We love playing in the waves and practicing rescues, but last Friday we decided to simply paddle. In fact, we decided to paddle from Evanston to Indiana and just glide by Chicago’s entire shoreline. Hello, Chicago. Sharon paddles by without stopping. We put in at Juneway Terrace Beach (technically a block south of Evanston) around 10 a.m. and headed south. We passed the familiar beaches of Chicago’s north side–Leone, Wilson, North Avenue–and the still-quiet harbors–Montrose, Belmont, Diversey. By noon, we were around Navy Pier, and boat traffic was picking up. We exchanged greetings with visitors on the tour boats and paddled on. Still life with Alec and tour boats. As we got to Hyde Park, the wind and waves were picking up. We continued on, past Rainbow Beach, past the water filtration plant, to the Calumet channel. The smokestacks of Indiana are closer and more beautiful than ever….or something like that. That’s when we realized we didn’t have time for the final two miles. We had arranged to meet our kids back at 63rd Street at 5:30. So we turned around and paddled those last couple of miles in the wrong direction (from a making-it-to-Indiana perspective) but the right direction (from a meeting-our-kids perspective). Arriving in the 63rd Street harbor. We learn something every time we get on the water. This time, we learned that some of our clothing causes chafing, that it’s easy to forget to take enough photos, and that it’s fun, once in a while, to paddle past Chicago without setting foot on...

We gently paddle the surface of the lake, leaving no trace behind. As soon as we unloaded out boats near the 59th Street Harbor this morning, we could tell how dramatically the season has changed. The sun angled low through the crisp fall leaves still clinging to twigs overhead; the algae that made the ramp slippery during the summer was gone; fishermen were casting from the barren piers in the outer harbor; there was only one boat left in the inner harbor, and it looked forlorn. We paddled out in the middle of the channel with no concern for traffic because there were no boats in sight.The wind was about 10 knots out of the northeast, causing waves mostly in the two- to four-foot range, which collided with one another and built a little higher off the breakwater that protects 63rd Street Beach. The surface water temperature is in the mid to upper 50s now–poagie weather.We didn’t have a lot of time, so we paddled south toward Rainbow Beach, enjoying the crashing of waves hitting the boulders along the shore, and then back north to 63rd Street Beach, where we caught a few nice rides on fairly gentle surf. We saw three boats in the distance headed for dry dock, and interrupted a gaggle of geese floating near the harbor mouth.Lake Michigan must get lonely in the autumn. Perhaps that’s why she thrashes her shores in the fall before subsiding under a blanket of ice in the winter. Either that or she revels in her solitude after a summer of assaults by jet skis, motor boats, tour boats and yachts. We like to think she enjoys our company, at least, as we gently paddle her surface, leaving no trace...

On Friday afternoon, while we were paddling, someone broke into our car and stole both of our wallets. We returned to a broken car window and a rash of urgent tasks: cancel the cell phone and credit cards, rekey the house locks, replace the drivers’ licenses and a myriad other cards. Since then, every day yields a new realization of something we no longer have: library cards, ACA instructor cards, insurance cards, a favorite green pen.Today we realized the thieves also had the cool set of knot cards we bought with our paddling.net paddle perks and the rope we used for practicing clove hitches and bowlines. Somewhere, some thief is practicing tying beautiful bowlines. Note to selves: Bring wallets in boats. Keep house key away from IDs with home address. Renew paddling.net...

For those of you who read yesterday’s post and thought, “That’s cool, but I wish I could read about it in French,” we have good news!It was picked up today by “Le Kayak et la mer.”Here’s what they wrote: Fabriquer son bout de remorquage court Publié le 27 octobre 2008 En principe tous les kayakistes ont déjà un bout de remorquage long, c’est obligatoire en 6eme catégorie.Mais plus rares sont ceux qui possèdent un bout court pourtant bien utile pour sortir rapidement un kayak d’un endroit difficile, assurer une pagaie ou même servir de leach. Vous trouverez sur le site Have kayaks, will travel une méthode très détaillée pour en fabriquer un de très bonne qualité ainsi qu’une méthode d’utilisation. C’est en anglais mais les nombreuses photos sont très explicites. Je crois bien que je vais m’en construire un sur ce...

