Well, I’ve got to run. Today I do actually hope to make it over to Milwaukee to paddle the big lake for a bit. Now I still hope for waves, but when it’s hovering around 40f I’m not sure how much time I want to spend under the surface.

The picture today is just to document what I can never get over. Saturday morning at the pool. Not a soul in sight. Amazing. .

Hey, I saw a short note from Gordon Brown regarding my post “Lynched”. I hope we’ll hear a bit more on that in the future.

Meanwhile in Israel there is defiantly something in the water. I should say, out of their boats and in the water. . . more on that this week.

Ok, I’ve got to go load my Warhorse or JB and Silbs will launch without me. Why does everyone always do that!???

So there I was sitting in the living room while pink panther cartoons played quietly in the background. I broke down and updated my blog to the new blogger version. Next thing I knew I got stuck in an update loop and had to start adding labels to everything. It’s all so mad, so very mad. But I think I have like 100 done.

Which brings me to my milestone. This totally un-educational and highly un-poetic post is number 501 of the Kayak Wisconsin Blog I Launched in December of 2004, like so many others with absolutely no clue why I was doing it. 501. . . no wonder no one can find anything! In those almost 2 years of almost daily posts I’ve gone from abusing myself to the strange privilege of being abused by expedition kayakers the world over. As in, “Derrick, you wanker I already told you I’m only talking to Wenley” or “If you compare me to Peter O’Tool again I’m going to fly over there and beat you bloody with a Werner!!” Ah, life is good!

Well, it’s probobly not quite like that. Over the last couple years I’ve written posts on all sorts of skill work, news about a great many spectacular expeditions, and exercised my minds mad recesses and some how managed (I hope) to keep it all loosely tied together. Quite a task I can tell you. I’m always wondering, “Did I write about that before?”, “Is this correct?”, “Who am I to make this judgment?”, “What the hell am I going to write about tomorrow?” and a million other concerns that flow through your brain when you know you’ve got some hundreds of strangers thumbing through your blogging quagmire on any given day. Often when I look at the numbers I start feeling like I’m going to hyperventilate. I wonder, “how do I live up to this?” then I take my tablets and within an hour I’m thinking, “Hey, it’s my damn blog!!!!”. Ahhh, medication!

I am really hoping the labels work for you. Early on I wrote so much about general kayak skills and all that information is here. It’s just back a bit. I don’t want to get repetitive and write repeated posts about draws, but to be sure that information is here. Hopefully the labels will help new folks find them. I’ve also found that if I go to Google and search “kayakwisconsin” then add what ever I’m looking for on the end i.e., “kayakwisconsin tow ropes”, I can almost always find those posts. In addition I built a categories section to again, help you find those old posts. And even my crazy tirades if you’re so inclined to find them. . .

So how do we travel through the next 500 posts? Hell if I know, but with your input and the kindness of strangers we’ll keep plugging along. Maybe once in awhile we’ll find something interesting. These days I just hope I’ve found a good groove. I know when I get boring you will just stop coming. We have so many great writers out there. Some days I’d rather read their blogs too. But I’m glad you’re here and reading along. That in itself is quite a gift. I’m honored. Thank you.

For my part I’ll carry over a bit more wood for the fire and do my best to just keep telling stories. . .

It was said that from the summit of Snaefell on the Isle of Man you can see 6 kingdoms. Mann, Scotland, England, Wales, Ireland & the kingdom of heaven. Some have added a 7th, the kingdom of the sea. It is in this 7th kingdom where the long boats of Adventurous Experiences roam.

Adventurous Experiences is certainly the place to explore the coasts of Isle of Man. Even their day trips offer views of wild rock formations, towering cliffs, castles and so much more. In fact, you can take a bit of a look right now. Sure, just go get out your copy of "Waking Ned Devine" where you will get some wonderful views of the coast. You DO have a copy of "Waking Ned Devine" don’t you? No? Shame on you. Mine is worn to shreds! (To shreds you say!??)

The big party each year at AE is their Adventure Week Festival, where everything you love about sea kayaking is tossed together in a big stew. In addition to filling your days with Sea kayak trips for all levels, you can learn rock climbing and coasteering as well. Then at the end of the day the party starts. . Campfires, live music. . . just don’t forget your flask. Freya Hoffmeister did a nice post about this year’s event. If you’d like information about next year just go here.

Keirron Tastagh, owner of AE along with Jeff Norville of the states will be soon attempting to circumnavigate Vancouver Island in a NDK Triton double Kayak. In May of 2007 they will be attempting to complete the 700 mile journey in 2 weeks. The current record for a single is 28 days. NDK wants to demonstrate that the Triton double is a great long expedition boat and much faster than the other doubles on the market. Just between us, we know that already. Sounds like a great trip. Should be exciting!!

So while exploring the web be sure to visit AdventourousExperiences.com. There’s a new blog where you can follow along with all the goings on and lots of great photo galleries to explore while we day dream through the winter. Then if you’re dreaming about next summer, maybe you should give them a call. It’s hard to imagine a more beautiful place to explore than the Isle of Man. I’m sure Keirron will be happy to show you around.

