New East Coast Canoe and Kayak festival website

I wanted to let everyone know about a new website, The East Coast Canoe and Kayak Festival MeetUp Group, to promote the Charleston County Park & Recreation Commission's East Coast Canoe and Kayak Festival. The main event runs Friday, Saturday and Sunday April 16, 17, and 18, 2010.

Don't miss Sea Kayak Carolina's un-Official Festival Guide, and to register or for more information, check out the official Festival page.

Perhaps you can make some new kayaking friends on-line prior to the Festival. Perhaps connect with Charleston area paddlers for some fabulous local paddling before or after the Festival.

Kayak Anna visited the shop!

After a busy morning yesterday with Christmas kayakers, the afternoon became quiet at the shop. Imagine my surprise when the door burst open, and there she was! Dr. Lina Lukashevich, in the flesh, walking into Sea Kayak Carolina!

"Who is Dr. Lina Lukashevich?" -- you may wonder. She is the author of the recent book Kayak Anna and the Palindrome Creek. It is "...a splashing eco-adventure for readers ages 9 - 13. Anna fights pollution in her neighborhood creek. Along the way she encounters bullies, leeches and alarmingly ravenous trolls!

Lina came to visit from her home town of Brookfield, Illinois! She was in Columbia with her Mom to visit her aunt. They came to tour Charleston and had a chance to drop off some copies of Kayak Anna. They are available here at the shop, or call (843) 225-7969 for a copy to be delivered to your door, or the door of a young reader/kayaker of your choosing. Lina is donating all of her profits to Living Water International, which helps provide clean, safe drinking water to children around the world. Copies of Kayak Anna are $12.99.

Lina may be back to Charleston in April for the East Coast Canoe and Kayak Festival - as part of Sea Kayak Carolina's compound. Keep your fingers crossed!

"And what is a palindrome?" you may wonder. A word spelled that is spelled the same way forwards and backwards. The first to email me an example of a palindrome will win a free SKC Nalgene water bottle with their purchase of Kayak Anna!

Scott@SeaKayakCarolina.com

Great party - great plans for next year...

We had a blast at the shop party last night. Check here for some additional photos.

We're already gearing up for a big year in 2010:

February 27 & 28, 2010 - ACA Advanced Open Water (L5) ICE led by Dale Williams.

Starting April 9 - ACA IDW / ICE led by Tom Nickels. This is a modular event from L1 - L4.

April 16, 17, 18 - East Coast Canoe & Kayak Festival! Sea Kayak Carolina is the Gold Sponsor of this event.

April 19 & 20 - BCU 3 Star Sea Assessment led by Coach Tom Nickels.

And lots of rolling, navigation and other classes and events already on the calendar for 2010. Hope to see you at the shop or on the water soon!

Scott

Thanks to our recent 5 candidates, who are all now American Canoe Association Coastal Kayak Instructors. Sea Kayak Carolina hosted a 6-day, American Canoe Association Instructor Development Workshop and Certification Exam here in Charleston, South Carolina. The workshop was led by Tom Nickels.

Days 1 and 2 were on a nearby private pond, days 3 & 4 on the Folly River and Charleston Harbor, and Days 5 & 6 on the Atlantic Ocean in the vicinity of the Morris Island Lighthouse. Check here for more pictures.

It's not too early to sign up for a similar ACA CK IDW/ICE here in April 2010, again featuring Tom Nickels as the lead Instructor Trainer.

I’m a frayed knot!

Bow & Stern Toggles... lifesavers or killers?

Well, even I admit that the lead sentence is a bit dramatic. But we have had a few incidents related to toggles that it seemed timely for a post.

Bow and stern toggles on sea kayaks can help us manage our boats. However, they should not be used to carry the boats... read on:

Deb and a student were test paddling my personal (and at the time, brand new) P&H Capella 167. They were walking the boat across the parking lot, a knot holding the toggle came undone, and crash went the boat, taking a chunk of fiberglass out of the keel. But it gets worse...

I previously reported that Sue broke her wrist in a freak kayak accident. She was standing on the bumper of her SueBaru, pulling a fiberglass boat by the stern toggle to reposition it in the cradles. The line holding the toggle in place was frayed, it broke un-expectantly, and Sue experienced a FWOSH! (Fall with an outstretched hand.) Sue, by the way, is just recovering from surgery and could use some good wishes... send them to sue@seakayakcarolina.com.

We all have our terrible toggle stories to tell. The moral of the story is to carry sea kayaks with a hand cradling the bow or stern, and inspect the toggles periodically to ensure that the lines are not showing signs of wear. One more related story...

The string went into the bar, hopped up on a barstool, and asked the bartender for a beer. The bartender shouted “Get out -- we don’t serve strings in here!” The string went into the alley next to the bar, and just went nuts: Thrashing against the wall, the ground, wiggling around in a crazed manner. Can you picture it? Then the string went back into the bar, hopped up on the very same stool, and asked for a beer. The bartender shouted “Didn’t I just tell you we don't serve strings in here?!” To which the string replied — “I’m a frayed knot.”

Surfing the Triangle!

I had a blast Monday playing in the "triangle" between Tybee Island and Little Tybee Island, GA. Scott and I had driven down to see off our Paddle Georgia scout team. While there we hooked up with sea kayaking legends Dale Williams and Nigel Law and had an awesome time playing in four foot breakers while battling a 15 knot east wind. It was great paddling with two world class sea kayakers and improving my personal skills as I continue my paddling journey.

-- William

Tom's Back? Gnarly!

How many of you remember Tom Nickels? When I arrived in Charleston in the Fall of 2001, the Charleston Audubon was the first group I got involved with on a trip out to Capers Island. Being on the water was great, and got me thinking...

In the Spring of '02 Melissa and I took the three day Kayaking Fundamentals class being offered at the James Island park, and Tom was our instructor. I mentioned I did freelance web work, he mentioned he was running a kayak tour and instruction business from his home on Folly Beach, and so it began. Through Tom I met Scott, and because of Tom's web site (be sure to look at his new one too) I got the nod to come on board when SKC was getting started.

That Fundamentals Class marked the second time I ever sat in a kayak, and for six years it would be the only formal paddling training I'd had. I really did enjoy that class, but somehow I hadn't learned the training lesson -- classes would improve not only my paddling, but my enjoyment of paddling. It's 2009. Lesson learned.

Lately I've had the pleasure of frequent paddles with great and generous paddling instructors. And I've been able to attend two tree-day Instructor Development Workshops. I'm a better kayaker than I was the last time I went out with Tom, and I am a much, much more enthusiastic paddler.

Currently my enthusiasm is focused on Tom's trip back to the Charleston area and his collaboration with our shop, teaching a modular ACA (Levels 1-4) IDW/ICE in December (and again in April, 2010), two days of open water "Gnarling with Nickels," and a multi-day BCU training paddle on the Georgia Coast. I'm not sure how much I'll get to be on the water, but it will be good to have him around. A bunch of paddlers are going to have some great times while he's here. Will you be one of them?

Cheers!