A Generational Difference?
Recently a friend and I decided to kayak the lakes of Madison, Wisconsin. We were both well into our seventies. We launched our sea kayaks on Lake Mendota. We paddled the shoreline to the locks on the Yahara river. Then down the Yahara to Lake Monona and across Lake Monona to Lake Waubesa. We returned to our put-in by the same route. During the entire trip we did not see another kayak or canoe.
The lakes were, however, crowded with power boats of all sizes and shapes. Most were designed for cruising and able to carry as many as ten or twenty people. There were inboard-outboards. There were inboard cruisers. There were literally hundreds of powerboats sailing on the lakes. They created large cross-swells with their wakes. We had to constantly adjust our paddling to avoid being swamped or overturned. The great majority of those boats were carrying young people; people in their twenties and thirties and a few older than that. Almost all the boats carried kegs of beer and other party supplies. They were having a great time.
As we transited the lock on our return trip my friend, a recently retired cardiologist, commented, “What’s wrong with this picture?”
The lakes were, however, crowded with power boats of all sizes and shapes. Most were designed for cruising and able to carry as many as ten or twenty people. There were inboard-outboards. There were inboard cruisers. There were literally hundreds of powerboats sailing on the lakes. They created large cross-swells with their wakes. We had to constantly adjust our paddling to avoid being swamped or overturned. The great majority of those boats were carrying young people; people in their twenties and thirties and a few older than that. Almost all the boats carried kegs of beer and other party supplies. They were having a great time.
As we transited the lock on our return trip my friend, a recently retired cardiologist, commented, “What’s wrong with this picture?”