Dave - Enforce the following criteria. Either A) You are over 60 years of age B) You have a doctor's excuse to not participate C) You arrive so out of shape that you can't portage a Kevlar canoe by yourself. So which one does Dan qualify for? .
George - The support team drank beer, fished, and slept in a warm and dry cabin. The He-men endured long days of paddling and slept in cold, wet tents. I think there is a definite chance of more people joining the support team. Americans are lazy. Many won't work if given that chance. I think we should modify the support team's activities to make it less attractive. They could be cheerleaders at our road crossings. The He-Man fee will have to increase to cover the cost of the pom poms and skirts. But it will be well worth it in the long run .
Ian The risk is high sleeping in a cozy bed with running water you could fall off the bed and the water pipe could break and cause a flood .
Scott - We need sherpias to be at each portage .
Sudheer - Yes! By being on the support team, they risk missing the aroma of all our calories being burnt .
Ron - Its all in the marketing, 3 days of nonstop canoeing, wearing wet cloths, swatting mosquitos that can carry your beer or stay in a dry cabin, drink cold beer, fish during the day, drink cold drinks at night, golf in the afternoon while having a beer. Your choice .
Kenny - For sure, but having staff is what we He-men deserve. I nominate therefore Scott Ullenberg to mc/butler duties. Hey Scott this beer ain't gonna refill itself? .
Eric - Probably, Half the he-men are getting old. .
Zach - Absolutely. These valiant men have proven the usefulness of a support team. Showing up to help with transportation and negotiations with the local lake owners imagine what a full team could provide. Forgotten items could be driven to the next portage, drone air support would provide navigational assurance, Gatorade and beer stops (let's throw the water in too) would be mapped out for progress markers. Should there ever be a larger support team than the canoe trip, then portages would be taken care of by the support team .
Alan - Well having support is never a bad thing as long as there is something to support (have enough paddlers). As a long-standing He-Man, we should strongly encourage him to join us paddling for the 40th trip as it is a milestone year. If the support group gets too large, that may be a signal to start making the trip a little easier (read shorter hours paddling, more breaks with less abuse). Old backpackers have resorted to several day hikes (lighter packs). Will we end up as less taxing paddle weekend group? Will we then need to rename our trip as the "Old-Man Canoe Trip"? .
Boyd - Does support team mean they bring beer and ice when we run low and provide massages and set up our tents, handle moving our gear on portages and cook our meals? I think the active members should decide what services the support team should provide. Seriously, who really wants soar muscles from paddling all day versus fishing and golfing all day? I need psychological help with dealing with the support team!! .
Adrian - Yes I think they are planning something to sabotage the trip by draining one off the lakes. Dont ask me how but they are definitely planning something big! .
Christopher - Its nice to have someone come and carry our gears! .
Dave - We select on a map the sites we want in advance and send Kenny each day to the campsite that we want to use that evening. I have full confidence that Kenny will have not problem making sure that campsite is available for us .
George - The best solution to this problem is to make a canoe campsite sign and bring it along. This solution has a lot of advantages. We could set up camp anyplace we like: A restaurant, A bar, or A nice yard with a pool (I think we could convince the homeowner that his yard is actually a campsite) .
Ian Paddle faster than all the motor boats to beat everyone .
Scott - Have the support team set up each camp ahead of time. .
Sudheer - We could .
Ron - If only you had a group that could go ahead and find a site for you .
Kenny - Well we got away with it didn't we? Isn't that half the fun of adventures? Maybe that's just the risk we have to take?? We could pretend we're truck drivers looking for a parking spot at a truck stop? .
Eric - Paddle faster .
Zach - Paddle faster: it's a race to the campsite .
Alan - If there is a risk of this happening, we need to push up our time-table. Up at 4:00am, on the water by 5:00am, to bed by 7:30PM. This increases odds of finding an available site while offering more daylight in case there are none to paddle farther .
Boyd - What was wrong with illegally camping on private or public land? I think we should be able to choose wherever we want to camp .
Adrian - We should raid a campsite thats being used and Todd the other campers into a lake .
Christopher - Share the same campsite with the other campers and share our faith .
