Kayaking Freaks

From the Nose of Our Kayak Don & Janet Beasley Chapter  9  Back Down Rock Springs We Go...This Time to Check Out the Scenery Don at the end of the Rock Springs Run Wekiva Island pick-up destination As we mentioned in our last chapter, we would be back to kayak the Rock Springs Run. And here we are, only a few weeks later. This trip happened on November 18, 2010. You may be surprised that we get the beautiful colors of autumn here in Florida, but depending on your location and how the weather has played out, you could very well find yourself in a wilderness of all of the fall colors you long for...yes, in Florida! We launched our Wilderness Systems kayak early morning, and decided to take our time now that we knew how long it actually takes to get to the pick-up point (Don and I have done the run in as fast as 2 hours...but that was paddling for exercise, not scenery).  Before we even exited the canal onto the river, the fall leaves were showing themselves, danci...

From the Nose of Our Kayak Don & Janet Beasley Chapter 8  Discovering Wekiva River Rock Springs Run As hard as it was to leave our brand new kayak and actual kayak-wheel-thingy in Michigan until next summer, we decided to do so in case we would want to fly instead of drive. So it was back home to our new-old mean-greenie kayak...thank goodness it was home waiting for us. After we got home, the locals found out we loved kayaking Silver River so much, they suggested we give Rock Springs Run a try. When they said it was only about 8 miles from our house there was no reason not to try it. Silver River is about 75 miles away (but worth it every time nonetheless). Rentals are available at both King's Landing and Wekiva Landing, but we use our own kayak.  To launch onto the Rock Springs Run from King's Landing (or Wekiva Island) there is a fee. Launching from King's Landing (and if you're only going down river) you'll have to coordinate your time with...

From the Nose of Our Kayak Don & Janet Beasley Chapter 7: Another New Kayak? The anxious parents If you remember from our last chapter, we warned you about the sport of kayaking being addicting, and justifying all of the new kayaks you will add to your collection over time. As you will see, our new-old kayak told us what we wanted to know...YES!...we loved the harder plastic and rudder, so it was time to upgrade to a brand new Wilderness Systems T145! After much research we marveled at how the pictures showed us that the seats alone were worth the price...fully adjustable, softer, and the back of my seat would not fold over backwards when I leaned back. We loved the bright orange color so other boats could easily spot us on the water. There was only one teensy tiny set back... Our brand new Wilderness Systems T145 ...we lived in Florida and had to have it shipped to Michigan to greet us the summer of 2010 when we arrived at our (used to be) summer home on Waishkey Bay ...

From the Nose of Our Kayak Don & Janet Beasley Chapter 6: Out with the Old and In with the Older! View on Silver River From the Nose of Our (new-old) Kayak One thing we'd like to mention to those of you who are new to the sport of kayaking...beware, kayaking  is  addicting and you'll find yourself justifying the numerous kayaks you will come to own over time.  After a year of fun and minimal discovery we decided it was time to move up. We wanted to get away from the softer plastic and move up into a hard plastic body for the kayak. We searched and searched, and finally found the one at the price we wanted to pay. Being it was our first step up, we didn't want to drop a lot of money into it just to try it out.  Our first hard plastic bodied kayak was a Wilderness Systems (tandem) 145T. This particular kayak was new to us, but much older, and shall we say much more "experienced," than our brand new one in which we had started. The seats in t...

From the Nose of Our Kayak Don & Janet Beasley Chapter 5 Returning to Michigan's U.P. The time had come to return to Michigan's U.P. We decided we wanted to try a longer jaunt this trip, so we chose the Tahquamenon River, starting at the mouth off of the highly respected Lake Superior.  Kayaking Michigan's U.P. holds its own challenges: weather, cold water temps that average a whopping 52 degrees Fahrenheit in the dead of summer, big wildlife, and some of the most extreme "middle of nowhere" feelings to be had on the water. Kayaking the big, open water of Lake Superior calls for a different kind of kayak, a  far different one than you see we are using in our photos here. It also calls for  a different set of advanced skills as a kayaker, and a much different set of equipment to be carried on board for starters.     Weather in the U.P. can change in the blink of an eye. Even on a river, and not the open water, if you're paddling with the breeze you ...