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In partnership with the Berrien Paddlers Group, Go Kayak Now! will run the wildly successfull Paddling in Current Class again.

It will be held 3-5 PM Saturday June 18th. We are still picking a launch spot on the river, so stay tuned on that. Cost is $25.00 per person. Rentals available from Lee’s for $10.00

We will also be holding a two day course again for Risk Management and Incident Management.

Risk Management Aug 6th
10:00 AM St. Joseph Public Library.

The on land course will cover the following in roughly 4 hours and is open to anyone with no pre-requisites:

Introduction to Risk Management
Risks in sea kayaking
Paddlers
Weather
Wind and Waves
Terrain
Navigation
Time of Day
Risk Plotting
Exercise in Risk Plotting (break for lunch)
Dressing For Paddling
Safety Equipment for paddling group exercise
Towing
Group Management and Leadership Intro
CLAP (communication line of sight avoidance and positioning)
CLAP Exercise

Cost $50.00

Incident Management Aug 7th
9:00 AM to 4:00 PM
On Water is scenarios using terrain features of the local area we will be paddling and applying everything from the Risk Management Course.

Requirement for the on water class are a sea kayak with bulkheads, life-jacket, warm water immersion gear, tow-belt, bilge pump, spare clothes in a drybag, spare paddle.

Rescues and the Risk Management course are prerequisites for this course. This class has significant mental and physical demands so please contact me to sign-up.

Class is limited to 16 students so sign up early.

Cost $85.00

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Go Kayak Now will be hosting a Risk Management Course in St. Joseph Michigan this weekend July 31st to August 1.

July 31st On Land Risk Management Course

The on land portion of the class to create a background for the on-water section will be four hours at the St. Joseph Library starting at 10:00 am.

Cost is $25.00.

Please bring a snack lunch and some notebook materials.

The outline for the course is as follows:

• Intro
• Who the heck are you?
• Risks in sea kayaking
• Paddlers
• Weather
• Hypothermia
• Wind and Waves
• Terrain
• Navigation
• Time of Day
• Risk Plotting
• Exercise in Risk Plotting(break for lunch)
• Dressing For Paddling
• Safety Equipment for paddling group exercise
• Towing
• Group Management and Leadership Intro
• CLAP (communication line of sight avoidance and positioning)
• CLAP Exercise

Google Map to the St. Joseph Public library where the onland session will be held.

View Larger Map

Second Day August 1st. 9:00 AM Lion’s Beach St. Joseph Michigan.

Four hour on the water incident management course. This class is by appointment only, so please email or call me if you plan on attending we need to have very specific instructor to student ratios in order to make this class work. This class will start at Lion’s Beach St. Joseph Michigan.

Cost is $40.00

Required equipment:

Sea kayak with bulkheads, lifejacket, spray deck, tow belt, contact tow, paddle, sack lunch, dry clothes.

Optional equipment, helmet, spare paddle, and VHF radio.

Map to Lion’s Beach.

View Larger Map

Please contact me with any questions.

me at go kayak now dot com!

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As the kayak pool session has progressed with the students, each of them has become curious about an eskimo roll. We had one dedicated rolling lesson last saturday with 10 students. A few came close to rolling, some were closer than others to getting the concepts.

Rolling, in my opinion is a basic or a gateway skill that allows you to progress on to other skills. Knowing how to right your kayak without fear is a big confidence builder and can really increase your ability to edge, lean and try different strokes.

So here’s the question for instructors: What works for you?

Share it here in the comments, whether it’s traditional style paddle, pawlata style roll, paddle-float training wheels approach or some sort of voodoo doll. I’d love to hear what the approach is for coaches to teaching a really important, but albeit tricky skill.

Students can be afraid of the water, entrapment, or just have general anxiety about working with a coach. How do you work on overcoming these issues with the student?

If you have videos, or photos send them along and I’ll add them.

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The Kalamazoo Sessions have been off to a grand start. Attendance has been awesome with 12-15 people for each session. Many thanks to Ken Nesbitt and the Great Lakes Adventure Club for the enthusiastic support of Lee’s and Go Kayak Now!

