Skipping rocks- was Re: [Sca-cooks] Re: Backyards in NYC

[Philippa Alderton]

--- Ted Eisenstein <Alban at socket.net> wrote:

> Not being around a rapidly flowing river, tidal or
> otherwise (there's
> a good reason why the Mississippi is called the Big
> Muddy, too thick
> to drink and too thin to plow), I wonder: wouldn't
> it be easier to
> skip rocks on one? You've got this large amount of
> water flowing toward
> you, after all, and using it to skip rocks would be
> like why pilots prefer
> to take off into the wind - the extra speed of the
> water would help,
> wouldn't it?
>
> So, what am I missing here?

The problems are two-fold. First is turbulence.
Skipping rocks requires the intersection of two flat
surfaces, with one spinning, so that the rock bounces
off the water instead of sinking into it, and if you
hit edge on into a bit of turbulence, your rock is
going to enter the water and sink.

The second is positioning. In order to be face on to
the speedy current, you must usually be in the middle
of the river. If you aren't in a boat, you have other
concerns in a fast flowing river than skipping rocks.
If you are in a boat, either you're flowing at the
same rate of speed, more or less, as the current, or
you're handling the boat, neither of which
circumstance is conducive to taking advantage of the
current's fast flow to skip rocks. If you're on a
bridge, if it's low enough to give you a good angle
for skipping rocks, chances are the river is high
enough that you don't want to be on that bridge very
long over a fast flowing river. If it's high enough to
be safe, you're at a difficult angle to skip rocks.

Now, I have skipped rocks on all sorts of waters,
including the ocean, but my record skips (in the
teens, as opposed to two or three) have occurred on
quiet ponds, where the circumstances are ideal for
that activity. Not saying it can't be done elsewhere,
because it can, it's just not as effective.

Phlip

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