Owner: The Wired Kayaker URL:http://www.wiredkayaker.com Join Date: Wed, 11 Apr 2007 21:20:10 -0500 Rating:0 Site Description: This blog focuses on recreational Kayaking as well as other outdoor sports that the average person can enjoy. Nothing Extreme or incredibly advanced, just fun stuff for the recreational outdoor enthusiast. Site statistics:Click here
Podcast: Wild Chronicles 2007-04-10 18:57:00 National Geographic has a fantastic podcast called Wild Chronicles. The podcast focuses on some exotic and native animals. Each one is about 5 minutes long. Those 5 minutes are packed with information ad entertainment. Since I got my iPod I looked for podcasts that would be fun and exciting and deal with the outdoors. Technically the animals are outdoors but I haven't found a very good video podcast that covers the outdoors very well. I need to keep looking, to get my butt in gear and just do my own.And even though I mention my iPod all the time, you really don't even need one, just download iTunes and listen to or watch podcasts on your computer. Don't get left out of the great free content that is available.Help me Get Paid to Blog for a Year! Please Vote.If you liked this post Please Click a button. Read more:Podcast
Help me (get paid to) Blog for a Year. 2007-04-06 21:41:00 I have entered a contest called Blog for a Year. What will happen if I win this. I will be paid to blog for an entire year on any blog of my choosing. I will be blogging on The BenSpark blog because I have worked very hard to make it a nice blog over the past 4 years of blogging. Flatwater has been around for a while too and I will continue to blog there as well. I will also blog here at The Wired Kayaker and my newest/oldest blog BenSpark 2: Electric Boogaloo.I think that if anyone tries hard enough they can achieve a goal. My goal in this competition is to get the most votes. You can vote for me each and every day. So I am asking all of my readers to click my "Help me blog for a year" badge on the top of my right sidebar, each day and help me get enough votes to be paid to blog for an entire year. I have the aptitude and ideas to take my blogs to the highest levels.Please read my profile...http://www.blogforayear.com/profiles/bensparkYou can also donate to the Blogger fund if you so
Blog Spotlight: Camping Coop 2007-04-06 21:07:00 Julie runs a fantastic new blog called Camping
Coop. She gets out camping much more than I do and she has some great ideas as well as gadgets for you campers out there. Today she put up a post about an electric marshmallow toaster. I love gadgets and dubbed it the "trifork of pokieness". I would not buy one but I would have hours of fun playing with it.Camping Coop features some delicious looking recipes, as well as camping gear. There are also camping pictures for the multiple campsites that Julie has had. If you are into camping and want to be entertained and informed, take a look at Camping Coop. The blog is listed under my outdoor bloggers links.Help me Get Paid to Blog for a Year! Please Vote.If you liked this post Please Click a button. Read more:Spotlight
Outer Banks Kiting 2007-04-04 14:50:00 For a while I was maintaining the website for Outer Banks Kiting. I have never tried kiteboarding but my friend Andy is big time into it. He hooked me up with Jay Crawford, he owns Outer Banks Kiting, for some help with the website. So I worked on it for a while and now Jay has a new person to help him out. I was glad to help and the site was pretty simple to set up. And I have a place to stay if I decide to go down to the Outer Banks. If I want to try out Kiting or rather sharpen my photography skills by taking kiting pictures I can go with a pro kiter.I have found many resources for kite boarding since I started working on Jay's site and the things that can be done on a kiteboard are pretty amazing. There a quite a few kiteboard podcasts featuring these amazing stunts. There is a video on Jay's site of him kiteboarding. He's pretty amazing.Help me Get Paid to Blog for a Year! Please Vote.If you liked this post Please Click a button.