A pool is often a difficult place to work on strokes. Forward strokes in a pool simply take too much space. Although draws work really well. It was great to see so many students pick up the draw stroke so quickly. I hope we can continue the enthusiasm into the outdoors and ensure we have some forward stroke, rudders, draws, and bracing to work on once the weather becomes more liquid.

This week I think we will begin working on bracing, strokes, and for those interested, advanced rescues.

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<object width=”601″ height=”338″><param name=”allowfullscreen” value=”true” /><param name=”allowscriptaccess” value=”always” /><param name=”movie” value=”http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=4014525&amp;server=vimeo.com&amp;show_title=1&amp;show_byline=1&amp;show_portrait=0&amp;color=ff9933&amp;fullscreen=1″ /><embed src=”http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=4014525&amp;server=vimeo.com&amp;show_title=1&amp;show_byline=1&amp;show_portrait=0&amp;color=ff9933&amp;fullscreen=1″ type=”application/x-shockwave-flash” allowfullscreen=”true” allowscriptaccess=”always” width=”601″ height=”338″></embed></object><br /><a href=”http://vimeo.com/4014525″>Sea Kayak T-Rescue Demonstration GoKayakNow.com</a> from <a href=”http://vimeo.com/keithwikle”>Keith Wikle</a> on <a href=”http://vimeo.com”>Vimeo</a>.<br /><br />This is Alec Bloyd Peshkin playing a very compliant and skilled victim for a T-rescue demonstration. The rescuer approaches cautiously at first to make sure the victim isn’t panicked. <br /><br />Then the rescuer has the victim move to the stern of his kayak while he rights, then empties the victim’s boat. The emptying of the boat is a pull on the deck lines, then a hand inside the cockpit twisting towards himself. Boats are placed bow-stern. The victim never loses contact with either his kayak or the rescuers. Victim holds on to their own paddle until re-entry. Victim deftly places his foot into the cockpit and torques his torso onto his back-deck, and then corkscrews back inside. The rescuer is committed to leaning over the victim’s boat and holding onto the cockpit. <br /><br />Because of the placid conditions this is very casually performed. In lumpy or textured conditions the time for this rescue could probably be halved. However a total of 1:00 minute in the water for the purposes of a slow demonstration is not too bad. Great view of Soldier Field in the background from the Marina in Chicago.
There is something to be said about losing the big picture when focusing on details. The whole array of saws springs to mind – “not seeing forest for the trees” being the most popular. Here you are  probably wondering – what the paddle I am talking about?  Simple –rescue ends with the swimmer back in the boat, ready to face wind and waves. How the rescue is performed will depend on the conditions – balmy 80F day with water hitting mid seventies might take a really long time while fishing swimmer from the low forties will happen in a snap. Of course, perfect practice makes for perfect execution when the
need arises, but something is to be said about showing variations that might get someone in trouble.

We need to extend our thanks to Alec Bloyd-Peshkin for braving cold water. I suspect he got a little bit chilled towards the end – that would explain his prompt reentry. And, of course, Keith for doing his best to be his worst.

Before reading debrief, watch the clip a few times and see what could’ve been done differently.

Well, here is what I spotted:

1. Approach puts victim between his boat and the rescuers’ kayak. That is not desirable since waves can smash both boats against each other. Solution – it is best for the victim to be between the oncoming waves and the boat, since loaded and swamped kayak can weigh a few hundred pounds. It is easier to see oncoming swells as well.
2. Keith demonstrates tenuous approach very well – see how much care he is taking not to bump against the other boat? Solution – don’t be afraid to bump the other boat – as long as the angle is kept relatively shallow no harm will come. If the victim is at your bow you will be able to see what they are up to, eventually it might be a bit easier for him to maneuver towards the cockpit.
3. Also notice how inconvenient it is to maneuver the victim’s boat –hull does not provide any convenient purchase point. And that paddle gets in the way. Solution – either place your paddle under deck lines, stick it under your arm, or use paddle leash. If the kayak is flipped the otherkayak’s deck lines will provide multiple grab points.
4. Keith uses just one hand to move the other kayak, that is hardly stable.  Solution – don’t be afraid to lean your weight on the other kayak – it has hundreds of pound of floatation. Two hands will provide twice the purchase points of single hand. Use torso to position the other boat into the T.
5. Keith lifts the kayak with one hand. Notice how he leans away from the swimmer’s boat. That is neither stable nor safe. Solution – safety is foremost, keep your work in front of you, rotate towards the other boat. This will allow to utilize core muscles to both maneuver the other boat and pull it on your deck – lean towards the victim’s kayak, grab deck lines with both hands, straighten up.
6. Keith lifts the kayak quite high. Not really a problem, but might not be necessary – why work hard if you don’t have to?
7. Keith puts one hand inside the cockpit, the other is wrapped around the hull. His right elbow is close to being hyper-extended, might endanger shoulders. Solution – coaming provides for excellent grips, let your fingers grip the inside of cockpit. Don’t forget to keep those elbows close to your body and use body weight to stabilize the other boat.

