Rock Island Lodge

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Rossport Symposium – great success!

It’s been a while since the symposium ended so I guess it’s time for a reflective blog post…. or just some cool pictures. The weekend was full of fun and awesome instruction. Saturday was workshop day – folks learned about stroke improvement, rolling, greenland paddling, gear, bracing…. you name it, we taught it! The day ended with a delicious dinner in Rossport and a fantastic show by The Wild Turkeys. After some well-needed sleep, local tours departed early Sunday morning. We had lovely, sunny weather and calm seas (lakes?). Thanks so much to everyone who came out for an awesome weekend. All of us at NSA had a great time meeting everyone and sharing what we love! Here are a few pictures from the weekend, but also feel free to check our Facebook page, called Naturally Superior Adventures. Cheers!

Sunday Tours getting ready to go
Sunday Tours getting ready to go
Forward Stroke Instruction
Forward Stroke Instruction
Rafting Up in the Morning
Rafting Up in the Morning
The Wild Turkeys
The Wild Turkeys

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The start of our season…

Our staff have arrived and settled in, and have been preparing for what we hope will be a busy season! They’ve spent a lot of time out on the water warming up their paddling muscles and have also managed to test some new skills and equipment! Their dance skills have wildly improved in the last few weeks…

Kayak Ballet

Mirinda showing off the newest dance craze, kayak ballet

Nate

Nate doing the front deck boogie (not to be confused with the back deck boogie – similar but much more advanced)

Carolyn

Carolyn attempting the front deck crab walk!

The staff were also able  to demo some stand-up paddling equipment! They hated every minute of the sunny afternoon they got to take off work and spend paddling in the lake… life sure is difficult up here!

Chris

Our staff have become hooked on the paddling craze that is sweeping the nation! We hope they don’t decide to join the pro circuit and leave us in the dust!

It’s been a wonderful few weeks so far! More updates to come soon!

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Beached whale found on Lake Superior shoreline.

Every day is different here at Rock Island.  Some days we are blessed with a peregrine falcon or lynx siting.  This past weekend was a little something out of the ordinary.  I was looking out over the lake, enjoying my lunch, watching a kayaker decide whether or not to travel up the mouth of the river; when I noticed a very odd site indeed.  This poor whale was sitting high and dry up on the beach near the deck.

Perhaps it was trying to escape the oil spill in the gulf, or heard that we have good fishing up here on Lake Superior.  How it managed to negotiate the 17 or so locks of the Great Lakes St Lawrence Seaway system is a good question (customs might want to have a word).

The story ends on a positive note though since the little guy, despite being beached for an unknown amount of time, is still full of life’s air and will be enjoyed by many a visitor.  That is unless the winds of change or the lake currents don’t take him on another adventure to some far off exotic place… like Minnesota.

Beached whale found on Lake Superior shore
Beached whale found on Lake Superior shore

Storing your drysuit for the season

It’s a good idea to clean and store all of your paddling gear for the winter.  Ideally before the snow comes and you start thinking about skiing and snowshoeing and whatever other winter activities you partake in that are decidedly more interesting than putting summer gear away.

Kokatat has some good ideas for storing your dry suit and dry top since they have components that age over time if not stored properly.

Protect your investments

  • Prior to storage wash gaskets with a gentle soap to remove contaminants (sunscreen, insect repellents, lotions). Treat latex gaskets every 4-6 weeks, inside and out, with 303 Protectant™. Rub it in and let sit for a few minutes before wiping clean with an absorbent cloth until gasket is dry. When using 303 Protectant™ avoid getting it on other parts of the garment.
  • Wash your garment.  When washing, always follow sewn-in care instructions. With dry suits and dry tops Kokatat recommends using warm water, delicate cycle, gentle powdered soap (or Nikwax® Tech Wash™), with no bleach or harsh chemicals, and high water volume, in a front loading machine. Rinse well (which may mean running it through a second time, inside out with no soap OR use a warm shower). Line dry.
  • To restore DWR (Durable Water Repellent) or water beading to the outside of a garment, Kokatat recommends Granger’s XT Proofer Spray or Nikwax® TX-Direct Spray-On™. When using the Spray-On product apply when garment is damp. Line dry. Heat is necessary to set the DWR into the fabric (the bottle tells you to use a dryer). Kokatat recommends using an iron, on medium to low heat. Keep the iron moving. DO NOT iron gaskets or zippers.
  • Keep the garment clean, rinsed as needed, and hang dry. If the suit will be stored in a clean environment, the zipper should be left open. This will help alleviate pressure on the sealing elements. In dusty or dirty environments, store with the zipper closed. Store either hanging or loosely rolled. Do not store dry suits or tops in the same room with gas appliances or other combustion exhaust. Do not store dry suits or tops in excessively hot and/or humid locations or where latex gaskets are in direct sunlight. High heat and humidity, extreme dryness, exhaust fumes from cars or gas appliances and exposure to UV and ozone can destroy or shorten the life of gaskets.

Read the full article.

See other self repair guides from Kokatat.

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Changes in the Climate And a Windier Lake Superior

Chalk up another effect of climate change: it’s getting windier over Lake Superior.

That is the conclusion of a study by scientists who have looked at the effects of increasing surface water temperatures in the lake and air temperatures over it. The water has warmed faster than the air, creating instability in the air mass that results in stronger winds.

Ankur R. Desai of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, an author of the study in Nature Geoscience, said the effect was due to ice, or lack of it.

“Less ice in the winter means stronger winds in the summer,” Dr. Desai said.

Ice coverage of Lake Superior has declined in recent decades, which means that the lake starts to warm sooner, becoming stratified. The earlier this stratification occurs, Dr. Desai said, the warmer the top layer gets in the summer.

Data from buoys and satellites showed that this warming outpaced that of the air above it. That means the thermal gradient between the two was reduced.

A large thermal gradient makes for stable air, which is why the wind often dies down at night, when the ground cools. In this case, with a smaller gradient, instability increased. This was confirmed by data showing that average wind speeds over the lake have increased by 5 percent per decade since the 1980s.

The researchers also showed that higher winds increase the speed of currents in the lake. That, Dr. Desai said, should increase the amount of mixing of the lake’s layers, affecting nutrient distribution of nutrients and, ultimately, the organisms in the water.

© 2009 by the New York Times Company, Tue Nov 17 2009

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Gales of November come early.

As we are anticipating this year’s Gales of November photography workshop with pro Rob Stimpson, Lake Superior decided to give us a little show of what she can dish out.  Winds were from the west at about 30knots (gale force) and gave us some good wave action.  Here are a couple of shots plus a short video taken from the front of the lodge.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Xw9Vtfgm8o

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Sault College Fall Camp a success

This past week the Second year Adventure Parks and Recreation students from Sault College have been here for their “Fall Camp”.  They have had kayak, canoe and mountain bike instruction all week.  The plan was to go on an overnight trip on to Lake Superior and of course, being September, the lake decided not to cooperate so the group of 15 students and 3 instructors headed on a day trip down the Michipicoten River.

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Fly like an Eagle…

…swim with the salmon. It’s one of the great things about this area in the fall. The salmon are running up the Michipicoten river and so you are most likely guaranteed to see an eagle or two or three scouting out the area looking for a feast.

The following shots were taken from some folks doing an Eco-tour via canoe down the river not that long ago.


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