The 5th annual Be Kind To Your Yacker Week, a celebration of escort crews, kayakers, paddlers and volunteers, is upon us once again.
Initiated in 2009 by Phil White (aka Flipperless Fil) of Derby, Vermont and the co-founder of Northeast Kingdom Open Water Swimming Association, this week is officially Yacker Week in the global open water swimming community.
“There’s open water in Newport Bay where the Clyde, Barton, and Black rivers join the flow north to the St. Lawrence,” says White.
“The geese are heading north, as well, stopping in The Bay on their way. The days are now officially longer than the nights. The march of spring is now full upon us. The birds are returning to the swamps, with their morning chorus and constant darting about.”
He explains Be Kind To Your Yacker Week, “It’s a week to honor and thank our yackers for their help and support in the open water. Without them we’d be “lost, feckless souls, locked in the lanes of our short little pools.”
Photo shows Beth Barnes of ikayak4u.com.
Copyright © 2013 by World Open Water Swimming Association