News

Bigfork Outrigger Practices Starting 7/17

2007-07-12T16:29:00.000-06:00

Hello Paddlers!

Please welcome Marc Nadeau as coach of Bigfork Outrigger.

Marc will start coaching the BOCC next week.

There are now two options for practices – Whitefish and Bigfork!

Bigfork Outrigger will be starting practices on:

July 17th, 2007
@ Marina Cay in Bigfork

Tues/Thurs @ 6pm & Sat @ 10:30am

**These days may change, so check back regularly to confirm times
Or contact Marc Nadeau @
cnadeau@montanasky.net
837-3512

If Whitefish practice is easier for you to get to, we are practicing on:
Tues/Thurs @ 6:30pm
Sat @ 10:30am
Meet at Kay Beller Park on 2nd St West.
Call Jen for more info: 249-8290

2007 Whitefish Practice Schedule

2007-06-12T17:54:00.000-06:00

The Whitefish branch of the club is up and running!

Come check us out!

Practice times are as follows:

Tuesdays & Thursdays: 6:30 pm

Saturdays: 10:30 am

Please meet in the Kay Beller Park parking lot

Second St West at the Whitefish River Bridge (next to the Golden Agers).

For Questions or Directions, Call Jen: 249-8290

Big News at BOCC

2006-08-28T17:19:00.000-06:00

This has been a very busy summer for some of our paddlers. BOCC would like to congratulate:

Patrick on the birth of his baby this June.
Nate Wilcoxen on the birth of his daughter, Nalani.
Troy Waller on his marriage to Nicole June 24th.
Dan Lee on his marriage to Jessica on August 26th.
Terri Felhaber on the marriage of her daughter.
Jen Schwartz on her engagement to Phil July 21st.
Dan L. and Troy together on the expansion of their business PC Fitness to Kalispell.
Todd Yamashita on his continuing success with the Molokai Dispatch.
Matt Jones on his new job at Stanford.
Dan Grinde on his daughter’s completion of a 3000 mile bike ride from coast to coast to raise money for Habitat for Humanity.

Send us an e-mail if you have news to share.

New Practice Schedule

2006-08-28T16:57:00.000-06:00

For the remainder of the season we will be holding practice in two locations.

Tuesdays: 6:30pm - Whitefish: meet at Golden Agers parking lot, near the river park. We will walk over to the place where the canoe is being stored. If you would like to go out any other time of the week in Whitefish, please get a hold of Bill Tarr @ 863-4434

Thursdays: 6pm- Bigfork: meet at the usual spot, the bottom of the Marina Cay parking lot. If you would like to paddle in Bigfork on Tuesdays, please get a hold of Buef Benentt @ 261-7124.

Saturdays: 10am - Bigfork or Whitefish: If there is interest in paddling on a Saturday morning we will go out at either location. Please call Jen to find out where the practice will be held.... Jen - 249-8290.

Flathead Monster Results

2006-08-03T15:56:00.000-06:00

Aloha Paddlers,

Thanks to all of the paddlers who came out for a beautiful day of paddling. The race was a bit shorter than last year, but still longer than we thought. We have yet to nail down the intricacies of a GPS tracker. We'll get there. With the exception of Jen getting stung by a hornet, everything went of without a hitch. Great weather, great river conditions and great company. As far as posting the race results...sorry for the delay. I was hoping to get the results posted in place of last year's results, but that may be a while. For the time being please check out the write up we got in the Bigfork Eagle .

I'll try to attach the results spreadsheet, but I'm not entirely sure how to do that...

Otherwise, be patient, Todd will get the results posted on the webpage as soon as he returns to Molokai, he is here in Bigfork for the week.

Much Mahalo to all of those who helped out this year to get our race running.

Seth Schmautz
For boat transportation and site scouting
Phil Vilar
For set up and timing
Terri Felhaber
For set up and registration
Tocatta Spearman
For set up and registration
Faith Moldan
For the great press at Bigfork Eagle
Dan Grinde
For getting the buoys set up and running around Bigfork picking up last minute items
Silver Moon Kayak
For the wonderful prizes for our first place winners!

And every one of the paddlers who came out to make it an awesome day!

Come Paddle With Us!

2006-06-17T22:39:00.000-06:00

Aloha Paddlers,

We are paddling every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday - provided the weather is cooperating. Jen will be out of town until June 29th. If you have any questions call:

Dan Lee @ 471-2325
Or
Buef @261-7124.

They will both have the scoops on daily practices while Jen is out of town.

Hope to see everyone down at the Bigfork Bay!

Aloha!

Let's Rig! New Date

2006-05-07T14:18:00.000-06:00

***Change of Date***

Tuesday, May 16th @ 6pm
Marina Cay Boat Harbor

Come one, come all, it's time to rig up the canoes. We've got all the equiptment out and we just need some strong bodies to help turn the boats and get them rigged. The more the merrier - and the quicker it goes! Questions, call Jen 249-8290.

