Busy Autumn

Well, It has been a busy late summer early autumn.

My wife loves NDK Kayaks. And to be different I was always paddling something different. I really love my Point 65 Whisky16. But now after some pushing from my wife I am paddling an NDK Explorer and I think it is a great kayak. It is now my primary boat.

In August my wife became an NDK dealer ( Capital City Kayak ). We have the Virginia area. I have been building out the website and trying to get our marketing off the ground. I also had to move my workshop from the garage to the shed so we would have room to store the additional kayaks kayaks. I also had to build a new rack and another may be in our future.

Also we are dealers for Celtic Paddles and Reed Chill Cheater. So, now I am changing out some of my cold weather clothing because you should use what you sell. We are also hoping to carry Snapdragon spray skirts. My wife and I both love their product.

And as for Celtic Paddles, I am a huge fan. I was not sure when I got my first one. The blade scoop threw my roll off. After a little time I got my roll down with the Celtic and I love it. I am a huge fan of the 4 piece paddle and the ability to have one shaft and multiple blades. 

We also made it to the Kiptopeke Sea Kayaking Symposium. I had an great time kayaking with some great instructors (Ashley Brown, ACA L-5 Instructor and NDK sponsored kayker and Tom Noffsinger ACA L-5 Instructor and BCU 4-star paddler). Theses are two great instructors.

We have also had our standard range of local kayaking trips and Randi is at Autumn Gales this week. I am home holding down the fort.

Oh and I would like to mention that EveryTrail was bought by AllTrails and now my Islamorada Guide is gone. AllTrails has removed their Events functionality and they do not have guides posted by users, you can post a trail but that is not the same. I am finding little reason to pay them $29 a year for a pro account and my wife let hers go. I am looking to add guides and launch site into our webpage using Google Maps I will post about it when I figure it out.

I will try to get around to posting paddles we have done over the last few months, I also have some photos from a trip to Thomas Point Lighthouse a couple weeks ago that I need to process. And some gear repairs to do. Also don't forget to check and restock your first aid and kayak emergency kit and change out the batteries in your lights.

That is all for now.

Trail Sites on the internet and tracking apps for your Smart Phone

Several years ago I started using Wikiloc to save my GPS tracks. Then later I created an EveryTrail account but did not use it much. I returned to it recently and found the interface improved and it had the guide creation feature. I really started using it and moved all my tracks over to the site. It has now been down for a week. This really sucks because I have started using my smart phone and BackCountry Navigator that has a feature to upload directly to EveryTrail. I also installed the EveryTrail app on my phone and was about to purchase a pro account.

Now, I have another account with AllTrails. I believe this one will stay around since it is run by National Geographic. Still not sure how much I will like it. EveryTrail had some nice features like guide creation. Wikiloc's interface has become dated and I have always had issues with adding photos with geo location metadata. They all have phone apps with various uses and the ability to record tracks with your phones GPS. I prefer to use Backcountry Navigator to record my tracks for a many reasons. The one that stands out the most is the ability to download NOAA charts to the phone so I can navigate when I do not have cell service. I still keep a chart on my deck along with a compass and a regular GPS but having a nautical chart on your phone that you can compare with your deck chart makes knowing your location and taking a bearing super simple.

So, what tech do you use for navigation and sharing your trails? Leave a comment ant let me know. I am always looking to test new apps and gadgets. 

If you know what happened to the EveryTrail site let me know. I can not find any information on the interwebs.

A track screenshot from Backcountry Navigator