Great Lake Sea Kayak Symposium

Kayak Photography For The Rest of Us… Friday  July 20th 2pm
OK, so we don’t all want to wear a mini-cam on our forehead as we dive down a 90 foot water fall in a whitewater kayak. I mean, it would be cool, but… really most of us just want to take some nice pictures while we’re out paddling and sometimes that’s challenging enough. In this presentation Derrick Mayoleth of KayakQuixotica.com will share some tips, equipment ideas and even a bit of creative craziness that could help you come home with some images to match your memories.

Prior to embarking on a journey that could lead you into more challenging, rougher, waters a solid base of both mental and physical skills are required.  Spend the day with our coaches as we look at the core skills needed to be physically successful in advanced conditions while making the correct decisions to keep you and the group from harm’s way, or deal with the situation if trouble should occur.  Class will start in calm water and progress through-out the day depending on the comfort level of the group.  This will be an all-day class that may take you away from the bay.  Plan to have lunch and warm clothes.  Immersion is guaranteed and practice with rescue scenarios is certain, so be prepared with the gear you have for these situations and a helmet is not a bad idea either.  A roll is not required but an open mind to be rescued in bumpy water is.

Sign up will take place at the community center in Grand Marais…..bow tie not required.

Danny Mongno

“Werner Paddles has given me the opportunity to do what I love for a living and a day does not go by that I am not thankful.”  It is quite the lifestyle as Danny, now 38 years old, paddles most every day spending 8 months a year living in the Werner rig.  Keep an eye out for him when he swings through your town on the running trail, SUP race, local surf spot or anywhere else paddlers gather.  Bar stools not excluded.

Only 9 more days for the early registration price! May 2nd the rates go up to $269.99. Now is your chance to save $70.oo by simply registering for the 2012 GLSKS

If you haven’t registered yet please do so……as they say we have operators standing by to take your call!  To register call 906-226-7112

The all new Moken 10 is ready to take you to your favorite fishing hole. How ready you may ask?  Ready enough that the GLSKS will be giving one away during the 2012 symposium!  Stable, maneuverable and easy to transport thanks to Feelfree’s unique Wheel in the Keel. The Wheel in the Keel gets you from your tailgate to the action without wearing you OR your kayak out. The Moken 10 Angler comes standard with molded-in carry handles, a stern crate recess and an innovative self-draining front storage locker that gives you a safe place to store your gear. Designed to accept your favorite rod holders, GPS and fish finders. The Moken 10 —ready to roll.

Why are we giving away this kayak?  Because for the 2012 GLSKS we are offering a fishing track!  This track will  combine learning the skills of kayaking, with a fishing from a kayak flavor.  The goal of the Fishing Track is to develop sake kayaking skills throughout the weekend.  This is an opportunity for anglers to get top notch instruction, in a fun and exciting way, turning them on to the wonderful world of paddling!  This track will include on water and off water activities a Catch-Photo-Release Tournament, and a Fishing Kayak trip.  Sure to be a hit we welcome anglers to come out and learn the advantages of fishing from a kayak and just maybe go home with the Moken 10 from Feel Free Kayaks!

With the advent of the internet as a staple of our information gathering, I asked myself recently, “Is there any topic yet to be explored having to do with kayaking?”. After looking through countless websites and blogs that seem like a locust plague, I was hard pressed to find an area of knowledge that someone was either claiming supreme authority or completely attacking. All facets of the paddlesports world had seemingly been touched by the mighty interweb at every level and at every turn.
Then it struck me; The only thing that wasn’t mentioned ad nauseum is the subject of how to use the web to properly get your point across. It seems that, once everyone has vomitted up their intellectual lunch on the topic of kayaking, all that was left is shattered points and photos of people smiling dumbly. Eureka!
This year at the Great Lakes Sea Kayak Symposium we are, again, offering something new; Derrick Mayoleth (www.kayakquixotica.com) and David Johnston (www.paddlinginstructor.com) will be presenting a point/counterpoint of the use and benefits of the internet and social media as it pertains to our little kayaking world.
They will be talking, town hall style, on the expectations and value of the internet and whether or not it’s the right venue for such physical and outdoorsy sports like kayaking.
Whereas I don’t think this debate will turn to blows, the difference in their approaches might just surprise you and at least you will get some great info, techniques, and tips on how to go about becoming the next great kayaking internet mogul!

