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   The local rivers are really opening up now and paddling season is ramping up!

Got out on the Neebing for a paddle this weekend in my C1 marathon racing canoe and it felt great to have it back on the water. Still plenty of ice around but is is opening up fast.

   Weather forecast is looking good for the next couple of weeks as well so winter just may be over. May have to grab one of the sea kayaks this afternoon for a paddle.

   Speaking of kayaks, I took in a Wilderness Systems Freedom 15 sit on top yesterday and it is for sale. More details can be found on the "Kayaks" page of my website.

   Going to post this now and then get some work done. Need to get forms made up for some of the events we are putting on for the Superior Kayak & Canoe Club and get some more paddles finished up for folks. As always, going to be another good but busy day.

Cheers...Joe O'

    Seems like Spring may be arriving earlier than normal here along the shores of Lake Superior in northwestern Canada. Higher than normal temperatures and rapidly melting snow and ice has me thinking that the river across the street will be open within days! Checked it out yesterday and there is open water now, not a long section just yet but possibly enough for a little paddle later today anyways, just something to break things up from the indoor training I've been doing on the Speedstroke Kayak ergometer. Just need to decide which boat to paddle first. NDK Greenlander Pro (for sale)...Tahe Greenland, marathon C1 racing canoe? Decisions, decisions!

To further confuse things, within the next couple weeks I'll have my new Tahe Wind 585 and the Kayakpro Marlin and Namu arriving as well. Might need to build another boat rack soon!

    Training is going well for my Vancouver Island Expedition this summer. The goal is an 1100 or so kilometer circumnavigation in under 17 days. Click here for a piece just posted with Canoe & Kayak Magazine. 

    Plenty going on behind the scenes these days for the Superior Kayak & Canoe club as well. I've had a series of meetings with key paddlers in the area and we are working on a new schedule of events for local sea kayaking and canoeing, working on plans for a weekend of Greenland paddling and instruction with Helen Wilson coming in to town this summer. Also organizing a trial run for a new race here on the shores of Lake Superior, likely going to be about a 50-55 kilometer course this time around. It's going to be informal this year but I'm using it as a stepping stone towards a bigger and better event for 2011 and beyond. Word is spreading quickly though as just yesterday I had an inquiry about it from a top ultramaraton racer from California who just may fly in for the event! We are intentionally keeping the event small for this year as we feel things out so already we have turned down a couple of more "Recreational" paddlers as we focus more on the racers for this year. We will likely include a shorter event next year for the more recreational paddlers.

   For those of you overseas and looking for a new Greenland Paddle, my hand-built paddles are now available in Sweden as well as in the U.K. The first shipment arrived in Sweden yesterday and will be on display at the Tahe Marine booth at the Stockholm International Boat Show starting next week!

   I'll likely do another post this evening, particularly if I manage to get out on the river this afternoon. For now though, I have a pile of paddles in front of me waiting for a coat of oil and then have to head into the woodshop and start working away on the orders that are piling up. Today I need to finish one off and ship it out to a fellow in Nevada and then laminate 3 more for Helen Wilson down in California.

Cheers... Joe O'

   Well with the 2010 paddling season fast approaching, I'm gearing up to bring in another line of kayaks to Thunder Bay. Hoping to have a few domo models on hand by Spring from KAYAKPRO. 

   All models that come in are available for demo purposes, just contact me ahead of time. These are a line of truly high performance kayaks with a true racing heritage. Kayakpro is owned by 5-Time Olympian Grayson Bourne!

   Likely the first model to arrive will be the Kayakpro Marlin

Other models to be announced soon!

Also avaialble for demo will be the Speedstroke Gym kayak ergometer, shown here being used by Canadian Olympic and World Champion kayaker Adam Van Koeverden.

I'll make an announcement as soon as they arrive. The ergometer should be here next week!

Cheers...Joe O'

Well folks...excited as i was about the Paddle One canoe trainer in my last blog post (not even arrived yet), it is going up for sale right away!

Why?

As a result of a very fast paced and VERY interesting day today, I'll soon be receiving the two above trainers from Speedstroke. The first photo of their world class kayak ergometer, used by Olympic athletes around the world, the second photo of the new canoeing version. Kayak model should be here within a week, the canoe model a week or so later.

Both will be available for demo by contacting me in advance.

The two above trainers will form the basis of my preseason training for the Vancouver Island Expedition in June. A HUGE thank you goes out to the folks at Kayak Pro and Speedstroke!

