Paddling News
by rich on 2008-06-08 18:09:00
Members of the paddling community are being asked to attend a Illinois Pollution Control Board meeting to show support of cleaner pollution standards for the Chicago River and the lower Des Plaines River.
See the Friends of the Chicago River website for more details on how you can help make an impact on our river's water quality. Sample letters are provided along with a list of members of the paddling community who have shown their support.
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Attend an Illinois Pollution Control Board Public Hearing:
Public Hearing
June 16, 2008
5:30-8 p.m.
100 E. Erie St., Chicago
Contact Caitlyn for details: cbolton@chicagoriver.org
by rich on 2008-06-07 23:35:00
With warm weather finally upon us, it's time to put those paddles in the water. The Illinois Paddling Council has deemed June Paddle-A-Trail Month, where paddlers are encouraged to paddle a local waterway and report the details of the trip on the openlands.org water trail site for the benefit of all paddlers. Check out the site as they offer descriptions of many great trips.
For more details see the IPC Paddle-A-Trail Month website.
by rich on 2008-05-10 23:00:00
To aid in my quest of finding a good used sea kayak, I've aggregated a few of the sites I've been searching on. Check out the new "Classified$" link. A few craigslist feeds as well as some paddling.net links have been added -for both canoes and kayaks. I've also added some links to paddling.net reviews for some of the major canoe and kayak manufacturers.
Hopefully this will be of some use to those of you looking for a used kayak or canoe.
by rich on 2008-04-24 11:01:00
Thanks to all the snow earlier this year compounded with recent rains, many area waterways are flooding or near flooding. To keep paddlers aware of the recent river closures and restrictions I have created a page identifying these located at the following:
http://www.PaddleAway.com/advisory
If you are aware of any other closures, advisories or dangerous situations on a river please feel free to add them in using the form at the bottom of the page above.
by rich on 2008-04-14 23:11:00
Two sightings of a second cougar near the Skokie Lagoons is being reported by the Chicago Tribune. As a paddler you're likely to be safe on the water - just be cautious putting in and taking out!!!
Read the article at Chicago Tribune:
Air search for cougar near Skokie Lagoons comes up empty
by rich on 2008-02-24 21:36:00
I recently received an email regarding a new 631 mile water trail in Alabama described as "The Nations Longest One State River Trail". Anyone interested in heading to Alabama can find more by about the trail at the link below:
"In conjunction with the Grand Opening of the Alabama Scenic River Trail at Montgomery's Riverwalk on June 6, boaters from throughout the country will participate in the celebration by traveling in canoes, kayaks and powerboats down various segments of Alabama's beautiful new Trail from Georgia to the Gulf of Mexico during May, June and July"
http://www.AlabamaScenicRiverTrail.com
They grand opening is scheduled for June 6th, 2008 at the Riverwalk in Montgomery, AL.
by rich on 2008-02-22 21:31:00
Here is a photo for those like myself suffering from a somewhat rare and potentially debilitating disorder called PDD, paddling deficit disorder :).
Anyone recognize this stretch of river? If you think you know the answer post your guess in Paddle talk.
*Note: PDD is an exclusive trademark of T. Lindblade.
by rich on 2008-01-23 18:00:00
When its cold and icy out your first thoughts should turn to paddling indoors. Kayaking winter pool sessions are being held throughout Illinois. Here is a quick list so you can find out more. The paddling calendar also has some of these that are located close to Chicago and the burbs as well as a couple canoing classes.
Chicago - UIC Pool - Kayak Chicago
http://www.kayakchicago.com/pool.html
West Chicago - Geneva Kayak:
http://www.genevakayak.com/courses/pool.html
Oak Park, Schaumburg, Des Plaines - CWA
http://www.chicagowhitewater.org/cwa/learning.asp
Washington,IL - Five Points Washington - MCC
http://teamdirtclod.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2052
Rockford - Paddle and Trail
http://www.paddleandtrail.com
Springfield - Eisenhower Pool - TDC
http://teamdirtclod.com
Milwaukee, WI - Schroeder YMCA
http://www.bsbs.org/messageboard/viewtopic.php?t=1432
by rich on 2007-12-16 20:28:00
Are you a map junkie? Even if you aren't, you're going to love the new Google "Terrain View". Its a beautiful map that now shows rivers, lakes and geographical features. Hats off to Google for finally getting us outdoor lovers a proper map!
Click the image below to see it in action:
Enjoy!
by rich on 2007-11-22 23:14:54
Since the inception of PaddleAway.com in early 2007, I had been running the site from an old computer sitting in my living room. Despite the obvious usage violation of my contract with Comcast, it worked fairly well and I didn't have any major issues.
Today I finally moved to a real web hosting company called Webfaction.com. So far I'm impressed with their shared web hosting -it's faster, inexpensive, and they've answered all my emails almost immediately. I'm expecting no issues from them. Just in case though, if you see anything not working in the next week or so, please let me know.
Thanks,
Rich