Do you remember the Looney Tunes cartoon where Tweety and Sylvester are stranded on an island, starving? The details are a little vague for me too, however the gist of the story was that Sylvester, the not-too-swift, black and white lispy cat, had a can of food. And Tweety, the annoying, know-it-all, talking canary, had the opener.
Sylvester tried smashing the can with rocks and soon realized he needed the opener.
But instead of working with the little bird and sharing the food, he spent the next nine minutes trying to trick his way to getting it all.
“Ouh, dat puddy tat mad,” Tweety would say after every failed attempt by the frustrated cat to steal the opener.
Life lesson being taught by creator Chuck Jones? Work together.
One of the great things about sea kayaks is that they are hard to hide. It’s tough to slink home with a 17-foot canary-yellow fibreglass boat on your roof after a weekend of paddling and not have everybody in the neighbourhood know where you’ve been. In fact, your being a paddler may be the only thing people know about you—that and you haven’t cut your grass in weeks.
I talked to your neighbour and some guy who works in your office just last week. Everywhere I go I meet people who know you. When they ask me what I do and I tell them I’m the editor of a kayaking magazine, they tell me all about you. You’re the guy down the street who kayaks, or you’re the woman downstairs in accounting who paddles in the harbour on your lunch break.
“I’d love to try kayaking sometime. It looks so fun, fast and peaceful,” they always say. These people are trapped on a cubicle-sized suburban island with a full can of enthusiasm. They spend their summers smashing the can with gardening shovels and staplers trying to get at the enjoyment sealed inside.
Travelling to festivals and events all summer long, I hear paddlers complain that they’d love to paddle more often, if only they could find someone to paddle with. Someone nearby who could paddle in the evenings or share the drive to the beach on Saturday. Well, sufferin’ succotash! My fine feathered friends, you hold the opener. It’s tied to the roof of your van for every housecat on your street to see.
Try hanging a sign on your kayak that reads, “Looking for someone to paddle with, no experience necessary,” and include your home phone number or your office extension.
Who says you can’t learn anything from a cartoon?
This article first appeared in the Fall 2003 issue of Adventure Kayak Magazine. For more great content, subscribe to Adventure Kayak’s print and digital editions here.
