Ellesmere
Published September 8, 2011 | 
I’ve spent part of my morning reading about Jon Turk & Erik Boomer’s 104 day Ellesmere adventure. (It wasn’t exactly a “circumnavigation.”) Ellsemere Island, one of the last bits of land before reaching the north pole, sits just off the coast of Greenland and is not what anyone would call “inviting”. Grinding ice, insane cold, polar bears, unpredictable weather with occasionally ferociousness winds.. Well, if it’s harsh and uninviting, there’s always a kayaker to say, “That’s where I want to be!”. Continue reading
From The Peter Strand Collection
Published August 11, 2011 | 
Saw an ad in the newspaper that caught my eye
I said to my baby this sounds like the ticket for you and I
It said volunteers wanted for a very special trip
To commune with Mother Nature on a big wooden ship
If you’re like me and you couldn’t put two boards together to save your life.. (Well, I did build a porch once. . but.. oh, nevermind!) and kit boats and classes just won’t save you from your own lack of time or talent, that shouldn’t stop you from enjoying the experience of paddling your own hand-made skin-on-frame kayak. The trick of course, is finding someone to build it for you that won’t make you feel like a second class citizen for not doing it yourself. To make things even more challenging, if you try googling (a verb??) something like, “skin-on-frame kayak (or qajaq) builders”, you’ll get lots of links to information on building your own, but almost nothing about buying a pre-made or custom boat. If there are a bunch of commercial SOF builders out there other than Cape Falcon Kayaks, there’s some serious search engine optimization to be done. Well, one builder that I can recommend is Peter Strand. In fact, I had one of his kayaks come visit me yesterday. Continue reading
Posted in Kayaks, Paddling, People, Traditional Paddling | 
Peter Strand, skin-on-frame, SOF, Traditional Paddling | 
3 CommentsToday
Published August 10, 2011 | 
Today is Wednesday, August 10th, 2011. The heat wave that has gripped my little part of the world has broken. Well, It’s changed anyway. The Costa Rican humidity has passed and average high temperatures is back around 80 degrees Fahrenheit. Today I’m meeting a new rolling student who’s driving down from LaCrosse for a bit of coaching. I love private classes.. I also feel a bit humbled by the fact that someone would drive so far to hang out with me for a couple of hours. I’ll tell you one thing, I want to see her rolling before the days out. Now here’s a few more thoughts that popped into my crazy head this morning… Continue reading
Body, Boat, New!
Published July 26, 2011 | 
Check it out! Our friends at Body Boat Blade International have a fancy new website. Looks Great! Don’t you wish you could update your own body, boat and blade as easily as you could update a website? Man, my old hide could sure use an update! My boat is not far behind! Sorry, I just went 3 inches sideways there.. (See? There’s the topic.. now look 3 inches to the south.. see me over there, waving??) Anyway, in addition to the new website, Shawna and Leon are off on another adventure as they head out to circumnavigate Vancouver Island. Why? Well, I love this bit, to “give Shawna an opportunity to do some artwork”. One of the best reasons for a paddling trip I’ve heard this year! You can read more about their trip right here.
Madness & Method
Published July 15, 2011 | 
Everyone teaches rolling in their own personal way. Over the years I’ve learned that as instructors we need to be flexible. While we all may begin with a mental outline that serves us well most of the time, we quickly adjust that outline to fit each individuals needs. Take Helen Wilson for example.. With this student she thought it would help if she dressed up like a big yellow and blue bunny rabbit… Continue reading
Posted in Events & Symposia, Learn To Roll, Paddling, People, Traditional Paddling | Diane Carr, Helen Wi, rolling, Roy Martin | 6 CommentsStrange Pics of the Kokatat Crüe
Published July 15, 2011 | 
There’s no lack of Kokatat faces up here at the Great lakes Sea Kayak Symposium this year.. and I’ve taken some really odd pictures of most of them.. Like Kelly Blades (above) looking a bit more psychotic than usual. “So we have you signed up to enter the dark recess of your soul.. Is that correct?” Continue reading
I woke up this morning to a blood-red dawn, dark around the edges with flashes of white. Before the sun could light up the day, heavy storms squashed the light. As I walked the dunes I came across a deer standing on one of the high mounds silhouetted against the glow. An amazing sight! Continue reading →