Keep'n it real

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VESTAS SAILROCKET

Whoa... -The Capt'n

Paddle sailing rendezvous 2009

Another great day out on the water as Koa and I meet up with the gang on Lake Mendota for the 2009 paddle sailing rendezvous. All sorts of boats and many on lookers make this a great opportunity to share ideas and show off your craft(s)


Lots of characters attend, lot of beverages consumed, lots of fun had. There is a great story on the hammock picture left. We wont mention any names, but "JOHN" is always fiddling with his quiver of boats, (you might remember the double ender folding craft he had in his shop that I was bantering on about, the makings of a good bon-fire).

Anyway... Now John decided that he was going to rig this folding hammock onto his canoe for on board sleeping accommodations. - You can guess where this is going... yee...aap right into the water! There is actually video of it that Steve took, I hope I can get it from him, you would hate to see it fall into the wrong hands and be posted on You Tube! :-)

Now that I think about it, john fell twice into the water... I'd say too many barley pops, but it was only 10 am...

Winds were light and variable most of the day. Scow races were cancelled, lake traffic was light for a Sunday. It was perfect.

Inland lake sailing is very forgiving. You can usually swim your craft to shore if things go badly. No nastys in the water to worry about. Though Muskies (fish) have been known to strike on shiny wrist watches and rings on occasion. A lot of what was displayed was WaterTribe ready, others were not.

More craft displayed. A handful of people took out the Sea Wind with the PAS. All were excited about it, with its simplicity and stability. Paddle paddle.... SAIL!!

Poor John trying to defend his hammock debacle. Let me grab another beer, the story gets better and better each time you tell it.

The Graber Happy Cat was a site to behold. A really nice outfitted "boat in a bag". Workmanship and quality of rigging is outstanding. Built for big water coastal cruising, offers an amazingly dry ride. Reef points in the main, roller reefing jib... even set up with a sculling oar.

What a day! - The Capt'n

The Victors - Illinois river

After conquering the Illinois river, Tom invited us to his company's sky box to watch some area football. Pretty nice way to watch a football game; it has all the advantages. Gave the girls more time to socialize too.

The game was between Peoria Ill. and Green Bay WI. - Green Bay won off of a high snap! Score!!

Ah, to the victors go the spoils. - The Capt'n

Illinois river run

The girls got a chance to experience some big water this weekend. We cruised down to Peoria Ill. to meet up with Hannah and Tom for some Team Race to Heal training on the Illinois river.

Lots to see, from barges, bloated Asian carp to sea planes. It was pretty cool as the sea plane did a couple of "touch and goes". The Illinois river was much bigger then I envisioned... there are areas that open up into some pretty large lakes.

This would be the last of the glass like water. Two hours into the paddle, the wind picked up dramatically. On the nose we had gusts to 40 mph. The weather dude needs to be slapped briskly.

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Tom and I were in a C2 - waves over the bow.. the old up one over one through one. Paddle paddle paddle....bail bail bail...

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The girls did outstanding. 5.5 hours of hard paddling. With the wind coming out of the south, it was really stacking up the waves. We had three foot rollers with very steep wave faces.

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After a 7 hour paddle, we were all pretty much spent. There is lot of stress when your chit- lands are on their own in big water. Very nerve racking. Quoting Boo, "All I knew was we had to keep the paddles in the water and the boat moving."

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Seriously, I don't think there is too much open water these girls couldn't paddle. They have experienced quite a bit on these training runs; very impressive indeed. - The Capt'n

Gone Paddling!!

We're off to do some intense Barge Training on the Illinois River this weekend in preparation for the Misery 340 in August. Boo and Hashbrown will be paddling Big Medicine ( Mark was kind enough to give up his personal Kruger Cruiser for the summer.)

The dads will be in inner tubes on a float trip cocktails in hand... not! We'll be paddling a Bell Mystic, following along.

Mark is busy working in the shop and has just finished cutting cloth for Big Medicine II the sister ship. Sorry Mark back to work!!! No paddling for you!! :-)

Man we're closing in fast - 8 weeks till Kaw Point - The Capt'n

Two a days...

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This reminds me of my days as a football star doing two a day workouts, well not really cause I never played football or really played any organized sports for that matter. But I am on a mission with 8 weeks left before the Misery 340.

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Two a days it is. Paddling in the morning and humping the large portage pack in the evening. Me likes the outdoors!!
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Koa is there to keep me company most times, which is great. Today Walt and Olga dropped in early (5:00am "O" Dark) for a 2 hour paddle around Rock Lake and Goose Island. They can keep the tsunami kayaks moving at a round 5mph, which is a good pace for an ole codger like me in a canoe.

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This weekend Boo and I are off to paddle the Illinois river with Tommy and Hannah, allowing the girls to put in some long miles together. Get the girls used to some river traffic - barge Captains beware!!

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Should be a hoot!! - The Capt'n