Name: surfboy Location: Friendsville, MD USA til April 1st Beachburg, Ontario, Canada Sex: Male Birthday: 1959-02-05 Height: 173cm Weight: 68 kg Types of boats you paddle (eg. kayak, raft, C-1, squirt, etc.): I paddle it all except decked C1, but really get my jolly's in creek, play, and squirt Kayaks. Surf and Sea kayaks really starting to grab me too! First Season (year): 1974 Favorite Class: V Favorite Runs: They are all special, and all have different moods. So whichever one i'm on at the time. Love the one you're with, honey!

Personal info: An island in northern Ontario and the initial exploration of the area have been central to my family, and in fact a large part of our collective identity since the 1870's. I lived on that island from the weekend after school ended until the end of the labor day weekend every summer from the time I was born until the age of 16. Although the area has become a carriage trade cottage district we still use coal oil for light and propane for our stove and refrigerator. We still have no electricity by choice and didn't have a phone until 1968. We don't participate in the cocktail party circuit either. By the time I was three my parents couldn't keep me out of a canoe and my father took me on my first overnight canoe trip at the age of six, scouting for a cottage site for the family. My grandfather taught me to paddle, row, and sail, before he died when I was eight. I have been paddling all of my life and consider nothing built by humans to be as beautiful and sexy as a well designed and built human powered boat. I remember the moment that I saw my first whitewater kayaks and kayakers. They weren't even paddling, but were putting away their homemade 4 meter boats, still wearing their funny looking PFDs, beavertail divers wetsuits, and hockey helmets. I don't know just what grabbed me initially but I remember saying to myself, "gotta do that". That was the fall of 1973. It was a long Canadian winter waiting for my first chance to get in a kayak, but I was hooked from the moment that I took my first stroke. We had been told to bring raincoats and old sweaters, to keep us warm when we got wet. So there I was, standing in the snow, in an old wool sweater, and one of those green and yellow reversible kid?s raincoats waiting to get on the water. Someone handed me a canvas spray skirt, hockey helmet, PFD, a homemade Lettman Mark II kayak (hot slalom boat in 1972), and one piece of advice, lean downstream. Then someone else asked if anyone was left handed. I have been paddling left ever since and still haven't learned when to keep my mouth shut. The first time I eddied in, the sensation of speed was incredible. As I crossed the eddy line the bow was swept around and the boat and I accelerated downstream. It was exhilarating, and I couldn't wait to do it again. Unfortunately, the next time I forgot to lean downstream, and before I knew it, was upside down and the icy water had taken my breath away, and I swam. Nevertheless I was hooked then and there. On my 30th birthday I had a long talk with myself and bailed out of the real world to find my way in the paddling world. since I'm a terminal boater, and hate to get cold and wet, making better gear seemed the logical place to try to make a difference, and a place for myself. That started the whole adventure of Mountain Surf yada yada yada