Kayaking Freaks

From the Nose of Our Kayak Don & Janet Beasley Chapter 15: "O-H-I-O" Our New-Used 16'  #WildernessSystems Sealution In less than a month we hit the road for Michigan again. This time we decided to stop off in Ohio and visit family and friends...and do a little bit of kayaking in our ol' stompin' grounds. But we must warn you...yeah...the addiction continued. We added another kayak to the "fleet!" We had been looking for and dreaming about a #WildernessSystems fiberglass tandem kayak. This is not an easy find when you're being as specific as we are. But low and behold we found a single, 16', SeaLution over on the Atlantic coast here in Florida. Yeah, it's a single, but it's fiberglass, and we learned to "share" early on...just like our parents taught us.  So we loaded up the Sealution and the T145 and headed north. Our first stop to try it out came 16 hours later when we arrived in our hometown of #Beavercreek #O...

We are currently taking a Christmas Season break. We'll return with our regular posts January 8, 2020 Here's wishing you a very  Merry Christmas, a Happy New Year, and extremely Amazing Kayaking Adventures!  The birth of Jesus prophesied in the Old Testament Isaiah 9:6 For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given; and the government shall be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.  The prophecy from Isaiah 9:6 fulfilled in the New Testament Luke 2:7 And she {the virgin Mary} brought forth her firstborn Son, and wrapped Him in swaddling cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn. ------------------------ Welcome to the Kayaking Freaks blog,  "From the Nose of Our Kayak:"  authors/photographers Don & Janet Beasley.  Hi, I'm Janet Beasley. My husband Don and I love to kayak. Don and I most ...

From the Nose of Our Kayak Don & Janet Beasley Chapter 14: Look Out Panhandle Here We Come! To celebrate our 30 year anniversary we headed for the panhandle of Florida...the Apalachicola area to be exact. We wanted to visit some long time friends plus do some kayaking in yet another area of Florida that was "virgin" to us.  Along the way we stopped for some lunch. Seafood was calling our name...something it always does when we're on the gulf coast. When we came upon the town of Freeport we started looking for a local diner. Sure enough we spotted one that suited our fancy. There were plenty of cars in the parking lot. I have to say that Oyster Po Boy Sandwich was out of this world! The oysters were heaped on in quite the fashion, and the bun was so good and soft, and the tartar sauce - lettuce  - and tomato capped it off. Don enjoyed a plate of fried shrimp that were absolutely to die for. And i n addition to the outstanding food, the service was ever so friendly, ...

From the Nose of Our Kayak Don & Janet Beasley Chapter 13: Dreams This week Don and I invite you to dream with us, to dream about the places you'd love to experience from the nose of  your  kayak. But be forewarned...once you start dreaming, it's hard to stop!  The sky's the limit when it comes to adventure. Now days, Don and I prefer kayaking the smooth calm waters rather than white water. In our younger years we did a bit of white water rafting and thoroughly enjoyed it. If we would have taken up kayaking in our 20's we would probably have been Eskimo rolling our way down big white water, sailing through class 5+ rapids, going over falls, and spending our days in wet suits while camping and feasting on s'mores. But just because we are approaching retirement age, and like to take life a bit easier these days, that doesn't mean we don't like to dream. Below is a selection of some of our favorite kayaking videos we enjoy watching and dreaming about the pl...

From the Nose of Our Kayak Don & Janet Beasley Chapter 12: "It's Not a Crime to Test Paddle a Yak" One day in May 2011 Don and I decided to do something off the cuff. We had been hearing about fiberglass kayaks and wanted to see (and feel) the difference for ourselves. So it was off to the gulf coast of Florida we went.  We decided to make it a day trip and enjoy our time seeing sights we don't normally see both to and from our destination. We love taking the back roads and getting "lost" in the moment of some of the most scenic roads on the planet. We arrived and were elated to find 2 fiberglass kayaks we could test paddle. We can't describe the excitement we had doing a lot of "firsts" on this trip. Our first first was entering a kayak from a dock. We had always entered at the edge of the water, so learning the entry from a dock was really quite cool!  The best way to describe a couple of kayak entry methods, including a dock entry, is to...