In June of this year, Down Wind Sports Employee,  Matt Abbotts his wife and paddling partner Hannah(Calumet, MI), and Anya Gleizer (NYC, New York) will be heading to Central Siberia to kayak more than 1,000 miles around Lake Baikal. Baikal is the largest lake in the world by volume and also the deepest and one of the oldest.  They will be traveling to the lake in June on the Trans-Siberian Railroad. Launching their kayaks in Irkutsk, the largest city on the Lake Baikal, they will spend the next 50-70 days exploring the shoreline as they make their way counterclockwise around this freshwater gem.  They will see miles of remote bays and rocky shores as well as running into some of the local wildlife. Baikal is home to the world’s only population of freshwater seals and also has a thriving population of brown bears.  They will return to Irkutsk near the end of August and board a train heading across Mongolia and into China. From there, if time allows, they will continue into Vietnam to do a little more exploring and hopefully some more paddling before flying back home.

The trip was inspired by Matt and Hannah’s 2009 circumnavigation of Lake Superior. Superior and Baikal are enormous bodies of freshwater, the largest in the world by area and volume respectively, but couldn’t be more different culturally and ecologically. Matt and Hannah decided that experiencing both would not only provide for a fantastic adventure, but also give them a greater appreciation and understanding of two of the world’s most important freshwater resources.

The three adventurers will be sharing their experiences during the trip Matt and Hannah’s website www.asuperioradventure.com through short updates via SPOT device as well as daily journals and photos. They are also hoping to put together a short film project (http://kck.st/GGggMW) documenting their travels and time on the water.

We will miss Matt at our Houghton store this summer but wish the paddlers good luck and we can’t wait to hear stories of their adventure when they return home!  Feel free to contact the paddlers at asuperioradventure@gmail.com if you have questions, comments, or information you’d like to share. If you’d like to become a backer of their film project visit http://kck.st/GGggMW.

Keep an eye out for updates from Matt and Hannah as well as future presentations, and film release dates.

About Lake Baikal:

Lake Baikal is the largest freshwater lake in the world by volume as well as the oldest lake in the world. Located in the the south-eastern Siberia, Baikal makes up 20% of the world’s available surface freshwater. There are around 300 rivers and streams that flow into Lake Baikal, but only one that flows out (the Angara River). The lake has very clear water with high oxygen content due to the lack of dissolved minerals and the cold temperature. Due to Baikal’s position in a valley between mountain ranges causes some intense winds on the lake – it’s said that there are more than 30 named winds on the lake. Despite the heavy winds that often occur on the lake, waves as large as 8-12 feet rarely crop up.

Sometimes referred to as the ‘Galapagos of the North’, Lake Baikal is home to more than 2,500 known animal species as well as more than 1,500 varieties of plants. Of these organisms, as many as 85% of the animals are thought to be found nowhere else in the world and as many as 40% of the plants are found only in the lake or its shores. One of these very exciting animals is the Nerpa, or Baikal Seal, the only animal in the seal family that lives exclusively in freshwater. More than 50,000 Nerpa live in Lake Baikal and they are a common sight in the northern portion of the lake during the summertime. In addition to freshwater seals, Baikal is home to more than 50 species of fish and 200 species of birds.

The Lake Baikal region was first explored by Russians in the early 1600?s. Russians ‘conquered’ Siberia around 1650 claiming the land as their own. The area is currently sparsely populated, the largest city near the lake is Irkutsk located about 70 kilometers east of the lake. The area’s economy is mostly based in natural resource extraction. In recent years the area has taken an interest in the potential for economic growth through tourism. The tourism industry is trying to build upon UNESCO’s 1996 decision to make Lake Baikal a World Heritage Site.