Kayak Shop: Cape Cod Kayak 2007-03-20 04:04:00 My favorite Kayak shop on the Cape is Cape Cod
Kayak. And I know I am very biased because I worked there for a while but it really is a great shop. Kim, the owner and head guide, is a great person and very knowledgeable of Kayaks and Kayaking. She also knows where to go in the Mashpee, Falmouth, Sandwich, and Bourne as well as many towns within the area of those named towns.Cape Cod Kayak also has a very nice event each summer and that is the lobster bake. There is also a unique event that Cape Cod Kayak hosts called the On Water Scavenger Hunt. This event is a lot of fun and is also a fund raiser for The Michael Fernandes Charity Foundation. If you want to participate contact Cape Cod Kayak and get at least $50.00 in pledges. My wife and I participated in the first On Water Scavenger Hunt a few years ago. We had an absolute blast.The Cape Cod Kayak shop is conveniently located on 28A in Cataumet right next door to a fantastic Ice Cream Shop called Somerset Creamery. So stop over, chec
Blog: South West Sea Kayaking 2007-03-09 14:46:00 I have been spending a great deal of time on FuelMyBlog lately because I have three blogs listed there. This blog, The BenSpark, and Flatwater. I have been exploring the other kayaking blogs that are listed on FuelMyBlog. And this one, South
West Sea Kayaking
is one of my favorites. It gets that honor because what the blog author is doing is something I dream about being able to do in my life, around here not in the UK.Mark Rainsley is the author of this blog, South West Sea Kayaking, as well as an upcoming book that will be a guide to the South West of England; from the Bristol channel to the Isle of Wight. The blog will be chronicling the year 2007 at Sea as well as updates on the progress of Mark's book. I am very envious of Mark's task ahead. He will be researching, photographing and writing his sea kayaking guide this year. I just started following his blog and have begun to read through the archives. I am grateful that Mark posts many pictures. They are very nice pictures and s
My Paddle 2007-02-26 15:47:00 I bought my paddle a few years ago from Kim at Cape Cod Kayak. I was working there at the time so I got a little discount on it and that paddle has been so worth the money spent. When you paddle or kayak, really the two words are interchangeable when I go out on the water, your paddle is something that you are going to be connected to the entire time you are out. And if you have a paddle that is heavy then you are going to tire sooner than later. I originally had an EMS paddle that weighed a ton. I bought it when I didn't really know enough about the sport to make an informed decision. I even paddled without feathering the blades. Just muscling my way across the water, no finesse no style just brute bull headed force.Now I have a Swift Paddle. Swift Paddles are sold by Eddyline at your local kayak shop. I'll talk about Eddyline in a later post because they make some fantastic boats. Swift paddles are well made and constructed of "Modulus" composite or all graphite construction. The s
My Kayak.. 2007-02-23 04:54:00 My kayak is a Perception Acadia. It is from 1997 and is still in great shape. It is made of roto-molded plastic so it weighs a bit more than all the new stuff that is out today. It is blue and has webbing on the front and back, no hatches and a wide cockpit. It is a decent recreational boat. I like paddling in it even though it isn't as high tech as the newer sleeker and lighter boats.But the boat is mine and I love it. I haven't tested enough new boats yet to think about buying a new one. And since I didn't paddle at all last summer I cannot justify buying a new boat. So this season I will try and get out to some demo days (on water) that manufacturers have so that people can test out their boats. I'd like to find a longer, and lighter boat without a rudder. I am not a fan of the rudder but maybe that is because I haven't spent enough time on a boat that had a rudder.Perception is a decent brand and they make quality boats. The Acadia is now called the Acadia Expedition and inclu
The Wired Kayaker 2007-02-18 22:30:00 Hi my name is Drew and welcome to the Wired
Kayaker. This blog will be a combination of my love for Sea Kayaking and of Technology. I will attempt to seek out great places to kayak and great technology to use while kayaking. Eventually I will expand to other sports and outdoor activities but Kayaking is my main focus here. Look for more to come in the future.A little about me and my kayaking. I started kayaking in 1997. I had read about the sport and researched things for about a year and one day with some disposable income in my pocket I went and outfitted myself for kayaking on flat water. I took the kayak down to the the water under the Kelly street bridge in Manchester and set about learning how to paddle. I had read the books and was reasonably sure I would do fine. I did and I loved kayaking from the first moment on the water.I took my Kayak (A Blue Perception Acadia) to my house at the Cape and stored it there for the summer. That summer I looked for places to go kayaking. I met
Podcast: Kayak Journal Podcast 2007-04-14 17:18:00 In my attempts to find out all there is to find out about Kayaking and Technology I came across this podcast: The Kayak JournalPodcast
. This started as an audio podcast but has since grown into a video podcast. The episodes are short, up to about 5 minutes. great little snack sizes when you only have a couple of minutes to watch anything. The podcast has been around since August of 2005 but there are not many episodes. If you are interested in kayaking of any type then you should check out this podcast. The information from the early audio podcasts is very informative. I need to finish watching the rest of the video podcasts to make my determination of their importance. Bt from what I have seen so far they are quite entertaining.Help me Get Paid to Blog for a Year! Please Vote.If you liked this post Please Click a button.
