Don’t hate us because we’re technological
Published June 10, 2009 | 
But I was lonely, I was lost,
Without my little black box.
I pick up the phone and go, Execute.
“Hello, I know that you’ve been feeling tired.
I bring you love and deeper understanding.”
– kate bush
So there we were flying down this amazingly thin road in an amazingly large RV where passing cars practically kissed our wing mirrors as they went by. Freya Hoffmeister was driving. She reached down into the console tray beside her and lifted a small black cell phone in one hand and flipped it open. She was immediately immersed in the tiny screen; Responding to emails verbally into the air and typing away on the slide-out keyboard, all the while navigating the curves and traffic of this tiny, winding, British roadway. I thought, “Now that’s the kind of phone I want”! I also thought, “We’re all going to die!!!”
moody, blustery, bitchy sea
Published June 9, 2009 | 
The continents and the seven oceans
Bound the range of my emotions
My time is long but not forever
My moods are the changing wind and weather
– the waterboys
Everyone looks at travel differently. Travel can seem frivolous to some while being as necessary as oxygen to others. Some travel by taking all the comforts of home with them. All the while our world tries to become one big shopping mall decorated by all the same chain stores. Humans hate the unfamiliar and yet it’s the unfamiliar that made travel something that many throughout history have called essential to wisdom. Luckily if you’ve found sea kayaking, you’ve found a way to travel and still experience what’s left of diversity around the world.
Just Kid Stuff
Published June 7, 2009 | 
I don’t wanna grow old
Bring me all the toys you can find
– sia
So if you are into paddling and you have kids you have or WILL be here. You know the spot. It’s the one where your child has grown out of kid gear and is not ready for adult gear. This is the point where almost nothing made is the right size for them. It’s also the point where their interest in the sport is cemented or lost. There has got to be something wrong with that.
Note To Self
Published June 6, 2009 | 
BETWEEN COOL CONFUSION
AND KUNG FU IN THE CAR PARK
COULD THE WEEKEND BE LOSING
THAT REACTIVE SPARK
– the clash
It’s all about what you are looking for. A big massive diesel powered auto ferry is perfect for taking cars across a wide strong river, but they make terrible rollers. Driving your car onto a kayak would be as the Animaniacs used to point out… “A bad idea”. While I don’t subscribe to the adage that “all boats are good boats”, I also realize how true something Bryan Day said to me not so long ago, “You always sacrifice something for something else.”
The Jeep & The Screaming Man…
Published June 5, 2009 | 
Noah: I can’t imagine being stuck down a well all alone like that. How long could you survive?
Rachel Keller: Seven days.
– The Ring
Image being strapped naked to a booster rocket, cut free from the space shuttle, screaming toward space at un-godly speeds while sensing a slight deceleration that tells you that you will never actually make it to heaven. In fact, it won’t be long now before you begin the arch that will send you crashing right back down to earth where you crash with amazing force into the concrete surface of the sea, then sink silently to the bottom… and sit there waiting for a recovery. There’s my week.
Brace, Force, Dink
Published June 1, 2009 | 
Tell me what it takes to let you go
Tell me how the pain’s supposed to go
Tell me how it is that you can sleep in the night
Without thinking you lost everything that was
good in your life to the toss of the dice?
Tell me what it takes to let you go.
– Aerosmith
I realized the other day how out of the loop I’d become when I watched a class being taught the “slap and tickle”, no wait, I mean “Slap & Dink” version of the low brace. I had a vision of Captain Kirk turning to Spock and saying, “Aren’t you dead?”. Continue reading
þūhte mē þæt ic gesāwe syllicre trēow…
When I’m teaching I’m always really bummed out when students come to the class with a new paddle or even kayak that is totally wrong for them that they purchased based on a magazine, a club guru’s suggestion or what’s worse, a guy at a trade show. Product reps, especially for good brands, should know better!! Recently I had one student who is just building up her gear collection. No kayak yet, but her own paddle, pfd, and jacket. Nice. The fly in the ointment was that paddle. A 220 bent shaft. Nice enough paddle but given her size she looked a bit like a knight at the battle of Hastings with that thing beside her. Continue reading →