Complex Problem Solving
Published July 21, 2011 | 
Yeah we’re playing those mind games together
Projecting our images in space and in time
Yes is the answer and you know that for sure
Yes is surrender you got to let it go
- Lennon
I know many of you expect me to post photos from the various great lakes symposiums each year. Well, I finally have 107 Door County Sea Kayak Symposium pictures ready. This was an interesting symposium season for me personally this year, especially the last two where I actually only did one class with one student. No kidding. At Door I spent the whole of the event doing day trips. Not a bad way to spend your time actually. In the course of three days I paddled each side of the peninsula and the tip from Death’s Door to Washington Island. Suffice to say, out of the 107 pics, very few are from the actual symposium!! Continue reading
It’s that time again…
Published January 27, 2011 | 
It’s the time of the season
When the love runs high
In this time, give it to me easy
And let me try
With pleasured hands
– zombies
Here in the Midwest there is a clear border between winter and “the season”. The season is that short window of time where we get to run out the doors like freaks and get our Ya-Ya’s out before we have to once again lock ourselves in out of the cold for another 4 or 5 months. Oh boy! Continue reading
Posted in Events & Symposia, Paddling | 
door county, great lakes sea kayak symposium, Inland Sea, QajaqTC, WMCKALightning, It’s so “Very”!
Published July 12, 2010 | 
I was caught in the suction
By a face like a truncheon
I was down upon one knee
Stroking her vanity – e. costello
We’re back from the symposium at Door County here in Wisconsin. We’ve only got a couple days of “down time” before we head back up to Grand Marais, MI for the Great Lakes Sea Kayak Symposium. For the moment let me just share a few pictures of the best kayak art work I saw at Door. This Valley Anas Acuta was at it’s base black or very, very, very dark blue with lots of purple and red glitter. Lightning stripes were inlaid into the gelcoat. I could be a fussy pain in the bum and critique the detailing but all in all this is a darn pretty boat! Continue reading
Cherry
Published July 8, 2010 | 
Life is just a bowl of cherries / Don’t take it serious / Life’s too mysterious
You work, You save,You worry so /But you can’t take your dough
When you go, go, go – gershwin
I’m heading out this morning to drive (About 5 hrs) to Door County for the annual Door County Sea Kayak Symposium. Door County is more than just open water and lighthouses of course… they’ve also got this weird fixation with Cherries & Fish Boils 
Washington Island Trip Report
Published June 28, 2010 | 
Happy Monday! Today I’m going to extract the Gear Pod from it’s under water tomb to see how it survived 2 days of total submersion. The final review will be tomorrow. However, if you follow along on Facebook you may get a bit of an advance look later in the day when we pull it out.
For today however, I want to share with you a trip report from the recent Washington Island Paddle Marathon Race held in Door County, WI., on June 19th. Participants paddled a 22 mile course around the island which is located at the very tip of Wisconsin’s famous Door County peninsula. This report was written by Gary Simon of Milwaukee. I like Gary’s report because it’s not so much about “racing” but about participation and learning which to me is the really important… and fun part of any event. Continue reading
Proximal Sea Phalanges
Published July 9, 2009 | 
“Mr. Bones? Mr. Bones?
How do you feel, Mr. Bones?”
“Rattlin’!” “
Mr. Bones feels rattlin’. Ha ha. That’s a good one.”
ahhh, vaudeville!
Door county is the emaciated “thumb” of Wisconsin. Just ask any Wisconsinite where Door county is. They will hold up the back of their hand with their palm facing away, stretch out their thumb, point to it, and say, “This is Door county. Of course if your thumb actually looked like Door County you’d be a skeleton. Door county covers about 2,370 square miles, of that, most is water in the form of lakes and swamps. Door is surrounded on 3 sides by Lake Michigan and has over 300 miles of shoreline. If it were not for a grumpy collection of anti-kayaker types it would be a paddlers paradise.
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 →