Website: Paddling.net 2007-04-18 17:09:00 Paddling.net is a very good resource for paddling enthusiasts. They have articles on kayaking and canoeing. There are correspondents from all over the place and they have a lot of great features. There is an extensive list of trips and outfitters, Paddling schools and dealers. Paddling.net is probably one of my favorite resources for kayaking information, product reviews and trip locations. You can sign up for the newsletter at Paddling.net.The newsletter comes to you on a weekly basis and I must admit that I don't take enough time to read all of the features. I just do not have the time and also this newsletter is jam packed with great information. Paddling.net is the resource that I would like to become at some point. So much work needs to be done on this blog to get to a level like that. Help me Get Paid to Blog for a Year! Please Vote.If you liked this post Please Click a button. Read more:Paddling
Website: Byroads.org 2007-04-19 08:11:00 I found an excellent website tonight because I traveled one of America's byways. The website is called America's Byways®: National Scenic Byways Online This is a comprehensive online resource for traveling along all the scenic byways of America. Last week I was in Louisiana and drove on the Creole Nature Trail I found a great website for the trail itself and I blogged about the ride on The BenSpark.Since this is an outdoor blog that I am creating I figured that this was the best place to introduce the readers to America's Byways®: National Scenic Byways Online.If you would like to see the images I took on my trip through the Columbia River Scenic Highway.Help me Get Paid to Blog for a Year! Please Vote.If you liked this post Please Click a button.
Website: Bl.ast - free visual directory & advertising network 2007-04-22 15:21:00 I learned about bla.st today. The website is a visual directory and advertising network
. It was very easy for me to sign up and create my bla.st card. I made a bla.st for this blog and you can see it on my sidebar. I am interested in finding other blogs that fit the categories of outdoors and technology. If your blog fits that category then you can click on the bla.st advertise here link and you can advertise on The Wired Kayker.But you can also just create your own bla.st card and put the bla.st widget on your own blog or website and begin to generate traffic and advertising on your own. You can even earn referral fees from users who sign up through your bla.st widget.the bla.st cards are fun to make and cool to visually search. You get a very good idea of what a product or blog is all about before you click. Sign up today and get your blog or website listed at bla.st.Help me Get Paid to Blog for a Year! Please Vote.If you liked this post Please Click a button.
