Note from the Editor

We are edging up on SKOAC's first birthday and everyone should be proud of what we have accomplished in our first year of existence.
Thanks to all of you SKOACers who devoted their time and energy to building our new club.We made quite a splash in the local paddling community with well-staffed, professional booths at Midwest Mountaineering's Canoe Event and the Two Harbors Kayak Symposium. The sleek new SKOAC logo, brochures and t-shirts (all courtesy of our design guru, Jim Davis) are projecting the club's image like never before. Our web site, lovingly administered by Chris Wein, continues to grow in leaps and bounds with visitors from all over the world surfing in to check us out.

SKOAC's first summer paddling schedule was full of trips of all skill levels on local lakes and rivers, as well as Mother Superior.| This fall SKOAC focused on the "Outdoor Adventure" part of our new name, as we backpacked the Superior Hiking trail, scuba dived with sharks at the Mall of America's Underwater Adventure Aquarium, and winter camped (and kayaked) at Split Rock Lighthouse.| In the coming months SKOACers can look forward to snow shoe camping trips in the Boundary Waters, winter paddling trips on Superior and indoor rock climbing.| Several SKOAC members have also become obsessed with recumbent bicycles and are currently dreaming up long range/multi-day trips for the spring and summer.| | Look for details on these new outdoor opportunities in the Club News section of the newsletter.

As always, I welcome feedback, articles, and anything else related to sea kayaking or the outdoors. Don't hesitate to call me at (612) 823-1272 or e-mail me at brock.hunter@justice.com with any ideas, questions, or concerns.

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1.| The SKOAC Board met December 6 at Noodles & Co. restaurant near Lake Calhoun.| Present were Lynn Jacobs, Brock Hunter, Al Kasinskas,| | and Bill Newman.|

2.| | The Board decided to delay conversion from paper to an all-digital newsletter until spring.| This delay is based on the need to mail outelection ballots, candidate statements and, of course, the fabulous party invite you have, no doubt, already taken note of.| This delay will also give us some more time to tweek the member e-mail list with any necessary updates and changes.| If you have not already submitted you e-mail address, please do so if you want our new tech newsletter.| If your listed e-mail is not correct, please contact Bill Newman, our Membership Director, at 763.585.6191 or wanewman@earthlink.net.

3.| SKOAC Board elections are upon us.| Threeof the five Board positions are up for grabs.| | Those three slots are currently filled by Al Kasinskas, Adrienne Madson, and myself, Brock Hunter.| | All three incumbents are running for re-election.| In addition, Jerome Rausch, a very active club member (as well as a CPA) has been nominated and he has agreedto throw his hat into the ring.| Check out the candidate statements and be sure to cast your vote by either bringing your ballot to the Annual Party onJanuary 25 or by mailing it in.| | If you intend to mail your ballot, be sure that we receive it by January 24 or it will not be counted.| Mail your ballot to SKOAC, P.O. Box 581792, Minneapolis, MN| 55458-1792.

4.| Bill Newman, Membership Director Extraordiniar, is cracking the whip on deadbeat members.| Some of you, and you know who you are, have allowed your SKOAC membership lapse.| Many of you will find renewal/waiver form included with your newsletter.| If so, fill it out and send it in with your dues, ASAP.| If you didnot receive a hard copy of the newsletter and/or are no longer listed on the club phone list, you should consider yourself SERIOUSLY LAPSED.| Contact Bill at 763.585.6191 to get your poop in a proverbial group.| Remember, current SKOAC membership is required to participate in many club events including pool sessions, lessons, and, of course, trips.|

5.| On January 7 the Rapid Riders, our whitewater sister organization within the MCA, invited me (Brock Hunter) to speak at their Board meeting on the issue of incorporating their club.| | SKOAC, as you may or may not know, is an actual non-profit corporation and has been since the days of TCSKA.| As a corporation, we enjoy an extra level of protection from potential law suits.| | Specifically, our officers are shielded from personal liability, protection not provided by our general ACA insurance coverage.

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At the Rapid Riders meeting I explained the requirements and procedures for incorporation and answered many thoughtful questions and concerns from Rapid Riders members.| | After sitting through the rest of their meeting I can report the Rapid Riders are a very well run, active and friendly organization.| We look forward to future opportunities for combined club events.

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SKOAC's Thanksgiving backpacking trip on the Superior Hiking Trail became a true cold weather shakedown when, with no warning, our mild forecast was blown away by 30-40 mph northerly winds and temps dropping down below zero.  Most of us were caught without true winter sleeping bags or clothing.  Fortunately, the unexpected cold snap did not really ruin our trip.  We did surprisingly well with our three season bags, backpacking tents and one larger wood stove-heated ultra-light tipi where we all congregated for meals and socializing.  Despite the bitterly cold conditions we kept the tipi at 70-80 degrees all evening, enjoying yet another legendary SKOAC BS session.  As the evening progressed folks took their leave and headed to their individual tents to bed down.  After a night that dropped to around –5 degrees F, with 40 mile per hour winds, members gathered in the tipi for a breakfast.  Some reported experiencing a pretty chilly night, but spirits in our group remained high and we enjoyed our hike out.  We did cut our trip a day short because of the bitter cold, and took advantage of a car that we had strategically stashed at the mid-point of our route for just such an eventuality.  All through the trip we marveled at the resilience of 12 year-old Caelli Wright, Rick Wright's daughter and our youngest club member.  Though visibly tired, Caelli refused our repeated offers to unburden her of her pack and she often took the lead as our group trudged down the frozen trail.