Check out Matt and Hannah’s blog post about their Russian travel plans:

http://asuperioradventure.com/2012/03/23/overview-of-our-travel-plans/

2009 Superior Trip

After Matt’s 2008 Appalachian Trail hike he returned to his home in Houghton, MI with the intention of going into the Peace Corps. However after a little while back in Houghton, Matt decided to put off the Peace Corps to stay with Hannah. This change in plans came with one condition: they needed a big trip on the horizon, so they decided to paddle around Lake Superior the following summer. They both loved the Lake and it sat right out our back door. The only problem was neither had ever kayaked before.

They both bought boats and gear, rounded up a few awesome sponsors, paddled a little, and on June 9th, 2009 they set off out of Houghton, MI and into an adventure we couldn’t have expected.

They paddled clockwise around the Lake, heading west out of Houghton, MI toward Duluth, MN and then north to Canada. About seventy days, 1,200 miles and countless adventures later we paddled back into Houghton and landed on the same beach we started from. Along the way they met some amazing people, learned how to paddle on the largest body of fresh water in the world, and saw some of the most beautiful scenery imaginable. On top of that they tested their relationship in ways we could have never predicted and came through stronger than ever. Both kept a daily journal and shot a few photos to document and share their trip.

http://www.asuperioradventure.com

Good luck Matt, Hannah and Anya and safe travels!

Steve Lutsch

Steve Lutsch is what some might call a legend in paddle sports. A Windsor Ontario native, Steve was one of the first kayak instructors at the Great Lakes Sea Kayak Symposium as well as a pioneer in the BCU so far as North America goes. With accomplishments to numerous to mention, Steve has enjoyed a lifetime of kayaking and canoeing world wide- lately focusing heavily on extended trips to Germany and Italy. Steve continues to generate the back log of experiences and adventures in his kayak that most of us dream of having. With his last trip as an instructor at the GLSKS being over 10 years ago, we are indeed proud to have this icon of paddle sports join us once again to share his knowledge and love of the sport to a brand new era of paddlers.

Rene Seindal

René Seindal is founder and part owner of Venice Kayak, a kayak tour company operating in Venice, Italy.
Though Danish by birth, René has spend a good deal of the last twenty years in various parts of Italy, mostly around Rome, in Sicily and in the last five years in Venice.
A latecomer to kayaking, René started kayaking in Denmark in 2006, aged 41. Kayaking quickly became the primary focus, and he acquired a Danish DKF2 coaching award, circumnavigated the Mediterranean island of Sardinia in two legs in 2007 and 2008, and started Venice Kayak in 2008.

René is now a full-time kayaking guide and company owner, making a living out of kayaking in the gondola infested canals of Venice whenever he’s not engaged in titanic struggles with the Italian bureaucracy.
In his spare time René usually goes kayaking.
René has a master’s in History and Italian, and a B.Sc. in computer science, both from the University of Copenhagen. His master’s thesis has been published in Danish and English, and is available on Amazon and other online book stores. He speaks three languages fluently and understands a few more, including Venetian.

We are super psyched to have Rene joining us this year and to bring stories of his Italian paddling adventures.  Be sure to  check out more on Rene and his adventures at his blog: Rene Seindal.

A super big thanks goes out to Steve Lutsch for hooking us up with Rene!

Have fun storming the castle!
It’s getting to be late Spring and we are all rearin’ to get out, dust off the decks, and do some paddling. But keep in mind that the start of the season is the time when we need to spend extra time in our planning phase. With cold water and sunny days, it’s easy to underestimate and under dress. And was your desire to keep in physical shape for paddling greater than your desire to over eat during the holidays? If not, don’t bit off more than you can chew with your first few journeys of the season. Your gear will take care of you provided you took care of your gear over the winter. Give it a check before the morning of your first paddle and make sure that it all work they way you hope it will. Keep safe, keep smart, and keep paddling! Oh, and have fun storming the castle!