FITNESS – FIND THE GYM IN YOUR HOME

The Wall Street Journal reports that keeping fit while cleaning the house is a great workout. No need to wear gym clothes or use the lightweight Skwoosh Fitness pad with gel on the recumbent bike at your local work-out emporium.  Steve Markovich, from Crescent Springs, KY has kept himself fit by using the “aerobic house cleaning” exercises he devised, like doing squats while washing windows or lunges and hip twists while using the vacuum cleaner.  He’s literally “turned housework into a heart-pumping, sweat-inducing frenzy”.  Now I know we would all rather be sitting on our Skwoosh Kayak gel seat cushion, or pumping water from our Skwoosh Voyager kayak seat, but alas not everyone is blessed with a nearby ocean or stream and the ability to paddle just for the sheer joy of it. Markovich has been joined by Carolyn Barnes, another house cleaning fitness devotee, whose slogans are “Get lean while you clean” and “the rag drag”.  Both Markovich and Barnes sell DVD’s teaching their house cleaning exercises on their web sites. Funny, I didn’t see them on www.skwoosh.com where we promote exercise, travel and fishing for all, including  fitness devotes who like housework

REVISITING THE SWAMP BUGGY CHAMPIONSHIP

Skwoosh makes a “big splash” in the Everglades - again. 

In March 2010 we talked about ‘DUNKING” Swamp Buggy Queen. The tradition lives on when Troy Ortega, this past year’s winner, jumped into the muddy water carrying this year’s Queen, Jennifer Federico in his arms. Officially titled the “Swamp Buggy Queen's Annual Mud bath" it  takes place after the races at Florida Sports Park in Naples.

Back in the days before Skwoosh gel cushions, kayak seats or waterproof kayak fishing seats, the Everglades was a perfect place for kayak fishing, camping and hunting.  The waterproof Swamp Buggies were built primarily as vehicles for hunting in the murky Florida swamps tracking gators, snakes and panthers.  Just imagine the comfort and the improved swamp driving posture these hardy South West Floridians could have experienced if they had received a waterproof gel Therapy cushion as a gift before starting out.  No need for home brewed beverage to kill their pain.  Today the Swamp Buggy is a strange looking vehicle featuring huge balloon tires, gun racks, and sporting catchy names like “Dirt Dobber” or Tumblebug”.  After all, what better gift for a swamp hunter in the Everglades when the only way to penetrate the vast boggy mire is the “Swamp Buggy. The first races started around 1943, featuring a dozen or so local hunters racing only for the pride of finishing ahead of their neighbors.  
  
The "Dunking" tradition began in 1957 when the race winner grabbed the Queen, gown, fancy hair-do and all and dunked her in the deepest and muckiest part of the "Mile 'O Mud" race track.  This grimy, slimy, hilarious tradition lives on today and is the final act of every race weekend. Let’s say the weekend closes with a great big “mud splash”.

At Skwoosh we want to join the races by building a “swamp kayak gel seat”.  Or how does “travel to the Swamp Buggy Races on a Skwoosh gel travel cushion” sound?   Come to think of it, Skwoosh waterproof gel cushions are unaffected by “mud dunking “and can be dunked all day long.

RIO WITHOUT A GPS - Beginners Beware

Tom Jobim, the great Brazilian composer said, “Brazil is not for beginners”.  What he could have said is,”Rio de Janeiro is not for beginners”.

Freya Hoffmeister

Stroll along the beach in Ipanema or Copacabana with their posh high rise apartments, chick neighborhood restaurants etc., turn right and WOW!!!  You’re in a lush tropical forest.  If you made a left turn you might just as well find yourself in a rabbit warren of corrugated iron houses, precariously hanging on a rocky outcropping of stone – a “favela” or Brazilian slum. Such is Rio and such is a hopping, dynamic Brazil.  Navigating Rio is like navigating the coast of Brazil with Freya Hoffmeister (Skwoosh is a proud sponsor). One wrong turn and you find yourself off course where you can either gain a day of super adventure or find yourself with a lost day after an exhausting paddle to nowhere.

SKWOOSH Pro Traveler

Navigating Rio is a difficult chore during normal (?) times but imagine what it’s like during Carnival when the streets are gigantic block parties where one needs more than a GPS to navigate through this quagmire of frolic. Carnival in Brazil is not a sedentary sport so SKWOOSH gel bleacher seats are not a requirement. If excitement, natural and human beauty, and 24 hour partying is your thing, grab a SKWOOSH Pro Traveler gel seat, hop a plane from Miami, sip a caipirinha cocktail and and get down to Rio - beginners beware.

Ever hear of Geocaching?

Goecaching is a real-world outdoor treasure hunting game that’s a real-time, real-world experience. 

