Fog Bowl 2010
Published December 28, 2009 | 
Free as a bird,
it’s the next best thing to be.
Free as a bird.
– beatles
It’s almost New Year’s Day again. That means it’s time for the annual Fog Bowl at Lake Columbia in Portage, Wisconsin. The fog bowl is the day when ice locked kayakers around Wisconsin finally crack and decide to take any open water they can get. This is it. Lake Columbia is actually a large cooling pond for the big Columbia coal fired power plant that serves much of the area. The horseshoe shaped pond is about a mile long and about half as wide. Water exits the plant on one side at nearly 90f and cools as it flows around the “U” to the intake on the other side. Continue reading
International Sea Kayaking Award?
Published December 20, 2009 | 
Imagine the coach saying, “In order to achieve the ISKA L5 level you will have to be able to disassemble and reassemble your Lendal 4 peice paddle in under 4.6 seconds”. Sorry, that was just the first thing that went through my head when I thought of Nigel Dennis announcing a new international sea kayaking certification program. Yup. You did read that correctly. I’ll leave it to other more investigative bloggers to ferret out the details. For my part I want to begin ghost writing a draft of the new ISKA Coaches handbook… “While other kayaks may be used, it is well under stood that Sea Kayaking UK kayaks are safer, faster, and better built than all other kayaks…” There will be a test!.. Oh, and investigative types may want to start here.
The Gallery Store
Published December 19, 2009 | 
He’s using code that only you and I know.
This is no trick of his.
This is your magic.
– k. bush.
I’m finally making my photography available for purchase. It certainly took me long enough!
The camera is like an uneven path in a Japanese garden. It forces you to slow down and pay attention to the world around you. Photography is a gift you give yourself. You need not sell or even display your work to benefit. Most of the pictures I take ultimately are deleted or thrown away and still I have pleasant memories of those moments, even when nothing caught in the camera turned out. Still, if you click the shutter enough you are bound to have a few successes. Continue reading
Congratulations Freya!!!
Published December 15, 2009 | 
Mind me platypus duck, Bill,
mind me platypus duck.
Don’t let him go running amok, Bill,
mind me platypus duck.
Altogether now!..
It’s been a long time coming, but I can’t say there was much doubt. Freya Hoffmeister of Germany completed her sea kayak circumnavigation of Australia!! Amazing! Wonderful! Well done! Continue reading
Fun on the Water
Published December 11, 2009 | 
I’m very well acquainted, too, with matters mathematical,I understand equations, both the simple and quadratical,
About binomial theorem I’m teeming with a lot o’ news – With many cheerful facts about the square of the hypotenuse.
With many cheerful facts about the square of the hypotenuse,
With many cheerful facts about the square of the hypotenuse,
With many cheerful facts about the square of the hypoten- potenuse!!!!
My black & purple Rockpool Alaw Bach is sitting quietly in the shed behind an old wooden door blocked by a snow drift about as high as the recent waves have been in Hawaii. Meanwhile the clock is ticking away. Normally this time of year I feel at a bit of a loose end. I’d find myself simply digging to find something fresh to write about. Not this year though. No, this year I’m just trying to get caught up and I just don’t think it’s going to happen.
Tripping Darkly
Published December 3, 2009 | 
Nothing remains
We could run / when the rain slows / Look for the cars or signs of life / Where the heat goes
Look for the drifters / We should crawl under the bracken
Look for the shafts of light on the road
Where the heat goes
– bowie
Sometimes when you wake up in the middle of the night you’re not really sure why. Still you get out of your warm cozy bed and begin your day. You have to. If you just lay there, all those worrisome thoughts start creeping into your head like, “Why does my toe suddenly hurt?”, “What if I lose my job tomorrow?”, or “Why doesn’t Valley ever finish their website?”
Posted in Kayaks, News & Print, Paddle Gear, Random Thoughts | 
lendal, ndk, Tahe Marine, Valley Sea Kayaks
where a mother laid her baby.
You’d do well to remember the things He later said.
When you’re stuffing yourselves at the Christmas parties,
you’ll laugh when I tell you to take a running jump.
You’re missing the point I’m sure does not need making;
that Christmas spirit is not what you drink.
So how can you laugh when your own mother’s hungry
and how can you smile when the reasons for smiling are wrong?
And if I messed up your thoughtless pleasures,
remember, if you wish, this is just a Christmas song.
– Tull
Happy Holidays one and all. Well, at least to all you NICE people. I mean, I know we’re supposed to wish everyone happy holidays and all that (even the jerks), but I think the jerks can have a darn miserable holiday as far as I’m concerned. I mean why should we wish a happy holiday to those of us who benefit from the suffering of others? Why should we say “Merry Christmas” to those who use their self-righteous sense of moral superiority as a justification for hatred and violence? Why should I give a care about people have who ignore the poor and the homeless in their own communities? Why should we love the neighbor who doesn’t bother to tip an under paid waitress? What about people who toss their trash out the car window, people who are STILL bigoted and racist in every town and every street…You know.. pick one, it goes on and on. There are a lot of jerks out there. So Happy Holidays to everyone of you good, decent caring people. You know who you are… ( And you deserve chocolate cake and a foot rub!) The rest of you can get stuffed!!
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