2.  In early December four SKOACers dove with the sharks at the Mall of America's Underwater Adventures Aquarium.  Rated the best shark dive in America, Underwater Adventures boasts four species of sharks, as well as rays, sea turtles and a plethora of other sea critters. 

We started with a dive in the fresh water tank, inhabited by many local fish species, including Northern Pike, Bass, Walleye and Sturgeon.  The highlight of the fresh water dive was the chance to feed the Sturgeon by hand.  We discovered that a Sturgeon's mouth is like a vacuum cleaner and they literally sucked the food (and sometimes our fingers) right up their hose-like snouts.

The shark dive came next.  We were first briefed on safety procedures by aquarium staff.  Once in the tank, we stayed in a tight group on the bottom, and swam along the walls, with three staff members providing some perimeter protection with long striped PVC wands.  Of the four species of sharks in the tank, two of them, the Sand Tigers and the Browns, are considered dangerous to humans.  The staff did a good job of keeping the dangerous sharks at a safe distance, though they still occasionally cruised right over our heads.  The non-dangerous species, the Nurse and Black-Tip Reef sharks, along with sea turtles and assorted fish were allowed to swim right through our group.   At one point, a rambunctious albino Sea Turtle bulldozed several of us over as we knelt on the bottom.

Underwater Adventures is one of the few aquariums in the country that allows the public to dive in their tanks, and one of the fewer still that runs shark dives.  The staff was very friendly and professional.   We all had a great time and would recommend it to any diver who can't make it to the Caribbean this winter.

Anyone with diving certification can arrange a shark dive.  Dives are done only a few times per month, always in the evening, and require advance reservations.  Contact Underwater Adventures directly to arrange your shark encounter.

3.  As in past years, SKOACers gathered at Hidden Falls on the Mississippi for a New Year's Day paddle.  Despite cold and overcast conditions we had a great turnout.  We were joined by members of the Rapid Riders and even did some boat swapping.   Rick Wright managed to quickly capsize his borrowed rodeo boat but, fortunately, rolled back up, salvaging SKOAC's rep.  After the paddle, folks gathered around a bonfire and socialized until the sun went down.

4.  Despite our unseasonably warm (at least until this week) and dry winter, the Boundary Waters are ripe for snowshoe camping.  Sarah Ohmann did trip out of Ely during the first week of January and reports a generous 18" of ice on the lakes, covered by a passable 6-8" of snow.  With the recent cold snap, conditions can only be getting better. 

Check the Calendar for details on specific trips, including one this coming weekend.  We will always have at least one (and frequently more) wood stove-heated tents on our winter trips.  Group members will need to bring their own tent (any backpacking style tent will do) to sleep in, but will be welcomed into the heated tents for all meals and socializing.  Don't feel bad about sleeping in a non-heated tent – even we heated tent dwellers let our wood burning stoves die down at bedtime and brave the cold from inside a fat sleeping bag, just like everyone else.

5.  As you may or may not know, SKOACer, Patrick Maun, is an accomplished rock climber who includes Devil's Tower in Wyoming among his ascents.   Patrick has generously offered to sponsor the first SKOAC indoor climbing evening at the REI Climbing Pinnacle.  The event is set for March 3rd from 7:00PM until 9:00PM.   Our group size is limited to 18 (we already have 10), so sign up quickly if you are interested.   The cost to reserve the Pinnacle is $100, which will be evenly spread among all participants.  REI will supply all needed gear, including shoes, ropes and harnesses.  This is a rare opportunity for unimpeded access to one of the regions premier indoor climbing venues.  Contact Patrick at 651.281.0455 or patrick@patrickmaun.com to sign up.

6.  Rob Tull, long time club member and notorious smack-talker, has become obsessed with recumbent cycling over the last couple of years.   What, you may ask, constitutes "obsession" in a club full of Eccentrics?  How about peddling 7,000 miles in the last year?  Rob regularly knocks out multi-day, multi hundred-mile trips.  To hear it from him, recumbents make that kind of distance easier and far more comfortable than on an upright bike. 

Based on Tull's track record of gross exaggeration, if not outright BS, we are, of course, skeptical.  Nonetheless, many of us are curious about these weird-looking contraptions and at least one of us, Ellen Nacik, has already fallen under Tull's spell.  After joining Rob and some of his "bent" buddies on a weekend in Iowa, Ellen promptly went out and bought one of her own.  Ellen now reportedly spends so much time on her recumbent (dubbed Planet Ellen) her friends rarely see her anymore.  If you have recumbent bike or are interested in checking them out, contact Rob for info on his next adventure.  Rob can be reached at 515.287.1031 or at  rob@robtull.com.