I was always a good swimmer....I really can't remember not knowing how to swim. I guess that's not as common as I thought. In sixth grade we lived in Washington, and I was in Boy Scouts. To get my lifesaving merit badge, a bunch in our troop went to Bremerton Naval Station for more "advanced" swimming lessons, which consisted of some crusty old Navy guy throwing us off a 30 foot platform into a pool. "Swim punks!" I guess it worked....none of us drowned that I remember. Anyway....being landlocked in Fairbanks, I don't get to do much body-surfing like I used to. And the closest I ever get to sailing is....well, let's say that unless I build my Viking ship and sail it up the Chena River, it's not going to happen. So the the closest topic I could find to "at sea" is this here "on the road" thread. I really want to do some hamming on the ocean, which I haven't done since 1974. How many seafaring hams do we have on board anyway?
My grandparents had a house on a fantastic lake. I learned how to swim there. I remember being in the lake when I was so young all I could do was 'dog paddle' and how proud I was of myself when I could finally 'overhand' swim. I could always swim underwater well, that came natural for me. I could also hold my breath for a long time, which helped.
Heh. My parents put me in swim lessons when I was really young. I don't remember much, other than the drains in the bottom of the indoor pool and the hand wheel on the diving board were scary, and I thought I was going to get sucked down the drain. Some kid pooped in the pool, and that was the end of the swim lessons. Until I was 5 or 6, I clung to the side of my aunt's pool and ground all the meat off the tips of my toes. Eventually I learned to swim.
Besides jumping off the end of a dock when I was about 2, I believe I got my start at our local YMCA. Which, coincidentally, also hosted the local ham club, K2YNT.
Get a boat into the Chena and do some wake surfing. Then go up to the hot springs to warm up afterwards. John WD5IKX
