Greetings from the President
The 29th Annual Quiet Adventures Symposium was another great success based on my view from the LOAPC booth of all the folks in the arena, auditorium and speaking rooms. It is always encouraging to see so many people interested and participating in our human-oriented activities. I hope you were able to be there and had as great an experience as I did.
We shared our planned activities for the Club for 2024, and as always more will be added as the year progresses. There are many different possible activities and some just pop up. You can view them at our sites: Trip Schedule | Lansing Oar and Paddle Club (loapc.org) as well as LOAPC Event Schedule 2024 | LOAPC blog (wordpress.com)
Upcoming dates you may be interested in:
The Great Lakes Paddlers are planning a gear swap/sale at Island Lake. They are a Facebook group so you have to be on Facebook to view their site, but here is the relevant information:
Outdoor Gear Swap/Sale Great Lakes Paddlers | Groups | Facebook
Island Lake Recreation Area
Saturday, May 18th. 10 AM – 12 Noon
Kent Lake Beach Parking Area Lawn, north of the parking lot
Michigan Passport required for park entry
You’ve got all winter to sort through your paddling and camping gear!!! After 12 noon we can do an informal paddle on the Huron River, or some may choose to paddle over to Kensington Park. This event is not sponsored by the park, just a meeting of paddlers who want to recycle/sell usable gear. Great event for beginners/families getting started in outdoor activities.
The Michigan Waterways Stewards are planning many different river clean-ups and activities, and you can read about all of them at Red Cedar River Cleanup (miwaterwaysstewards.org)
The Friends of the Looking Glass River (also on Facebook ) have posted dates for their own clean-ups as follows:
SUN, MAY 5 AT 1 PM Spring River Clean Up Float – May 2024
SUN, JUL 14 AT 1 PM Summer River Clean up Float – July 2024
SUN, AUG 25 AT 1 PM Fall River Clean Up Float – August 2024
Finally, if all these activities are not enough, you can plan your own paddling destination here in Michigan with the following article from MLive: 8 Michigan islands where you can camp overnight – mlive.com
Don’t forget our next meeting is at Jimmy’s Pub in East Lansing at 7:00 pm on March 19! Rich Bailey will be speaking on Kayak Instruction.
Stay safe,
– Jay Hanks
Lake Lansing Boat Launch CLOSED Until May 1
Thanks to Rich Bailey for noticing this!
Lake Lansing Boat Launch Users: The Boat Launch located at 6271 E Lake Dr. in Haslett, is currently CLOSED and will remain so until MAY 1st due to a construction project with Meridian Township. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause and are working to get the project completed as soon as possible. Unfortunately, we cannot allow boats to launch during this time. If you have questions regarding this project, please contact Meridian Public Works Department at 517-853-4440.
On Saturday, March 2, about 1,500 people converged on the MSU Pavilion to celebrate, learn, and talk about paddling, biking, camping, fishing, hiking, and more quiet sports. Speaker presentations and the new demonstration stage were well attended. The mini pop-up music sessions with Jerry Vandiver and Caitlin Evanson in the exhibit aisles had many people smiling. The wherry built and donated by Jon Bauer found a new home at the end of the silent auction. Over 300 raffle tickets were sold for the grand prizes of a bicycle ($1500) and a kayak ($2100). Your chances were always good at the raffle table. Next year look for the 30th Symposium tentatively scheduled for March 1, 2025 at https://quietadventures.org/
– Kate Lederle, QAS Planning Committee
Getting Your Boat Ready for Paddling Season
Spring is almost here, earlier than usual. Punxsutawney Phil may have not seen his shadow this year, but even a hibernating mole could have seen that the paddling season was going to kick off in a hurry.
Which means that, as paddlers, we need to get going ourselves. And the first job is to go wake up your boat. If you have more than one, start with your favorite. (I know, your boats are like your kids. You don’t have a favorite. Yeah, right)
Some boats respond better to a gentle approach. These should be taken down off the storage rack, carefully placed on the tender blades of grass in the lawn and allowed to warm in the morning sun. Apply a gentle spray with soapy water to remove any dust and dirt and dried mud from the last season, followed by a rinse with warm (and preferably softened) water. Follow this up with a coat or two of hull wax, and maybe replace the deck lines with new ones. Your boat will thank you with many hours of enjoyable times on the water.
Other boats should be brought awake suddenly, with a hard, cold spray from the hose. Soon enough you will be paddling down the Misery River through Lumpenbump Rapids, so your pride and joy needs to be toughened up in a hurry. You can’t coddle these boats. Think of this as boot camp for watercraft. This boat may dump you in the cold water of a northern river 10 feet from shore while all your friends are watching, but it will get you to that point, safe and sound.
The same goes for your other gear. Check your paddle for cracks or splits in the blades and add a coat of decorative stickers to the paddle as well. And remember that half-eaten granola bar you couldn’t find at the end of the last trip? Check the top left pocket of your PFD now. Your paddling buddies will thank you on that first trip.
See you on the water!
– Tony Kuhlman, Recreation Co-Chair
Photo: MSU Extension Clean Boats Clean Waters
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