Tech: My Blog Log Meme 2007-04-28 04:43:00 I got tagged by Flatwater Tech (yeah my own blog) but hey I am spreading this around a bit and I am giving my readers a chance to be the next people who are tagged. If you are interested in participating in this meme then leave me a comment and I will take the first 2 people who respond. If this one fills up to quickly then check out The BenSpark or BenSpark2: Electric Boogaloo to get your chance to be tagged.***Start Copying Here***Here are the rules:1) Write a short introduction about how you found this list and include a link back to that blog.2) Copy these rules and the entire list below and post it on your blog.3) Take “My New Community Members” and move them into the “The Original Community Members” list.4) Find 3 new blogs, join their MyBlogLog Community and add them to the “My New Community Members” section. Remember to also add the “Join the Community” link next to your new blogs.5) Join as a member to each Community listed here by clicking on “Join the Commu
Getting Excited 2007-04-25 14:09:00 The summer breezes are whispers on the winds at the moment. Monday we had some wonderful weather and I got the first pangs of excitement over the paddling season. I have to get down to the Cape to pick up my boat. I am thinking about freezing my gym membership for the summer and committing myself to getting out on the water a couple times a week while I am home. (i.e. not traveling). There are two places where I am looking to try out. The first is Houghton's Pond in Framingham. I have a co-worker who also kayaks and we'll be going out together at some point. The place is only 10 minutes from work so I can hit that for a few hours and then head home. Or I could get up super early paddle and then go to work. That might be an option as well.The second place is Hopkinton State Park, I drive by this location each morning and I have been thinking of stopping there for a morning paddle. I just have to go out and do it.Help me Get Paid to Blog for a Year! Please Vote.If you liked this post P
Blog Roll: I Do Follow 2007-01-01 13:09:00 There are many blog rolls that I am a part of. Exchanging links with other people on the Internet has gotten my site noticed and given me a great deal of traffic. I owe that to the support of the many people on the different blog rolls that I am associated with. I am part of the do Follow Movement and thus am part of the Do Follow Blog Roll. If you visit these blogs and leave comments you will get true links back to your blog.Do Follow Blog Roll
My Rack 2007-05-03 19:13:00 I've got to get my kayak from place to place so when I first purchased it I also purchased a rack system from Thule. There are two major suppliers of rack systems, Thule and Yakima. Since EMS carried Thule and not Yakima I went with Thule. The answer was that simple. When I started Kayaking I did not do much in the way of research. I went out and bought a boat (heavy), paddle (heavy before I got my Swift) and a rack system (awesome).Yes my original Rack system is the one I still have except for changing the feet from car to car and getting different components for bikes and kayaks over the years I still have the same one I started with. The first car I put my rack system on was a 1990 740 Turbo Volvo. I had the saddle type of holder for my boat. Since I was only carrying one boat it made sense to use this type of mount. I could have my boat and my bike on the car at the same time.Then I met my wife Allison, she became a fan of kayaking as well so I picked up two sets of HullAPorts so
Gadget: Kayak Security 2007-05-12 23:44:00 I am considering bringing my kayak up from the Cape so I can go and paddle each morning before work. But I wonder if my kayak will be secure on top of my car while I am in the office. So I started looking around online for some way to make the kayak secure on my roof rack throughout the day.I found Lasso Security Cables and they have quite a few styles of Kayak security cables that you can use for single kayaks, touring kayaks and even tandem kayaks. It is such a simple concept I don't know why I was knocking my head against a wall wondering if there were security measures for my kayak.Help me Get Paid to Blog for a Year! Please Vote.If you liked this post Please Click a button. Read more:Gadget
Gear: Bike Helmets 2007-05-16 18:02:00 When I was a kid we did not have bike helmets. We would slam on our front brakes of our 3 speed bikes and go ass over teakettle onto the pavement. Heck I was hit by a car when I was 11 years old. I had an old banana seat bike that I road everywhere on the Cape. I still have the front wheel of the bike. It was traumatic but not nearly as traumatic as this story.Bike helmet crushed, but head fineAll I can say is holy crap. I cannot imagine having a truck run over your head and survive it. I guess bike helmets work. I wear one now. Not because of the story, I've been wearing one for a while, probably after they started looking more sleek and less geek. Help me Get Paid to Blog for a Year! Please Vote.If you liked this post Please Click a button. Read more:Helmets
