River Time

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With our Wisconsin River trip just days away; I immerse my self in everything to do with the wilderness and canoeing. My goal is to get myself on river time well before I hit the water. One way is to loop this great film, the other is to sort gear, and of course paddle.
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The days are shorter now, in the throws of what I call "Fummer" the second offering of outstanding paddling in the Mid-west. You have to experience it to understand it; the breeze and the colors are of change.
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Now if I could only find the right remedy for my allergies, life would be really good.
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The Capt'n

Grid Iron BOO

Scrimmage today for the Shorewood Greyhounds; Boo plays both ways Receiver and Outside Linebacker. First game Wednesday September 8th - Woo Hoo Boo!!

Balogh You Beauty!!

Well the Balogh BOSS and Sail arrived a couple days ago; I must say that Dave at Balogh delivered on time as arranged. I commend the UPS guy for sticking the box on my back porch so it would go missing while I was at work.
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Like opening an expectant Christmas gift,all giddy inside; Like Christmas gifts assembly required. This should be interesting cause I have zero ability in building anything, we'll see about assembling. I figure if i can do it, anybody can do it.
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Ooooh, look at all that yummy goodness! Packaging and delivery were perfect everything arrived unscathed. There is this nasty bag of parts screws bolts washers pins and a 28 page booklet of instructions. Nobody said anything about having to follow the instructions! :-)
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Mylar 36' with blue trim. It pays to have canoes with the same color scheme; depending on which craft you take to the dance you can interchange the rig and you don't look like you just got off the river all tattered and a miss.

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So I think I will chronicle my assembly of the Balogh BOSS, hopefully giving you a look at what it takes to assemble one.

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It wont be as exciting as SOS being homeless with his Wa'apa outrigger canoe build; or DanceswithSandyBottom building an array of crafts in the downstairs family room, see Dawn Patrol - It will just be "me" drilling soldering, duct-taping and wiring my way through the assembly. Now where are my scissors?

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The Capt'n

MR340 updates at:

The Kruger Canoe Adventure Blog

Wisconsin River or Bust

Canoe trail index for the Wisconsin River - click here

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Planning meeting (cocktails and paddles) for our Labor Day Wisconsin River Trip to commence at 1730 hours at the famed Crawfish Junction Bar and Grill.

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Put your request in at work for Friday off as we are going early and staying late on Monday.

Vangaurd Nomad 17 Sailboat

Great day for sailing, blue skies, winds out of the West at 25mph steady, water temp high 80's; perfect! Friends Jackie and Scott have always made their E scow and Nomad available to us; Boo was up for some sailing so BAMM we were on the water!
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The Capt"n get pushed to the crew position and Boo takes the helm. The Nomad is real light on the tiller. Wind whistling in the shrouds, gusts in the 30's. Much drier ride then squeezing into our pram.
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Should have brought the GPS, it would have been nice to see how fast we got going. We had quite a wake going as we reached across Rock Lake. The smile says it all.. Whoo Hoo Boo!!
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The Capt'n

Random moments...

in the life of the Capt'n

Everyone is pretty busy, so I will bullet point the discussion.

• New blog - Dawn Patrol Check it out fledgling boat builders



• I played coed volleyball with Jenny and Marissa last night; I hurt



• Marissa is going out for football; QB and she's holding her own



• Balogh BOSS - waiting... impatiently
  
  
• Did I mention I played volleyball last night and I hurt

Spent 4 hours up at the Sullivan Wisconsin NOAA station yesterday on a tour with a youth group I was assisting with.

Big shout out to "Rusty" who gave us the grand tour; they watch and track all sorts of things post 911; very interesting, very interesting indeed.

The Last Navigator

Mau Piailug's canoe at sea off Satawal
Steve Thomas Photogarph

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"…consider Mau Piailug. Among sailors he is a John Glenn, a Chuck Yeager, even a Flash Gordon. He lives on Satawal, a Micronesian island 400 miles north of New Guinea, and he is a navigator.

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Using only his head and the lore therein, he guides canoes over open ocean to tiny days-distant destinations. His compass consists of sets of reference stars, his steering guides are the swells, his current indicators are wave shapes, bird and fish life are his markers, he dead-reckons by moving his destination toward him.

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In 1976, Piailug piloted the great canoe Hokule'a unerringly from Hawaii to Tahiti some 2800 miles away. He used no instruments." - Sail Magazine

Stacking the Deck

Kruger Challenge 2010 – 100 miles, M-72 to Mesick
October 2nd, 2010, Start Time 8am -learn more
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Shore to Shore Challenge 2010 – 271 miles, Oscoda to Manistee September 25th to October 4th Start Time 8am - learn more

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Shore to Shore and More Challenge 2010 – 474 miles, Oscoda to Portland
September 25th to October 10th Start Time 8am - learn more

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What's the buy in:

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We have three of a kind with the Kruger style expedition paddling events coming up later this year; There will be no entry fees in association with this years events. We will however accept your generous donation to the Verlen Kruger Memorial Project for your interest and/or participation.

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Stop your whining:

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These events are totally doable with a little determination and planning; but I kid you not, they are definitely a challenge, don't be fooled that they are a couple of back to back day paddles with a few meals thrown in. Do you have the...

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If not we have the Captn's "Float and Gloat" coming up on April 1st, 2011; it involves a slew of poorly told stories and a tub of cole slaw. Bring your own fork and inner tube.

The Boys and their Toys

The real deal