Archive for February, 2006

Do you know the land where the lemon-trees grow,
In darkened leaves the gold-oranges glow,
A soft wind blows from the pure blue sky,
The myrtle stands mute, and the bay tree high?
Do you know it well? – Goethe

I wonder if I need say any more about this picture. . Here’s fellow Wisconsinite Ross being blessed by Freya Hoffmeister while in Florida at the Gulf Coast Symposium. One hears a legend that anyone truly blessed by Freya can at once stand on their head while their kayak rides calmly upon turbulant seas.

So we’ll all be watching Ross for signs of his new powers.

- d

* thanks to ross for use of the picture

Jones – Fraulein-will you permit me?
Elsa – I usually don’t.
Jones – I usually don’t either.
Elsa – In that case, I permit you.
(Jones gives her the flower)
Jones – It would make me very happy.
Elsa – But I’m already sad, by tomorrow it will have faded.
Jones – Tomorrow I’ll steal you another.

One thing about Venice, there certainly is plenty of water! In fact I’m sure you’ve seen all the NOVA type programs about the coming demise of the city and the giant flood gates that never actually get built. Apparently at the moment the powers that be feel it’s time to clean the lagoon, then once that’s done they’ll see if they can actually afford to save the city. Sounds a bit like a “Chicken-n-Egg Paradox” Good thing I don’t have to make those decisions.Actually flooding in Venice is becoming pretty common, especially in October through November, but for the most part only during high tide. The Acqua Alta as it’s called often produces nothing more than a small pool here or there and just for a few hours. You’d be lucky to get a damp sock out of the deal. But on occasion it can be different. If it looks like you might actually get wet, the city will sound a siren to let you know when an unusually high-tide will be peaking. From the time of the siren the tide will peak in about 3 to 4 hours. In which case you may want some boots. So unlike in Wisconsin where a siren usually means run from a tornado, in Venice a siren means it’s time to get your “wellies”.

Incidentally, it’s pretty easy for a visitor to get a pair of nice “tourist rubbers” these days. Ok, make your own conclusions about “tourist rubbers”. I’m not going to go any further with that one. Thing is, as much as I would like to stroll the Piazza San Marco in a nice yellow pair of one-size-fits-all, 10 Euro, plastic boots, I think I’d probably just wear my trusty Tivas instead!

I bet you’re wondering what’s got me on about Venice today? Well it’s actually because of a chat I’ve been having with Rene Schellenberg who owns a small guiding service near Zurich, Switzerland. In early June of this year Rene will be taking a group to paddle the canals of Venice. Now is that cool or what!? This is something that I’ve always wanted to do. In fact the trip is just in time for the 32nd annual Vogalonga which has become a sort of wild Venetian paddlefest. The Vogalonga is basically a 30 kilometer boat marathon that includes about any kind of human-powered watercraft you can imagine. I’m sure you can imagine a kayak or two. The first Vogalonga took place in 1975 and was meant to draw attention the attention of city authorities to the wide spread damage wave action from power boats was causing to homes and historic sites. Over time the event grew from about 550 boaters to well over 1000 craft and close to 4,000 competitors.

I couldn’t image a better way to see Venice than by kayak. So while I sit here and weep because I’ve already got other obligations YOU can certainly go in my stead. In fact if you’d like to learn more about this summers trip you should get a hold of Rene. He’s working on posting trip information in English so you can get the details at his website. The general idea is that you meet the group in Venice, so how you get there is up to you. (Meaning there is a lot of potential cost savings for stowaways). Then Rene will be your guide to Venice for the next 5 days. In addition to paddling of course, you will have plenty of time to enjoy everything Venice has to offer; stroll around the historic district, sample the food, hang out in the side walk cafe’s, and all that other touristy stuff we like to do when not in the kayak. Then of course on Sunday you’ll all join the Vogalonga and dodge the gondolas along the way.

To Learn More Go to SeeKajak.ck. Cost for the 5 days start around $425 US depending on what you’ll need.

* images provided by Rene Schellenberg. Thank you!!

