Seattle Boat Show

The Big Seattle Boat Show in February featured gear from Eddyline, Emotion, Stohlquist, Aquabound/Bending Branches, Hippo Patch and Rec Repair, well represented at booths from Popeye’s Marine, LFS Marine, and Hobie Cats Northwest. If you need any evidence that things are loosening up in our economy just a bit, you need look no further than the great results these dealers had at the show. Take a look at the great variety of gear on display below.

Many thanks to Zack and the whole crew from LFS, Dean and Bedelia from Popeye’s, and Kevin and Dan from Hobie Cat NW for your hard work getting all these great brands out there.

Popeye's Marine just picked up the RecRepair and Hippo Patch products a few months ago.

Clockwise from left - Comet, Stealth, AdvantEdge and CoMotion. All got lots of interest at the show, and helped LFS make some good sales.

Stacks of Spitfires! These and all the Emotion models appealed to yachters looking for something to keep on their deck that would be easy to get on and off their boat and into the water.

Dean and Bedelia brought an Eddyline Journey and this Fathom to the show and got plenty of impressed looks... and a few sales to go with them.

Popeye's got a little jacked around by management on their display space, but they made the most of it and got plenty of merchandise in there.

I'm not sure Dean really wants to sell this ActionFish kayak. It's way too pretty to go on the water, especially with this BB Tailwind stick.

Rec Repair or The Hippo Patch?

The potential for breakage and field repairs to your gear can pose a dilemma... what patch stuff to carry, how much to carry, how expensive is it, what kind of repair to be ready for. Ruby Creek represents a couple of awesome solutions. Check em out.

Here's a quick, permanent repair that stays flexible and waterproof and never cracks when you apply it to neoprene, plastic, canvas, nylon, glass, wood, even concrete. and doesn't cost much. The Hippo Patch comes packaged in six easy-to-display sizes from 2"x24" strips, to 4"x24 foot rolls. Easily cut with scissors or a knife, it adheres to nearly any clean surface and can even be applied underwater.

This is the 4"x24" patch material, folded up for easy display. Maybe I could use it on those wrinkles in my hand.

Ruby Creek is proud to be the Washington representative for this innovative stuff. Grab a pack of Hippo Patch for your dry bag, one for your backpack, one for your tool box. If your favorite outdoor shop doesn't carry the Hippo Patch, give them a link to this page and let them know we'd be happy to help them.

Hippo Patch dealers love the strong margins, attention-grabbing display, low inventory investment to get started, and convenient, easy-to-order multipack cartons. Users dig the low-cost means to get their repair done quickly and get back to whatever they really want to spend their day doing.

If a field repair needs structure -- a tent pole, kayak paddle, cooler, or a big crack in your boat -- go for Rec Repair patches. They are simply heated with a heat gun, or over a fire or cookstove and shaped to the material being repaired. To avoid wondering whether it's hot enough, paddlers & backpackers can carry Rec Repair's Emergency Kit with a chemical heater included.

Here's the 4x6 RecRepair patch, ready to display in your shop.

Here's the RecRepair emergency kits with a chemical heater included.

Rec Repair comes in black or white, in 4 packaged, precut sizes, bulk patch cut to order, and even keel strip and skid plate material for canoes and kayaks. Dealers can get going with a starter kit that contains a little of everything, then fill in as needed to replace their big selling items.

These are terrific additions to any retail shop's product lines. Ruby Creek has dealer applications and order forms right here at World HQ, just waiting for you.

3rd Annual Deception Pass Dash, December 7th

Many thanks to Rick and Nancy (the Ramblin' Lambs), and to our buddy Sean Watson, for the pics you see here.

And huge props go out to Ruby Creek partners who sent out mucho schwag for the racers' raffle:

Stohlquist Waterware

Eddyline Kayaks/ Swift Paddles

Costa del Mar Sunglasses

CRG Rec Repair

Danuu Kayak & Canoe Covers

Cascade Creek/ YakGrips

A week since the Dash... and it seems some of the racers are still basking in the afterglow. Ahhhh, the afterglow...

... Of 124 paddlers leaving Bowman Bay in a sweet, gentle west swell that was to build into something amazing... of a confused clapotis (don't make fun til you look it up) off Deception Island... of a long push through the Pass, jumping the eddyline at the head of the island, and another mile on to the far turn at Strawberry Island, thinking hey, the worst is over, I'm rumblin' with the current now......

...of a mile back in calm waters, looking ahead at standing waves as high as ooohhhhh ssss(*&!!! ...8 feet or more... of all hell breaking loose running through Canoe Pass...

...of John Sindelar riding the building ebb like a roller coaster through those standers...

OK, looking pretty good...

Whoa... half of me is gone...

Uhhh... I'm invisible!

Cowabunga!

OK, gimme more of that!

...of rescues by jet ski, power boat, safety kayakers and fellow racers, of chaos at Deception Island on the return trip around...

...and of 93 racers actually finishing the course but everyone coming back to the beach safe and sound, for a hearty BBQ from our friends at Outdoor Adventure Center. Oh yeah, the afterglow is fine!

Huge thanks to the Corson family and to Outdoor Adventure Center, and especially to the safety crew and all the volunteers who helped pull this one off. Next year, Saturday December 12, 2009, the 4th Annual Deception Pass Dash goes off at 11am. Come be a part of it!

Division winners who finished in the top-20 overall of the 3rd Annual DPDash, hosted by Outdoor Adventure Center:

• Jean Rillard, Rennes France, 51:41, 1st overall, 1st in High-performance kayak-Men
• Larry Goolsby/Shaun Sullivan, Bellingham WA, 55:12, 3rd, 1st in double HPK
• Alan Goto, Seattle WA, 57:22, 5th, 1st in outrigger OC1-Men
• Heather & Brandon Nelson, Bellingham WA, 57:43, 6th, 1st in double sea kayak
• Brian Boatman & David Williams, Bellingham WA, 8th, 58:30, 1st in double outrigger
• Chuck Curry, Seattle WA, 63:44, 11th, 1st in Fast Sea Kayak-Men
• Sherri Cassuto, Seattle WA, 69:40, 18th, 1st in Sea Kayak-Women
• Matthew Nelson, Orcas Island WA, 70:03, 20th, 1st in Sea Kayak-Men