Milwaukee Sea Kayakers

This is what I'm talking about...

Good morning sunshine! We have had some incredible weather these past few days. I had to make a tough choice on Sunday, the rake or the paddle? Hmm, can you guess... the paddle won out.

I checked e-mail just before pushing off, when I saw a post from the Milwaukee Sea Kayakers Yahoo group stating they would be going out on Lake Michigan, and meeting at the South Shore Yacht Club around 10:00am.

Perfect, I scurried about, grabbed gear and threw the Sea Wind on the rack.

Many questions raced through my head. Would kayak purist except a canoeist? Would I be late to the put-in? Do I have everything I need for a paddle on the big pond in November? Where the heck is South Shore Yacht Club anyway? Will Silbs buy my coffee? :-)

Line'em up for coffee

I had the basics for a day paddle on Lake Michigan. I did forget my paddle float and the skirt for the Sea-Wind, but not really necessary as my plan was to hug the shore with water temps. in the 50's anyway.

Playing it safe, I stayed on the inside of the breakwater and had to dig a bit to catch the group that had left about 10 minutes before me.



I had taken numerous photos with my I-phone and had planned on posting them. Unfortunately the phone took a dump at coffee and wouldn't take calls or send data anymore and I didn't have my digital camera.

I just want to say that the folks at Best Buy Delafield, Jason in particular replaced my phone, transferred the data that would transfer and had me out the door in minutes. Way to go Jason!!

Anyway, we had a nice but brief paddle as the wind and chop were building out of the South East. It felt like I could have used another 100lbs in the boat for ballast as I was bobbing around like a cork in the rollers.

Upon returning we went for coffee. Finally had a chance to meet up with Silbs who is a blogger and has supported Boo in her paddling adventures. I was welcomed with open arms, canoe and all! Yes Silbs was buying me coffee too! Life is good in Brew City!!

I met some very nice people from the group. Hard to get to know everyone in such a short period of time, though Karen and I have a mutual friend (Sheila) who is from Jefferson. There is a great story about Sheila, though I am sworn to secrecy.

We can't have everyone knowing how forgetful Sheila is and that she lost two paddles in two seasons and I found them both after bumping into her at the beach almost a year and a half later... Ooops!

Sorry Sheila, must have been all that coffee... :-) The Capt'n