KeelEazy: a quicker, easier keel strip?
Applying a keel strip to a composite kayak is a good idea. It protects the keel from wear and tear, especially when launching and landing. It’s also a good introduction to working with gel coat.…
read moreBack from Great Lakes Sea Kayak Symposium
Danny Mongno, Wener Paddles regional sales manager and field marketing coordinator, paddling past sailboats in the Grand Marais harbor.
The Great Lakes Sea Kayak Symposium (GLSKS) is a venerable event. It’s the longest-running sea kayak symposium in the midwest, held annually in Grand Marais, MI, a tiny town (population about 300) that just won $40,000 in the We Hear You America contest to help rebuild its harbor breakwall.…
read moreChoosing new drysuits
Hanging out with our drysuits, old and new.
After six seasons, our drysuits were shot. Seams were leaking; holes were spontaneously appearing. Everything has a lifespan, and after six years of heavy use, our drysuits had reached theirs.…
read moreAlways check the weather
Today we intended to go paddling with Hannah and Josh. We gathered our gear at the crack of noon, then looked outside, where the trees were bending in the wind. “If it’s that windy here, it has to be nuts on the lake,” we said.…
read moreSurprise birthday party for Scott Fairty
Scott, surfing a wave at the Geneva Kayak Center’s Yorkville site.All good conspiracies are grounded in a solid motivation. Last night’s conspiracy to host a 50th birthday party for Scott Fairty was no exception.…
read moreAnnual trip to Adventure Crafters
The new Adventure Crafters space at CBEC (Chesapeake Bay Environmental Center).Every summer, we spend a weekend teaching at Adventure Crafters in Maryland, a paddle center with a heavy emphasis on instruction and a loyal following of long-term students as well as a continuous influx of newer paddlers.…
read moreBrief stop at the Kayak Centre of Rhode Island
The Kayak Centre of Rhode Island in Wickford, RI. En route from Toronto to Delaware, we paid a visit to Matt Bosgraaf, who wears two hats: inventory manager for the Kayak Centre of Rhode Island, and east coast sales manager for GRO (Great River Outfitters, the east coast importer of Valley and North Shore boats)–two completely separate enterprises.… read moreMEC Paddlefest Toronto makes a splash
One beach, two days, 600+ new paddlers.We just returned from MEC Paddlefest Toronto, an “urban celebration of all things paddlesport related” run by Mountain Equipment Co-op, the Canadian equivalent of REI (more or less).…
read moreRediscovering the Chicago shoreline
We recently completed and delivered a presentation called “Paddling in Chicago,” a historical journey down Chicago’s manmade coastline that explained why and how today’s familiar features were created. In the process, we learned things we didn’t previously know, and rekindled our own interest in our local shoreline.…
read moreWhitewater, WMCKA, waves and more
Spring finally arrived, and with it a range of pleasing water levels at the Yorkville whitewater course, the annual West Michigan Coastal Kayakers Association symposium, and waves on Lake Michigan.
Flower blossoms herald the season.… read more
