Keewenaw bound

Tommorow the VOR and I head for the annual fall kayak trip with the Madison/Washburn crew. In the past we've done Isle Royale, a couple Apostle Islands trips, Voyageurs National Park on the Canadian border, and this year its Copper Harbor and the Keewenaw Peninsula. Nothing too much is planned just some paddling, fishing, and R&R. We hope to hit Manitou Island at the very tip of the Keewenaw as well as the Gull Rock Light. It should be a pretty low key week and the goal is to listen to the weather report and take what Lake Superior is prepared to give us. After all, as we all know.... the lake is the boss.

Watercraft Smorgasbord

In addition to the intense competition and healthful post race activities, the Island Lake Triathalon also features a number of interesting watercraft. There is no shortage of water toys on the lake and most of them are fun to play with. Think of that word, 'most', when we get to the air chair.

First up on the list is the ever popular Hobie Cat catamaran. The wind was really nice and those things can really move, even when hauling UncleRick, NieceLaura, and the Voice of Reason. It was so much fun that I was late for the crucial Fantasy Football draft. Fortunately my buddies had my back and drafted Michael Vick for me in the first round. Thanks guys!



More sedate than the Hobie is the venerable paddle boat. A few years back on this very paddle boat Uncle Rick and I were sitting just off the beach, enjoying a beer and watching the Hingemaster attempt to perfect his screw roll. SisterDeb, known from hereafter as MrsClean, could not see her beloved son the Hingemaster catching a breath everytime he missed a roll. All she saw was the bottom of a kayak lurching around, her son trapped by the spray skirt, and two grown men close by on the paddle boat laughing, oblivious, and swilling beer. The next thing we knew she was running toward the lake ordering UncleRick and I to, "Help him you assholes!". The beauty of the situation was that it was all caught on tape by a neighbor.


Next up on the list is the unique and almost undescribable homemade pontoon/houseboat known as the Windsor Castle, named for the beverage that is consumed in substantial quantity on its voyages. This boat has been on Island Lake since the early sixties when PeteS built it from scratch. It has a galley, sleeping quarters, fore and aft decks, and you can even picnic on the roof or jump off it into the lake. It is a pain in the rear end to get in and out of the water (it weighs about 5 tons) but everyone loves it.


And now for the infamous air chair. This is a piece of gear that is towed behind a boat like a water ski or wake board. You sit on it....actually you're lashed to the thing so the large steel fin doesn't split your skull if you and the device become separated in the inevitable crash. I tried to encourage novices to give it a try so I could get some good crash shots. It was not really necessary. Even the expert riders can bite the water in a spectacular fashion.
























Since this is primarily a kayak blog I guess we have to have a kayak. This gem is a complete mystery. It was purchased sometime in the late '60s and is a fiberglass boat. It has no decals or any sort of identification. Its fairly light, has a small keel which makes it track decently, and is in great shape for being 40 years old. The cockpit coaming is roughly the size of an ocean cockpit and is screwed on to the deck. Any feedback from anyone as to who made this thing or where it might have came from would be appreciated. I need to solve the mystery.
























And finally, heres that air chair crash I promised you.

Island Lake Triathalon

The Third Annual Island Lake Triathalon was another rousing success. For the third year in a row the race and the prestigious Windsor Cup was won by nephew Scott, the Hingemaster. A mile swim, 26 mile bike, and 5 mile run is the 'official' course. But several variations are available such as the kayak/bike/no run, the sleep in/bake cake/drink coffee, and the popular rescue boat for swimmers/bike to Backwoods Tavern/enjoy Bloody Mary breakfast. Everyone got some exercise and the post event awards ceremony and banquet went on until the wee hours. It was a perfect weekend weatherwise and the festivities on the Windsor Castle, a homemade early sixties vintage houseboat, were a highlight of the weekend.

Bikes ready for the ride across the lake.

Swimmers on their marks.

Water break along the bike route.

Too much fun on the Windsor Castle.

Some kayaks even wound up inverted a few times along the way.......

Two victories!

Two stories in the paper today give even a cynical, often sarcastic political observer like me hope. In the first one, the Coast Guard has agreed not to use live rounds for live fire exercises on the Great Lakes. Instead it will be a kind of laser tag for ships. While I would agree 100% that sailors need to fire their weapons in order to become proficient with them, throwing several tons of lead into freshwater lakes is just not a good idea. The DNR is encouraging and coming up with incentives for us to get rid of our lead sinkers. I would guess that one hour of practice with the deck mounted machine guns that the Coasties use would throw more lead into the lake than all us fisherman could produce in a couple of years. The SAW (Squad Automatic Weapon) that No2 son is manning in the photo has a rate of fire of 750 rounds per minute. That would be the equivalent of one hell of a pile of fishing sinkers. Hats off to the Coasties for opting for the common sense approach.

The other story is even more significant. BP (British Petroleum) has backed off on their permit to increase the tonnage of crap that they dump into Lake Michigan. I had ranted about this in a previous post and had almost zero hope that this calamity would be avoided. I was 99% certain that the government wouldn't do anything but study the issue and point fingers. Then, out of the blue BP itself comes through with a voluntary pledge to meet its pollution limits once it completes its expansion. Apparently, after aggressively promoting themselves as an environmentally friendly company, they decided to actually walk the walk. 100,000 signatures on petitions didn't hurt either. In both cases, public opinion helped sway the powers that be in both the Coast Guard and British Petroleum to make the correct decision in regard to keeping the Great Lakes clean. We need to applaud them both as well as keep up the pressure and vigilance when government and industry try to slide this sort of thing through the system.

Kayak Games

A hardy SKOAC crew headed for Bush Lake under threatening skies last night for some kayak games. Cowboy reentries, hackey sack/laCrosse (no stripper accusations or prosecutors run amok at this event), hand paddling, synchronized rolling, most rolls in 30 seconds, and other fun stuff was on the evenings menu. In addition, the crack Summit beer video/interview crew were there to film for a new website that they will be launching called the Social Element. Take a peek, pretty cool stuff.


The key element to the Social Element interview process was of course the free beer at the end. I've been enjoying Summit Extra Pale ale since day one in 1986 and even served as an unofficial brewery representative when I hauled a half barrel of Great Northern Porter down to Madison for the precursor of the current Great Taste of the Midwest Beer Festival. Good folks and even better beer! The turnout was fairly light, especially given the gratis beer situation, but at least a dozen of the crew are headed for Oak Island this weekend and the weather did look a bit threatening. In the end what this meant, of course..........more beer for we hardy souls that made it!!