So last night we bought the new Tomb Raider Legend game for our Xbox360. It’s not like you can buy too many games for it at $60 a pop. In fact it’s sort of unique that we would buy Tomb Raider. For the longest time we were pretty turned off by the whole “chest size designed by 16 year old males” overtones. I’m not sure exactly how that changed. I’m sure in a large part it had to do with Angelina Jolie giving a level of toughness and intelligence to the character on film. That, and it’s just fun to watch her kick A##! I’m happy to see that stronger character carried on in the new game. Well, blended with a healthy dose of peep show camera angles as well. C’mon I’m male, I’d have to pluck out my eyes not to notice! Still, my gut tells me I’d rather have my daughter modeling herself after Lara Croft than Britney Spears. (Both of which I consider be animated works of fiction) I just hope they didn’t make “Legends” too smart, both Mary and I are still stumped by the first real puzzle of the game. Maybe there is an age limit to these things. .

Where am I going with this you ask? Whither are we bound? Well, to something I read in the new issue of Canoe Focus actually.

Did you know?

Only one in five BCU members are female
There is only one woman employed as a performance coach in the BCU
There are NO women on the BCU Board

Surprised? I wonder how things look at the ACA?

Sooner or later you have to get the calendar off the wall and start actually blocking out all your plans for summer. Well, at least those of us who still use paper to help organize our lives. I knew in a loose, cloudy ethereal way that summer would be busy, but putting it all on paper adds a whole new dimension to it. On the other hand, if by busy we mean hanging out at symposiums and various other paddle related events then we can’t really complain can we?

So this year I teach my first class of the new season at Rutabaga in Madison (Wisconsin) on the 25th of this month and we have another ‘baga event a couple days later. Then May is still looking good for me. So far. . . around the 21st I’m anticipating the arrival of a guest from the UK (…suspense….) and then it’s up to Lake Superior for a few days then over to Michigan (yeah, that is a haul. .) for the West Michigan Symposium. The plan is to get home on the 30th or 31st of the month. Then 3 days go by and it’s Kayak Week in Two Rivers, WI!!!! So I think we’re heading up on the following Friday, June 9th and will stay until Sunday the 11th. This is going to be tough, but we can’t miss seeing our many friends in the north east. Then Sunday, we get to take the 3 hour drive back to Baraboo to pick up Gryphon and get a nights sleep. Then we’ll get right back up and drive 6 hours to Washburn, WI near the Apostles for the Inland Sea Symposium. Hopefully we’ll get one day of rest on the beach before I do another ACA update and then jump in for the duration. In the end we’ll be back home again on sometime Monday the 19th. And that’s a good thing. . . because I was invited to do a presentation again this year on the very next Saturday at Mirror Lake State Park. . . I’ll need a few days to prepare! Plus that gives me a whole week to see about earning an income!

Then after that presentation there is a week. A whole week to sit home and fiddle on the computer, mow the lawn, clean the dishes, paint the roof (well, maybe not paint the roof. .) and pet the cat. Won’t that be bliss?? Well, maybe.

But on the other hand it only takes a few days to get rested so July 3rd or 4th we’ll be back on the road to the Door County Symposium for another week on the water. Then just to add spice to the fluidity of the situation there are classes to teach at Rutabaga through the summer and a surprisingly busy private lesson schedule sneaking up as well. All this suggests a lot of butt in boat time which is ultimately a good thing.

Now 3 things are still nagging at me. 1. a trip. I’ve not planned any decent trip this year. Well, it’s got to be in August. 2. Qajaq Training Camp August 25-27. Can I fit it in? 3. BCU training. When? Where?

At the moment our burdens are light. We have to appreciate that.

See you on the water!

