Can we all just get along?
We’re veterans of the whitewater vs. sea kayak wars. Our paddling addiction began with little boats on moving water; we soon moved on to long boats on open water. But we’re basically equal opportunity paddlers who love both kinds of boats, both kinds of water, and both communities of paddlers.Still, we take plenty of ribbing, particularly from the whitewater paddlers who call sea kayaking “flatwater.” That’s obviously just ignorance, but tell that to an obstinate, paddle-wielding playboater.…
read moreYou can teach an old kayaker new tricks
Sharon completes a low brace recovery.This is week three of the solo canoe class. It’s strange and wonderful to be a student again. We experience every lesson on two levels: as students learning new skills, and as instructors fascinated by how other instructors teach.Our paddling skills do and don’t translate.…
read moreCan you canoe?
We’ve enrolled in a Solo Canoe class. Stay tuned for photos and reflections as we seek to answer that question in the affirmative.…
read moreGetting ready for the Inland Sea Kayak Symposium
The Inland Sea Kayak Symposium resumes this year. It’s a wildly popular symposium, and the campsite in Washburn fills up quickly. So we arrived early to get a good site.
There was little competition for sites.… read moreReflections
One thing we appreciate about the way Ronnie and Marsha teach is that they have definite views about how maneuvers and procedures, from strokes to rescues, should be performed and can explain the logic behind their convictions.…
read moreDay four, with towing and surf
Having stayed up late doing night navigation exercises, we inexplicable started early today. The agenda: towing in various conditions.One of the things we love about teaching is watching the 60-watt light bulbs come on our students.…
read moreDay three: navigation day and night
Today is all about finding our way and staying out of traffic. The kind of stuff you hope your kids learn by the time they head off for kindergarten, but it’s trickier when you’re in a small boat on big water.The day began with navigation exercises on land and on the water.…
read moreDay two, complete with dolphins
If you’ve ever checked the online weather forecast and then set out without an umbrella only to immediately get drenched, you would appreciate our first navigation lesson of the day: look around.…
read moreDay one, shivers and all
It’s a humbling experience for cold-weather denizens like us to come to a warm-weather locale like this and admit that we’re freezing. But we overcame our pride and acknowledged that today.…
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