Paddling.net Sweepstakes 2007-05-16 15:43:00 Paddling.net has started a new sweepstakes. If you are not signed up for the Paddling.net newsletter than you really should. I am a member of Paddling.net and I really enjoy the site. It has to be one of the best places for Kayak information. Paddling.net does cool sweepstakes often and the prizes are spectacular. This month they have a great prize package including an Eddyline Fathom. You can register for the sweepstakes each day up until July 12, 2007.Sign up for Paddling.net today, maybe you could be a winner.Help me Get Paid to Blog for a Year! Please Vote.If you liked this post Please Click a button. Read more:Paddling
, Sweepstakes
Tagged by Camping Coop 2007-05-18 13:51:00 I’ve been tagged by Camping
Coop.com for this meme called Seven Random Facts List. I guess this means random things you don’t know about me. * 1. I am afraid of heights * 2. I love to Hike and walk out close to the edge of the mountain despite a fear of heights. * 3. I almost died 3 times my freshman year of college while on Alpine CLub activities. White water rafting, hiking on Mt Osceola and climbing the side of a waterfall. * 4. I had a panic attack while attempting to learn the Eskimo roll. * 5. I want my own home on a lake with a garage full of kayaks. * 6. I try sports after reading about them. * 7. I didn't kayak at all last year.Now I have to tag 7 people, but I can only come up with 4.We're in a FightStephen the DogSparky's ViewAutumn's SpaceAnyone else want to be tagged? Leave a comment.Help me Get Paid to Blog for a Year! Please Vote.If you liked this post Please Click a button. Read more:Tagged
Outdoors Activity: Gardening 2007-05-25 07:15:00 I know that some of you that visit this blog are very much into the outdoors in terms of sports and other activities of the like. However there is another outdoor activity that I also enjoy, that is gardening. I take many pictures of flowers for my Photo-A-Day project and I really appreciate having a nice garden to photograph.The Home Depot has a newsletter that you can sign up for that is free. It is The Home Depot Gardening Newsletter and that can be delivered to you either through the e-mail or through the regular mail. You decide. You can sign up by clicking the link or the button.Help me Get Paid to Blog for a Year! Please Vote.If you liked this post Please Click a button. Read more:Outdoors
, Activity
Gadget: Waterproof Video Camera 2007-05-23 09:46:00 I own a Sanyo Xacti C4 and it has served me very well for a long time. I would like to have a camera to take with my on my kayak trips. I think I have found the one I want. It was announced the other day on Gizmodo and it is the Sanyo Xacti E1. It is waterproof up to 5 feet down so no scuba diving but it would go well mounted on my kayak so I can make videos as I paddle.Gotta save my pennies to get one. Help me Get Paid to Blog for a Year! Please Vote.If you liked this post Please Click a button. Read more:Gadget
, Waterproof
, Camera
1st Paddle of the Season 2007-05-27 11:54:00 Today Allison and I went to West Falmouth Harbor for a morning paddle. The water was very calm and there were some beautiful sailboats in the harbor. We paddled around and I took some photos.We went over to visit Kim and Greg at Cape Cod Kayak. Kim has a ton of new boats at the shop, they are all shiny and new. We chatted with them for a while and told them that Allison was pregnant. So eventually we'll have to get ourselves a tandem kayak to paddle around with the baby.Help me Get Paid to Blog for a Year! Please Vote.If you liked this post Please Click a button. Read more:Season
News: Contacted by the Newspaper 2007-05-31 06:45:00 I was contacted yesterday by a reporter from the local newspaper. He is doing an article on YouTube and people from the area who use it. It is such a coincidence of timing that I posted my videos only two days ago and not even 24 hours after it was posted I was contacted. I am used to comments and things like that but I am not as accustomed to traditional media contact. That was very interesting.So I need to pull together some answers to a few questions and quite possibly I will be photographed for this article.I kayaked in Hopkinton State Park yesterday and filmed another Wired Kayaker podcast, I need to do some editing to make it ready to be posted. I am trying to kayak every day this week. We shall see how that goes. I am looking online for some place to go today.Help me Get Paid to Blog for a Year! Please Vote.If you liked this post Please Click a button. Read more:Newspaper
