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Post by beevar on May 20, 2007 13:22:46 GMT -5
I started out canoeing with the "guys" and went thru a period where the wives/girlfriends came too sometimes. I now believe that women should be left off the roster for any guys canoe trip. too many problems and too dangerous too i find. anyone have an opinion/experience with that?
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Post by alicia on May 20, 2007 16:24:28 GMT -5
Well, I do have experience and YES ! I do have an opinion ! As far as dangerous and problems, I have seen far more drunk, inexperienced men in canoe's than woman. I have found that canoeing is just as much a "woman" sport as a man's. Another woman and I just got back from an overnight trip with the "guys" and i am sure if you asked any of them, they'd say we held our own ! I think we need to be encouraging woman to take part in this fabulous sport and try our best not to make it gender biased ! See you on the water Alicia
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Carm
Coureur des bois
Carm
Posts: 81
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Post by Carm on May 21, 2007 6:13:31 GMT -5
This is a dangerous topic to begin with and I shouldn't dare respond, but oh well, here I go... 1) Women should definitely be part of the canoeing experience; my wife truly enjoyed the Restigouche and still describes the scenery to her friends. I also feel guilty when I canoe a beautiful river and she misses the view and can't wait to show her the sights. Similar to getting a new toy and trying to hide it, not sharing your pleasure with anyone else...just not the same. 2)There is something special about a "guys only" trip. Personally, I don't get out with "da boys" often enough and enjoy the time away from wife AND kids:-) Actually, I suspect they enjoy me being away too! Also, with a guys only trip, us men/pigs can get away with the farting, belching, cursing, etc. with no guilt. We can drink ourselves sick, flip the canoe and be stupid if we wish without getting "the look." So, in conclusion, yes women should be in the mix, but it's a different experience when they're not (good and bad). Also, don't forget, when the females get on the rivers themselves without the guys, they enjoy guilt free paddling as well (no one to yell at them if they miss a stroke, etc.) Phew. I hope I responded in a diplomatically correct way so that none of the guys or gals on this board took offense!
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Post by Jamie on May 21, 2007 11:10:35 GMT -5
Nice topic Beevar.... let's hope you like hate mail from women's rights groups I started canoeing on the "guy only" trips a few years back, what a great idea for an weekend escape. It starts to suck though when "the guys" bail out and your numbers are down to a couple of boats. I've got a new theory of the more the merrier guy or girl. Hopefully i'll be able to talk my "woman" into getting in the canoe someday too. As far as safety is concerned... let skill and experience dictate where and when someone paddles and saftey should'nt be a factor. Jamie
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Post by beevar on May 22, 2007 14:36:12 GMT -5
Of course I didn't mean for that to sound M-C Pig, but I guess it did!! Alicia you are absolutely right for sure, and Carm summed up the differences between guys only,( or girls only for that matter). My friends and I have debated this a few times when planning and I guess it is more of a "group" issue than a canoeing one. More about the dynamics of that kind of outing. Women are great canoeist's and if anything are safer than men. My wife is usually one of the most sensible people on the water. She is also the best bow person I ever canoed tandem with. By dangerous I meant that with the guys sometimes "acting up" or being pigs, as Carm says, they're a danger to others. Many times with us it has been the guy bringing an inexperienced companion and sometimes subjecting them to that. I have seen both men and women put on some distracting exhibitions on the water, so we're even there I think. So no offense to the ladies, it is a great sport and not gender based in any way.
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Lloyd
Lily dipper
Posts: 38
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Post by Lloyd on May 22, 2007 21:52:46 GMT -5
It has been my experience that women are better to paddle with than men, plus I hear they are better than sheep... My spouse is better than most men I know. I just got back from Algonquin Park the other day and wished I had her with me there. The guy I went with was useful on the portages but useless in the canoe. I don't have much use for drunks and rowdies no matter what sex though. Its not so bad when they just get drunk and drown but they have to leave a coleman full of trash in the water as well as their corpse
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tgneal
Voyageur
Little Falls - St. Croix River , NB
Posts: 229
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Post by tgneal on May 23, 2007 21:34:34 GMT -5
Hey Lloyd, I took a look at your Algonquin Park pictures on your site. It looks like you had great weather. So tell me, how did you like all that portaging? Take it easy, Tom
My apologies for hijacking the thread. I think women are just as good at paddling as men. Sometimes women aren't invited because the boys just want a trip with their buddies. It would be the same if it were a fishing trip, a snowmobile trip ar a trip to see a hockey game.