We’ve been a bit postless for the past two months. Sorry. We were (obviously) busy. (Know anybody who isn’t?)In fact, taking a break helped us clarify why we blog. Over the summer, we used the blog to share our thoughts about kayaking, teaching people to kayak, and the paddling community. We used it to publicly ponder ideas, poke fun at ourselves and sometimes others, call attention to people and places and sometimes problems, and celebrate what we’ve learned and what we’ve done.We were surprised and pleased by the response we got. In one month, more than 1,000 people visited our blog, even though we did little to promote it. We received thoughtful comments online and in person from people near and far, including some of the students in our classes. Clearly, something we were doing was entertaining, useful or both.We continued padding after our last post, though not as intensely as during those two months, when padding was nearly a daily activity. Even now, with the air and water temperatures dropping, the days growing shorter and the shadows growing longer, we’re out there in our dry suits, enjoying the relative solitude of Lake Michigan in the fall. The days get shorter, the shadows get longer, and we get taller! Starting now, we will do our best to post weekly. This blog will stay kayaking-focused; we won’t subject you to random musings about life, the universe, brownies and all that. Rather, we’ll continue the journey we began back in June, when we asked you to come with us on our quest to become better paddlers, better instructors and better bloggers.So welcome back. We hope you visit weekly, comment occasionally, and benefit from what you find here.–Sharon & Alec An impromptu slalom course near a Chicago...

We arrived last night just in time for dessert. Over Bonnie’s homemade brownies and lemon bars, we reconnected and relaxed until we were too tired to stay awake.Bonnie, it turns out, is a talented cook and baker. She worked as a recipe tester for Yankee Books for six or seven years and has an extensive collection of cookbooks as well as a serious interest in good food. We awoke to French toast with warm maple syrup and pecan topping; lunch included vegetables with her curry dip and an assortment of artisan cheeses along with crusty loaves of bread. As I’m writing this post, I’m eating a bowl of strawberry shortcake: freshly baked biscuits, strawberries from the garden, homemade whipped cream. We’re being utterly spoiled.After breakfast we explored Larry and Bonnie’s two acres of land, including the raised-bed garden where they’re growing tomatoes, potatoes, strawberries, peas, greens, herbs, squashes and more. Wandering through the garden. Then we wandered through the outdoor market in Ottawa, where vendors sell fresh fruits and vegetables, cheeses and chocolates, scarves and sculptures, baguettes and bangles. Sadly, the camera battery died, so we had to record only mental images of baskets of ripe strawberries, bunches of radishes, bouquets of flowers and people everywhere buying, selling, eating, talking. Last shot before the camera battery died. After lunch, we helped Larry & Bonnie erect a screened dining tent in their backyard and assemble a picnic table. These instructions weren’t written in the US or Canada. Let’s wing it. Then Larry took the kids for a ride in his 1989 Citroen. (It gets 70 miles to the gallon.) Rolling back the roof on Bernard l’Hermit, the Citroen. Cruising down the road. Later, we went for a short run down Old Montreal Road in Cumberland, a rural town recently incorporated by Ottawa. The sides of the road were lined with purple clovers, chamomile, queen anne’s lace and wispy grasses; cows grazed in the fields, bicyclists pedaled past, birds called overhead. We were struck by the contrast between yesterday, when we sped through three states too quickly to see much at all, and today, when we took the time to see, hear, smell and taste. You can’t take in too much in one day at any pace, of course, but it was rewarding to slow down a bit. Bonnie’s one-bowl brownies 2 squares unsweetened chocolate1/2cup vegetable oil1 cup sugar2 eggs, well beaten1/2 cup flour1/4 tsp. salt1 tsp. vanilla1/2 cup finely chopped pecans Melt chocolate and oil in microwave. Blend in sugar, then eggs. Add flour and salt. Stir well and add vanilla. Pour into greased 8-by-8-inch pan. Sprinkle with chopped nuts. Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes. Do not overbake....

Today is a travel day: 550 miles, which will take us about 10 hours. This leaves plenty of time for reflecting back and thinking ahead, as well as noting a few things about travel and the places we’re traveling through. When we pull into a roadside stop, we have to park with the other big rigs. We began with a quick stop at a nearby Food Lion, which reminded us of something we’ve noted before: Food stores offer a fascinating glimpse of the places they serve. Spices, baking mixes and jams are often the most localized items. Here we took the opportunity to buy some Old Bay seasoning, which Robert told us was an essential part of the Chesapeake experience. Maple syrup, ski slopes, pub food, alpacas…Marathon seems to have it all. It’s really strange sitting on a soft seat, zipping along at 60+ miles an hour. It’s kind of like sitting on your sofa, but you can’t stretch out, and you have to stay seated for an absurd amount of time. For the past week, we’ve done most of our sitting in kayaks, which is a very active kind of sitting. To paddle well, you have sit up pretty straight (“the dynamic seating position”) and use your core muscles as you move through the water. Car seats somehow encourage slouching, and with it back and shoulder pain. And instead of using our muscles to power our craft, we’re burning gasoline. If driving weren’t necessary, we certainly wouldn’t do it. The notion of a “joy ride” seems alien and unnatural. There’s time on the road for reading, napping, listening to music and doing sudoku puzzles. Before we left home, we used Google Maps to generate directions for each leg of this trip. We also brought along an atlas and a set of state road maps, but we figured we’d mainly rely on the Google route. Instead we’ve found ourselves frustrated by the Google directions and relying on the maps. It’s kind of interesting to realize why.First, the Google directions have tunnel vision. They may provide the most direct or quickest route, but they feel strangely out of context. Looking at them, you can’t answer the question, “If we pass Main Street, have we gone too far?”Second, the Google directions are robotic. If a road changes names as it passes through a town, Google notes it as a new leg of the journey with a mileage all its own, making it hard to see how many miles you actually should travel on that road.Third, they contain errors. Robert told us about a sign posted somewhere he’d been that said, “Google maps is wrong!” because it was leading people down a...

