Texan contingent (Galveston) trying to organize a road caravan. Romeu (2) from Central Jersey and also another lady from Jersey Wes Boyd from Michigan keep 'em coming..... Please advise if you will be driving or flying. I'm off for some R&R - the Hobie Pursuit looks gorgeous on the VW EuroVan. With the ProRac System and the Thule saddles I FINALLY got things organized. With installation I think I paid about $600 for the whole shebang! this is not a poor man's hobby! sandy kramer i'll be back online on september 11 unless I find a Kinko's or Internet cafe en route. Florida, possibly Georgia and North Carolina. we'll see *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - All postings copyright the author and not to be reproduced/forwarded outside PaddleWise without author's permission Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
Mike - Have you attended the Sweetwater Symposium? And if so. would you give me and others a rundown on what it's like? I know that Sweetwater offers BCU trainings, but I also know that they stop at 4 Star, saying that the weather down there isn't severe enough for 5 Star (and that's okay with me!). There was a rumor several months ago that Nigel Foster had bought a part interest in Sweetwater, which might make that an even better center of kayaking excellence. Do you know anything about that rumor? Bill Hansen Ithaca NY *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - All postings copyright the author and not to be reproduced/forwarded outside PaddleWise without author's permission Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
At 10:55 AM 9/6/00 -0400, Bill Hansen wrote: >Mike - Have you attended the Sweetwater Symposium? And if so. would you give >me and others a rundown on what it's like? I know that Sweetwater offers BCU >trainings, but I also know that they stop at 4 Star, saying that the weather >down there isn't severe enough for 5 Star (and that's okay with me!). There >was a rumor several months ago that Nigel Foster had bought a part interest >in Sweetwater, which might make that an even better center of kayaking >excellence. Do you know anything about that rumor? > >Bill Hansen >Ithaca NY > > SweetWater Kayaks http://www.sweetwaterkayaks.com/ Nigel Foster BCU Coach 5 Sea & Surf BCU Coach 4 Inland Kayak & OpenCanoe 5 Star SK, Open Canoe, Inland & Surf A partner and Director of Training at Sweetwater Kayaks *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - All postings copyright the author and not to be reproduced/forwarded outside PaddleWise without author's permission Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
I've been to the Sweetwater symposium (Feb. 2000). The part of the symposium I enjoyed most was actually the week prior to the symposium, called "BCU Week." In this week, they offer 4 star and 3 star trainings which covered a couple of days of practice and an assessment. It was a great time for me. The Symposium itself offered numerous courses, such as sculling, rolling, navigation, surf, paddle techniques etc. Each "seminar" would last between 1/2 day to an hour or so, but the time with many of the more popular seminars, the instructors was spread out such that each participant might get only 15 min. with an instructor while the rest of the time was observing the instructor working with others. Discovery Paddle with Nigel was different. It was structured such that it really didn't matter that there were a large no. of paddlers. It was a fun and interesting seminar...don't miss it! In summary, the symposium while helpful, wasn't as "intense" as working on the 3 star and 4 star training all day long. Reviewing the "Fall Fling for 2000" schedule, (see description below)it looks as if this program offers "all day" instructional seminars and trainings which appear to be a mix of BCU week and the Symposium itself. As for Nigel F., I also understand that he is now part owner. The emails from Sweetwater are signed: Jean, Russell, Mark and Nigel Jean Totz, one of the owners, notified me by email of Sweetwater Kayak’s Fall Paddle Fling: October 23 to November 06 2000. Class sizes are limited, so if interested, I wouldn't wait too long to contact them. Sweetwater offers top-notch instruction and are great folks to know. I certainly have enjoyed my learning experiences with them. Hey... the location "ain't bad" either! There is camping available near Sweetwater's shop, where the symposium is held... just watch out for the Racoons. They are little monsters. Don't leave food out!!! One got inside my car and had a feast on all my groceries....worse yet, it was really my wife's car! Check out Sweetwater's website. http://www.sweetwaterkayaks.com/ Hey! You will find a picture of me, standing up in my Romany 18. I'm the guy on the far right; the one with the big smile! If you would like the seminar schedule, and can't get it from Sweetwater's webpage, I'll be glad to forward my copy to anyone who requests it. As for the 5 star training and assesment, you will find it easiest to enroll in a training in Wales. You might have difficulty enrolling without a 4 Star Paddle award. I think a 5 Star training will be available in Wales at Nigel Dennis' "Anglesey Sea & Surf Center (ASSC) Robert Cline *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - All postings copyright the author and not to be reproduced/forwarded outside PaddleWise without author's permission Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
From: "Bill Hansen" <bhansen2_at_twcny.rr.com> > Mike - Have you attended the Sweetwater Symposium? And if so. would you give > me and others a rundown on what it's like? Haven't been personally, but the two folks in my club that have, raved it. One may just be relishing the Florida weather in the middle of winter; the other is a bit of a kayak junkie who attends every symposium and training session she can get to. On a more serious note, they did have good things to say about it. I know Bill (the former) liked it better than Grand Marais in the sense it was a bit smaller and more intimate. Neva (the latter) liked it because there was good instruction. (Amie, my partner, did get some instruction from one of the Sweetwater crew at Grand Marais and he was quite good.) Wish I could be more helpful. I'm sure someone on the list must have attended. Mike *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - All postings copyright the author and not to be reproduced/forwarded outside PaddleWise without author's permission Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.4.0 : Thu Aug 21 2025 - 16:33:17 PDT