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Post by alicia on May 25, 2007 8:31:37 GMT -5
No offense taken just wanted to give my opinion I do understand what you mean though .... its the same thing as not wanting your husband partaking in your spa day with the girls
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Lloyd
Lily dipper
Posts: 38
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Post by Lloyd on May 26, 2007 10:52:02 GMT -5
Hey Lloyd, I took a look at your Algonquin Park pictures on your site. It looks like you had great weather. So tell me, how did you like all that portaging? Take it easy, Tom Not to hijack the thread but I only did 1720 meters of portaging over 8 carries. The longest portage in the park is 6400 meters. The longest one I did was 790m. I was glad to see I could portage my 80 pound monster faster and more efficiently than the guys with the 30 pound canoes. Except for two ladies who I could not keep up to. The temp ranged from +23C to -2C.
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Post by beevar on May 26, 2007 22:35:41 GMT -5
Hey Alicia, good point about the spa day! Women certainly have as much to add to the sport as men. I've also been reminded by my wife that the few times we did flip, it was usually from something I did, so i'm losing on this one!
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Post by Darlene on May 28, 2007 11:45:24 GMT -5
Opinion: OH Yeahhh - - YES - Men, women and canoes mix! When it's a guys trip - it's a guys trip! You should plan that before you head out and it's perfectly acceptable. But by the sounds of it it's you that doesn't belong in the mix! I think it's your stereo-typing attitude that should be left on the shore. Maybe, you just like being with the boys better...which is fine but you asked for opinions! Maybe, you're just a pig and you don't know how to act around a lady canoer or are just too ignorant with you're behaviour to even be in public. Maybe, no one wants to listen to you and you're BS on the water either! I thought it was about the enjoyment and thrill of the water, enjoying and being out in nature before the rest of man-kind destroy it, and it's a great sport for couples. Do you pick up the trash on the shores when you stop for a break or do you walk past it? Just curious! We (3 men / 3 women / 4 canoes) just came down the N-W Miramichi on Saturday (May 26) it was wonderful...great water, company, weather, drinks, food and I really enjoy the companionship in the tent at the end of the day! Wink Wink! Have fun with your boy friends! I started out canoeing with the "guys" and went thru a period where the wives/girlfriends came too sometimes. I now believe that women should be left off the roster for any guys canoe trip. too many problems and too dangerous too i find. anyone have an opinion/experience with that?
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5150
Lily dipper
Posts: 20
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Post by 5150 on May 28, 2007 14:28:29 GMT -5
Hello, I to did the May Run this year for the first time. What an awesome day! I hope it goes again next year...will be there for sure. Steve
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Post by beevar on May 28, 2007 14:36:58 GMT -5
Hey Darlene, You made some good points as well, so in response;
I'm not a misogynist (or a dirty rotten pig). I pick up any trash I find and believe conserving our great gift of nature to be of the utmost importance. I do think women are great canoists in general. I just wondered what other people thought about the men/women trips and what they preferred.
I personally prefer a guy trip over a guys and girls trip. However, I've never been on a girls only trip, so I don't know if they are similar to a guys only trip. Do you girls get drunk, talk dirty about men and knock each other in the water? I would love to be the ONLY GUY on a girls trip and help them pitch their tents and light their fires and stuff like that though. So you were on the Nor-west last week eh? it is a great piece of water in the spring, hope to get there again soon myself. Happy paddling! Beevar
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Post by Hillbilly on May 28, 2007 16:09:42 GMT -5
Touchy topic. I myself enjoy female company on the water, stops me from becoming a total animal and the nights are much better. A couple of girls i know can paddle circles around most.
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Post by Ken Corbett on May 29, 2007 7:42:05 GMT -5
My buddy Scofflaw and I were paddling on the Nashwaak one day when we encountered a group of 7 0r 8 female paddlers taking a break on shore. It was later in the afternoon, and the ladies were visibly in high spirits. I angled our canoe close to shore, and the ladies came down to the waterline, made some questionable gestures and suggestive remarks, then dared us to come to shore.
Scofflaw said, "let's get the hell out of here!", and we escaped with our lives.
I won't generalize to say that all female paddler groups are like that. I think whether it's all guys or all gals, there's a kind of gender solidarity that arises, and alcohol makes folks act baser too.
I think there should be an understanding beforehand how people are going to act on a mixed canoe trip. It can be just as much fun as an all-guys trip, maybe more so.
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