Ok, well the problem for you guys waiting for Skim Kayaks in Madison is that they are just not there yet. Of course I’ve talked to Skim and to Rutabaga and it’s just a matter of time. The two boats destined for Madison are somewhere west of the Mississippi and will arrive . . well, when they arrive. So please. . Don’t give poor Darren a hard time. In fact, he’s been pretty great about getting them here in the first place.

Then there is my Rockpool which after much time and yeah, a bit of frustration I finally have a delivery option. Using the company that Geoff gave me I can get it here for under $2000. See the boat was not done in time to send by ocean which would have been a ton cheaper. So I have no choice to use airfreight. Then when I compared it to the cost of just flying over, plus gas to drive, and lost time here (3 days). In the end 1886.38 is still no bargain, but it’s the best I can do with the time I have left.

On the upside Reed Chillcheater got all my new fancy duds to me in no time and I’m now fully kitted out for PR. Now here’s the thing. I plan to go using one big duffel. No more. Ever try to fit a month of your life in one big duffel? LOL! We Americans are way to material oriented. I remind myself of that each time I scratch another thing of my list that is NOT going to fit in the bag.

I drove to Door County for my last symposium of the year alone, and in a mood. You know that one, where everything seems to leave a lump deeply lodged in your throat? I’m not sure why exactly, but that was the weight I carried along with 2 kayaks and tons of gear. The drive is a bit long as there are no good direct routes from my home here up to Sister Bay where the symposium is held. The trip takes you from small town to small town, past nuclear power plants and places where coastal real estate is still just populated by farmland. Yeah, there are the occasional little groups of Pre-fab upper middle class mansions huddled together in all their wasteful, petulant glory. A chicken in every pot, and a hummer or two in every garage!

In the days before I had not sleep much and I was happy to have my tent set up and my sleeping bag waiting laid out on my little orange mat. Just as a curled up and snapped of my little Colman lantern the tent beside me began to roar. I was sharing the site with a maniac snorer!!! “My God”, I thought. . “The world is conspiring against me!!” I woke up the next day with a bad reaction to the tetanus shot I had received two days before. I could not lift my arm. Wouldn’t you know I was scheduled for “Advance Rescues” with kayak maniac Kelly Blades. There was no way I was going to survive that. So I switched out and was able to assist with the woman’s “into” class. Yeah, I know guys. . don’t start. . LOL! But every women’s class should have a token male. Someone to heap abuse on! Actually though I was already scheduled to work with the women’s rescues class later and this was a nice warm up and a chance to work with some of them on easier things before we started jumping into the low 50* water.

By mid-day I was getting fuzzy headed and feverish. I was certainly reacting to the inoculation. However, our coaching numbers were such that there was no good way to bow out, so I hung in and did an afternoon class and certainly did not let the poor kids slack as the wind built up and we had challenging waves rolling in. Certainly you can’t pass up an opportunity to divert your class into a “boat control in wind and waves” opportunity. After the class, I went back in energized for a time, but quickly came crashing back down as the adrenaline & distraction wore off. I still had a rolling demo to do!!!

Ok, well. . I’m not Doug Van Doren or Alex Pak or any of the other truly amazing traditional style rollers out there. But if you’re really scraping the bottom of the barrel for cheap entertainment “get Derrick” is a great plan! LOL! In truth though, you don’t need a million rolls to inspire new paddlers. . . . you just need to show them how safe, fun, and exciting kayaking can be. In that I think I did my job. I went through maybe 7 rolls, ending with hand rolls of course and talked about the “body, boat, blade” aspects of rolling and how. . “blade” in the end was just something you had to get out of the way!

Saturday was more classes in atrocious wind. I had some interesting coaching moments, that I will share later on in the week. But suffice to say we all learned about our own limitations. In the afternoon I took a small group of paddlers out to try traditional paddles. Actually we had a couple more people than planned and I had to borrow paddles. Of course we were chilly at the end of the day and started a nice warm fire with Silbs Michell. . .

No need to tell you who was last at the campfire Saturday night. . .

Sunday morning we were off with the women’s rescue class. I’ve been lucky in my short paddling career to work with some amazing female kayakers and I have to say it pays off. Of course I don’t teach men or women differently. But apparently my experience and coaching style work well in that atmosphere and I guess I’m glad for that. I’m certainly one who loves to tear down all the old school garbage and bad attitude coaching that many paddlers carry like stones around their necks. I can’t tell you how many women I’ve met who are totally crestfallen at not being able to hoist themselves up for paddle float rescues or whatever and having coaches give up on them and give them no alternatives. Maybe there are times when an individual can’t get in their kayak, but to be honest I’ve not seen it. Maybe the technique has to change or the paddler needs to practice more. . but when a coach gives up on a student they are doing more damage to that person than they know. It’s sh**ty coaching if you ask me. Think of that student in the water sometime in the future. . Alone, and in real trouble. . I you didn’t help them find a way. . you are partly responsible for what happens next. Well, that’s how I feel about it. So coaches owe it to themselves and their students to know every technique they can get their hands on.

Saturday evening I did a presentation on “Kayak Wisconsin”. My last under that title I think. I love showing people local places they can visit. Maybe more importantly showing them that they can make their own adventures without traveling halfway round the world. I hope I manage to get that message across and not put everyone to sleep!

So still fuzzy headed today it’s back to work. I’m now focusing on wrapping up here and digging in on the final plans for Puerto Rico in just a short number of days. Another step forward on my little life adventure in kayaking. Sometimes I think about my 4 years in sport and where I’m going and why. What is the drive? Where am I trying to go? Is there a void to fill? A need to escape? A cry for attention? LOL! I don’t know really. I guess I’m just chasing a lifestyle. Like so many of us I looked in a magazine early on and thought. . Wow, that is so cool! I wanna do that. . .

