I Love WMCKA!
Published May 26, 2011 | 
As if you couldn’t guess, I’m really excited to be heading off to the West Michigan Coastal Kayak Association’s annual symposium. ( Called WMCKA or WimKa for short.) Not only does WMCKA kick of the summer symposium season here in the Great Lakes region, but it’s also one of the top symposiums for beginners due to the calm warm water of Big Blue Lake and the world-class instruction. What’s more WMCKA has a strong contingent of traditional paddling & rolling instructors featuring the man, the legend himself, Doug Van Doren. After looking at my teaching schedule for the event, I can see I’ll be spending a good amount of time with Doug this weekend. 
Continue reading
Posted in Events & Symposia, Paddling | 
doug van doren, justine curgenven, keith wikle, ken fink, WMCKAYou Must Be Trippin!
Published January 4, 2011 | 
All along the icy wastes there are faces smiling in the gloom.
Roll up roll down, Feeling unwound? Step into the viewing room.
The cameras were all around. We’ve got you taped; you’re in the play.
– tull
Our friends Justine & Barry, or as they are officially called “Expedition Paddlers, Justine Curgenven and Barry Shaw” have arrived in Punta Arenas. As you can see in the license plate above, Punta Arenas is in Chile. Cool. Justine and Barry are preparing to circumnavigate Tierra del Fuego by sea kayak… that is.. when their sea kayaks actually arrive.. but that’s another story! Tierra del Fuego is an archipelago (or island group) that makes up the southern tip of South America. Continue reading
2fur
Published July 30, 2010 | 
Just in case you haven’t seen it else where, there are 2 days left on CackleTV’s 2 for $45 DVD Sale. If you’re new to the website or have taken one of my classes, this is where you get those cool This Is The Sea DVDs I’ve told you about, and at the moment you can save a little cash. Cackle is going to be introducing more featured products and specials in the coming months.. so keep an eye out for that as well.
– End of Pitch!
Where would you most like to paddle Hadas?
Published March 30, 2010 | 
When all words fail she speaks
Her mix tape’s a masterpiece
Walks through the garden
so the roses can see
Oh I…have you got nothing to say
– ben folds
Today’s title was a question first raised by British Sea Kayaker extraordinaire, Jeff Allen. When I first read it over on the Sea Kayaking Cornwall website I supposed the sentence was deserving of a comma, something like, “Where would you most like to paddle, Hadas?” One way or the other, it’s always about the punctuation. You can read more about how that question (which ever way it went) lead to a 6500 kilometer paddling adventure here. That of course brings me to this…
Hadas Feldman of Israel will be a featured speaker at the Ladies of the Lake Sea Kayaking Symposium held Aug 12-15th in Marquette, MI. Hadas has an amazing paddling resume. Along with the the 2004 circumnavigation of the 4 main islands of Japan with Jeff Allen, she & Jeff joined Nigel Dennis and Pete Bray Continue reading
Dawn Chorus
Published March 14, 2010 | 
So this is what it looks like at 5am, no, 6am here in Madison, Wisconsin. You are looking across the street from our motel at the Alliant Energy Center where in just a few hours Canoecopia will be opening it’s doors for the last day of the 2010 show. Reports are that visitor numbers have nearly doubled this year over last which made for a lot of warm fuzzy feelings in among the regulars.
And this just in from the rumors department… It seems the owner of Boreal Shores Kayaks in Bayfield ran amok over the winter and bashed out a wall of his shop… (I’m sure Chris will like me describing it that way. Now everywhere he goes people will be talking about him… “There goes Chris,” they’ll say, “Running Amok.”) Continue reading
Posted in Events & Symposia, Learn To Roll, Paddling | canoecopia, justine curgenven, steve scherrerThis Is Media
Published January 27, 2010 | 
Morning all. Today we’ve got a bit of exciting news and I’m also looking for your thoughts. First of all my friend Justine Curgenven; filmmaker, adventurer and occasional country chef has just released the preview of her latest DVD called, This Is Canoeing! (10,000 canoeists stand up and shout, “IT’S ABOUT FRIGGIN’ TIME!) What’s more, we’ve also.. (I can say “we” for this part…) updated her website at www.CackleTV.com.. Ok, now for the discussion bit…
I expect Justine’s new DVD to sell like mad. She’s an amazing filmmaker of course, but what really shines through is her personality which simply soaks through every frame. Personally, I believe she could make a documentary on lake sludge and I’m sure it would still exude excitement and fun. It’s just what happens when she gets into something and that’s why I’ve been totally in her court for more years than I care to count now.
Now here’s the discussion bit.. How are we all doing with multi-media these days? Are we video’d out and so far buried in the Youtube glut that we no longer value professional work? Are we less apt to pay for something we perceive we can get for free elsewhere? Maybe it’s oppositely true that we’re more apt to buy something because all the free junk makes us well aware of the good stuff? Maybe there is still so few of us who live online, that we won’t effect the outcome either way.. What are your thoughts on the state of media today?
Oh, and by the way.. you can pre-order Justine’s new DVD right here on her brand new website… Did I mention that?
It’s Just Stuff That Happened
Published July 30, 2009 | 
It was nice to see Justine again. On Tuesday she flew over from Manchester to Chicago, then hopped in a rental car and drove straight up to Wausau for the Open Boat Nationals that begin tomorrow. On the way she stopped in at the house for a quick chat. My hope is that we’ll get a chance for another quick chat when I get over to the UK in September. It’s a very weird thing how we make friends at such distances, stay in touch by email, blog and twitter and then only stand in the same room once or twice a year. Speaking of distant friends, I’m twisting one distant friends arm to come and paddle a bit of the west coast of Scotland with me. Lord knows he’s done it enough.. Someone’s got to keep the silly mid-westerner safe in those tides!
Posted in Loch Ness, My Paddling, My Weird Life, Paddling, People, travel | aca, Expeditions, justine curgenven, scotland, travel, wisconsin
Recent Comments