3) Do you believe the rules for the hatchet throw competition should be amended? George in 2021 won the hatchet throw all at once with his initial set of throws - six sticks back. Ian, Justin, Austin, and Zack tied in second with only two sticks back. Doesn't that seem a little suspicious?Dave - I believe George bribed Boyd before that hatchet throw. The hatchet throw rules are a little unclear and Boyd adjusted them so that George could win .
George - Ancient Cherokee wisdom says: Dont mess with man who can throw a hatchet well .
Ian The hatchet was in on it and decided to not work properly after George was done throwing .
Scott - George always was good at throwing things .
Sudheer - Yes. We need to tweek the weight of hatchet, so even if participants practice before thr trip, they'll be off .
Ron - If I remember the rules, it would have taken 2 turns without a miss to get to the 6th stick. Now unless in your old age you have forgotten the rules or someone manipulated them to their advantage ie cheating, in which case forfeiture of all drinks, snacks and sleeping bag is just .
Kenny - Yeah somebody's been practicing now that they Are retired, I think they call that cheating but Hey isn't that half the fun of human? How about we start 20 sticks back and we throw until we connect? .
Eric - Yes, the previous year's winner should throw with their off-hand to balance the playing field .
Zach - There is room for improvement ( [clearing throat] Game Master). Simple solution: Previous winners have to accumulate the number of previous year wins before they acquire points to this competition. For example if Bob has won 10 years in the past, he has to stick 10 before he can get any points for this year. Game master and scribe should have records brought up and brought with for this event .
Alan - Suck it up baby. No crying if you can't make the cut. Lady luck knows what she is doing .
Boyd - Who made up the rules to the hatchet throw? they are way to confusing. We should start twenty feet back and the first person to stick the hatch wins. End of story .
Adrian - Yes I think George had throwing abilities and hes not talking to us about. He secretly goes at night and fights crime with a hatchet. See this a huge disadvantage for the rest of the He-man because we dont fight crime with hatchets every night! .
Christopher - Yeah I only did good in the practice round, I blame the stump .
4) In the lake race across High Lake, Boyd and Ian came in last place - behind Justin and Adrian. Justin and Adrian were in the only aluminum (non-kevlar) canoe, did not know where they were going, and had some difficulty steering. What do you think Boyd and Ian's excuse for being last is?Dave - In the 1999 annual He-Man Canoe Rules Committee meeting, it was moved by Alan Siegel and seconded by Dave Becker that no canoe shall ram, grab, or otherwise impede another canoe during the Lake Race. Boyd Roloff was not in attendance of the committee that year, but his brother Ron was. Ron was the only one against the motion. Boyd has since returned and has blatantly ignored this rule and has not put in the effort to amend it. Instead every race he has been focused interfering with other canoes instead of winning the race. I am sure in 2021 Boyd was trying to stop other canoes .
George - I've known Boyd for a long time, and I've never fully understood what his problem is .
Ian We had to make sure everyone got across in the right direction and safely .
Scott - Salvage on the canoe .
Sudheer - They might've said that they were encouraging Justin and Adrian, so they'll be motivated to beaver bust .
Ron - Age and the lack of alcohol .
Kenny - Boyd oh Boyd, Quit holding back. We know you are a lake racing thoroughbred. The sting of victory is nothing to be ashamed of. Then again coming in nearly last on the burkey has its own cachet as well.
Eric - There is no excuse, they are obviously the slowest He-men .
Zach - Obviously making sure no rookie got left behind .
Alan - It is obvious we need to have age/weight classes for the start. You can't expect small old men, nor small young men to compete with large burley guys. And are bragging rights really that much of an incentive for full blown abuse? .
Boyd - Everyone knows Boyd has no interest in winning the Lake Race. His only goal is to interfere with Dave's chances of winning the Lake Race. This includes blocking Dave by paddling way off course. That's what happened again this year, however, Dave still managed to get around them even though they had to steer way off course .
Adrian - Well adrian ate some eggs that morning so he had no choice to let some gas out and that Created a jet engine that travels to the light of speed. See this if a unfair advantage they were traveling at the of light and there wasnt a way to beat them .
Christopher - We didnt know the way lol and I needed some water .