Last weekend we spent a day at Camp Boucheron; an annual event that began in Feb 2001. While others overnighted and enjoyed the brisk cabin conditions, K and I returned to home base to relieve the baby sitter and woke up where the water wasn’t frozen.

During the week Skip, Steve, Eric and I celebrated Bob’s 60th birthday at Okay Dokey’s . After our meal Craig brought out 5 pieces of pie: chocolate creme, coconut, lemon meringue adorned with candles. Eric provided the hats and noise makers.

Eric and I went swimming Thursday night to a empty pool, fortunately his buddies Trevor and ‘Big” Matt showed up after us so we could have a few games.

I have a pair of bent shaft wooden Gillispie paddles I purchased around 1984 or 1985. At the time they were $75-80 / paddle. My buddy Rich and I were competing in short canoe races (>14 miles) and those bent shaft paddles coupled with my Wenonah Jensen 18′ canoe gave us a competitive advantage. These paddles have been my “go to” paddles for recreational racing and canoe camping trips for many years. I have refinished the blade tips and shaft due to wear, but not done a great job. This past fall one of the paddles was loaned out and returned with a cracked blade. I exchanged emails with Brad Gillipsie about repairing and refinishing the paddles. Current replacements run about $125 / paddle and while they are a beautiful paddle I managed to get the refurbished paddles done for the same rate. My paddles returned this week looking almost like new. Now we just need spring.