I woke up this morning still thinking about waves. I fear it’s becoming a fixation that may not be solved easily. I may find myself emailing Sea Kayak Georgia and seeing what the conditions on the triangle are like this time of year. I know this little race in Tybee would at least produce some fun regardless of weather. If I just packed up Friday I could be eating sand by Sunday. I know it’s sad, but it’s gnawing away at my bones. I even hauled out my copy of “This is the Sea” last night just to watch the bit about Tybee again.

And that got me thinking. . .

I were really ambitious I’d be booking those tickets to Wales about now. Well, maybe ambitious is the wrong word, I think “wealthy‘ is more the word I was looking for. So if I were really “wealthy” I’d be booking a ticket to Wales. . No, no, wait, wait, wait. . . If I were really “Crazy” (yeah, that’s it), If I were really crazy, I’d be booking a trip to Wales to go play at Penrhyn Mawr. I’d just blast an email out to my clients and tell them, “see you in a few weeks, I’m off to Penrhyn Mawr!”. What. . . ? Where. . . ? Sudden!. . .?? If I did go, I wonder if I could get someone to babysit me as I dodged around like squirrel on a busy highway and tried not to kill myself? Maybe I could try one of those fun looking Rockpools as well. Yeah, maybe that would be a little crazy. I think I’ll save that for another year or so. .

Now, Tybee on the other hand. . . sunday. . . sun. . . sand. . .

Special Note: Today’s photo of Justine Curgenven having a shower comes from a new “Penrhyn Mawr” photo gallery which will be coming soon in a totally re-designed Cackletv.com. . . (wow I just slipped that in there didn’t I!?) But more on that later. . . Photo by Alun Hughes. Used by permission. Thanks!!!! (see, you’ve got to read clear to the bottom so you don’t miss anything. . .)

Man, I’m feeling it. I know I should be working instead of doing multiple posts today but hey, it’s killing me!! So a couple days ago Geoff Murray in Tasmania was telling me that he had 6 meter seas on a 9 meter swell! But the punch line is the 70 knot “breeze”. Ok so, I’m feeling it, but not missing it.

On the other hand the guys from Kayak Palm Beach are heading out to the beach as I type this. They’ve got a more appetizing 7-9 foot waves on a 3-5 swell. Man that hurts. Why did he tell me that!!

Ok. I’ve got a new laptop. I’m ultra mobile. I can work anywhere there’s WiFi. . . . Yeah, It’s soooooo tempting. . . so tempting. . . .

The nice warm spring day kept calling to me through my office window. By 1pm every little task was taking twice as long. My focus was going. By 2pm I was probably looking out the window more than I was actually looking at my computer screen. . . By 3pm I was loading the Acuta on the back of the Jeep and by 4pm I was launching out into our little local lake. Considering it’s Baraboo and it was Monday, running into 3 more kayakers on this sunny afternoon was pretty amazing.

Gitche Gumee is the Ojibwa (Native American) name for Lake Superior. We all know that from the 1970s Gordon Lightfoot Song. In our part of the world Superior, which is the largest of the great lakes, takes on legendary proportions. Superior is known for her deep history, fickle temperament and awe inspiring beauty. On the southern shores there are two “must see” locations for kayakers; the Apostle Islands in Wisconsin and Pictured Rocks National Lake Shore in Upper Michigan. Most of us know a bit about the Apostle Islands already so today I wanted to put a bit of a spotlight on Pictured Rocks & more directly the Hiawatha Water Trail.

The Hiawatha Water trail runs about 120 miles slong the Michigan Shore from Big Bay to Grand Marais, which many of us know as the home of the Great Lakes Sea Kayak Symposium. The scenic trail follows a shoreline that has been traveled by Native Americans, voyageurs and early European explorers. It is an amazingly beautiful part of the world. According to the Hiawatha Trail Association website the HWT is fully developed on the eastern third from Munsing to Grand Marais. This section includes Grand Island National Recreation Area and Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore. The trail is well posted and campsites and plentiful. Each successive section is still under development and you can check their website for details along the route. I’ve been looking at this area for a couple years now and I’m beginning to think it’s about time for a drive.