paddle in the water, and the boat’s turning on its own” as we navigate an obstruction.

I think we probably all get some satisfaction from that.