INTRODUCTION<br >The Pleasures and Problcins of Paddli~~g<br >years， canoeillg and kayaking have received twin<br >from television coverage of tile Olympic kayak<br >I and tile movie 1)eli~，eranc~;. Tile Olympics brought<br >of millions of viewers， for the first time， the heroic<br >! SUl)erl)ly muscled athletes in kayaks， pitting their<br >ainst (tment and clock. There can be no doubt:<br >ightweight craft through buflTeting rapids， exulting<br >y 1)11 (toe s face and the feeling of total exhaustion<br >，mse has been conquered all comt)ine to provide a<br >led in few ()ther sports.<br >tot: aroused ;t m:tssive audience to the excitement<br >oInl)aIly the inole violent aspects of canoeing in the<br >It depicted the trials of a party of four canoeists<br >float trip down the (~ahulawassee River. (In reality，<br >was the Chattooga， which flows through North<br >ld forms part of the border between Georgia and<br >lina.) Before the trip was finished one member had<br >， one canoe had been smashed to pieces as it went<br >d that not even the most experienced whitewater<br >.ld have attempted， the members of the expedition<br >exually molested t)y hilll)illies， a member of the<br >Had sutlered a broken leg， and countless other mis-<br >(tIH-ed. l)est~ite the honols ~)[ l)~:li~，erance， libraries<br >lt()Hnati()n sources across Anmrica were deluged by<br >~ovieg()ers asking the location of the river and in<br >r ()t 1!)73， as a result of this inlpetttousncss， the<br >teceive{l more than its shal e of paddle traffic and<br >cxtra~ndinary nun~bcr ~)t injtlries on inexperienced<br >~a~lctlers.<br >)ect， the thrills of the ()lympics and the suspense ot7<br > wele self-defeating pul)licity for the spolt of pad-<br >im，lge of canoeing and kayaking as dangerous， re-<br >~imunl stamina and 1)hysical skill， deters many new-<br >i laking u1) lhe h()t)l)y. ()ti(~n， the potential canoe-<br > to make Isis lirst trip for fear ot ttmlbling over a<br >， n a rapi~l.<br >