Bring your paddles so we can take the boats for a spin. We will be starting up regular practices from Tuesday the 16th. Check the practice schedule on this website for complete practice schedule and information.

If you are interested in ordering a paddle,
give Bill Tarr a call @ 863-4434

For questions, call Jen @249-8290

See you Saturday!!

Getting Closer.....

2006-05-02T18:10:00.000-06:00

Aloha All,

It was great to see some familiar faces at Blazing Paddles, paddling film festival. What a great way to kick off the season!

Everyone is asking when are we going to get the boats in the water and start paddling...We have our scouts out and are monitoring the water level in Bigfork Bay. As soon as the water is high enough to launch, we will be out there rigging up the canoes, (We are guessing the weekend of May 13th). If you happen to live in Bigfork, or pass by the bay, feel free to e-mail us water level updates. Keep checking back for final start dates.

We may also be participating in the Northern Rockies Paddlefest, May 20-21st at Wayfarer’s State Park. Check the events page on this website for the details.

See you all soon!

Season 4 - 2006!

2006-04-07T15:15:00.000-06:00

Aloha Paddlers,

The weather is getting nicer and we are getting ready to start our 2006 outrigger season. As many of you know, co-founder and co-coach Todd Yamashita has moved himself back to his home island of Molokai to run the Molokai Dispatch, a weekly newspaper. You can check up on his new endeavor at http://www.themolokaidispatch.com . Todd, we will miss you greatly this season and we are all wishing you the best of luck.

For those of us Living Aloha in Montana, join the remaining founder and coach, Jen, and the rest of the BOCC paddlers, and get ready to dust off the paddles and stretch out the muscles.

If you haven't paddled before, no worries! If you can swim, we can train you. Come join our returning members and we'll make this a great season!

We are starting the season off with some stoak at Blazing Paddles, a paddle sport film festival hosted by our friends at Silver Moon Kayak. Check for details in the Events and Races link at the top of the page.

From there, we are looking at a few more weeks until our official start date, which has yet to be determined. Keep checking back for news and updates weekly. In the meantime, take some time to look over the information on our web site. Information about Membership, Practice Schedules, Sponsorship, and Merchandise are all right here. If you have any further questions please don't hesitate to give Jen a call at 249-8290.

See you soon!

Flathead Monster a Success!

2005-08-30T13:32:00.000-06:00

Wow, how great it was to see all of you come out and race! Nearly 70 competitor and 45+ craft, the event drew in nearly 100 people over-all. Though there were some SNAFUs in the race results, the event and racing went through without a hitch!

Results will be posted before the end of the week, so stay tuned. Please signup for our email newsletters and we'll let you know when we've got it all situated.

Thanks again to all the competitors, sponsors and organizers.

Monster: Paddle the course on Saturday

2005-08-26T15:58:00.000-06:00

We'll be meeting at Harbor Village tomorrow (Saturday) morning to leisurely paddle the course with whoever wants to come out.

We'll meet at the Harbor Village Yacht Club at 11am. Call me if you guys want to do breakfast before hand. Todd 406-249-5440.
C-ya

The Flathead Monster: Pre-Race Jitters

2005-08-22T21:49:00.000-06:00

As if owning and running your own business, coaching an entire canoe club, and playing first time race director and event coordinator wasn't just a bit much for one person, I think about the actual racing aspect of the Flathead Monster and I get a crazy adrenaline spike equal 10 shots of espresso.

"Hmm, you gotta settle down" I tell myself. But do I? Maybe this is what it's all about. People talk about commitment through love and passion. Sure, but let's not forget that some of us are adrenaline junkies fueled by an uncontrolable urge to compete and conquer.

The reasons for my involvement in the Flathead Monster Canoe & Kayak Challenge are all of the above and then some. I get satisfaction out of providing a competitive event that all of us can find our "rush" within, but there is also a great amount of pride involved. What if I actually pull this off and everyone goes home happy and next years event is twice as big with paddlers coming in from all over the country? Whoa, there went another adrenaline spike!

While it might seem like I'm rambling on (yes, I am) my real point is that I'm simply excited. And no matter what my personal motivations might be, the fact of the matter is that we will all be racing together in this shared excitement: While some of us will feed on the rush of competition, others will be stoked simply to be alive and on the water, which is really just great all the way around.

That said, I hope you all get the pre-race jitters and show up stoked for this great event! See you on Sunday!

BOCC T-Shirts and Other Merchandise are In!

2005-08-10T20:01:00.000-06:00

Great news: we got our shirts and stuff in from the silkscreeners and everything looks just awesome!

So, click on our merchandise tab and order away. Our one-of-a-kind shirts, hats and sweaters are the best way to make people jealous about how cool you are, and also make great gifts.

Welcome Buford "Beuf" Bennett

2005-08-06T20:11:00.000-06:00

We'd like to graciously welcome our newest charter member, Buford "Beuf" Bennett, who is not only a great guy, but a great paddler (especially when he's not flippin' over the canoe!).

