Tuesday, March 13, 2007

Local Boy Makes Good
By local, I mean Baraboo, Wisconsin, a good 2 hour drive from Milwaukee. The "boy" I refer to is, of course, Derrick of kayak and blog fame. Because of him, Rutabaga's Canoecopia saw Wisconsin become, if only for a short time, the center of the world of expedition sea kayaking. For three days, the creme de la creme of kayaking gathered in little Madison, Wisconsin to talk, teach, play and dance. All that and a world premiere of This Is The Sea. And much of this because of the efforts of Derrick Mayoleth.
I can only imagine the energy and hours he put into this grand effort. Just know that the picture above was taken Friday night, when the main event was just starting. By then he had already made a bizillion e mails, bandaged a hundred egos and taken heavens knows how many pictures. I can tell you that he went day and most of the nights in an effort to get people to where they needed to be and the the things they would need when they got there. Along the way, he has gathered some great stories and lurid gossip which are his to tell.
For us duffers, it meant an opportunity to meet and talk with folks we've read about or seen on various DVDs. There were also (for me, but I digress) a chance to re-meet instructors from QAJAQ training camps and other events.
So, Derrick, as soon as the Advil kicks in and you've had 16 hours sleep, take a bow. And thank you very much.
Paddle safe...
DS

4 comments:

derrick said...

LOL! So I logged on to comment and just put in my username and password and hit "Publish" Would'nt you know it reminded me I had to actually "Leave a comment"! I need to go back to bed!!!!!

Thank you. Yeah, it was great. Megan deserves a lot of credit too.

Nice to see you guys, sorry about the Norsaq. Fedex here we come. . .

steve said...

Great to see anybody who can get good publicity for Wisconsin and highlight to good side

congrats

Michael said...

Funny thing... there were actually fewer kayakers out on the water last weekend here in Florida. Could it have meant the center did shift slightly to the northwest? Naaa... LOL

Ron said...

I'll have to second all of what Dick said, many thanks Derrick. Was a good opportunity to meet many people, and to me, I guess that this last weekend was all about .. the people.