Happy Easter - paddle paddle

With kids off to Florida, Koa and I got out for some paddling on the Fox River. We did the section between Mugwanago, and Big Bend. A nice stretch of river with lots of wildlife, though the river winds it's way through a very flat section of our state with little reprieve from the wind, which always seemed to be in our face.
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Spring is a good time to paddle the Fox River. The water is at a good level and the algae and weeds are at a minimum. Lots of wide open spaces, farms and a golf course on this section. Not too many homes which gives it somewhat of a remote feel. It was worth putting up with the wind to paddle this section which can be very buggy and smelly in the summer.
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Came across some canoeists which happen to include a couple of Mad-City Paddlers and a couple from Prairie Paddlers Canoe Club out of Illinois. They were on their way to Big Bend where I put-in. It was close to noon, so we looked for a spot to stop for lunch and socialize. This gave Koa an opportunity to run around a bit too.

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Koa was pretty excited to see some people and when jumping back into the boat she fell in. The good news is she is a natural swimmer, the bad news was she was wet in a pretty breezy section of the river. She was curled up in a fleece the second half of the paddle to stay warm.
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Taking a break to get out of the wind, the discussion turned to rudders and decked canoes. The proof was in the pudding, rudders good in high wind.

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The Cooke Custom Sewing spray skirts are becoming very popular on traditional canoes too. Dan Cooke (Wisconsin native) makes all sorts of fun gear for the outdoors, tarps paddle bags anything in high tech fabrics or canvas. Good stuff, I have a spray skirt for my Summersong which is worth it's weight in gold.

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All in all a pretty good day to be out on the water. See ya out on the pond - The Capt'n