Cheers...Joe O'

   Been a busy start so far to 2010. I never dreamed I'd be so busy at this time of year. A few noteworthy things from the last few weeks include receiving issue #18 of Ocean Paddler Magazine, my first issue of this fine U.K. magazine. This one was of particular interest to me due to the awesome piece they did reviewing a trio of Greenland Paddles, one of which was one of mine! Needless to say I was pretty excited when the magazine arrived and I got to look it over. The Greenland Paddle piece was great but what really got me was the overall quality and content of the magazine. Very nicely done guys! I'll be planning on reading through every issue, cover to cover from here on. And what's really great is the special subscription offer they have in place right now. With a 12 issue subscription, you get a free copy of the new DVD, Sea Kayak with Gordon Brown! Sounds good to me!

   When not busy building up paddles and Rolling Sticks I've been getting out XC skiing a bit lately. The photo below is from a few kilometers upstream along the river that is 100 meters from our front door. Not bad at all. Paddle it in the spring, summer and fall, ski or snowshoe it in the winter.  

I've also been doing a fair bit of winter cycling on the studded ice tire equipped mountain bike. 

   I also recently picked up a "Bob Ibex" cycling trailer, complete with adjustable suspension. The perfect thing for bicycle touring as well as commuting. With the studded tires, it rides great on the snowy and icy roads. Hoping for the right conditions to take it for a ride on Lake Superior one of these days and, potentially, do the crossing to Pie Island. The recent warm spell has put doubts on that however.

   Another item I'm excited about is my new Paddle One -"C" canoe training machine, due to arrive anyday now! It'll come in handty for indoor training as I ramp things up for this Junes expedition to reclaim the speed record for circumnavigating BC's Vancouver Island. The bad thing about doing the Island again is that I'll likely have to pass on racing in this years Yukon River Quest again. Hopefully next year I can get back to the Yukon once again.

   That being said, the only way I'm going to be able to do all of this is if I get my butt in gear and get back to work on building some more paddles and getting some orders shipped off....so it is time to save this entry, grab the spokeshave and head into the shop for a couple of hours.

Cheers...Joe O'

B.C.'s Queen Charlotte Islands have officially been renamed Haida Gwaii as part of a historic reconciliation agreement between the province and the Haida Nation, Premier Gordon Campbell announced Friday in Vancouver.

Read full story here:

More here on video:

    A balmy 12 degrees below freezing outside today, certainly feels like winter has arrived here in northwestern Ontario Canada. Time to change the tires on the mountain bike tomorrow and put on the studded ice tires I bought last winter from Petrie's Cycle and Sports in Thunder Bay and get ready for some winter riding now that the local waters are starting to freeze up.

The above photo is from a recent paddle on the Neebing River ( the put-in just 100 meters from the house), note the ice forming along the side of the river.

Note the ice formed on my heart rate monitor in the above photo. Late season interval training in my marathon solo race canoe.

A couple shots from some mid November paddling in one our Tahe Greenland kayaks, both shots also from the Neebing River (about a 35 to 40 minute easy paddle from the western shores of Lake Superior).

    When not paddling these days, I've been spending my time building and shipping out Greenland Paddles, Rolling Sticks etc through North America and beyond. Just shipped some more to California today and am sending some stuff off to British Columbia tomorrow. More orders to ship within days to Washington State, southern Ontario and more stuff to California.

     An item I just recently started building are the Norsaq Rolling Sticks. I built the first few for fun thinking I may sell one or two. Little did I know I'd be suddenly backlogged with orders to places as far away as Argentina, California, British Columbia etc.

    Between the Greenland Paddles, Storm Paddles and the Rolling Sticks, the paddles have been keeping me hopping lately for sure. Within a couple months i hope to be posting new photos of some hybrid carbon fiber/ wood Outrigger Canoe/ Marathon Canoe racing paddles that I'll be developing next month.

   The big challenge it seems is to find the balance between time in the wood shop and setting aside time to train. In just over 6 months, I'm set to launch a solo expedition around Vancouver Island to reclaim the speed record that was broken last year. Lots of work to do to get ready for this trip. Going to have to sell lots of paddles to pay for it too. Oh well, all part of the fun!

   For those into the Greenland style of paddling, here is a new website you may be interested  in, it was recently launched by a paddler over in Australia and it is well worth checking out. http://greenlandpaddlers.com/

   And for those of you with Facebook, I've recently created a Group page on Facebook for the custom Greenland Paddles, Storm Paddles, Rolling Sticks and Canoe paddles that I build by hand, one at a time from our little home based shop. Joe O' Paddles on Facebook.

