Valley Mill Boat Shop Demo and Ramp fest a success

April 26, 2005

Colin Kemp organized a great day at the Valley Mill
Boat Shop in Germantown, Maryland. The boat shop is nestled in the middle
of the Valley Mill Camp property which was once part of rural Maryland,
but is now in the middle of suburbia, making it one of the most prime
pieces of real estate I can imagine in DC. The boat shop is full of its
own history with many an Olympic and USA Team slalom kayak made in it
by Andy Bridge in the early 90’s. Colin and Bruce revitalized this
boat shop which was abandoned by Andy when he moved to Dagger in TN, and
then to Werner where he works now. There are still some old molds out
back, like the boat I raced in the 92 olympics called the Barcelona.

Back to 2005, sorry. The schedule for the day was meet
and great in the shop, and check out the complete Jackson Kayak lineup,
including the Hero, Super Hero, and Rocker. Then we went to the ramp on
their pond. First I taught a brief Strokes and Concepts class, as well
as 3 newbys to roll, and 4 people to hand roll. We then headed up to the
shop again for a cookout with burgers and dogs. Colin sold 7 boats yesterday,
with most being Super Hero and Hero, very cool. Today I am teaching two
classes, an intermediate class this morning, and then a more beginner
class this afternoon. I used to call this a stretch: two 4 hour clinics
in one day. It means I get to kayak 8 hours today!

Great job by Valley Mill once again!

🙂 EJ