Uncommon Adventures blog

Beaver Island Homecoming Weekend

Michael — Mon, 09 Aug 2010 13:40:20 +0000

I hadn’t visit the Beaver Island Archipelago and quite some time and was amazed at the crowds coming to the island to celebrate homecoming weekend (which homecoming?). While flocks of folks imbibed from the back of pick-ups all over the island, we were quietly camped on nearby Garden around a point from a pair of Eagles trying to teach two juveniles the finer points of flight. We also had a pair of teenagers in our eclectic group including an engineering professor, psych professor, my own web gura and a rather lovely Washington policy writer. Great weather and interesting water conditions gave everyone a break with great variety. Looking forward to coming back.

Found a Peanut, found a peanut….

Michael — Sat, 24 Jul 2010 21:32:01 +0000

Paddling next to a gleeful ten year old singing at the top of her lungs over the dancing waters of Georgian Bay has GOT to add years to your life. Gracie led the pack in her loaded little Tsunami SP: at 12 feet long, you’d think it would be slow, but trying keeping up with this kid and you’ll see this boat really rocks. It was truly a privilege to facilitate a family experience for the Groves hearing a little girl exclaim that “this is WAAAY better than a water park!” is music to these ears. Let’s get those kids out there people!

bad bad blogger

Michael — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 14:14:05 +0000

Okay, so I’ve been absent . Seems that writing a book has caused me to run out of words. In any case….spent yesterday beta testing a new Kayaking Wine Tour day trip with a crew from local media, wineries, DNR and guides.

Weather forecast was abysmal and it turned out to be sublime. The group got on well with each other lubricated by great food and and the wine tours after were rockstar quality…check out: http://community.mynorth.com/profiles/blogs/sublime-kayaking-and-dynamite

Writing a book….

Michael — Wed, 12 May 2010 01:32:26 +0000

This whole writing/editing/proofing thing is like a two week root canal. Nigel Foster said it was like trying to tame a many legged animal….and he was spot-on. Or maybe like passing a kidney stone. In any case, I’m sure it’ll feel much better when its over. Get to put some of it to work on a photo shoot for Traverse, The Magazine (anything like Spaceballs, the Movie?) on May 18. Going to be doing a North meets South tribute to all my friends in Charleston by launching a Shrimp n’ Grits recipe with a Northern twist. It will be colored up with fresh local asparagus and with luck, morel mushrooms. It might be a better sell up this way if I call it Polenta, as the Italians have been for centuries. Either way, its fine eats.

East Coast Canoe and Kayak Festival

Michael — Sat, 24 Apr 2010 19:32:27 +0000

Just returned back from marathon presentations and teaching at the Charleston Symposium. Got to see lots of old clients, stay up too late with Nigel Foster and Russell Farrow and my friend Wendy and generally have a great time with my real family. Mood was optimistic and lots of good energy about paddling this season. One thing did not escape notice though…we’re old. C’mon…sea kayaking is way fun…how bout some young blood? I’m throwin’ out the gauntlet here….Hannah B-P is certainly an age exception,but how about she recruit some of her peers into this awesome sport. Hannah, we need you and more like you. : )

Chesapeake Bay

Michael — Mon, 12 Apr 2010 14:03:05 +0000

Join me April 24 and 25 at Adventure Crafters on the Chesapeake for an expeditioning class. Learn how to plan, pack and camp out of your kayak. How do you get it all in there and do it with a little style? Learn how.

http://www.adventurecrafters.com/whats-new.htm

East Coast Canoe and Kayak Symposium

Michael — Mon, 12 Apr 2010 13:59:58 +0000

You can fret about tax day coming this weekend or you can head on down to the East Coast Canoe and Kayak Symposium April 16-18 in Charleston, SC. Join 1500 other paddling enthusiasts for great classes, all the newest gear and fine low country hospitality. I’ll be teaching 6 different courses.

