Hi from baltic Germany

I am Björn from Germany and I often paddle on the Baltic Sea togehter with my friends. When we go “paddle surfing” I will take my Quest.

But see for yourself:

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Anticipation was building as we pulled into Grand Marais Michigan for the Great Lakes Sea Kayak Symposium. The wind had been blowing out of the north all day and conditions looked good for picking up some rare summertime surfing on the big lake. Superior did not disappoint, we got a few hours of good surf time in playing the reflecting waves off the big breakwater at the west end of the harbor entrance. (more…)

We ran throught the new ACA outline for Beginner Surf Kayak last weekend. ‘

New’ meaning the use of S.O.T’s. I believe. Implimented by Ben Lawry, it does makes a lot of sense. Anyway, the Surf Jet proved a great ‘entry level’ craft for what we were doing. . The  Jets work well because they are light weight and very maneuverable, easy to slash the tail around giving students a good feel for turning on a wave….The ladies were completely juiced up by the end of the session and checking out Tybee surf side real estate. Some more pictures….

The much heavier ‘Scambler’ was easy to catch waves on but lacked any other  real ’surf kayak’ characteristics . 

Conditions were  ideal 1-2ft with a 3fter out back every now and then. The Jets were easy on , easy off.

  Small waves, small class, big fun…and about 5000 spectators.

Ben Lawry came to Redding this week for a visit, and we got to have some fun on the river while he was here. (more…)

Surfing all day video

What is the perfect wave? It’s any wave you can catch and play on all day! (more…)

Winter seems to have finally relaxed its grip, and I managed to get out for a little spring surfing yesterday.    The water is still quite cold (36F / 2C) and despite a sunny, 55F / 13C day,  a steady 20kn onshore wind made temps feel downright frigid. (more…)

Where the heck is the nose of your kayak? Are you looking at it or are you feeling it? These are questions I constantly ask my sea kayaking students when paddling in strong currents or crossing eddylines. (more…)

When French explorers first charted the waters of the Great Lakes, they called them the “mers douces”– the sweet seas…and not without good reason.   There aren’t tides or salt water, but there are just under 11,000 miles (17,500 km) of coastline to paddle, and when conditions are right, we can get some awfully good surf.

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