*photo provided by adventurous experiences. Used by permission. Thank you!!

Well, you have to get excited when you see FREE DVD: 2 HOURS OF KAYAK ACTION” plastered across the new CANOE & KAYAK buyer’s Guide. In fact this is the first issue I’ve received since withdrawal symptoms made me sign back up. Sure, these days I often know who’s going where and such, but I don’t always get to see the big glossy pictures!

So I grabbed at my free DVD which was wrapped in a clear envelope pressed between two pages of a Liquid Logic ad (apparently they design kayaks that make sense) and fumbled with it as if I were taking an IQ test on the Planet of the Apes. I finally got it out of there. I had much better luck getting it into the player.

As the popcorn drained away and I flicked the light back up I thought, “The video had it moments.” Profound eh?? It is basically a collection of short adver-tainment type clips and advertising type clips with some really awful (well, not quite always) canned music. Hopefully they’ll work on that in the future. However, working through that, the content was quite good. Jon Bowermaster on Ocean’s 8, Jon Turk introduces us to the Jomon, Leon Somme leads a class through a nice little work out, Brian Smith presented a nice video of Dubside (who is much older than I thought by the way, talk about inspiring!!) and there was some good white water stuff as well. The DVD of course is an introduction to the new Kayak Journal which will be a quarterly released DVD magazine on paddle sports with featured sections on: Destinations, Expeditions, Products, Instruction, etc., Did I mention the fishing?? Cost is $41.95 per year. I’d like to splurge for it. Really I would. Thing is, that’s all I’ve got saved up so far toward my 2 copies of THIS IS THE SEA 3. . . After all, I’ve been told that JC’s got the good stuff! And someone completely different said the good stuff is worth waiting for. . . (but I think that was a Sunday school thing. . )

Well, maybe I should get back at reading the magazine. This bit caught my eye; “SKIRTS-NO HIGH HEELS NEEDED (a chorus of women are now saying in unison, “IT WOULD!! and I’m sorry. Really I am!!) Followed by “The right skirt can make all the difference between cold and wet or warm and dry”. I certainly agree the right skirt CAN make the difference. Thing is, the women I know have cashed in their skirts for merino wool along time ago! (sorta miss the skirts though. . .)

So later in the week we have a shop, a gathering, and an upcoming expedition to tell you about. I’ve not forgotten our two guests for Canoecopia either, but I’m still gathering some info from them so I don’t want to just blurt it out!! So all in all a good week. And who knows, if I’m feeling melancholy I may even make more cryptic references to Shakespeare!

From the moment I woke up I had planned to go play in the pool. My offside work was finally showing some results. I need to nurture it. But then the day went funny. I had like 8 things go very, very well and .05 go bad. Thing is it only takes a little too much salt to ruin a meal, and just a drop of poison to kill the king. Well my soul was reclining dead in the garden with the little silver funnel still stuck in it’s ear. By the end of the day everything in my mind’s eye was dead oak leaves and rain. I had forsaken the idea of going the pool. “What is the point of all this silliness!?” I thought to myself as I prepared to lie in state on the couch while faces of sudden strangers glanced over the edge of my coffin on their way to the bathroom.

In a few moments my self-inflicted funeral felt just a bit too Shakespearian. “Is this the end of Zombie Shakespeare??” I thought, mentally stealing a line from a Simpson’s Halloween special. I walked back out to my CPU driven, back-lit, global portal and checked the email. It’s good to have friends. One of them without being aware of my poisoned soul had purely and accidentally produced a cure. I smiled at the blue white screen. I was again ready to go to the pool.

“The water is your friend.”

Yeah, I’ve heard that line enough. And I hate clichés. Just hate ‘em. All the poor, well-meaning people who’ve absentmindedly tossed some oft repeated bit of wisdom my way never know the revulsion it brings up in me. I hate clichés. Even ones that are true. It’s not the concept, it’s the old worn out phrase. Like “Where’s the beef” or “Same Sh*t different day”. Besides, water is not your friend. Water is that strange woman you meet in a bar you would normally never go in to. The one who’s a bit too beautiful and a bit too well dressed to be talking to you. The one where resistance was never really and option until you realize you’re lost in a dark place and feel a warm moist breath slip quietly around your throat. Your eyes open and reach through the darkness as you begin to drown in an unfamiliar perfume. Then if you’re lucky, you’ll have just one moment to chose, sink into the depths of the sirens arms or reach for the surface with everything you’ve got and gasp for air!!

I’m still trying to find that middle place. I want to immerse my body in the sensuality of the water. It brings me closer to existence. Bursting through waves or suspended below the surface, I find connection with my environment I can find nowhere else. Yet, in the back of my mind I know what power it holds over an air breathing mammal. I can only play so long in her arms, before coming up for air. Love, Lust, Life. You may stay for awhile, yet soon you must part. It’s a fleeting affair. A fantasy. Hanging there inverted, you’re floating in heaven. Hovering in such bliss with my paddle floating freely beside me, I wonder “How long may I linger before it’s too late?”