Days of Whine & Roses (oh, and off-side rolls)

It don’t come easy,You know it don’t come easy. - R. StarkeyI was just reading another blog from Bonnie over in NYC and thought I would steal her theme. (It’s the least I could do since she linked me!) That’s the neat thing about this blogging bit. I think we can all feed off each others thoughts and ideas and grow out into other perspectives and maybe between us all put together information that may be worth reading about.

Turning Your Kayak In Wind - A First Step

Spin it on, don’t stop. Take it back to the top. ‘Cos I gotwhole lotta love for you I wanna spin it on. Spin it on! - P. McCartneyI’ve heard many stories of folks padding straight out into a lake on a windy day and not being able to turn around and get back into shore. This is because the wind rarely seems to be “going our way”. It’s always coming at us at some crazy angle and pushing us exactly where we don’t want to go. When facing directly into the wind it can exact equal pressure on both sides of our boat and esentially “trap” us facing right into the wind. It’s really not all that unusual for new paddlers to get caught in this “fly-trap” and soon find themselves being towed back into shore which can really be embarassing to say the least. But let’s be real, controlling your boat in wind and waves is difficult at any level. I can remember situations myself where I thought I was going to be stuck facing out to sea forever. I knew the wind would NEVER let up and just hold me prisoner forever. 50 years later, there I’d be with my long beard dragging in the water behind me . . .

Inland Sea, Islands & Wreckage. Part 2. Manitou Day Trip

Inland Sea, Islands & Wreckage. Part 1. ACA UPDATE

ca·thar·tic (kĕ-thär’tĭk) adj. Meaning #1: emotionally purging Synonym: psychotherapeutic

Now is as good a time as any to sit down here and write. Yesterday’s darkness will carry on for a time, but one cannot possibly stay under water for ever. So here’s the bit where I resurface and re-focus for a moment.

We drove the 6 hour drive north to Washburn in a mere 7.5 hours due to some crazy detours worked out by the apparently inebriated folks at the Wisconsin DOT. At one point we were weaving through industrial parks and residential streets for no apparent reason while crossing obviously more direct routes at every intersection. All I could guess is that a large number of Hyacinth Bucket wannabes would just not have cars going up and down their streets.

Ravens

Barefoot children in the rain, Got no need to explain, We’d be swingin’ on a ball and chain,
It’s always understood by those who play the game Barefoot children in the rain - j. buffett

Mary and I got back to Baraboo Sunday after a great time in Washburn at the Inland Sea Symposium. (Gallery is here) We were happy to meet a good number of people who stop by the website regularly. Thanks for coming up and introducing yourself!

Sunday morning we had an early phone call and had to return as quickly as we could as Mary’s mother has been ill for some time. This morning she has passed. So suffice to say it will be a couple days before we get back to normal around here.

Yikes! Summer!

I can see you, Your brown skin shinin’ in the sun
You got your hair combed back and your sunglasses on, baby

Someone Took The Salt From The Sea

Look ahead, look a stern, Look the weather in the lee,
Blow high! Blow low! And so sailed we. - Francis J Child

So this afternoon we are again taking the 3 hour drive up to Two Rivers to play in waters around Point Beach. It looks to be calm water for the weekend which is really a mixed blessing in that I did want to get out and play in some surf. Even if it is the smaller Great Lakes kind. In saying that, I should add a proviso that often ocean kayakers tend to under estimate the great lakes. This can be a serious mistake.