Flying Chicken Bus

Michael — Sun, 04 Apr 2010 09:10:21 +0000

Its 4 am and in retrospect, I’m think that arriving back in the US from mananaland aboard Taca’s flying chicken bus in the wee hours is a good thing. Maybe it’ll keep me from grinding gears into a soul crunching upshift into a high speed, 4 G-force pace of life. Need to merge into that gradually. I normally have more difficulty readjusting back to the pace here, than I do downshifting into island time. Sure, I miss being able to walk into a supermarket and actually buying things that you have on your list vs, making your list up based on what the store has that day….island style. I may miss that, but seriously, learning to adapt and shift sideways at a moments notice has served me well in both my work life and my personal life; if there’s a really a difference in my case. Sure, I can order anything I want with a number off a piece of plastic and they’ll ship it right to my door…from Zingerman’s bread, to books, to mass media to Vietnamese Cinnamon. Think it up and you can usually find it on the web somewhere. When you remove all that access, what’s left? You get inventive. You watch the sunset, make a shrimp and gorgonzola omelette, give a puppy a life changing belly rub, you make no words…you just be in the world watching diamond sparkles on water from a pregnant moon. Gheckos talk, guavas storm and puppies snore if you just quiet yourself enough to hear. Dat ghecko even tole me, the weather gonna change. No kidding, I have to wear shoes and socks here in Dullest airport and its mighty nippy out there on the tarmac.

Looking back, its been a good two months on Roatan…got a book off to the editor, led 19 days worth of trips, got to work shoulder with a new awesome assistant and stayed mostly out of a Colombian drug war in the front yard. Through careful management and hard work, I even managed to break even financially…and these days breaking even is the new getting ahead. All in all a good season indeed.

Everyday is Sun-day on Roatan

Michael — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 02:47:34 +0000

At least that’s what Rudi that banana pancake master used to say in West End here on Roatan. These days the only day that’s truly laid back any more is indeed Sunday…even though the Sun usually shines everyday.Today was no exception…it’s a family day here. I visited with friends and bumping down the island roads for an hour to visit my Uncle Chic, Auntie Andrea and their grandkids Trevor and Audrey was worth every pothole. You drive through the back barrios to get there, where the road is pretty much just an alley because everyone gets to their houses by water…which is the real road here. Past lines of girls in white dresses walking to church with their round cheeks, big smiles and café con leche skin. So, I’ve rattled past the AIDS clinic, past some rock heads, past numerous powerless houses on stilts over the water and squatters shacks to the end of the road to Chic’s house on the side of hill on Fiddler’s Bight…just in time to see and hear 13 year old Audrey her Hannah Montana impression and a darn respectable job on a couple of Taylor Swift tunes. Turns older brother Trev’s got a Les Paul in the closet and manages well with a couple of Clapton riffs…hey, you never know what you’ll find at the end of these roads. For me, its family and I’m thankful for another Sunday afternoon with them.

Island life….

Michael — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 14:53:08 +0000

Up steep hills and hairpin curves the road flashes serpentine green. Muted sunlight from dense cloud cover filters through a verdant rainbow of leaves from Mango, Cecropia, tropical Oak and the living fences of Gumbalimba. I carefully dodge a nursing Brahma calf in the middle of the road as I pass a paintless shack selling gallons of gasoline from plastic jugs. I no longer even register the walking men with machetes…they’re simply going to work clearing back the jungle in places where they had cleared just a few months before. Without machetes there would be no views, no roads, no thatch roofs and no coconut lunch. Business finished, my return trip bounces me from one collectivo ride to a corner where I buy a bag of mandarines for about a dollar from George Hamilton…and yes, he was very tan. Another collectivo hailed and further east I go with a sidetrip through the iguana farm to land at the improbably named “Roymart”, a kwikeemart owned by popular ex-presidente Roy Maduro. I enjoyed his daughter’s wedding. Welcomed with affectionate licks from a spotted dog name Capitan, I walk the last half mile up and over hills, past numerous other barkers and the neurotic Rocky, who gets in bloody fights when he’s nervous…with his own tail. Having dispensed the dozen mandarines to various children along the way, I pocket the empty bag as I pass three different houses all containing residents named Wendy. Peter Pan-land on a Saturday afternoon to arrive home to a PB and J on bread from the Jewish bakery that doubles as an Italian Bistro on Thursday nights, but only to those who know and only if they like you.