What went well:

1. The swimmer and boat never separated
2. There was no fuss about paddles – swimmer took care of his. Frankly he had nothing else to do, why shouldn’t he hang on to his paddle. And, if by stroke of waves separation occurred he could’ve used the paddle for  catching up with his boat
3. The last, but not the least – he is back in his boat!

Thanks for reading and see if you can spot what I missed

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Alec Bloyd-Peshkin and I shot several rescues in the marina on Lake Michigan this weekend. This is the first of these self rescue techniques.

The re-enter and roll is probably the best self-rescue technique after a roll has failed. It is simple and relies on no special equipment. The paddler simply re-enters the cockpit and then rolls the kayak up full of water.

Sea Kayak Re-Enter and Roll Rescue-Gokayaknow.com from Keith Wikle on Vimeo.

Note the time signature on the video from the moment the paddler is out of the kayak until the kayak is upright. 15 seconds.

There are some slight drawbacks. Once you are up, you have a kayak full of water. You must get the skirt back on. But both of these seem minor to being back upright in the kayak.

This video may seem elementary to some. And perhaps advanced to those without a roll. It is actually a very basic rescue. There are fewer things to remember than with a paddle float re-entry. You spend less time in the water fidgeting about with gear and more time getting back underway. I actually think this method is better for rough water than a cowboy scramble. With a re-enter and roll the paddler is already back in the boat, no precarious balancing act, and then wiggling back in. The paddle is already in your hand and you are ready to brace if need be. Note the supporting sculling strokes for balance after the roll to ensure the paddler stays upright.

This was a great day with bright sunshine. The water was only in the 40s and the air in the 50s. Good fun. See any major Chicago landmark in the background of the video?

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Fortune smiled on me when I was able to make a trip north from Seattle to paddle Orca Island with Shawna Franklin and Leon Somme, (aka Maurice Leone Somme). Leon and I had spoken on the phone before I arrived in Seattle about the weather conditions. Leon described in dulcet tones while wearing a rosy lens-monacle the temperate clime I would be arriving to enjoy.

Ok-all kidding aside let us say that when I took the ferry from Anacortes to Orca Island, the glass was plummeting. I enjoyed 40-50 degree days for most of the week in Seattle. When I arrived temperatures were dropping into the thirties/twenties. I’m from Michigan, no problem. The forecast kept calling for a legendary snow dump over the entire Seattle area which was causing a lot of worry for most people I encountered. Washington state in the greater Seattle area apparently doesn’t have a lot of snow plows, or salt trucks.

I arrived on the first ferry Friday Morning. I drove around to the north side of the island. The island reminded me of a tree filled version of some of the smaller islands near Ireland. There were horses and sheep grazing in low valleys between small mountains. Mist and rain shrouded these craggy peaks. I had definitely left the bustle of corporate streets and machinations far behind.

I met Shawna and Leon at Body Boat Blade in the small village of East Sound Orca Island. I had a look round the shop and bought some Body Boat Blade apparel to bring home. Leon showed me the charts and the tide tables and offered a few suggestions for my first day’s paddle. Leon and Shawna as good stewards kept asking me what I felt comfortable with, and how I felt about the weather. While I had paddled with them once on textured water it was right after my hernia repair, and therefore I didn’t have much gas in the tank. So they were rightfully cautious about sending me out on the Pacific with no advice.