This is a bittersweet morning. We’re packing the car and trailer and waiting for Robert to see us off before we head up to Ontario. It’s been a great week; it’s hard to say goodbye.There are so many thing we haven’t written about: the rescue class, the rolling class, casual paddles in the Chester River, the presentation we gave about Great Lakes paddling opportunities, Jeremy and Noah flying kites, a day trip to Cape Henlopen State Park, and more.But we can’t leave before writing a little bit about Hannah’s role during our time in Queenstown. She co-taught the “women on the water” class, bringing to it her playful spirit and her remarkable ability to work with all kinds of people. Her paddling skills are good enough that she can provide clean demonstrations, clear explanations and helpful critiques (essentials of kayak instruction), but that’s just the beginning. She can also inspire and motivate students with her enthusiasm and knack for saying just the right thing at just the right time. And she’s fun. Hannah demonstrating the solid support provided by rafting up. Lest things get too serious, Hannah gets students to practice their strokes while sitting on their back decks. When she wasn’t teaching, Hannah was either paddling around with Noah sitting on her back hatch, chatting with Kerrie, or practicing guitar. But when the opportunity arose to teach more, she took it. Robert was providing a kayak program at a local camp four mornings this week. Hannah went along to help, bringing to the campers her same set of paddling and people skills.It’s delightful watching her evolve as both a paddler and an instructor. She’ll no doubt be both proud and a little embarrassed about this post, but we had to write it. No iPod Left Behind: Hannah shares her playlist with...

Robert, Kerrie and Noah Schrack. We’ve been meaning to write a little bit about our hosts, Robert and Kerrie Schrack. It’s a daunting task because they’ve been so generous and impressive on so many fronts. So this post will attempt to address what’s been missing from previous posts: some sense of who brought us here. Robert and Kerrie are the owners of Adventure Crafters in Queenstown, MD. They have a small but impressively stocked pro shop and offer classes and trips. Check out their website at www.adventurecrafters.com. Robert and Alec met during their Instructor Certification Exam at Sea Kayak Georgia, one of the premiere places for sea kayak training. They’re both natural athletes and generous spirits, so they hit it off immediately. Adventure Crafters is in its second year here in Queenstown, after a year and a half or so in Westchester, PA. Robert traded in his landscaping business to invest full-time in kayaking, with Kerrie assisting him in everything from running the shop to leading the evening paddles. It’s an impressive balancing act: work and family, time on water and time running the business, making a living and being true to their values. They’re walking all those tightropes admirably. We’ve been staying with them for almost a week now, sharing meals, teaching classes, messing around on the water, hanging out and sharing stories. We’ve met an assortment of the students they attract, who seem to share the down-to-earth, honest spirit that Robert and Kerrie bring to their business. It’s been a great pleasure to see this small, family business in its early stages and help for one short week. One of the hazards of teaching and guiding full-time is that you rarely get to go out and paddle for fun, and when you do, you usually do so alone. This evening, we paddled out with Robert into a pretty stiff head wind until the darkening clouds grew a little too ominous. We surfed back home to the sounds of thunder, looking over our shoulders at some very dramatic skies. As we approached Eastern Neck Island, we saw sheets of raining pouring down from the clouds ahead of us. Almost back in safe harbor, the waves subsided and we knew we had outpaddled the storm. It seemed an apt metaphor for what makes anything in life meaningful. Often you have to take a risk to gain a reward. Whether it’s a stunning sky, an exciting ride or a meaningful life, you have to take some chances. We’re awfully glad that Robert and Kerrie took a chance on Adventure Crafters and included us in their...