Date: Tue, 27 Jun 1995 09:21:13 -0700 (PDT)
From: George Dyson <rowlf.cc.wwu.edu!gdyson@imagelan.com>
To: List Baidarka <baidarka@imagelan.com>
Subject: Umiak News
Message-Id: <Pine.ULT.3.91.950627091148.21601B-100000@rowlf.cc.wwu.edu>
Unconfirmed report:
"Home Port" here in Bellingham WA USA is a program that gets "at risk"
(i.e., a risk to the rest of us) kids out of juvenile detention to mess
around with boats. Recently they built a 22-foot Umiak, with no
experience, most of the kids had never even been in a boat.
Last weekend (after 3 days training) they took it down to the "Pacific
Challenge" longboat races, competing against experienced crews in
heavily-oared boats. They won 3 out of 3 races, I understand. Judges
pondered this unexpected development and decided they didn't qualify
since they were using paddles, not oars (oars would have been faster than
their motley collection of borrowed canoe paddles, which were much too
short). So they won a trophy for seamanship instead.
George B. Dyson gdyson@henson.cc.wwu.edu
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