I got my Canoecopia tags in the mail yesterday which again remind me that the big show is only a short time away. Hmmm, I wonder if that Valley shipment got through Customs yet!? You’d hate to see an empty Valley booth after all!

So by this time Don Beale should be working away like a beaver on Mary’s new Greenland Stick. In the end the only way to replace her broken one was to get her one from Don. I actually did do quite a bit of shopping around but in the end Don’s work and reputation are just too strong to refuse. Now, he hasn’t started naming his paddles like Stradivarius yet, but each one is uniquely customized to the paddler and has it’s own unique number marked in the paddle itself. Mary’s new paddle will be a blackish color, slightly shorter than I would use, with a smaller diameter loom to fit her super small hands. I’m sure we’ll be talking more about her paddle when it arrives.

And speaking of (here I go again) black Don Beale paddles, you may have noticed one in the hands of Freya Hoffmeister who again get’s mention here as I was just flipping through my new copy of Seakayaker and saw she is now getting photo cred. In this case with Tanja Ohlsen for a great technique article called “The Eskimo Rescue Revisited” Yeah, a lot of us know the Eskimo Rescue, but author Bernard Hillejan does a great job of focusing on staying IN the boat as well as taking rescue off the flat water and into conditions. One thing (among others) that I learned from his article was an option if the paddler was in the water. . a Reentry Roll Eskimo Rescue. That had never crossed my mind before. Anyway, I certainly want to recommend getting the new SK edition for Bernard’s article. He’s surrounded by Kayak fishing articles this month so he could use the support!!!

And speaking of Ms. H. . She along with Greg Stamer, Cheri Perry, Turner Wilson and Justine Curgenven will all be heading out (if not already) to New Zealand to the 11th annual Coastbusters Sea Kayak Symposium. Justine is planning to make a stop off in Singapore on the 7th and is looking for a someone show her around. . . Ok, so who’s going to turn that down? I can just see a bunch of guys here in the states booking flights to Singapore and trying to make like a “local” before she arrives. . Anyway there’s more about that on her blog so head over there for details.

And lastly today I’ve got a new video clip to share. This one is an attempt at a vertical roll. No, it’s not all competition quality (or a rolling boat for that matter), but I’d never seen it from under water before and it just sort of surprised me. So have a look and keep an eye on the paddle. (Top Clip) I wonder what would happen if they started using underwater cameras and Qajaq competitions??

Everyday I’m getting about 20 emails called, “Doughnut Survey”, “Krispy Kreme or Dunkin’ Donuts”. Hmm, Are they asking which one goes in the middle? Oreo had a great idea. It should certainly be applied to doughnuts.

- Happy Friday!