Top Ten Count Down to 2010

Funny enough, we will not end the year on the water, but will begin 2010 with a New Year's paddle to Little Tybee. The forecast is for a 45' air temp, and a 64' water temp, so it will be a steamy 'Polar Plunge' at the beach on Friday.

It has been an interesting ten years.. which for us started out in a canoe with all our worldly possessions.

Here's a quick Top Ten for a life in the decade of SC&K.


10/ Ten years ago we were in New Orleans half way through a grand 3000 mile canoe trip. "Wouldn't it be great if we could do this for a living" we thought.

9/ After almost two years living on Tybee Island and working for Dale at SKG, we bought a house on the east side of Savannah.

8/ After an eight month spell working for a state run 'Hoods in the Woods' program, Kristin says, "Maybe it's time you start your own guiding service?". SC&K is born. We borrow boats from friends on the way to the 'put in' to meet clients. For one class I borrowed Dave White's kayak and the client capsized a record 13 times.

7/ In a risky move Kristin leaves the Savannah Bee Company and joins SC&K full time. From now on 100% of our income would come from paddling. 7 seasons later we have close to 50 boats for sea, surf and river exploration.

6/ In 2005, Nigel joins the P&H sea kayak team, but unable to find a suitable boat of size and proportion, he leaves in 2006 and forms Team Savannah Canoe & Kayak.
In Feb '06 we launch our on-line store.

5/ Jan '07. Our first shipment of Mega kayaks arrive heralding in a new branch at SC&K. We are now the No 1 dealer for Mega and have the best selection of surf kayaks available in the U.S. We have satisfied customers in Argentina, Mexico, The Bahamas, Senegal, Israel, Thailand, and New Zealand.

4/ Oct '08. After several years of sometimes painful tutelage and training under various surf masters, Nigel is certified ACA Surf Kayak Instructor Trainer.

3/ April '09. Tiderace Kayaks arrive at SC&K. After many years of looking and waiting for a suitable production sea kayak, we think the Tiderace line suits the needs of competent and accomplished sea kayakers.

2/ The Tybee Surf Kayak Competition is resurrected as the Tybee Surf Paddle Jam, a fun-based event designed to introduce paddlers to competitive surfing.

1/ Dec 30th. Kristin spends a record 5.5 hours on the phone to technical support in the Philippines.

0/ Zero is the number of friends we have on Facebook.


Here are some pictures from 2009

And the Surf Jam
http://www.flickr.com/photos/savannahcanoeandkayak/sets/72157622995538102/show/
Pictures thanks to M.Robinson and R.Davis.

Footnote: This is the 2001st Blog entry for 2009, giving us an average of 1 blog entry every 1.8 days.