Podcast: Wired Kayaker Podcast #1 2007-05-29 13:20:00 I am attempting to create a legitimate podcast for The Wired
Kayaker. I need to research more on what equipment and software I would need to make a good podcast. I used Adobe Premier 2.0 and PhotoShop Elements 4.0 to create the final video and podcast title. I used my Sanyo Xacti C4 to film and my Gorillapod to capture the video portions. I also used my Canon SD800is on my QuikPod to get the title image and various photos while paddling. The music for the podcast is Bright, Driving 2007. I downloaded this royalty free from Incompetech.com.My paddle today was on the Bungay River. I paddled for about 2 hours and had a very good time. I saw plenty of turtles, birds and two water snakes. I ended up losing my hat, but I recovered it. I also made an outtakes video. That chronicles the loss of the hat and other misadventures.The Wired Kayaker Podcast
#1The Wired Kayaker Podcast #1 - OuttakesHere are some photos that I took with my Canon SD800is.What I really need to make a great podcast is th
News: Photographed for the Newspaper 2007-06-01 18:43:00 I was photographed today by the Sun chronicle Newspaper
, not sure when the article is going to hit the stands ut I will keep you informed. I am going to post a podcast once a week rather than as often as I have been posting them. I am also looking for ways to be able to upload higher quality podcasts. So please check back. For not you can visit The BenSpark for info about the trip I took today or go to Flickr to see the photos from that trip.Help me Get Paid to Blog for a Year! Please Vote.If you liked this post Please Click a button. Read more:Photographed
Podcast: Wired Kayaker Podcast #2 2007-05-31 19:09:00 The Obligatory Bow Shot.This video 'podcast' was filmed on (Wednesday) but I only got to edit it tonight (Thursday) and I was only able to post it today (Friday). I went to Hopkinton State Park and paddled around the Hopkinton Reservoir. I took some photos with my Canon SD800is, the Sanyo was still on the Gorillapod and is still exposed to the elements. I am working on ideas for a permanent rig for the video camera, maybe get it set further forward so I can get the background behind me instead of just having me fill the screen. And of course I need to look into a waterproof digital video camera.Hopkinton State Park is a very nice place and there are many activities that you can participate in. There are walking trails, hiking, mountain bike and equestrian trails as well. You can also rent a small watercraft, canoe kayak or small sailboat from the boathouse, there is a swimming area as well. I drive by this park every day on my way to work and have always wanted to stop to paddle but Read more:Podcast
, Wired
Blogger: The Hot Dog Truck 2007-06-06 21:53:00 Today I received a ton of comments from bloggers from all over. But I received one from a local person. I received one from The Hot Dog Truck
. This guy bought and fixed up a Hot Dog Mobile and is on a quest to sell The Best Hot Dogs. He is in Southboro, MA. And I plan to go visit his Hot Dog Mobile in the future and hope that he would like to appear in a Wired Kayaker Podcast. That would be really cool, I think. Apparently he was mere miles away from where I filmed Podcast #2. Sweet. I love to meet other bloggers. And Hot Dogs. Help me Get Paid to Blog for a Year! Please Vote.If you liked this post Please Click a button. Read more:Blogger
Dona Nobis Pacem 2007-06-06 09:21:00 "Give us Peace" is what Dona Nobis Pacem
means. You can listen to the tune and read the lyrics , they are in Latin.Today is a day to ask for peace in the world. Bloggers from all over are displaying their Peace globes on their blogs in a global solidarity stance on Peace. I've created a Peace Globe for each Blog. I was alerted to this by Mimi and this is her post on Dona Nobis Pacem, Mimi;s story is very a very beautiful tale. She also started working with Peace Globes back in November, 12 2006.Many bloggers are participating, if you are then leave me a comment and let me know the address to your post about Peace Globes.As far as my personal thoughts on peace, I have been influenced by the music of Ellis Paul (myspace), Christopher Williams (myspace), Mark Errelli (myspace), and Vance Gilbert (myspace) to name a few. These are people who's music speaks to peace in the world. Take a listen and you will be inspired. Especially listen to Mark Errelli's The Only Way, Ellis and Vance c
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