Cheers...Joe O'

Well, fall is certainly here in northwestern Ontario. Already we've had snow a couple of times, some frost and some ice inside of my kayaks. 

Closed down the in ground pool for the year, bye bye rolling pool, see you next May!  Next rolling practice for me will now be in the VERY cold waters of Lake Superior...water temps in the big lake have been falling steadily these days.

Also built up another set of boat racks today and have a load of the kayaks & canoes loaded onto it already out in the workshop. Next project is to start laminating together another 10 or so Greenland Paddles, most of the wood is now cut and ready to be laminated  and then onto hand shaping. Hoping to get a little inventory built up soon for the Christmas season. Speaking of the Greenland Paddles... I'm about to have a price reduction for the next couple weeks as well. All Greenland sticks will drop by $40.00 per paddle for the next little while!

On expedition news, I'll have my new kayak for the Vancouver Island Expedition shortly. Tahe Marine is helping out with a kevlar Wind 585 for the expedition. Should be just the right kayak for getting back the speed record again.

The new kayak should arrive in December....many thanks to everyone at Tahe!!

Also hoping to head out on Lake Superior later this week for a few days of touring and camping in one of the kayaks, possibly in one of my Tahe Greenlands.

Check back soon for photos and trip reports from the upcoming trip.

Cheers...Joe O'

Well, sitting here at home now after doing a bunch of rolls in the pool, working on a couple new Greeenland Paddles, a couple canoe paddles and refinishing some tools and an old bike around the house. and now enjoying a couple of cold brews.

First off, here is a bit of footage from this years Yukon River Quest, the longest annual Canoe & Kayak race on the planet at 740 kilometers. I'm itching to get back up to the Yukon to do thisone again!

A good friend of mine, Tim Hogson, was teamed up with Jane Vincent in a mixed tandem canoe. Not only did they win their class, they were the top tandem canoe for the entire race. Way to go Tim and Jane!!

Also race related, there is another major long distance race on the calendar in Canada for 2010, the Saskatchewan Canoe Quest, modeled after the very successful Saskatchewan Centennial Canoe Quest from 2005. The race will be 570 kilometers in length and done as a stage race with a projected $90,000 in prize money. Voyageur Canoes only for this one!

On the local front, there is a strong chance that 2008 greenland Rolling Champion, Helen Wilson, will be coming to Thunder Bay and doing a rolling clinic and demo. Here a couple of photos and some video links of her in action. 

This was is shortly after she received her first Joe o' Greenland Paddle (shown in the photo).

Here is another view as she goes for a little paddle...upsidedown. ;)

And this next one, is again Helen and in this one, she is doing a Rolling demonstration in a Tahe Greenland kayak ( Same as what I was just rolling here in the backyard pool an hour ago as we have 3 on hand at the moment).

This clip is from the Michigan Training Camp where Helen was instructing last month.

In the above video clip, Helen is using her old 2 piece paddle, better for frequent airline travel. I'm still waiting for the ferrules to come in for my new 2 piece Greenland Paddles. Next project after that may be the first prototypes for my carbon fiber Greenland sticks...the plug for the first mold is pretty much done now, just have to order some more composites material for construction my mold.

More coming soon, I'll likely be posting some more stuff tomorrow.

Cheers...Joe O'

Well, the day after the first load of Tahe kayaks arrived here in Thunder Bay, I grabbed one of the Greenlands and did a 100 meter walk over to the Neebing River, paddle down to the MacIntyre River and then onto Lake Superior to get a feel for one of the new kayaks.

It paddled very well, has decent speed (was hitting 11+ kilometers paddling against a headwind and small wind waves when pushing it) and turns fairly well when edged over, sharper turning than my NDK Greenlander Pro I believe which surprised me.

I'd been hoping for some rougher conditions but had to settle for about 1 foot waves at best, pretty flat. Hopefully next time out I can catch a few surf waves with it and see how it handles in those conditions though I've heard it does surf farily well.

The previous day, after doing a couple dozen rolls in our pool, I was quite happy to see that both the front and rear compartments were completely dry. Tahe uses Kajaksport hatches on their kayaks so I was not expecting anything other than dry compartments anyways. 

All of the kayaks we brought in are fiberglass but with the Greenland, the eight is still only a mere 38 pounds!! Very nice indeed. 

Over the next few days I'll posst some photos and such on the Tahe Gulfspirit and the Tahe Reval as well which are the other modes we have brought in. The Gulfspirit by the way, I just had it in the pool an hour ago for about 20 rolls and it was quite impressive as well! This line just looks better and better!

Cheers...Joe