You’d never know July 13 & 14 was the inaugural Big Bear Paddle Fest, because things seemed to go so smoothly and the turnout was great. It was put on by the North Shore Trading Company in partnership with Captain John’s Marina - both in the lakeside community of Fawnskin.
 
After checking out the stuff on display at the Trading Co. by Keen and Big Bear’s own Equada Outfitters, we headed over to the marina for some splashin’ action. Dozens of people were getting ready to take the kayak clinic put on by Cathleen Calkins and Scott Cordner, and that looked fun, but my boyfriend Jeff and I opted for the canoe class.
Our “trainer” was from the Big Bear Discovery Center, which leads canoe and kayak excursions every week. Since Jeff was the “stern man” (yes, we joked about that later), he was in charge of most of the learning, and within a half hour, he was putting the J-stroke and the Canadian stroke into action. My job in front was to set the rhythm, and to follow his navigation (well, I followed most of the time).
 
We had a ball and were glad we gave canoes a try - it was the first time for both of us. It’s a nice alternative to a kayak and is actually a good team-building exercise for a couple! At the end, we raced a couple of French men back to shore, but alas, we let the U.S. down.
 
We couldn’t make the *official* races the next day, so we missed the fun and prizes: the top finishers won goodies worth $5,000! But we earned our share of booty. Saturday night, the Trading Co hosted a slide show of Scott & Cathleen’s kayaking trip to Siberia’s Lake Baikal, and at the raffle, Jeff won a pair of Smith sunglasses and I won a $50 gift certificate to the Trading Company. How cool is that? Now what to choose among the clothes, shoes and gourmet gift baskets…….?
 
Mark your calendars for next year’s Paddlefest!
Vanessa