10 tips for prolonging the life of your drysuit
Forget tuxedos and gowns. Our drysuits are our most treasured (and most expensive) garments. Treating them well can lengthen their working lives and ensure that they perform their jobs perfectly.
We checked in with Matt Porter, Product Manager and Customer Service Supervisor at Kokatat, for advice on extending the lives of drysuits.…
read moreNew website coming soon
Please excuse our prolonged posting intermission. Lots is happening behind the scenes. This blog will soon be migrating to a new domain. Our friend, the paddler and graphic designer Chris Hoffman of Faucethead Creative, is building us a new website.… read more
Early season paddling: the precautions and the pleasures
Despite this year’s long, cold spring, we’ve been on the water quite a lot. This has been both possible and pleasurable because we have the three pillars of safe paddling, which are especially applicable in cold weather: knowledge, skills and gear.…
read moreCaring for your gear: Composite paddles
How not to store your paddles.
One of the pleasures of writing about paddlesports is the opportunity to talk to vendors about their products. We’ve learned a lot over the years about common problems, routine maintenance and preventative care.…
read moreTrouble remembering the Beaufort scale? Poet to the rescue!
Beaufort Poem Scale by Alice Oswald
As I speak (force 1) smoke rises vertically,Plumed seeds fall in less than ten secondsAnd gossamer, perhaps shaken from the soul’s hairbrushIs seen in the air.… read moreSeason opener: Paddling Lake Michigan again
Still wintry, but calm and ice-free. Time to paddle!
With the ice mostly melted and the air and water temperatures in the mid to upper 30s, we decided to go on the first relatively long paddle of the season.…
read moreWhy we still love the WMCKA Symposium
Thumbs up for the WMCKA symposium, one of the family friendliest paddling events in the midwest.
We have a special affection for the West Michigan Sea Kayakers Association (WMCKA) symposium. Held on Memorial Day weekend at YMCA Camp Pendalouan near Muskegon, Michigan, the WMCKA symposium is notable for:
World-class guest coaches/speakers. … read moreBody Boat Blade debuts the Haghighi on YouTube
Having spent significant time with Shawna Franklin and Leon Somme of Body Boat Blade this past year, we’ve become fans of the Haghighi: the extreme-edge quick turn technique created by Leon’s dentist, Dan Haghighi.…
read moreWhat we wear now*: WoolCore by Kokatat
Over the past several years, we’ve moved away from polypropylene and polyester thermal layers and toward merino wool, which feels great, insulates even when wet, effectively wicks moisture away from our skin, and doesn’t get stinky like synthetics.…
read moreSave yourself! The scramble demystified in 20 minutes
Comparing notes before the start of our pool session.Our pool presentation at Canoecopia 2013 was on the kayak self-rescue known as the scramble. Our goal was to show the rescue, explain how to do it effectively and efficiently, answer questions from people who’ve found it difficult to execute, and have fun in the process.…
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