Participants try to locate hidden containers, called geocaches, using GPS devices and then share their experiences on-line.  Go to www.geocaching.com/guide  (Guide to the Game). It’s like a worldwide scavenger hunt where the hunt is for the “geocache”, a container holding a “valuable” and a log book.  Once a person locates the treasure he or she must sign the log book and return the geocache to its original location.   If the discoverer takes something from the cache it must be replaced with something of equal or greater value. Many times the geocache contain “travel bugs” (like dog tags) that have tracking codes on them.  These can be moved from cache to cache and is a great way to trace a fellow participants’ journey.

Back Comfort with Lumbar Support

Big Catch with Lumbar Support

There are hunts that require mountain climbing, biking and some using special equipment like scuba gear, kayaks or Skwoosh gel kayak seats.

The latest iteration is UNDERWATER GEOCACHING. Find a clue, set your GPS and paddle your Skwoosh equipped kayak to the proper coordinates. We know it’s not easy leaving the comfort of a Skwoosh Gel Fishing Seat or the super comfort of a Skwoosh Back Comfort Support Gel Seat but caching is the thing, so put on your scuba gear and dive for the cache.

Travel Gel Cushion

If you like treasure hunting and discovering new places - get a GPS, pack your Travel Gel Cushion and set out to find the more than 1.6 million caches around the world.

BIG GAMBLE - BIG WIN - BIG LOSE

Bye Bye Super Bowl - Hello next year.  What a great football game. 

Forget about 2 points for intentional grounding. Have you ever seen a ball game where one side intentionally ALLOWS their opponent to score? Coach Belichick took a risk that didn’t pay off.  Hats off to smiling Bill for trying the unthinkable. 

SKWOOSH Big Catch

Heck, what Belichick did is the equivalent of going fishing without the Skwoosh Big Catch seat back with full lumbar support.  Well maybe not quite as risky but pretty gutsy none the less. Allowing a touchdown set the Patriots up for 57 seconds fans dream about.  Suspense, drama, excitement and momentary prayers for all. 

SKWOOSH All Purpose Gel

Fans stopped popping Doritos (best ads on TV), slid off their Skwoosh All Purpose gel seats, Tebowed and prayed for a miracle.  Hail Mary away, everyone in the end zone, all jump and………Giants win Super Bowl XLVI  21 to 17.  See you all next year.

RIO de BUCKET LIST

This place has to be on every outdoor enthusiast’s bucket list – Pico Bonito National Park.  Never heard of it? Either had I but I read an article in the WSJ that makes this a place I’d love to play and paddle in.

The 265,000 acre Pico Bonito is one of the most biodiverse places on earth.  It encompasses a variety of microclimates, from tropical lowlands to cloud forests. A 20 minute ride from La Ceiba on Honduras’s northern coast, it remains relatively undiscovered. One of the crown jewels of Pico Bonito is the Rio Congeal, which runs from high in the Cordillers Nombre de Dios Mountains to the Caribbean Sea. Rio Congeal is one of the world’s great white water experiences. 

What a place to sell Skwoosh Paddle gel cushions, Kayak fishing seats and Extreme gel pads. Skwoosh kayak seats are designed for just the high performance paddling needed to make it through the Rio Cangrejal’s  20 boulder clogged miles of different rapids, from Class II to Class V. In the dry season the river is lower and rafting and kayaking is limited to the lower and middle sections of the river. 

When it rains the Congrejal changes drastically as a single downpour can drop as much as 10 inches of rain causing a 30 foot rise in water levels. After a rise in level like this the river can toss around even the biggest boulders, making the local guides claim that each trip during high water is a completely different experience.

So, pack up your favorite paddles, PFD, helmet and Skwoosh gel paddling cushion and ride the Rio Cangrejal.  Remember - for comfort, convenience and performance always travel with a Skwoosh gel cushion

HAPPY NEW YEAR AGAIN!!!!

Are you ready for the Year of the Dragon? February is almost here. And the Dragon - the fabulous beast that is the most powerful sign in the Chinese zodiac is almost upon us.

At Skwoosh we celebrate the dragon with our popular AGP Dragon Boat Gel pad. It’s certified by the IDBF - the International Dragon Boat Federation. If you can’t get on the water but you happen to live in or near San Francisco you can really share and celebrate the Year of the Dragon in this city steeped in rich tradition of Chinese culture.

On February 11 there will be a parade featuring floats, bands, dance teams and other performances. You can pay $30.00 and get a hard bleacher seat. However, to enjoy the parade in comfort go to www.skwoosh.com and order a Skwoosh gel bleacher seat.  It's lightweight, compact, easy to carry and usually ships within 24 hours.

The San Francisco Symphony will present a Chinese New Year Community Concert. The Chinatown YMCA will hold its 34th annual Chinese New Year 10K Run.  You can watch Chinese acrobats, traditional lion and folk dancing and take a self guided Zodiac tour leading to animals found on the Chinese calendar, all at the San Francisco zoo. Stay fit, use your Skwoosh fitness gel pad and celebrate The Year of the Dragon. Happy New Year- again.