#135 - Canoecopia 2025 Madison, WI - The annual paddlers family reunion

Join me as we navigate the vibrant atmosphere of Canoecopia, the world's largest paddle sports expo.

Billed as the world’s largest paddlesports expo, Canoecopia features more than 100,000 square feet of canoes, kayaks, kit, outfitters, everything you can imagine, plus more than 100 speakers on an incredible array of topics and I am honored to be one of those speakers. Thanks to Chris Hipgrave and the entire P&H Pyranha kayaks team for making space in their booth to record this episode, and of course for producing my favorite boats.

We’ve got a great lineup of guests for today’s episode. We’ll hear from:

• Graham Mackereth, founder of Pyranha kayaks and owner of Pyranha and P&H
• Erika Rivers, Wilderness Inquiry, a non-profit dedicated to getting those of all ages and abilities into the wilderness
• Vincent Robichaud, founder of Trailtopia, shares how cooking meals for friends turned into cooking more meals for lots more friends
• Long time friend, Lenore Sobota, tells us about the return of one of the Great Lakes most revered events, Ladies of the Lakes
• Stig Larsson shares what’s happening with the Paddlesports Trades Coalition and a new initiative to get more people on the water
• and, Darren Bush, the Chief Paddling Evangelist with Rutabaga Paddleports joins us to share his excitement for a great new event that I am personally excited about, Camp Rutabaga.

The thumbnail image for today's episode is Darren Bush's annual tradition of gathering with the crowd as the doors open and taking a selfie. Canoecopia is so much more than a trade show. It’s the friendships. It's a paddling family reunion of sorts. As we emerge from a long winter it’s nice to get together with friends and talk about past and future adventures together. It’s things like this that remind you what a great community of paddlers we have around us. Thank you for being so much fun!

As a reminder, if you’re not already a subscriber to onlineseakayaking.com, James and Simon keep on adding to the menu. Visit onlineseakayaking.com and use the coupon code PTBPODCAST at checkout and you’ll get 10% off up to 12 months of your subscription investment.

Enjoy today’s episode from Canoecopia!