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| Summer 2008 |
A Quiet Note from Quietwater |
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Quietwater Paddling Notes
Greetings!
Things are moving along nicely here in our corner of the world. Early this summer, we had
a chance here in Wisconsin to work with Johnson Outdoors, the parent of Old Town Canoe & Kayak, and
the paddling community to help raise money for an adaptive paddling project. Andy Janicki is
the Wisconsin DNR's ADA accessibility coordinator. Andy is paralyzed from the neck down with
limited use of his wrists and thumbs. Just enough for him to paddle a kayak and get in and out
of his own car. I met him this spring and discovered he was a kayaker without a kayak. That
was something I thought needed fixing. Johnson Outdoors stepped up and donated a kayak.
Thanks to Dana Johnson's efforts getting the word out about this project, many individual paddlers
then pitched in their hard earned money to buy the adaptive gear for this project from Chosen Valley
Canoe Accessories. The end result was a kayak and adaptive gear that Andy can use in his position at
the DNR to promote adaptive paddling.
Paddling is a great world, full of unexpected and unknown niches. This month, the "pleasant places"
article is from a paddler who survived an epic anniversary float through the mountains of Minnesota.
That might be laying it on a little thick..... Next month, we have an article and a ton of pictures
from a paddler high-up in Arizona who proves that there is enough water in the desert to float a
canoe! Darren and I hope that you are all out enjoying your own quiet corners of the world!
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Pleasant Places to Paddle
The Root River in southeastern Minnesota is the subject of this month's column, penned in record time and sent in from Ed Vater. It turns out that there are at least two Root Rivers. One is in Wisconsin, near Racine. The other, which Ed canoed with his wife on their anniversary, is south of Winona, in the mountains of Minnesota, as some people call the very impressive bluffs near the Mississippi.
Ed lives in Osceola, WI., a small Wisconsin town in the St. Croix River valley. From Main Street Osceola, Minneapolis and St. Paul are just a short hop across the Mississippi. Ed is the president of Bending Branches, which just so happens to make some very nice canoe and kayak paddles. At least two of which I suspect were used to propel the canoe he and his wife took down the Root River in early August. A Lucky Man... read more.... |
The making of inland waters kayak fishing
Early June found us filming our fourth movie. "inland waters kayak fishing" features some very
unique kayaks from Native Watercraft. We took three of those boats fly fishing for muskies and
smallmouth bass on the waters around Hayward, Wisconsin. Great place, great fishing, great
boats! We caught muskies
on a fly out of these boats! The thing that intrigues me the most about these boats is the
ability to stand up and pole them. As you will see in the movie, due out in late August, much
of the time on the water was spent standing up and casting. Going beyond fishing, as you can see in
the picture above, you can also load these kayaks with semi-precious camera lenses and use them as a
platform for wildlife photography. John van Den Brandt, a wildlife photographer from Appleton, WI.,
uses a Native Watercraft Ultimate kayak to get out on the water to pursue his passion and business,
Wild Wind Images.
The lense pictured above, is worth more than the camera and the kayak put together. I think
his comfort putting that lense in an Ultimate kayak is a testament to the stability of these boats.
read more...
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Quietwater Films DVDs
Paddling boats of just about any shape or form is near and dear to us. We think it's a great
way to spend time outdoors with family, friends, or by yourself, soaking up what nature has to offer.
We have also observed that, like most other things in life, there is a learning curve to paddling and
boating. Our goal with the movies/DVDs we're making is to offer up bits of knowledge and pleasure
that we hope will lead more people into paddling enjoyment. Here is our website
where you can read more about the DVDs we have made and watch some video clips taken from the DVDs
as well. If they look like something you want, you can also purchase them from our website.
If you think we missed something and you would like to see more about this missing topic, please email
us a description of that topic and we will try to video an answer and post it up on the site, so
that everyone can benefit from your question!
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| We hope that you like what you read and will pass it on to others that you think might enjoy Quietwater content! We're always happy to read an article about your own pleasant place to paddle! You can email as an attachment (doc, txt or rtf). Send along a few pictures of your spot as well. You get credit for the article and the rights to it remain yours. We will post it on the Quietwater Films website and publish it in the email newsletter. You can link to it or otherwise use it as you see fit. If needed, we will edit for spelling and grammar and send you a pre-release copy for your approval before the newsletter goes out.
Enjoy your Quiet times on the water -
Jeff Bach
Quietwater Films
Madison, WI., USA
608-432-0198
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