After an hour or so going over the charts and the tides, I was driving the Body Boat Blade van towards Deer Harbor. I gleefully borrowed a Valley Nordkapp LV for the day. I’d demoed the kayak a few times at symposiums and really liked it, so I was happy to take it for a spin.

The tide was going to ebbing at 1:00 at .5 knots from the North where I intended to paddle. The wind came out of the Northeast in solid gusts building into a more steady gale around 25 knots. I launched at a small marina in Deer Harbor and paddled South. I followed the east part of the sound along steep rocky cliffs and bundles of bull kelp. The wind pushed me along and I enjoyed doing side slips and hanging stern draws to keep myself off the rocks. As I neared the end of the harbor, I rounded the point and then ferried across the channel to Jones Island. I stopped and used the bathrooms at the state park and then hopped back in my boat. I kept moving out and around Jones into a horrific headwind. I dug deep and hard to paddle on towards Reef Island. I made the western tip of Reef Island with some difficulty, and then began to swing back into the harbor. I came back in to the harbor amongst gulls riding high against the wind. I pulled in to the dock and ate a bit of lunch. It had taken me about two and half, three hours to make the trip. It was cold, but obviously the drysuit and the pogies kept me pretty warm. The Nordkapp LV performed really well. The Nordkapp LV does need the skeg in flat water high wind conditions, but it is really excellent. quite fast and very maneuverable. It has some comparable handling capabilities to the Silhouette, but perhaps even more nimble, and alas a little slower.

I drove back to town to drop off the van and go for dinner with Shawna and Leon. We gathered some groceries in town where I learned one of my three most important lessons of the trip.

Lesson One: you CAN judge the quality of the beans from how much liquid is in the can.

Leon and Shawna decided to make chili and I offered to make salsa. Shawna and Leon live in an off the grid undisclosed location near East Sound. Their undisclosed location is really quite beautiful. And their entire lifestyle admirable in that their footprint in life is very minimal. Food and water, and wood for the stove. We got through the door and much to everyone’s amazement and ultimate regret I began chopping all my tomatoes, peppers, and garlic for salsa. I don’t think anyone realized that I would mince so fine when I offered to make salsa. Also I usually make it in a food processor, which mills the vegetables evenly and liquefies the tomatoes to make the taste a little milder. Once it was all made it was quite hot. Everyone kept eating to keep the heat on rather than surrender to the intense heat of the habanero I included. Leon made some excellent chili and salad. Another friend Lisa joined from the mainland right before we ate. The chili and the salad was terrific fare after a cold day on the water. I felt very warm and full as I tucked into my bag.

I was bold enough to ask Shawna and Leon about my November kayaking trip and the leadership questions I raised about the trip. I did get some really good information and guidance about this developing skill (or deficit) area of mine. I will be posting more about this later.

As I woke on the second day, the temperature had dropped again. The wind picked up to around 25-30 knots out of the northeast. Shawna and Lisa wanted to paddle together in slightly more protected waters together. Leon and I agreed to paddle down the western side of the island with the wind to meet up with Shawna and Lisa at the end. I was excited to be able to ride with the wind and see the outside coast of the western end of the island. We drove down to the beach to check the conditions. It was a bright clear cold morning with solid white caps as far as the eye could see. My kind of weather!

We all loaded up and got dressed to paddle. Leon and I dropped off at Kimple Beach and began our paddle. I paddled an NDK Explorer for the second day. I had never paddled one for more than demo, so I thought I would give it a whirl. I have to say I prefer something with less free board. Stable, but not as exciting as the Nordkapp LV. And I would have paid real money to be able to paddle my Nigel Foster Silhouette under those same conditions. We paddled out into the main flow of the wind to catch the best ride and began our downwind hunt for steeper waves. Right as we were leaving Leon pointed out to me a pair of harbor seals I would have surely missed in my determination to head downwind. Right away we started making miles. It was easy going. I was plenty warm already and began to sprint for anything I thought I could surf. It was not as big of a sea state as the Nov 15th trip due to the fetch, but the scenery was gorgeous, the mountains off on Vancouver Island were clearly very snow from last nights cold weather. Their peaks were packed with snow and the trees below were brushed with dusty beards of snow.

