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

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.