RE: [Paddlewise] Event schedules

At 09:12 AM 11/23/00 -0500, Heike Robinson wrote:
>Hi Wes,  I am totally new to this whole field.  Could you give me some
>addresses of sources you mention  in you posting?

Can do -- I'm just playing with the calendar a little, to see what I may be
able to get to this year. A little background, too; I've been to all these
events with the exception of the Georgian Bay one, but plan to go there
this year.
>> 
>> Quietwater Symposium, Lansing, MI -- late February?
This is a small symposium put on in some hall at Michigan State by the
Lansing Oar and Paddle Club. There are lots of boatbuilders there, and
usually not much in the way of manufacturers. Some good presentations. This
is not an "in the water" event. The LOPAC website is:
http://www.voyager.net/loapc/
but they don't update it very much. There are, however, contact addresses
on the page that seem to be OK.
 
>> Canoecopia, Madison, WI -- early March?
Just learned this morning that Canoecopia is March 9-11. This is mostly a
sales show by Rutabaga, the big kayak/canoe shop in Madison, but they bring
in lots of manufacturer's reps and speakers, and sometimes big names. I
rather dissed the CD Storm at Canoecopia to a CD rep at Canoecopia last
year, only to find out later it was Brian Henry! Well, nobody ever accused
me of not calling a spade a spade. This is also not an "in the water"
event. It turns out that the URL for Canocopia is a little different than I
had, which is why I didn't find out last night when I was looking:
http://www.canoecopia.com/main.html

>> Georgian Bay Symposium, Nobel, ON -- mid May?
This is a medium sized symposium put on by White Squall Outfitters of Parry
Sound, Ontario (where I bought my Nimbus Telkwa, but standard disclaimer,
just a satisfied customer) and the Great Lakes Sea Kayaking Association,
the Canadian great lakes club. Several Canadian Paddlewisers usually make
this event, I am told. It's also supposed to be a really excellent job, and
at a very reasonable price. You can go to the "Symposium" button at:
http://www.zeuter.com/~squall/index01.htm
but all you'll find is information on the 2000 symposium -- it hasn't been
updated yet.
 
>> West Michigan Symposium, Muskegon, MI -- Memorial Day weekend?
This is a small-to-medium symposium put on by the West Michigan Canoe and
Kayak Assn., out of Grand Rapids -- it's held at a summer camp northeast of
Muskegon. There are usually a few vendors, nothing special, but the
training available is excellent. However, they are very steep in their
pricing structure, and the cost caused me to give this otherwise excellent
event a pass last year, and probably will this year. The web page is at:
http://www.iserv.net/~wmcka/
but again, it hasn't been updated to reflect 2001 dates. However, I think
this is usually Memorial Day weekend.

>> Great Lakes Sea Kayaking Symposium, Grand Marais, MI -- mid July?
This is the big enchilada in the midwest. Lots of vendors, hundreds of
participants, hundreds of boats, lots of big names. Kayakers overwhealm a
small northern village on the picturesque shore of Gitchee Gumee. You might
want to look at my web page:
http://www2.dmci.net/wesboyd/kayak.htm 
and go down to "Splinters on the Beach" for more information on what the
Great Lakes Symposium is like. Unfortunately, they have the lousiest web
page imaginable -- the dates shown on the URL below haven't been updated
for several years. The contact information is still good, I think:
http://threecat.netgate.net/glskc/events.htm

-- Wes


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