We're off...

With the long weekend before us; Boo and I are headed to the Upper Iowa River, Iowa. Weather appears to be dialed in, vehicle is sorta packed.

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A short day at work, and we're off!!

Dawg days of summer

I think every kid should have a dog. Add in the access to a river and a ball and they can entertain themselves for hours, or till they want ice cream.
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We got the pram out and took it for a sail on Sunday. Steady warm breeze, outstanding day on the water. We are able to launch from the beach park, no long lines for us. Boaters were all jammed up at the launch waiting their turn to get in. Another reason to go small boat!

Boo and I both crammed in the pram and had a good sail around Rock Lake. Koa was land locked, no room for dogs on this voyage.

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When Boo was steering and I was up front we were taking waves over the bow. The warm air made the water feel all that much cooler. A dousing! That'll wake you up in the morning!

These are the days...

Boo and I paddle sailed Lac La Belle on Saturday, taking in the Tune Up Regatta for a variety of Scow Class sailboats. Just enough wind to get the race off.

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Also just enough wind to acquaint Boo with the PAS sail. She did outstanding for her first time. We put in the seat that SandyBottom had suggested, (Newfound Seat & Sonic Backband) made a world of difference.

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Wind is going to build on Sunday to 20mph, temps low 90's. Makings of another great day on the water.

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Are there any bad days?

Potpourri Paddle

A great weekend to be out on the water; a bit of a potpourri of paddling as I managed to hit a variety of rivers and lakes.
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Saturday found John and I out on the Bark river at Burnt Village. Five minutes in to the paddle we came upon a Alpaca. John paddled over, the Alpaca was quite inquisitive. I kept back as I had Koa in the canoe. We most certainly did not need our paddle to go down as the domesticated South American camelid Vs. The domesticated Australian Canis lupus familiaris incident of 2010!
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A great day for a paddle. After weeks and weeks of high wind, we finally came upon a day calm as the day is long. The Bark river offers a very remote feel between Rome WI and Fort Atkinson. Flood plain surrounds this jewel of a waterway so very little build up on this section.
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The Bark River is a tributary of the Rock River, about 55 mi long. Via the Rock River, it is part of the watershed of the Mississippi River. According to legend it has also been known historically as the "Peelbark River."
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We paddled down to the confluence of the Bark and Rock rivers and pulled out at the Rock River Canoe Company. This photo is for Manitou; traditional skin on frame. Get your spear on Mark.! :-)
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John finally found his calling as a manikin; He really wanted to get back into the canoe kayak industry; looking good John!
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Sunday had me paddling the Yahara River. Big ass boats linking big ass lakes. Actually pretty cool, you feel like your on some big waterway on some grand adventure. Easily could be a WaterTribe 100 event.

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I chased down a group of newbie kayakers on a lesson from Rutabaga and watched them practice wet exits. What a hoot (literally), the water is a tad chilly. The shrills and gasps could be heard for miles.

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Tucked in on Lake Menona; the wind picked up on Sunday. Our calm was short lived, still beautiful out on the water. It is the second-largest of a chain of four lakes along the Yahara River (also including Mendota, Kegonsa, and Waubesa) in the area and forms the south shore of the isthmus that forms downtown Madison.

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The name 'Monona' is a Chippewa word believed to mean 'beautiful', although the lake was originally named by the Ho-Chunk (Winnebago) 'Tchee-ho-bo-kee-xa-te-la' or 'Teepee Lake'

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The Yahara river; this gets pretty busy during the summer, kinda like the ICW on the weekend; and the boats that use it are just as big. There is a no wake posting which is seldom understood; which is defined to be moving fast enough to have control of your vessel. Again, miss understood by most yahoos on the water.

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But today pretty much had it to myself early in the season. A few fisherman digging it too; lots of smiles and nods. We call that Midwestern hospitality eh.

It's the river calling...

Muscoda, which means "Prairie of Flowers," located in the heart of the Lower Wisconsin State Riverway . Great community for a start of any river trip. Did an overnight down to Woodman, home of the famous Whistle Stop Restaurant.

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There are a couple of put ins, one city operated and maintained with $25.00 a night camping, :-/ or you can go to the DNR launch paddle 600 yards and be on a pristine island with golden sand looking down river for free.
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Weather was sketchy on Friday night with a tornado watch in effect. We opted for the city camp ground as they offered picnic shelters in case of a down pour and we could keep the evening social instead of huddling into out tents. The city camp turned out to be very nice... only one other camper and he was in a motor home at the far end of the camp.
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Saturday we had high winds blue skies and temps well into the 70's... simply put beautiful. There were 6 in our group, which I personally find pretty manageable. Plenty of room on the islands to spread out and it's a big river so you don't feel pushed or crowded when paddling.
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We did a car shuttle and got on the river around 11:00am - so relaxed. Coming up on Friday allows you the opportunity to wash a bit of the city off before hitting the river. Usually takes me a few hours to get on river time.
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It was a cruise, not much paddling, in fact I got two naps in on a sun drenched islands Saturday and Sunday. It's great cause Koa goes exploring rolling in anything and every thing while I take it all in. She swims really well but doubtful she would cross moving water to get to the river's edge; So she can be a dog and run free with virtually no worries.
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The Players: Patrick, Sandy, Gary, Joy, Dave and myself. History lesson part ll from Patrick which is always a treat. The pups "Koa" and "Patch" were along as well offering comical dog antics, Koa with her rolling in everything smelly and Patch with his ability to pick up every burr possible in his long fur coat.
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It was a pleasure to paddle the Summersong fully loaded. In fact it paddles much better under a load then empty. I set it up for kneeling the first day and then tractor seating the next. Changing it up a bit. Had a straight shaft modified beaver tail paddle from Whiskey Jack paddles. (love this paddle) Got my paddles from Dan when he was making them out of his garage back in the day. Now I think he sells worldwide. Works of art.
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Brought along an epic comp kayak paddle for the high wind sections on the river, but never used it.
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Not sure I was 100% correct in coming off the river, what a Monday.
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Paddle Paddle - The Capt'n