Leon as one might expect seemed able to catch just about anything and would stern draw to keep himself from broaching on fast rides. He was paddling an NDK Romany which was a bit nimbler, and would also not get caught up between waves in the trough quite as easily as an Explorer. Side note that Leon let me borrow an Explorer with a skeg that was maybe going to be sold. I remember the words be careful with it. So of course right as I am heading between two rocks I can tell I am not going to make it and that the nose will collide with the sea stack. So I went over to slow myself down, hit my helmet on the shallow bottom and then rolled up to avoid the rock. I don’t think I could afford to ship home a broken NDK Explorer.

I got one or two rides where I would ride up and over the top of the wave in front of me and then down into the trough of the next and just keep going. On one such ride I spotted what I think was a Marbled Murrelet. It dove quickly and then another flew off. Leon came over and gave me a stern lecture about killing protected sea birds with kayaks. I took him seriously for about a minute.

As we rounded the tip of the west side towards Jones Island the tide began to kick in. The .5 knot tide was again ebbing and against the wind. So it sort of made the boat go all sluggish where it was rushing over an especially shallow spot on the bottom. When we broke free we ran into Lisa and Shawna right in time for lunch. We landed on a beach near the northern end of Jones Island. We broke out a great lunch in the lee of the island. Here Leon demonstrated some ballet moves on slippery rocks with a storm cag as a ballet tutu.

Lesson Two: save boiling water for your gloves, pogies, or booties.

It got really cold really quick. As we finished up, I was getting really cold almost immobile so I threw on another layer and hopped in my kayak to get moving. The wind really picked up as we came into Deer Harbor. We managed to get everything all ferried back in the dark and cold with limited difficulty.

I would really recommend heading out to Orca Islands to get some coaching. Shawna and Leon are the best at what they do, and that is Sea Kayak expeditions. I would hasten to add that their experience and coaching is second to none. I’ve seen some questionable coaching in my time paddling, and these two really can demonstrate everything they teach and have dedicated their lives to paddling. I would love to have them come back to WMCKA, but with the economy we’ll see.

When seeing how well Shawna and Leon live without a lot of modern conveniences, I found myself calculating the amount of time I waste on the computer at home. How much do I dork around with this, that, and the other gadget. Certainly there is a convenience factor to consider for electricity and modern conveniences, but I found myself continually asking, what do I really need?

Do I need a brand new Macbook? Do I need a big refrigerator, or a lot of other things-the simple answer is no, I just sort of want them. Where I work there is a lot of focus on mobile devices, gadgets, and computers. It’s an internet advertising agency, it is what it is. To my own detriment from time to time, I find myself getting caught up at times in the gotta have it syndrome too.

As an example does anyone really need an iphone? No not really. Sure they’re cool, but what would I do with it that I don’t get from other devices I already have? Nothing. It’s just convenience. Granted convenience means a lot when you are lost in a big city. But I tend to enjoy getting lost, it’s part of the adventure. Besides with a map and a compass you can get anywhere on earth. iphones aren’t waterproof either!

Seeing two people live a very rich life, off the grid (at home) made me think more about what is important. It’s getting on to the nutty Holiday time in the year where everyone is worried about gifts. With the economy the way it is, I would encourage you to think about what is important? Stuff, or relationships and experiences. I am not a Luddite though which anyone that has met me can tell you. I am just drawing the line in the sand. Make do with the stuff that works. Laura and I are pretty decent for the most part, no cable tv, no fancy cars, no big tv. Just my kayak and bike habit! I think that will be my year end thought to leave you with.

Oh and Lesson three: keep track of your possessions when traveling, use as much of your own gear as possible so you make a visual checklist of everything you came with. I left three or four items in Washington.

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WMCKA Sea Kayak Symposium 2008 My Home is the Sea

Every year I attend the WMCKA Sea Kayaking Symposium it takes me a few days to absorb the impact of what it means to me. It is easy to say this happened and that happened. It is also easy to say this is the one thing that it meant, to go for the grand recit. What is infinitely harder is to say what it meant in smaller terms that make up the big picture. For my part WMCKA means a lot to me, as it is a culmination of planning efforts and coordination with the Symposium Committee, the WMCKA governing board, and a governing of my own desires for a great symposium.

