Astral Buoyancy Sea Wolf
Published January 9, 2013 | 
Hey cowboy I hope you’re fast
‘Cause I’m the baddest gunslinger ever was
Hey outlaw, follow me outside
And keep your fingers on the triggers while we party all night.
Welcome to the gun show
- in this moment
The Astral Buoyancy Sea Wolf is a great new life vest introduced in 2012. The only downside is that strangers may come up and start touching you like this…. (see pic above!) Well, hopefully not, but you know how those old sea wolves are! Well, regardless of the questionable feel-up from Astral’s promo video we decided to buy a new Sea Wolf for Sue. . . Here’s why, Continue reading
Breaking Rules
Published July 31, 2012 | 
Last night a friend and I were out floating on the local lake when we started noticing clouds building to the north. It wasn’t long before the heads starting topping out and lightning began to shoot down to the ground. Of course that means it’s time to get off the water. No questions asked.. Well, yeah, but… The clouds were moving west to east and staying north. They were at least 10 to 15 miles off. Well, we decided to stay out on the water and watch the lightning.. Now I know what some people would say about that… but I’ve never believed in rules for rules sake. Sometimes it’s all about judgement. Sometimes it’s all about measured risk. Yeah, we probably should have rushed to shore.. but wow, those moments on the water last night were all about living. Beautiful.
Off Message
Published February 23, 2012 | 
So how old is your average sea kayaker these days? 121? Sorry, but you know it’s true. Now we’ve talked about this issue a zillion times already and I’m not going to beat a dead Venezuelan tree frog here. Actually, the thing about age just popped into my head the other day when I found myself talking to someone about the safety of sea kayaking in general. Continue reading
Something In The Water
Published December 30, 2011 | 
Each year when the ice is beginning to form on inland lakes there is still time for the hearty paddler to get in a few good days on the water. You simply need to be more cautious. Not only should you be properly dressed for the occasion, but you also need to keep your eye out for nearly transparent floating obstacles. Paddling along at a good clip, floating ice can be nearly invisible. An awkward run up the side of one of these floating chucks or even a direct hit can quickly send an unprepared paddler right over. Most of us would call that a bad day at best. Continue reading
Frickin’ Kayakers
Published December 29, 2011 | 
“Is it worth risking your life for a fish?” Good question from a spokesman for the Virginia Marine Resources Commission a day after authorities rescued 6.. Let that sink in… 6, Again, 6! capsized fisherman from Chesapeake Bay a couple weeks back. [ Read the full story here. ] No wonder there are so many folks who think kayaking is crazy. Well, no. What’s crazy is going out into potentially dangerous situations without any clue how to deal with it if something goes wrong. In the vernacular of the day, “Really?” Continue reading
The Gift That Keeps Them Living…
Published December 8, 2011 | 
Ok, so I took this idea from a paddleshop’s Facebook adver-post (My new word of the day), but I can’t deny a good idea. Each year paddle bloggers write about great holiday gift ideas and inevitably that means gear, but here’s a better idea.. give a lesson.
It’s natural (and wise) to feel a little apprehension when your friend or family member decides to take up kayaking as a new hobby. It’s not a particularly dangerous sport, but when things do go bad, it almost always involves folks who are very inexperienced. Continue reading
Do we take this whole kayaking thing too seriously? I don’t know. I can tell you that it was fun and cringe-worthy all at the same time to take a local state park kayak tour over the weekend. The tour was great. But all around me I could see all those Uber kayaker n0-nos.. Life jacket undone or out of sight, lots of cotton, shoe-stringed shoes, upside down paddles, no tow ropes, no paddle floats…. You know, just a typical day paddling a Wisconsin lake. Everyone had a great time. I was diggin’ it. Still, that inner coach in me kept asking.. “Yeah, but what if?”