Ruby Creek hosts the Hoedown!

With many thanks to Dave King at Olympic Raft & Kayak, Ruby Creek has taken over ownership and management of the annual Hobuck Hoedown surf paddling festival in Neah Bay, WA.

The festival was founded in 2007 by Rob Casey, who's still a trusted valuable advisor. Rob wanted more time to compete and to shoot pics like the ones below so he handed it off to Dave and then to Ruby Creek.

Registration is at active.com, right here.

We've created the festival's own blog page, right here.

George Gronseth... it's a wet sport!
Ken Campbell, rippin' it on a SUP board.

A waveski paddler heads out through the break in the late-day sun.

Smilin' George Gronseth after another sweet ride.

Let's Samba!

Kayak Academy's Whende Keatts, smilin' & stylin' Eddyline's latest new boat

Eddyline Kayaks introduces its newest model, with performance features for everyone to enjoy.

At just under 14 feet, and 44 pounds, it’s a responsive, playful kayak designed to stylishly update the hugely popular Merlin LT design. I paddled this little guy, all 6’3”, 215 pounds of me, and loved it… wished the conditions were a little burlier than Lake Sammamish; even tried to flag down a passing ski boat to get a good wake to ride.

The boat is designed for the smaller paddler though. Whende and Barb jumped in it at Kayak Academy in Issaquah, and came away with big smiles.

Kayak Academy co-owner Barb Gronseth, dancing the Samba beat

Big, but not as big as the grin on the face of Samba Sue that evening at Alki Kayak Tours, where Sue and her husband Stu came by for a test paddle on their way to a romantic sunset dinner. Sue was the first potential customer to paddle the Samba, and she left her name on Alki’s wait list for the new boat! She loved it!

Smilin' Samba Sue

Speaking of wait lists, production is scheduled to start in a couple weeks, and the boat will be MSRP’d at $2,199. Color options are red, blue, yellow, white, and a limited run of Eddyline Orange. Hulls are white, or can be in color for an additional charge. Talk to your local Eddyline dealer today, and grab this new little bundle of joy!

Olympic Raft & Kayak, Port Angeles

Popeye’s Marine, Everett

Boston Harbor Marina, Olympia

Alki Kayak Tours / Mountain to Sound Outfitters, Seattle

Kayak Academy, Issaquah

Olympic Outdoor Center, Port Gamble

Seakayakshop.com, Anacortes

Ahhhhhhh….. just another lovely evening in paradise.

Big props to Emotion Kayaks!

Big Tom Strauss of Emotion Kayaks will not be photographed without that smile on his face.

Big Tom Strauss, he’s our man, and he’s come through again with an awesome display of generosity, support for a fantastic cause, and BIG LOVE for the kayak fishing community in the Puget Sound area.

Big Smilin’ Tom, President of Emotion Kayaks, agreed to donate a Stealth fishing kayak to the 2010 Anacortes Salmon Derby, which attracted 1,000 enthusiastic fishermen earlier this month. In its first three years, the Derby raised over $73,000 for Puget Sound Anglers’ scholarship program for young students pursuing careers in Fisheries Management and related areas.

Kayak winner Keith Hofkamp of Burlington WA told me "that's my picture... with the big ass fish". Yeah Keith, that's one big ass fish, and congrats on winning the boat! Dean Hislop photo courtesy of Anacortes Salmon Derby

Knowing that support for research and proper management of salmon habitat means support for the entire ecosystem, from our local endangered Orcas (who eat the big yummy salmon too) to the thick-forested headwaters of our streams where they spawn, Big Tom stepped up where it counts.

The lucky winner of the Stealth kayak was Keith Hofkamp of Burlington, WA, who caught a 21.6-pound Chinook Salmon. Congrats Keith! And thanks again to Big Tom Strauss for making it happen!

Here's the boat Tom donated and Keith won with his 21+-pound whopper... all in the name of helping another generation of young people get educated and keep our waters clean and our salmon healthy!

Emotion Kayaks are popping up in outdoor shops all over the Northwest, including Puget Sound dealers LFS Marine in Bellingham, Wholesale Sports at nine locations in Washington and Oregon, Popeye’s Marine and Grass Roots Outdoors in Everett, Mountain to Sound Outfitters in Seattle, Olympic Outdoor Center in Port Gamble, Ship to Shore Marine in Gig Harbor, Boston Harbor Marina in Olympia, and Olympic Raft & Kayak in Port Angeles.

Paddling events on the Spring calendar

You can tell it’s Spring when cool stuff like this is happening in Northwest paddlesports:

>>FREE<< “This is Canoeing” premiere -- Saturday, March 20: Justine Curgenven and Esquif Canoes present “This is Canoeing” (Click the title to see the sweeeeet trailer). The Washington premiere is at Cascade Canoe & Kayak in Renton, WA. Cascade’s Dan Henderson says we’ll fire up the BBQ grill around 1:30pm, then get the movie going when everyone’s finished eating. The show is free!

