Look at that lucky date with three 7s! Our team in Akron, Ohio has been putting on a festival for many years! The venue is at a state park in the beautiful Portage Lakes. In 10 years of paddling and attending festivals, I may be partial in saying that we have one of the best venues around! The full course is viewable from our sandy beach. There’s also a ton of shade under the stately oak trees! We have an athletes’ village as well as vendors and massage tables. The state park recently built a beautiful visitors center with bathroom facilities. This year we had 12 BCS teams in addition to club teams, corporate teams, and community teams. Plus we are a short drive to Cuyahoga Valley National Park and Cleveland. There are so many incredible things to see and do in the area. Rent a pontoon boat and explore the lakes -14 total with 8 lakes and reservoirs connected together. From restaurants to fishing and swimming, Portage Lakes has it all (we don’t have alligators, sharks, or snakes in our waters!!)! Come for the festival and stay for a mini vacation. Akron and Cleveland are jam packed with great adventures! Who is putting this festival on their team’s calendar for next summer? We would love to host you!!

Who here is heading to France the week after next for the IBCPC festival? I have some pretty awesome pins to trade.

We've got a few more new faces in here... @Cindy Cheong @Chris Head @Amy Fuller @Kate Bechak @Emily Zacherle @Lisa OConnor @Kay Roberts so glad you're here. Let us know: - what team/club you're with - what's the most fun race you've ever done - what's your dragon boat pie-in-the-sky goal/dream! ⬇️ ⬇️ ⬇️ ⬇️ ⬇️ ⬇️ ⬇️ ⬇️ p.s. those of you who've been here a while.. feel free to reintroduce yourselves... you never know who missed you on the first round!

Different sort of question today: For those of you who store your boats on land and need to launch, what kind of carts/dollies do you use, and what kind of terrain are you traversing? Specifically interested in wheel type/size, but all details welcome.