I’d been trying to get Shawna Franklin and Leon Somme to come to our symposium since about 2005. Finally this year it worked out for both parties. This alone made me very happy in my heart. We decided to plan an instructor update prior to Symposium. This event was very well attended by our instructor group.

Shawna and Leon suited up and got us all out on the water asking us to paddle across Duck Lake and turning upwind. Their approach was to allow us to find our own way. They asked us to find five ways to turn upwind and simply let us paddle. We all came back with about seven ways to paddle upwind. The objective here it seems was to give us an objective, and allow us to interact with our environment, and then come up with our own conclusions. Based on the level of skill and experience each person has, they will come up with a variety of ways to deal with the environment. Only after we had tried a few things did Shawna and Leon call us in to have us give our ideas about what worked and what didn’t. Then after we had told them what we thought, they finally gave us their input. It was a really interesting way to teach a class. They barely spoke and allowed all of us to teach ourselves, each other, and finally when all that was done they gave us some pointers.

Derrick and a lot of the instructors were very juiced up about the bracing and rolling progression Shawna and Leon were sharing. This progression starts in a low brace, then high brace, and finally rolling. It focuses on starting the paddler on their back. Shawna and Leon have been using it with a high success rate in Washington. I would love to see a video of this progression a couple more times.

One of the more interesting points of the instruction for me was a paddle power demonstration. Shawna and Leon had us pair up with another paddler and link in tail to tail with another paddler on a contact tow. One paddler would use a euro paddle, the other would use a wing paddle or a euro paddle. The objective was to see who would tow who with the different paddle. I was paired off with Alec Boyd Peshkin who is my size and of equal power and skill. We started out with my carbon fiber greenland paddle and his werner shuna. Invariably the euro paddle would quickly overpower the Greenland paddle. We switched back and forth with the same results. We then used an epic wing and the Greenland paddle. It was dead even on these two paddles, I was surprised by this. We then switched to the wing and the euro. Again the euro paddle started dragging the paddler with the wing around.

I’ve held a not very scientific or empirical bias that the Euro and the Greenland style paddle were pretty much the same under these conditions. But after this I am not convinced. Doug Van Doren and Steve Bailey experienced the same results. Though Steve Bailey is a very powerful paddler and much bigger than Doug. Food for thought!!

A few of us headed out to Lake Michigan to paddle in the wind and waves afterwards. My inguinal hernia let me know pretty quickly that it was too soon for this type of exertion. I was left in the dust within a few minutes. I managed to take a few pictures regardless.

This was the point of the weekend where my mental state went in the drink. As a person I am competitive, gregarious, and outgoing. I found it very hard to be the slowest man on the water. It was a knife like jab in my belly to be unable to lead the pack when there was wind and waves to be had. My greatest joy in life is to be flying down wave with the wind at my back. To watch others easily out pace me felt like a clumsy root canal from a sadistic dentist with no anesthetic. I find I am a very poor spectator.

Once on sight at the Symposium in my spectator status I observed that the energy and enthusiasm Shawna and Leon exerted was as palpable as the pollen in the air. They were the first to be suited up to paddle and often the very last off the water. They were omnipresent and engaged in a way I have not seen any other instructors behave. You could tell that they loved being on the water, loved kayaking. And this enthusiasm melted over to the instructors, and the participants.

They also participated in the rodeo, and I saw kindred spirits, (I love a rodeo) in their competitive fun loving nature in the races, rolling contest, and passion to be involved, in the thick of things. Leon may have been channeling my wounded spirit when he and two other racers tackled one another into the shallows. What more could one ask for besides a rugby style tackle in a drysuit?

My grand recit for the weekend was observing Shawna and Leon as a couple. They spent every moment happily in each other’s company. I can say with some authority that this is very rare. You rarely saw one without the other. This sort of affection and dedication was so genuine one could hardly not feel it’s contagious gravity. I found myself more calm, more open towards friends, Laura, and the symposium in general. It seems to be the sort of bond you only read about in books, or see in movies. And perhaps this is not unlike kayaking, where you only get out of it what you put into it. And if this is any indication, the relationship and their kayaking seemed to have an effortless grace. Meaning there has probably been a lot of hard work on both ends.

