I returned from the Southwest Kayak Symposium that was held at Mission Bay in San Diego this past weekend and wanted to share some experiences with all.

The traffic on Friday was unbelievably bad. I left Agoura Hills at 1:00 PM and expected to be in San Diego by 2:30. Wrong!!!! I pulled in at 5:00 PM to see Duane "Dice Man" Strosaker, Steve "Hull Cracker/Jimmy Buffet" Wilson, and Steve's son Cody all waving me to the correct campsite.

Steve & Cody graciously allowed me to share their site and they left a nice flat spot for my tent. Since I didn't have to fit this tent into a kayak hatch, I brought a pop-up that literally sets up in about 30 seconds like an umbrella. Duane even timed me on taking it down, and that was accomplished in 35 seconds.

Friday night, everyone just sort of hung around and talked. "Dublin Dave/skegbreaker" pulled in driving his brand new Explorer and got his gear set as well. We all then went to listen and watch a slide show that Nigel Foster put on about paddling to Baffin Island. It was a 650 mile solo trip in 3 weeks. Duane and George Miller now have a new challenge to meet.

Everyone went to bed fairly early, because the campground had a karaoke night and the singers were about a minus 34 on a scale of 1 - 10.

Saturday morning dawned cool, cloudy, and hazy. Some people went off to take classes, Duane and I demoed a few boats. Then in the afternoon, I took another class on rolling with Greg Knight and he helped me nail down the techniques that Wayne Horodowich had taught me several weeks ago.

After the afternoon classes, there was a raffle and unfortunately none of the more northern CKF contingent won anything. John Peterson joined us and managed to purchase a dinner ticket for the BBQ and joined us.

After dinner Dice Man Strosaker put on a stand-up comedy skit that really rivaled anything I've ever heard Andrew Dice Clay do. It's a good thing that Duane is secure in his masculinity, because he was really poking fun at himself. If you ever get the chance to hear him--take it.

After the comedy act, We had Steve (guitar & vocal) & Cody Wilson (guitar) , an unnamed drummer, Gregg Knight (guitar & vocal), and Brent Reitz (harmonica & vocal), doing a musical act. Steve had written several new songs for the symposium and they were all a big hit. Usually we tell people that perform not to quit their day jobs, but Steve and Cody are GOOD! Steve has sold several original songs that were in some movies and Cody is considering music as a career.. The talent is definitely in that family.

The party around the campfire continued on until about 12:30. When I woke the next morning at 6:00, Duane was already up (but we are not discussing what he was doing while we said hello to each other). Dave, Steve, & Cody got ready to break camp, but Duane had a new boat on his car. Seems he traded his Ellesmere to someone for a Looksha IV. Now - will he keep it or sell it?---only the Shadow knows.

I took one more class, chatted with old and new friends and then headed home. Traffic was much better - only 2 1/2 hours to go the 150 miles.

Hope to see you all there next year.

    Steve Holtzman

The Southwest Kayak Symposium was a blast. There was a lot of great instruction both on and off the water and lots of boats to demo. Just as importantly, it was also a great get together for kayakers to see old friends and make new ones. This annual event is doing a lot to promote our sport. Thank you so much to Jen and Greg at Aqua Adventures and everyone else who helped out!

The party around the campfire continued on until about 12:30. When I woke the next morning at 6:00, Duane was already up (but we are not discussing what he was doing while we said hello to each other).

Anyway, I can't wait for next year!

    Duane

Once again Aqua Adventures takes it up a notch

This has become the premier kayaking event in Southern California, something for everyone.

Cody and I had classes with Eric Giddens, Brent Reitz, and Nigel Foster. They were great fun and added to our skills. There were some great boats (I need a bigger garage).

The musicians were all excellent. Gregg with his layed back guitar style and funny lyrics was a joy to play with (we need to get together and play soon) Brent blows a mean harmonica (Mr. Blues). The drummer tried to keep us in time (sorry I forgot your name) Who was the vocal soloist? (you were terrific) Cody blew me away on lead guitar (he hung with the changes like a pro) Near the end a solo native american flute was played toping off the night (I don't know your name either)

The boats, classes, talks, food, music, new, and old friends made this a great weekend. There is so much more that happened, but I am saving the best for some new songs. You'll just have to come next year.

Thanks to everyone at Aqua Adventures for creating such a friendly atmosphere,

    Steve "Hull Cracker" Wilson

Mike Condit adds...

Yes, Aqua Adventures really did a great job. All I saw all weekend was people having a great time.

I ran into CKF folks I knew and made some new friends. But besides all the fun I expanded my meager kayak knowledge exponentially.

My first class was The Forward Stroke with Brent Reitz. Brent is a great instructor as evidenced by my immediately using the stroke properly as soon as I hit the water. My wrists and elbows always hurt after two days of paddling; not so this weekend. This class solved a major problem for me. Besides, after a little more practice I may be able to tow a skier.

Next came Discovery Learning with Nigel Foster. Nigel’s intention was not to impart a few techniques to us, but to get us to think in new ways that would get us to discover what works best for us. We were given lots of tasks with no recommendation from Nigel as to what the outcome should be. One counter intuitive (and I’m starting to think that most of kayaking is counter intuitive) move was to start a turn. Use a big forward sweep on one side, then edge to that side and your turn develops on the other side. Now here’s the fun part. Reach over the high side of your kayak and use a rear brace. Your turn tightens up considerably without you having to edge so far that you capsize.

Nigel’s Friday night slide show was incredible (How did he live to tell the tale?) and very humorous. His tent talk on paddles, style and use, was also fantastic.

A great treat for me was meeting the star of the University of Sea Kayaking videos, Hadley Horodowich. She is a charming and very knowledgeable kayaker. Oh yeah, Wayne was there also.

In fact, he taught my last class, Beyond the Cockpit. It’s hard to believe that someone can improve your kayaking so much in an hour and a half. And it’s fun to carve a nearly 180 turn with one stroke. If you missed this class you should get the USK video, Beyond the Cockpit, and triple your kayaking fun.

Also on tap were perhaps a hundred kayaks and other gear to try out. I was standing on the beach about to go out again when Nigel asked to borrow my paddle to use in his next tent talk, saying I could borrow one of his. I don’t know if he really needed my paddle or he wanted to sell one of his, but having tried one I am going to have to buy one.

The only problem with all this is waiting for next years event. I will definitely be there. The only thing I will do differently is take more classes.

    Mike

Lee Shurie adds...

I had only been in a kayak twice when I cautiously signed up for a day at the symposium. I wasn't sure if it was appropriate for a beginner, but I wanted to learn about this fascinating sport. So I drove down for the day not knowing what to expect.

In one day I was able to demo 11 different boats, take 2 on-water classes, learn how to dress appropriately for paddling, and even get an introduction to navigation.

The on-water classes were excellent and inexpensive. I was amazed how much I learned. Some of the instructors were in the water ALL DAY teaching; yet their enthusiasm and personal attention to each student never waned. To me, the value of the instruction far exceeded the nominal fee.

Everyone was friendly and helpful, and there was plenty of equipment for everyone. I even got to try a graphite paddle which convinced me that my first investment in a paddle is going to be in a good one, as Jerry Goldner had suggested in a previous message.

To top it all off I didn't get burned. I'm fair skinned and usually burn after a full day in the sun even with a couple applications of sun screen. But the sample sun screen provided in the registration packet was awesome. It is far better than anything I have tried before.

My only regret is that I didn't stay for the full weekend. I won't make that mistake again.

    Lee