Sleep on, my child, and I will rock thee,
And I will rock thy cradle, that sweet thy slumber be;
Sleep star, new moon and morning, sleep,
And lady ocean with thy silver fishes, sleep! - greek lullabye

The moon wanted me to take it’s picture this morning. So I stumbled around in the dark trying to find the camera, then trying to find the lens, until I had them together in one spot. Then I barreled outside into a wall of silent frozen dawn, my old slippers hitting the snow with a crunch that broke the air like artillery fire. I found a spot between silos and phone wires where I could get a clear view of the morning moon’s false modest pose. The cold air seemed to be dropping upon me from deep space as it slowly soaked through my clothes causing me to shake until I could no longer hold the camera still. In the end I got this one really average picture of the moon. But, he asked me to take it and I always listen to the moon.Yesterday while driving up to the Wisconsin Dells I was struck by the irony of beer companies putting up giant billboards that block your view of the forest with images on them depicting. . . the forest. Well, I suppose. After all the real forest doesn’t have a miller logo tactfully faded and coordinated into it’s menagerie of colored leaves.

So did you see this picture of Justine C getting rolled?? It fills me with gratification to no end when I get to see (or not see) paddlers of her caliber getting dumped! Be sure you enlarge it to get the full joy. . . oh, wait, I mean full effect. What was I saying??

I’ve been working with a couple other Wisconsin paddlers to develop a new feature for this site that for the moment I’m calling Project X. I imagine we’ll roll out Project X with just a small amount of information at first, but in time we hope it will go from the current little “projectx” to the full blown concept “PROJECT X”. I hear that Milwaukee paddle coach Dick Silberman, after being allowed a glimpse at project x was overcome with MTV generation-like complacency and exclaimed “this is adequate and easy to read”. Such excitement is hard to contain.

Wenley beat me to the punch again with a post about a great Scottish photo gallery. But I don’t mind. He’s using a paddle-leash now and will get his in the end!!

And speaking of (there goes that phrase again) blogs, if you’ve not checked out “KAJAKSPORT OP GROOT WATER“, now is the time to do so. Hans has been posting in English lately which is a real gift to the rest of us poor slobs who did not learn multiple languages as children. Besides just being an interesting read, he has a great shot of Axel Schoevers and Nico Middelkoop showing off their sculling prowess, and some great navigation toys that would be the envy of Mr. Navigation himself, aka., Sir John Browning.

I’ve been finding Saturday is a good day to catch up on all the little tid-bits I never got to over the week. I hope someone still finds it. Not a lot of people stop by here on weekends after all. Heck, I wouldn’t either if the water wasn’t frozen!

d

son you’re growing old
I told you we would die
but that was then
i’ve gone and worked it out
but that’s when we were young
it never really was
and now we’re really old
and that’s when we were young – joy zipper

So you know why you teach your kids to paddle don’t you? It’s because that way you don’t have to do it yourself! Well, at least you don’t have to two nights in a row! After yesterday, I was feeling my age. I spent the day suffering little aches and pains that endeavored to remind me I was not 20 any more. That’s really odd too because when I was twenty I never did anything!! Well, anything all that strenuous anyway. Suddenly here I am 20 years later with a 5 year old working on his own bad ass edge.

I sure wish I could go back and re-discover kayaking at Gryphon’s age. Then again, if my parents would have been into it, I probably would have thought it had to be a bad thing and never taken to it anyway. Funny how that works. So these days I’ll just push through the little tweaks and odd pains to explore the sport I’ve come to love. I’ll put on my tough face and never admit I can’t keep up with the young dudes. And on the days I just can’t seem to feel young, I’ll spot the 5 year old, and no one will ever know I’m just looking for a reason to stand still and get some rest!

Yeah, I’ve been feeling old lately. But thankfully I know I’m a bit fickle. Soon enough I’ll probably get over it. Luckily self pity like youth, is also fleeting.

Hello, I must be going.
I cannot stay, I came to say I must be going.
I’m glad I came but just the same I must be going – groucho marx