Their slide show presentation on the Queen Charlotte Islands or Haida Gwai was fantastic. This expedition took place on the inside and outside of this island group. The outside is right on the edge of the continental shelf. The unbroken Pacific Ocean has no barrier between swell generation and the islands. So the full force of the world’s largest ocean breaks on these islands. Justine Curgenven went with Shawna and Leon and filmed the trip, so look for it in the next installment of This is the Sea.

One of Leon’s opening statements about the trip has been firmly cemented in my mind.
“You will never have enough money, you will never have enough vacation time, you just have to go.” Too bad that is too big to get as a tattoo.

I actually had many many participants and beginner paddlers come up and tell me how great the presentation was. That was a first. It is further proof that the energy you give to something is very real and palpable.

I hope to be able to find someone, or somebody as dedicated, enthusiastic and as skilled as Shawna and Leon for next year. I know there are some folks I would like to ask to visit us on Big Blue Lake. Some small part wonders if this may have been the proverbial summit of our little symposium.

I will leave you with a song by Will Oldham (aka Bonnie Prince Billy) that probably explains the energy we all feel about kayaking, instruction, and a life full of adventure, either small or big.

My Home Is the Sea-Bonnie Prince Billy Lyrics

I have often said
that I would like to be dead
in shark’s mouth

a woman swimming under
her warm breath sendin’ a thunder
on two parts south

and love is stripped and frayed
and duty is delayed
until next life

someone has my mind
holding yes so kind
it is my wife

and my home is the sea
my home is the sea
look not for me

my home is the sea
disaster flies upon me
and i sleep
we can see the house lights
colored from a distance
for a party as a dream

my tongue will into me
my arms unfold these seeds
cause im a strong man

and do not love my tummy
is round and firm and funny
and thats what i am

my home is the sea
my home is the sea

i am under your spell
you will have me i reckon
and the drowning this town
as a drowning i welcome

i know nothing and im over joyed
i know nothing and im over joyed
i know nothing and im over joyed

god gave you life and thought
now its ours to waste
i have the finest love
and the finest taste

see her when im home
i am home

you are home

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WMCKA Sea Kayak Symposium Memorial Day Weekend 2008

Our West Michigan Coastal Kayakers’ (WMCKA) Annual Sea Kayaking Symposium is fast approaching. Memorial day Weekend at Big Blue Lake North of Muskegon. We will be heading out to Big Blue Lake to endure the wind, the rain, and hopefully the sunshine. There will be three days of sea kayaking instruction, a full fledged kids program with kayak polo, harpoon throwing, and the best kayak rodeo in the United States. The WMCKA Symposium is famous for its family atmosphere, great instruction, fun and camaraderie. Also let’s not forget the Band!!! Betsie Baye and the Groove Engine will be making a return for dancing on Sunday Night.

Sign up Now for Symposium

WMCKA is lucky enough to have two guest speakers this year.

Shawna Franklin will be one of our featured guest speakers and instructors. Shawna Franklin was the first woman to achieve the lofty BCU (British Canoe Union) 5 Star Sea Award. She and Leon Somme circumnavigated Iceland, and Queen Charlotte’s Island together, as well as being featured numerous times in Justine Curgenven’s now ubiquitous This is the Sea Videos.

Leon Somme will also be attending. From what I can gather so far, he will present a Wind and Waves slide show, but don’t hold me to that. Leon also holds the BCU 5 Star Sea award, the 4 Star Surf award, and the 4 Star Inland award.

Shawna and Leon got their start on the Great Lakes on Lake Superior in Minnesota, (I sure hope I have my facts right). So hopefully we can get out on Lake Michigan when it’s textured before their departure back to the San Juans in Washington State.

Shawna and Leon will also be hosting an instructor update, which if you missed instructor email missive and want to attend, add the event here. Please note: this is not part of the official WMCKA Symposium and is only open to the Symposium Instructor Staff.

Directions to Camp Pendalouan:

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