Paddle Pictures

Lake Pelican

The weather was too nice last evening and I had to put the kayak in for an hour's cruse. We wont get many more days like this before the water gets hard.

happy paddling!

Not where I should be

Its been really tough today to stay on task. I watched a mock documentary called "Troll Hunters" this weekend, it was a fun movie based in Norway. Which brings my wandering thoughts to what it would be like to paddle the fjords and waterways of that country. What would we see, smell, hear and feel. Would I like to try my hand at fishing? Or just soaking up the solitude of mirrored water reflecting mountains and sky. I should be working diligently towards my project goals, but the weatherman is promising snow for tonight. The first accumulation of the season, will it be a genital snow? Or will the northwest wind drive it into the shorelines and push the heavy waves up on the beach? If given the chance I would like to be out on the water while it snows. On a windless night, with gently falling snow, the air crisp yet fuzzy with big flakes that stick to your eyelashes yet melt softly when touched by something warm.

Night Paddle

Last night about 8pm, I put in on the west end of Lake Pelican after a couple of warm-up stretches. The lake was completely flat and not even the hint of a breeze as I pulled away from the shore, sighting on the north ramp about a mile away. As I worked through the initial soreness of my arms and shoulders, the kayak knifed through the surface waters, effortlessly sliding through with barely a paddle stroke needed to push. Daylight continued to fade so I hooked up my nav light and switched it on, its pale glow not interfering with the stillness of the evening. Dark purple chased the pastel blues across the lake as a half full moon lighted my passage. Making my turn and crossing to the south shore, dodging mats of weeds, hitting my groove and listening to my favorite paddle tunes playing softly on the mp3 player.

The crossing complete and now on the homeward leg of the night’s journey, full dark has descended. I take my bearing from a known yard light and carefully count the warm glow of light twinkling from the windows of the neighbor hood houses. I get too close to a small family of Canadian geese who protest the intrusion loudly taking off in search of a more secluded area. The silence of the lake enhances my sense of solitude, my world shrinking to nothing more than the rhythm of the paddle.

I beach my kayak at the takeout surprised that I am done so soon but with the great feeling of peace that only quiet reflection and meditation can provide. I make a few stretches to work the kinks out and try to focus on the moment to carry the feeling through the rest of the week.....

Another Paddle trip

September 22 we are joining some members of the SDCKA on a paddle trip from the park in Yankton SD to Myron grove. We will meet in Yankton at about 9am. The trip should take from 3-5 hours depending on how energetic we are feeling. If anyone is interested in joining us leave a comment and we can help figure out transportation and shuttles..

Paddle Trip

If anyone is interested in joining the planning of a paddle trip from Watertown SD to Brookings SD, please leave a comment. I can facilitate a meeting in Watertown.

Launch follow up

It floats!
Ok, so the pictures were taken on a couple of different days. The first attempt at launching was a little rough to deal with the 20mph winds and a new, narrow multi-chine boat.

The boat is 13.5' long, about 22" wide and weighs roughly 35 pounds. We still need to attach some D-rings for fitting and some rub rails to protect the duct tape. Otherwise you will see it at the SDKC!

Launching

Hear Ye! Hear Ye! Hear Ye!  

On the Good Day of St Patty, This 17^th Day of March, Noonish or so. On the shores of Lake Pelican, we will launch upon its maiden voyage the kayak of Mr. Brandon Foote. Made in its entirety of pieces of wood and duct tape, we are counting on a dry run to establish its seaworthiness.

The launch point is located on the north shore of said Lake Pelican roughly three miles south of highway 212 on 450^th avenue. You would be welcome to bring your own boat to offer encouragement on a beautiful day or rescue if things don’t go so well. The engagement shouldn’t take but an hour or so, if we haven’t sunk her by then the chances of her staying afloat be pretty good.

See you then!

Spring Fever

Ok, paddle fans, it looks like spring is getting closer every day. with the forecast in the 50's this weekend I am sorely tempted to launch the new kayak to see if the duct tape holds...

Lake Kampeska, looking at the rock pile.

The Fleet

only 81 days remaining until the SDKC and there is a good 4 inches of snow on the ground and the lakes are still frozen over. we have been working on a skin on frame kayak for B-man and its about finished. for the skin we decided to go nontraditional and use about 4 rolls of duct tape.
And of course my strip built Great Auk is patiently waiting in the rafters of the garage for me to polish it up with a couple of coats of varnish.

100 days

Only 100 days untill the South Dakota Kayak Challange.... ok fatboy, time to get in shape (round is not the shape i need)

pool sessions

here is a re-post of the SDKC

"East River South Dakota racers, if you need to do a bit of pool training, we've got sessions set at Sioux Falls YWCA on Feb. 12, Feb. 19 and March 4."

Weekend Report

Saturday I traveled down to the outdoor campus in Sioux Falls to attend the SD Canoe and Kayak Association annual meeting. The speakers included Steven Dahlmeier, President SDCKA, Greg Latza & Erin McManus with a trip report of the White River. We heard from Tony Keller speaking about his book,  Camping & Cooking with the Bare Essentials. After a short business meeting Team River Runner gave us the lowdown on how they are helping disabled vets through kayaking. Tim Cowman - Director, USD Missouri River Institute gave a great presentation on the Missouri River Flood of 2011: Causes, Impacts, and Post-Flood River Management. Finally Jarett Bies & Steven Dahlmeier gave us an update on the South Dakota Kayak Challenge.
there is more information on the speakers and links to their sites if you follow the link in the side bar to the SDCKA. Overall a good day and well worth the trip down there.

South Dakota C&K Association

the annual meeting for the SDC&KA is Saturday the 28th of January, noon to 4pm. more information can be found at http://sdcka.blogspot.com/

First Post

Hello and welcome to the Big Sioux Yacks. As a new enterprise I am not sure what direction this will take. If you are interested in kayaking around the Watertown SD area, this is a good place to ask questions and who knows, someone might want to come along. New contributors are welcome to share their paddling stories and trip reports. Just leave a comment and I'll see if I can figure out how to make that happen.