Practice Schedule Change

2005-08-02T20:09:00.000-06:00

No more Wednesdays practices: we have both boats operational and everyone's happy!

Tuesdays: 6pm
Thursdays: 6pm
Saturdays: 10am

Welcome Sportsman Ski Haus!

2005-08-01T19:59:00.000-06:00

We'd like to welcome our newest top level sponsor: The Sportsman Ski Haus. Look for their banner on our outrigger soon!

Molokai Anyone?

2005-06-16T01:49:00.000-06:00

Just in case any of you would like a glimpse of the island I grew up on, my last two trips two Hawaii have just been posted to a gallery. Check it out at: www.toddyamashita.com/molokai_2004

Welcome George Hirschenberger

2005-06-14T12:57:00.000-06:00

The BOCC would like to welcome George Hirschenberger as the newest Charter Member and paddler to the team.

George, like many other team members, is from Missoula and makes the three and a half hour roundtrip drive up here once a week. That is so awesome. Good to have you aboard man!

Crushing News

2005-06-08T12:44:00.000-06:00

The bad news is that our very first outrigger, Ka Hula Nalu, had not one, but two trees land on it from a nasty storm this past Monday. The ama was completely obliterated along with an iako. The hull suffered moderate damage as well.

The good news is that our other outrigger would have been obliterated as well if had been there too - it was parked safely nearby at another dock.

So, besides being busy planning the Flathead Monster race for late August, I'll be dealing with how to get this boat put back together.

If you're interested in some gruesome photos of the incident mentioned above, check them out at: http://www.bigforkoutrigger.com/broken_boat.htm

Ski to Sea: Part II

2005-05-31T10:07:00.000-06:00

18 grueling miles of paddling, an 11 hour road trip later and I'm finally back home in Bigfork.

Ski to Sea in Bellingham was one of the most fun events I've ever competed in. The thousands of competitiors and spectators really hyped up the energy and made things exciting.

Out of 380 teams, our team came in 47th - that's in the top 12 percentile! Not bad. The other two competing teams from the Flathead did even better with the open men's team placing 13th over-all, and the women placing and amazing 3rd place in their division.

Seeing the enormity of the race and how it was organized has generated a lot of ideas of what we can do to spice up the Flathead Monster Canoe and Kayak Challenge. Check back to the website often, as a lot of these details will be worked out in the next couple of weeks!

Ski to Sea in Bellingham

2005-05-28T10:24:00.000-06:00

After a 10 hour drive we're in Bellingham, Washington for Ski-To-Sea a 7 event race that begins with skiing and finishes with sea kayaking. Though there are no outriggers involved, my event is an 18 mile canoeing leg which should prove a little challenging as I've only had about 3 weeks to train.

This year, there is a contingency of 3 teams (24 competitors) from the Flathead.
I'll spend my day meeating everyone, training on the course, and relaxing a bit before my big day tomorrow. I'll let you all know how the race goes. With me luck!

Regular Practice Schedule

2005-05-24T13:10:00.000-06:00

Aloha Everyone!
Just a reminder that regular practices have begun, starting today.
Tuesdays 6pm
Thursdays 6pm
Saturdays 10am

Please be on-time and ready to paddle. We'll start the season off concentrating on paddling technique, slowly working our way into strength and endurance as the season (and your skill) progresses.

Don't forget to bring drinking water, and a change of warm clothes.

Work and life issues weighing heavy on you? Don't let that keep you from paddling - those issues are guaranteed to leave your head as soon as you hit the lake!

Ok, see you all soon!

PS: Check the website often for up-to-date information regarding practices, events and races. If we cancel or change the location of practice it will be on the website!

It Works!

2005-05-03T01:57:00.000-06:00

Wow, the new website is living up to expectation - we've already had people successfully sign up through PayPal as well as purchase BOCC merchandise. We're also starting to receive email signups for newsletters. How cool is that!

Todd The Tornado

2005-05-01T23:10:00.000-06:00

Whew, I'm on my way to Hawaii on Wednesday to be the best man at my best friends wedding. Somehow found the time to finish up the club website, and am working feverishly to try and get my business squared away so I don't need to stress in paradise.

I'm also in the process of nailing down a date and starting/finishing point for our big race - The Flathead Monster. Not to mention hunting around for corporate sponsorship and fundraising. Any ideas?

I'm super excited about our first day of practice and am expecting a lot of people. It is this aspect of the club that makes everything worth the effort. The club attracts such wonderful people who normally would not come together.

Ok, I'll be back on the May 17th which is just enough time to get boats together for the start of the season. Thanks to everyone for their efforts with the club - this is a really great thing we've got going.

Aloha, Todd

Our New Site is Almost Finished!

2005-04-13T10:00:00.000-06:00

Almost there finishing out the site. I'll be sending out a mass email soon to let you all know. At this time we'll be doing a membership drive as well as pushing hard to pre-sell some T-Shirts!