Well, some warm weather has finally arrived in Wisconsin. Our Demo area, in front of our place, is a nice gentle South facing slope down to the lake and it acts as a sun-ray catchment system. Our shoreline is the first area of our little Sandow Lake to break up.

Little by little; slowly by slowly…

Being a nice slope, we get fairly deep water pretty close to shore, so, now that the sun shone all weekend and a little wind got in on the action, there is a nice shore lead in front of our place. I’m thinking of throwing a Tiderace Xceed in the water, grabbing a StreamLyte paddle and paddling around in a 300 yard long by 50 yard circle. Maybe clearing my head in some very cold water.

DON’T JUDGE ME, I’ll take what I can get, it was a long winter.

Anyway, I’ve been very busy getting the physical shop space finished. We are using re-claimed, recycled, salvaged and rescued materials, as much as is reasonably possible, in the construction of our shop space: Fixtures, shelving units, racks, etc.

This serves two purposes; it saves money (which is always tight when you’re starting out) and it offsets the environmental impact of our paddling lifestyle. Plastic, composites and many of the things that go into manufacturing durable equipment come at an environmental cost. Every little bit of eco-friendly decision making can have a positive impact.

One full wall in the shop will be entirely clad in salvaged Oak pallet boards…and yes, we are a proud garage shop!

I leave for Florida on Thursday; heading to pick up our first full order of 9 Tiderace Sea Kayaks. It will be a whirlwind trip, down and back in Three and a half days, but there is still a lot to do to get our shop ready for Paddling season!

New product is arriving every day; Tiderace Sea Kayaks, Peak UK PFD’s & spray decks, Gram Kajak Greenland paddles, Salamander Paddling Gear and more. Give us a call if you need anything, but don’t see it in our store. We’re frantically trying to do everything needed to be a full-service paddle touring center by May 1!