Port Angeles Kayak Symposium -- Friday-Sunday, April 16-18: Dave King and Olympic Raft & Kayak present the 10th annual Port Angeles Kayak Symposium, in front of the Red Lion Hotel. Admission to the demo beach is FREE with a donation to the P.A. Food Bank. Along with huge savings and great deals on boats and gear, the weekend features guest speakers, beach bonfires, skill & safety clinics, on-water demos, a Sunday-morning race, and as always the warm hospitality of your friends at Olympic.

WAKE Demo Day -- Saturday May 1^st: Whatcom Association of Kayak Enthusiasts presents another Annual Demo Day on Lake Whatcom. Keep an eye on their web site for details.

Unleash the Beast! -- Saturday & Sunday, May 8^th & 9^th: John Kuntz and crew at Olympic Outdoor Center in Port Gamble have combined sea kayaking, standup paddling, mountain biking, adventure-films and racing, and a beer garden to top it off, and stirred up “Unleash the Beast”. It’s a groundbreaking Adventure Sports Expo and features the Reel Paddling Film Festival, demos, clinics, a mountain bike competition, and Paddle the Dragon, a 6-mile paddling race presented by Paddling Dynamics.

Races – full info to be available soon, but mark your calendar now:

Paddle the Dragon, Sunday May 9th, Port Gamble

DeFuca Downwinder, Saturday June 12th, Port Angeles

San Juan Orca Challenge, Saturday Sept 11^th, Anacortes

Comet Kayak hits the water!

On one of our recent not-so-typical gorgeous winter days here in the Northwest, Matthew Ross of seakayakshop.com in Anacortes joined Ruby Creek for a demo of the first Comet off the first container shipped from Emotion Kayaks. A sweet, fun little boat for just $279 MSRP. The blowmolded shell is light weight and really durable; there's a float bag in the stern for emergency buoyancy; deck bungees including a paddle-park next to the cockpit; and adjustable footbraces so everyone from the kids to the tall old man (speaking strictly for myself here) can jump in and have a great time.

The Comet is available from any of your favorite Emotion Kayaks dealers, including:

Boston Harbor Marina in Olympia

Ship to Shore Marine in Gig Harbor

Olympic Raft & Kayak in Port Angeles

Popeye's Marine in Everett

Alki Kayak Tours/ Mountain to Sound Outfitters in West Seattle

LFS Marine & Outdoor in Bellingham

...and of course, Matthew's own seakayakshop.com right here on Commercial Avenue in Anacortes. Thanks Matthew for coming out to paddle the new guy!

Happypaddlin.com shows some very cool video of how well the Comet performs in moving water, as Ethan took the prototype for a spin last Fall. Take a look… then get on the water in the new Comet!

Matthew and I, both "larger men", still fit comfortably in this little boat, ready for...

...another beautiful day of paddling on our Salish Sea!

Spring demo season is a wrap

Eddyline's Journey was the talk of the show, wherever it went this Spring.

The past crazy month and a half was packed with six demo events all over western Washington. A little work, a whole lot of fun and a bundle of new paddlers joining the family. That's what it's all about, building the fun factor and spreading the gospel about paddling.

Getting to know my colleagues in the industry was terrific for me, having seen the retail side of the business for a few years and now feeling the sore muscles from the hard work we all put in as reps. As always, there's a good level of camaraderie between competitors and it's an awesome feeling knowing that, as I'm hoisting that last boat onto my trailer at the end of the day, there'll be someone there to help if I need them.

Late April featured Dave King's annual Symposium in Port Angeles, hosted by his shop at Olympic Raft and Kayak. Three days of paddling and three nights of music and fun. Thanks Dave, ORK staff and volunteers for showing this old demo rookie how it's done.

Alder Creek hosted their demo day at the end of April, and we got to get out the Esquif fleet for this one. Paddlers of all ages and abilities showed up at Vancouver Lake, and the weather mostly cooperated in spite of dire thunderstorm predictions. Thanks to Dave Slover for recruiting the Boy Scouts to help out!

The first weekend in May, Mitch from Popeye's and I headed to Bellingham for the WAKE demo. A nice community event, with a great turnout. Thanks for setting up this one goes to Bambi Krieg, who's also Director of WCSKS coming up in September.

The big one this Spring was as always the Puget Sound Sea Kayak Symposium in Tacoma. Amazing weather, lots of sunscreen and a huge turnout of happy paddlers and interested onlookers.

A couple weeks ago we wrapped the demo season with REI days in Seattle and Portland. Long days, but great weather and again, the economic news may be dire but maybe people want to save a little gas and use a bit of human power on the water. In any case the turnout for these events all Spring was excellent.

Now that the season is a wrap, yes we have lightly-used boats and gear from Eddyline, Stohlquist, and Bending Branches available at sweet prices. If you know what I have and you know what you want, talk to me. I will be selling the boats through your nearest dealer.

Port Angeles beach in the morning, before the crowds got all the boats wet.

In the red bandanna, Mitch, from Popeye's Marine in Everett, helped dozens of happy new paddlers get acquainted with Eddyline and Emotion boats at the WAKE demo day.

Two gorgeous days of paddling beneath Mount Rainier greeted the throngs at PSSKS.

REI's demo days in Portland and Seattle hosted nearly 1,000 visitors each.