Bonnie Perry & Doug Van Doren – Stay Up! Stay Up!

Ok, time to wrap up this long series of “West Michigan Journals”. Hey, even with as much fun as we had there’s new stuff coming. Besides I don’t think I told you that Terra Santa Sea Kayak Expeditions has a new website OR that one of their instructors, Hadas Feldman is heading to Iceland to instruct for a couple months. Hmmmm. Sometimes I think only in a climate like Israel’s would one think it was a good plan to go to Iceland for a couple months! Oh yeah, and then there is the bit where I try to get a certain German kayaker using a blog, but that’s another story. . .Video and Gallery links are at the bottom of this post as well.

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So, in no particular order here’s what you MAY have missed if you didn’t make the West Michigan Symposium

Number 1. The big gathering under the Black Parrot Tent, including the mountain of broken brownies. You just jammed your hand in and grabbed a sample. Just like that scene in Jurassic Park, it was like a big steaming brown mountain of Triceratops droppings. Only better tasting. At least I think so. Well, after the tequila who could be sure anymore?

Number 2. Many, many people with fancy new rolls. A lot of time this year was dedicated individual time for rolling instruction. Lots of folks left with their very first roll!! Congrats! All in all I think both instructors and attendees learned a whole lot of stuff over the weekend.

Number 3. A Clockwork Orange moment when someone who shall remain nameless got to see a paddle he broke displayed over and over and over and over on a big screen. Poor paddle had met everything two circumnavigations could throw at it, but it fell to the hand of “John Doe”. The thing about a Lendal is that if you break it, you only need to replace the bit that broke, not the whole paddle. Good thing it was a Lendal, but still that had to hurt!

Number 4. Lots of dancing, hugging, laughing and general affection. . . That’s got to start with Laurie Levkenecht. She’s got to be one of the most dancy, huggy, laughy, general affection type people I know.

Number 5. This sentence, “I didn’t know the symposium hook-up was required”

Number 6. Simon, Alex and Derrick being the kind, polite boys that they are asked permission to have our cooler with us for a friday presentation . . We were told that it was fine as long as we were discreet. Within hours absolute strangers were coming up to us saying, “remember, be discreet boys”. Now how did that happen?? We remained discreet throughout the event. . .

And by the way. .

Stay dry on the water, coolers are only acceptible at the end of the day!Number 7. A few less than 1 million kayaks parading around the lake in the dark. Glow sticks and head lamps bobbing everywhere!!

Number 8. A nighttime swim, a thief, and lots of goosebumps. Followed later by, “Honey, there’s a pair of briefs in my day hatch!”

Number 9. Ken Fink’s story of being rescued in the pacific last summer. YIKES!!

Number 10. The best darn symposium you could imagine!

————————————————-Go Here to see just a few pictures from the 2006 West Michigan Symposium

Just a reminder – Here is the Apostle Islands Gallery

* remember click the little question mark at the bottom right of the galleries to see captions.

Under “Strange Kayaking Moments” about half way down the page I’ve added two Rolling Clips of Doug Van Doren. Sure I could show his increadble rolling technigue, but is’nt this more fun?? Go Here. Clips: Bowling Ball Roll, Stupid Roll.Ok, now we move on. . Oh wait. . . I have one more shot of Simon I have to share. . . But we’ll just drop that one in sometime in the future. (ya think that’ll have ‘em a bit nervous?? )

Related Posts:

1. West Michigan Photographs
2. From Taino – Wrap Up – CTA
3. The North West Expedition
4. Missing Paddler – Lake Michigan
5. Name That Green