Inland Sea Symposium, This Weekend
Published June 16, 2011 | 
Everyone is beginning to slide up onto the beach of Washburn, Wisconsin for this weekend’s Bi-Annual Inland Sea Kayak Symposium. Well, almost everyone.. I’ve got to stay around here and get some work done. It’s the only way I’ll justify heading out for nearly 2 weeks for both the Door County and the Great Lakes Sea Kayak Symposiums coming up in the very near future as well. The big name at ISS this year is world-renowned paddler, coach and owner of Sea Kayaking UK, Nigel Dennis. Back in the day, Nigel and Paul Caffyn completed the very first sea kayak circumnavigation of Great Britain.Nigel has also taken part in expeditions in Antarctica, Easter Island, around Cape Horn and elsewhere. I’ve met Nigel more than a couple of times and will never comment on his choice of underwear again.. promise.
Oh, and by the way, if you have any questions about your Kotatat gear at this symposium just hunt down Kelly Blades or Megan Kress. Either of these folks will be glad to talk to you!
Posted in Events & Symposia, Paddle Gear, Paddling, People | 
kelly blades, kokatat, Megan Kress, Nigel Dennis | 
Leave a commentDo you know?
Published May 19, 2011 | 
Just for fun… Can you tell me who’s singing, what does she have to do with sea kayaking.. .and where was the picture taken? For extra credit, what year was this taken? Oh, and Keith, you can just belt up. LOL!
Engelandvaarders 2011
Published May 13, 2011 | 
In memory of the thirty-two young Dutchmen
who tried to escape to England by kayak
during World War II to join the Allied Forces.
Eight of them reached the English coast.
The last living survivor dedicated this memorial
to his brothers in arms who were less fortunate
he reached England – and freedom -
on this beach on 21 september 1941.
During World War II, some 1700 Dutch men & women escaped Nazi-occupied Holland by crossing the North Sea from the Netherlands to the UK in every sort of craft. They were called the Engelandvaaders. In August of this year three British paddlers, Alec Greenwell, Ed Cooper & Henry Franks, will attempt this hazardous crossing in their memory. The paddlers will be following a route that brothers, Henri and William Peteri took some 70 years earlier; launching from Katwijk, just north of The Hague and heading west across the channel to land on the beach at Sizewell in Suffolk, UK. It took the Peteri brothers about 56 hours to make the crossing, the 2011 team hopes to cover the 118 mile route in about 30 hours. What makes this historic crossing so challenging is that they will be padding against a constant natural current through some of the busiest shipping lanes on earth. This will certainly be one to watch. Continue reading
Deesta
Published May 3, 2011 | 
One of my goals here at Quix this year is to take time to feature some of the other paddle blogs around the world. I mean, let’s face it.. sometimes I’m just dead boring and even I’d rather read someone else!! So with that in mind my first featured blogger is Deesta in Sydney, Australia. I’ve chatted with Dee on an off for a few years now, but oddly only came across her blog by accident. Dee gives you a pretty good run down of paddling events in her part of the world, posts some nice pics and shares some insights in her own learning experiences along the way. Dee has a new Tahe Marine Greenland and been learning traditional rolling recently.. She has a great post about that here.
I enjoy Dee’s blog.. especially when it’s cold and snowy around here… (Well, when I’m not feeling jealous!) If you haven’t yet, check out Deesta.. one of the many wonderful paddle bloggers around the world. Stay tuned…
Photo by John Piotrowski.
And The Sparrow Sings…
Published March 26, 2011 | 
So much has gone / and little is new
And as the sparrow sings / Dawn chorus for
Someone else to hear – bowie
There are all kinds of reasons to paddle that have nothing to do with athletics, competition, cool kit and dropping off the tallest falls.. Sometimes it’s hard to remember what kayaking was before we became enthusiasts, bloggers, coaches, competitors, filmmakers, writers or reps.. Can you remember how paddling came into your life back in the day? Why do you paddle? How long have you been paddling? Do you paddle for the same reasons now as you did back then? Maybe that’s a conversation we should spend more time on. After all, it’s not the fact that the sparrow sings that intrigues us.. It’s why they sing that is truly fascinating. There’s probably more long-term value in talking about why we paddle to folks curious about paddling, than talking about the nuts and bolts to those looking to take 2 ounces off their hull. Random thought…
Why do I paddle? Continue reading
Bass Boats
Published March 25, 2011 | 
There’s no earthly way of knowing
Which direction we are going
There’s no knowing where we’re rowing
Or which way the river’s flowing
- it’s a wonka thing..
Not sure why, but Australia has been on my mind this morning. I suppose it’s mostly because I’ve been following Geoff Murray along with Greg Simpson, Mark Broadley and the “Mysterious 3″ as they explore the Bass Strait. Funny thing, the Bass Strait; It’s actually a challenging bit of ocean between Tasmania and Australia named after a guy named George, but if you told someone from around here that you were going, they’d probably suggest a Ranger Comanche and your favorite spinner! Worlds apart… The Bass Strait trip blog is worth following by the way. Any blog that can fit the words, “trousers”, “bumpy” and “interesting” in the same post is well worth the read! Continue reading
The Waiting Is…
Published March 23, 2011 | 
The waiting is the hardest part
Every day you see one more card
You take it on faith, you take it to the heart
The waiting is the hardest part
- tom petty
So Freya Hoffmeister is sending some of her kayaks to new homes before she begins her South American odyssey. This one, is coming to live here with me. The Black Beauty #2 is a folder that you’ve seen her use to perform her crazy head stand to bow gymnastics. I’ve got the head stand down, but the rest… fuggitaboutit! Freya put the beast into its little bag and sent me a photo-by-photo diagram of how to get it back together once it arrives here in the frozen north. Now we just have to get that shipping thing down. It would sure be fantastic if I knew someone who was flying back from Europe in the next couple months.. but in the end I might just have to spend the $$ and tell “brown” what to do for me…
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