Well, this is just one of those days. . LOL! Getting ready to rush out the door for the drive up to Door County on that little pointy, boney, fingery peninsula that justs out into lake Michigan for the Annual symposium. This will be a busy one for me as I have not only classes but presentations, and rolling demo to do as well. In additon we will be showing Justine Curgenven’s bit about Andrew McAuley as well and preview clip of Bryan Smith’s new film. So lot’s of stuff.

Then of course in the web world, updating all those websites meant a slight delay in Justine’s trip blog but that is going good now as well.

Oh and then I got an email this morning from Freya Hoffmeister. Her and Greg completed their Iceland Circumnavigation!!

From Freya – 33 days, 25 paddling days, 8 weather days, 1620 km, 65 km average, 10000 pictures, 100 lighthouses, 100 headlands, 10000000 birds, huge cliffs, black desert sand, plenty of water and overall a great time! Some educative experiences on th edge, but no serious incidents, thank goodness.. (check her blog for more details)

Congratulations my friends. Happy for your success and so happy you’re coming home safe!! Amazing people. Proud to know you both!

Then speaking of Symposiums we can’t forget Ginnie Callahan’s big party in August but I’ll tell you more about that next week. Here website here.

oh and then there is the little business of shipping my Rockpool. . You know UPS wants almost $3000 to get it here. Sounds like I may be flying to Wales for a couple days. LOL. . . But we’ll see.

Gotta fly!

Remember that kid from Animaniacs??? “Ok Lady, Love you! Bye, bye!!”

But I remember days of sunlightWith my father by my sideAnd the children ran before usLike the foam upon the tide - great big sea

Sorry I’ve not been around recently. In the real world I had a bit of a fire to put out with my business that entailed moving over 100 websites to a new server. Now for non-techies just assume this means “a boat load of work . .” In the end I worked about 70 hours straight with no sleep. But it’s all getting together now. When real life get’s in the way of course, sometimes all we can do is take 5 minutes to go outside and look at our kayak sitting there in the sun, and say…”I’m sorry, maybe we can play tomorrow.

So now I’m off to the Travel Doctor to see what she thinks I need to stay alive and well in Puerto Rico. . .

Lator Gator. . .

well, here’s a big pile of Chillcheater gear. Yeah I know some of you don’t think you should wear black in the tropics. . but I get cold! So In this mess I have shorts, pants, rash guard, paddle jacket, 2 skirts (one is Taino’s) and a hoodie for those chilly mornings. .

Other than this little pile I will only take one change of street clothes and of course socks and “delicates” LOL. Clothing is one of those places where you can pack light on a trip. Well, as long as you don’t expect any physical affection!

Now when you see signs like this you certainly come to realize that a 2 foot tidal variance does not tell the whole story of Puerto Rican waters. Then in addition to the wild surf on the north west coast, and the rumors of wicked currents just west of San Juan, there are those stories I’ve been hearing about a giant whirlpool that sits just off one of the small islands that dot the southern coast. Oh and did I mention that just north of the island, about 70 miles or so the sea floor dives to an incredible 27, 560 feet to the bottom of the deepest ocean trench in the Atlantic. Yeah, tropical beaches and svelte women in bikinis are everywhere. But that doesn’t give you a lot of consolation if you’re a half mile out into the sea.

Then there is the medical preparation. On Monday I go see a specialist to help me work on these blasted ear infections I get by just looking at water. Yeah, I know all the remedies but they don’t work all the time and that’s why the specialist. Then on Wednesday I run to Madison to see the Travel Doc who wanted to be sure to tell me not to eat the fish. (I don’t anyway). Apparently she’s got a nice round of shots for me along with some other fun meds to have along the way. I have to keep reminding myself I’m going to a populated island and not the heart of deepest Africa. Nothing against Africa either. In fact, I’d like to go to the heart of deepest Africa.

Then there are the folks who are constantly telling me about the crime and physical dangers in Puerto Rico. Yet to talk to my many friends there I hear that PR is like any place else. Crime, drugs, assaults, etc., are rampant in urban areas. Tourist Beaches are of course an easy target. Oh, and then there’s the bit about wild dogs. . . . Oh man!

Thing is, I’m sure there will be challenges. If I feared them, I’d stay here and paddle around my little lake. I’m also not really shaken by our distant views of other places or cultures. I don’t expect to see a Walgreen’s on every corner. (Although in PR there might be. . ) But I’ve assembled a good team. Over the months of planning they have become my friends. In many ways the trip feels like visiting family these days. They are proud of their home and want me to see the beauty in it. They will do everything they can to keep Taino and I safe along the way. Even the skies are being watched locally and by our Friend Karel the Weather guru. Does that make us safe? No. But it does mean we have as much as we can have in our corner. We’re not foolish, we will not take unnecessary risks. Yet, on the other hand mitigated risk, is what life is all about. We always face risk in our lives, but that should never stop us from from seeking, experiencing, and learning about life.

* photo by Yvonne R. Le Guillou

Well, I’m off to Devil’s Lake this morning to give a private lesson. I wish I had time to do more of these, but this summer has just been crazy. I think today I’m taking my Trak. Hey, you should check out the reviews in the new Seakayaker Magazine. We all know those reviews are a bit too nice sometimes, but still it’s worth a look. There’s also a nice article by Justine Curgenven as well. See, I said “nice” even though she’s on a trip and can’t read my blog LOL. You can read more about her latest adventure here!