Uncommon Adventures blog

I find myself with a short break in the early morning hours in the midst of 10 days of teaching programs. We’ve just had two 3 day workshops back to back, then to Grand Marais to join in the paddling festivities at The Great Lakes Sea Kayak Symposium. During the first workshop we were joined by Rob “Rooster” Taylor to offer Linda B. a little two instructor to one student ratio for a very highly tuned introduction to paddling. Linda was celebrating her birthday with this trip and we plied her with fresh whitefish, local strawberries and white wine as part of her paddling education. Like all of us, Linda learned that like life, kayaking isn’t a ride…you have to do it. She finished her weekend very handily on the lower Betsie by maneuvering around various river obstacles under the gaze of Herons and Martin Pescadors (Kingfishers).

Last Monday we were joined by Karen and Donovan for another B&B workshop. Karen is sister to my old roommate at MSU and came to enjoy a couple of days learning about kayaking and enjoying the breezes and diamond sparkles off the waves of Lake Michigan. We were also lucky enough to be joined by the talents of Bonnie Perry as guest instructor. Karen and Donovan helped us develop some new rescue ideas and blessed us with terrific positive spirits and some good laughs. I hope that we’ve infected them with the paddling bug because water seemed to suit them very well as a medium for relaxation.

This weekend’s services at “Our Lady of Perpetual Gear Drying” at the Grand Marais symposium had the usual cast of characters for paddling family reunion. Tiffany, Patrick, Rob and various Saras and Danielles were on hand to make this event work and we all owe them for keeping it alive. Sleep as not in attendance this weekend, but we were graced by the likes of Justine Curgenven and Barry, Gail Green, The Lori/e’s, Doug VanDoren, Bonnie Perry, Robin Cook, Kelly Blades, Danny Mongo, the entire B-Family (special thanks to Jeremy for his Billy Barker talents on stage with the Woody), and a guest fly tackle visitation from Adrienne Levknecht resting her shoulder before heading off to the World Cup. Lots of sand, water, fog, sun, cute dogs and perhaps a bit of libation involved….trust me, this is a family reunion you WANT to go to.

Usually the July 4 holiday finds me in cold waters guiding with Tom Pogson in Alaska. This year found me near home hosting a lovely couple from Columbus and a client from the Chicago area tuning up his skills before joining his wife on our Georgian Bay trip. This long weekend was what we call, “Sleeping Bear Sampler” which means we get to hang out here, gorge on fresh local strawberries and sample all of the great paddling venues we have in the area. Nathan and Anne learned to wear their kayaks rather well during the weekend, sample a number of different hulls and began to learn the water dance that is kayaking. We finished off this incredible weather weekend with a gentle float down the lower Betsie River in Sea kayaks to put their new skills to the test…t’was fun to watch them glide around trees and snags with total comfort. Art managed to easily get by fears of capsize and grow some serious confidence in handling his boat. I’m thinking his wife, Linnell, may just be in for a rather pleasant surprise when she sees how Art can now pilot a Valley Aquanaut. Ahhhhh…the infection spreads…..

Now for a day off…may be just the right time to get out with my little fishing buddy and paddle an open boat for a change…..