Meet The new Paddler

I love to paddle, I love to teach and I love to teach people to paddle. So, yesterday was a biggie for me when, after two years of talking about it, I got my old friend Erich out for his first lesson. We strapped the Romany and the Arctic Tern I'd built onto the Blazer and headed for Lake Michigan.

Erich turned out to be an instructor's dream student. An accomplished rock climber (he teaches it...but I digress), he is athletic and anxious to learn. In no time at all, he mastered the wet exit and some basic strokes.

Doug Winter was along and had Erich doing all the rescue reentries in short order.

Erich's other forte is glass. He is an accomplished glass blower and can tell you stuff about glass that I wouldn't think anyone knew. Married with three daughters, Erich lives in Sussex, just west of Milwaukee.

Next time out we do braces, and I bet he learns to roll.

Paddle safe...

DS