Last summer on Lake Travis, I watched a family's canoe slowly sink lower and lower at the launch ramp until water started pouring over the gunwales. They'd loaded it with two adults, three kids, a massive cooler, camping gear, and what looked like half their garage. The dad kept insisting "the guy at the store […]

Last weekend on Lake Travis, I watched a game warden write three tickets in the span of an hour. The violations? Missing whistles, expired registration stickers, and one paddler who thought his swim trunks counted as a PFD. That's $600 in fines that could've bought a really nice paddle. After 15 years of paddling everywhere […]

I'll never forget the day my buddy Mike went missing on Lake Travis. He'd headed out for a "quick paddle" on a Tuesday afternoon, told his wife he'd be back by dinner. When 9 PM rolled around with no word, panic set in. The problem? Nobody knew exactly where he'd launched from, which direction he'd […]

Last Saturday morning on Lake Travis, I watched a couple struggle with their brand-new tandem kayak for 20 minutes. They were spinning in circles, splashing water everywhere, and getting more frustrated by the second. Their problem? Nobody had taught them the basic kayak paddle strokes. After showing them a few simple techniques, they were gliding […]

Last March, I watched a family of four struggle to load their brand-new kayaks at Lake Ivanhoe, clearly overwhelmed by Orlando's endless paddling options. "Where should we even start?" the dad asked, holding a crumpled tourist map. That moment stuck with me because I'd been there myself - Orlando has so many incredible kayaking spots […]

I'll never forget the morning I learned the hard way about what to wear under a wetsuit. Picture this: 6 AM at Lake Travis, Texas. Air temp: 45°F. Water temp: 58°F. Me: standing in the parking lot in nothing but board shorts, trying to wrestle into a brand new 3/2mm wetsuit while a group of […]

The first time I paddled through the morning mist on Windermere, watching the sun burn through the fog to reveal the Lakeland fells, I knew I was hooked. That was fifteen years ago, and since then I've explored waterways from the Scottish sea lochs to the Cornish coast, discovering that the UK offers some of […]

Last weekend on Lady Bird Lake, I watched a couple spin in circles for 20 minutes, switching paddle sides every three strokes like they were churning butter. Their frustration was written all over their faces - the same look I had 15 years ago when I first tried canoeing. That's when an old-timer paddled up […]

I'll never forget the afternoon my paddle froze mid-stroke off Monterey Bay. A dorsal fin, easily three feet tall, sliced through the water about 50 yards from my kayak. My heart hammered as I watched the massive shadow glide beneath the surface. After what felt like hours (but was probably 30 seconds), the great white […]

The magnet hit something solid. After 20 minutes of dragging it along the bottom of Lake Travis from my fishing kayak, the rope went taut. Heart pounding, I slowly pulled up what felt like a small anchor. Breaking the surface was an old tackle box, rusted shut but intact. Inside? Vintage lures from the 1960s, […]