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Our Views:
[Home]
 Building
a Paddle Club
Part 1, Part
2, Part 3
The
Lost Experience
Paddling
Humor
Website
Redesign
Escambia
after the Storm
CK
Celebrates 5th Birthday
Summer
of Storms
What's
in your Bag?
On
Water Photography
To
Wear or Not To Wear
Paddling Florida's Crooked River
Shuttling Secrets
The Joy of Local Paddle Trips
It's wet. Now what?
Keep Anclote Key Beautiful
It's HOT. HOT. HOT.
Spring Fling
Winter Paddling
Autumn Rants & Raves
Summertime Storms
Welcome to Club Kayak
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WINTER 2004 - PADRE ISLAND TEXAS USA
 December
31, 2004 marks a special milestone for Club Kayak, as the web
site will reach its fifth anniversary. What started in June 1999
as Central Florida Kayak Trips, a simple place to share photos
and trip information has grown over the years to a major paddlesport
web site. We’ve added megabytes of information and had millions
of page views from Australia to Zimbabwe and most countries in
between.
We’ve seen our share of ups and downs,
with usage of the web site mirroring events of our times. Paddling
activities, whether sea kayak, canoe or whitewater rafting gained
popularity until September 11, 2001, when in a terrible two-hour
timeframe, thousands of lives and billions of dollars were lost
to terrorist attacks on the United States. All of a sudden, and
as it should be, interest in water sports or anything other than
security of our families and country seemed trivial.
Following that dark day, life never really did return to normal,
but it did return. That is until August and September 2004, when
Florida experienced the worst hurricane season to hit the US in
100 years. People stopped talking about paddling the pristine
waters of the Sunshine State faster than you can say Charley,
Francis, Jeanne and Ivan. Even now, in December 2004, many rivers
are filled with downed trees and boat ramps damaged or just plain
gone.
Yet, through the tragedy, we see life returning once again. Many
homes are getting new, not blue, roofs; facilities at State Parks
are being rebuilt and people in Florida’s tourism industry
are returning to work. To steal the Lee County Visitor and Convention
Bureau’s moniker, “Paradise Calm” is just around
the corner.
Be sure to visit Club Kayak frequently during the next five years.
Planned features include attracting new clubs into our little
domain, more user interaction and frequent updates to your favorite
paddling locations. And finally, thank you dear reader, for coming
along on this journey.
See you on the water.
Ed Schessl
FloridaKayaker@gmail.com
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