On the night of October 19, 2009, Doug Winter went missing on Lake Superior while out kayaking.  I waited a long time to write this blog and it is still kind of difficult for me to compose my thoughts.  Doug was a friend and kayaking companion.  Somehow, writing this post means that I am admitting [...]

Recent cold weather has many of us putting away our boats for the season.  It’s time to figure out how we can occupy our time until the sun warms up the water again next spring.  Here are some suggestions.  You might be surprised at how quickly the winter will pass if you can stay busy.

Buy [...]

Take heart, fellow paddlers.  We should still have a few nice days left to get out on the water this fall despite our recent bout of cold temperatures.  However, keep in mind that inland lakes and rivers (which cool off faster than Lake Michigan) may be considerable chillier than they were a couple weeks ago.  [...]

The coming of chilly and rainy fall weather has me thinking about what needs to be done to get my kayaks, canoes, and other equipment ready for winter storage.  Thankfully, the answer is really nothing “needs” to be done.  Kayaks are really pretty low maintenance items.  There are, however, some things you might “want” to [...]