Web Paddling: Stepping Back

October-November 2002

This is an article from WaveLength Magazine, available in print in North America and globally on the web.
To download a pdf copy of the magazine click here: > DOWNLOAD

by Ted Leather

Sometimes we are too close to the trees to see the forest.

In preparing my article for this issue, I started thinking about past WaveLength issues and which articles related to this issue’s topic, “Mothership Kayaking”.

I knew there was a back issue featuring Mothership Kayaking, that there was a directory of Mothership Tour Operators, that our fearless editor has a regular “Mothership Meanderings” column, and that there were other articles sprinkled throughout the back issues.

So I started devising plans to consolidate all of this into one area of the site and ran through several ideas in my head. Undecided about how to present this consolidated effort, I thought I should see what other Mothership-related articles there were, so I went to the WaveLength site Search page, typed in “Mothership Kayaking” and the results came back.

That’s when the light bulb flashed in my head and I realized that I was standing too close to the trees.

I have preached about the site Search in a couple of my previous articles and how it’s a great tool for finding something in the ever growing WaveLength website (now over 1,000 pages). It was suddenly obvious there was no need for a consolidation page as the site search already does this.

That being said, you may still want to look at the April/May 1998 issue on Mothership Kayaking www.wavelength magazine.com/magazine98.php or the Mothership Tour Operators directory in April/May 2000 www.wavelength magazine.com/2000/am00dirmoth.php. And if I know what’s good for me, I should point out that our fearless leader’s columns can be most easily found by scrolling down www.coastandkayak.com/destinations.php looking for “Mothership Meanderings”.

To find those other Mothership articles sprinkled throughout the back issues, I highly recommend the site search tool.

You may also enjoy the following four articles from other websites, written by people who have taken Mothership tours, telling of their experiences:

• a 2-week trip from Vancouver Island to Bella Coola with Due West Charters www.johnharveyphoto.com/ MidCoast/index.html

• a whale watching kayak trip in Johnstone Strait with Spirit of the West Adventures www.infohub.com/Articles/ 20010305.html

• a six-day exploration of Johnstone Strait and the Broughton Archipelago aboard the Columbia with Mothership Adventures www.canoe.ca/TravelCanada/ kayak_0003.html

• and a mothership kayaking adventure to the wilds of Queen Charlotte Strait aboard the Songhee with Spirit of the West www.kayak-adventures.com/ Seakayaking/mothership_story1.html.

So don’t forget that sometimes it’s good to step back from the trees to see the forest.

Ted Leather is the WaveLength Webmaster and operates Clayrose Internet Creations, an internet services company specializing in website design and management.