"Untamed Science" Invades Current Designs Kayak Factory

Producer Dan Bertalan & host Suze Roots from video production company Untamed Science visited the Current Designs Kayak factory last week to film an educational video featuring rotationally molded kayaks. The video segment will be featured on a DVD alongside a high school Chemistry text book to be released in 2011. The exact content of the video is a secret for now (can't spoil it for the kids!), but it was a great time working together both in the factory and on the water. Bill Kueper, Vice President of Wenonah Canoe, who also sports a PhD in Chemistry from The University of Kansas, impressed everyone with his uncanny acting abilities......who knew?

Learn more about Untamed Science at:
www.untamedscience.com

Current Designs Launches New Logo

Current Designs is excited to unveil a sweeping transformation of its brand identity including a new logo, boat graphics, and website update. The new look is designed to reflect the high performance style and grace that Current Designs Kayaks are so well known for.

“Over the last 5 years we have added new cutting edge models while expanding our line to over 30 performance designs”, said Mike Cichanowski, owner of Current Designs and Wenonah Canoe. “The style, look, outfitting, and paddling performance of our kayak designs has never been better, and it was time to update our aged logo to reflect that.”

The new Current Designs logo is available for download on our website at www.cdkayak.com/downloads. If you’d like a full set of logos, including vector format please contact webmaster@cdkayak.com.

The New and Improved Whistler!

Re-designed for 2011, we updated this old favorite with a modernized deck profile, keyhole cockpit, and recessed deck fittings. Now featuring increased foot room, the Whistler is a great option for paddlers wanting to move up from a recreational kayak, or start out with a more seaworthy transitional design. Stable and very user friendly, the upswept bow makes the Whistler highly maneuverable while keeping you dry when waves kick up. A great boat for activity oriented paddlers like photographers or fisherman. Offered with an optional rudder.

New Model Introduction!- Kestrel X Series

New for 2011 we introduce the Kestrel X series, full-sized recreational style kayaks designed to comfortably fit paddlers of any size and put even the most wary beginners at ease. Extra deep and wide, the Kestrel X's feature generously sized cockpits for easy entry, as well as two composite bulkheads and storage compartments for maximum capacity. The largest members of our recreational family they are extremely stable and maneuverable. The Kestrel 120 X and Kestrel 140 X paddle as efficiently as any of our recreational designs and are a great option offered in our light weight composite hybrid layup. The Kestrel 120 X roto is great for beginners of any size who want to get into the sport on a budget. The Kestrel 140 X is offered with an optional rudder. Find specs and price information on the new Kestrel X series on our website!

Current Designs Delivers Boats to the National Scout Jamboree

July 26th marks the beginning of the 2010 National Scout Jamboree at Fort A.P. Hill in Caroline County, Virginia. 38,000 Boy Scouts and 3,700 adult leaders from all 50 states and from countries around the world will spend 10 days of fun, adventure, and fellowship together as they celebrate the Boy Scouts of America’s 100th Anniversary since its founding in 1910.

Current Designs and its parent company Wenonah Canoe has worked closely with this years event organizers to supply 85 Current Designs Kestrel 120 kayaks and 78 Kevlar Ultra-Light Wenonah Champlain’s. These special edition boats all feature the 100th Anniversary Boy Scouts of America logo. Three fully loaded trailers delivered the boats to be used by the scouts at the Jamboree early last week.

Owner of Current Designs, and Distinguished Eagle Scout award recipient Mike Cichanowski is in attendance at the event. “Wenonah Canoe and Current Designs has had a long standing special relationship with the scouts, both on a local and national level”, Cichanowski said, “I am proud that our company is able to provide the Jamboree participants with great paddling, high quality boats. The Boy Scouts organization has done so much for this countries youth and companies in the outdoor industry such as ours.”

The 2010 National Scout Jamboree runs July 26th - August 4th.

Independent Shipping- How We Do It

Wenonah Canoe, Inc. and it's brands Wenonah Canoe and Current Designs Kayaks are set apart from other companies in our industry in many ways. One example is the way we ship our boats from our Minnesota-based factories and warehouses to our retail partners. Since it's inception, Wenonah Canoe has managed and controlled its own logistics department. Today, nearly all the boats we ship are shipped on our own trucks and trailers by Wenonah Canoe employees. This ensures safe handling of our composite boats without cross-docking and never involves fork lifts! This approach completely eliminates the dreaded Canoe-kabob - a canoe pierced through the hull by an unknowing forklift and driver.

Our fleet includes specially outfitted, heavy duty trucks with auxillary fuel tanks and racked trailers specially designed to all but eliminate shipping damage. Our largest trailers and fully racked trucks can carry 46 canoes or over 80 kayaks and canoes together.

Our peak shipping season is early October through early summer. In these times, multiple loads depart every week to destinations all over North America including Canada and Alaska. The same logistics team is also responsible for our international shipping program that utilizes a containerized freight approach to ship Wenonah Canoes and Current Deisigns kayaks throughout the world.

Managing a vertically integrated logistics function from factory to retailer is a huge undertaking. We accept these challanges because it ensures the integrity of our product quality until it reaches our customer.

North American Odyssey Set to Launch 3 year Expedition

On Earth Day 2010 (this Thursday, April 22!) Dave and Amy Freeman will begin a three year, 11,700 mile journey across North America by kayak, canoe, and dogsled. Their goal is to use their journey as a platform for gaining support and protection for North America’s waterways and wild places, while actively engaging over 100,000 elementary and middle school students in their journey through their website and live school assemblies.


Their odyssey begins by kayak on the Pacific Coast studying temperate rainforests and marine life of the pacific northwest, but this is just the first in a series of six stages on their quest to highlight North America's wildest places. After kayaking 1,400 miles from Seattle, Wash. to Skagway, Alaska, the team will progress over the history-studded mountains in the footsteps of the Klondike Gold Rush, to the home of Inuit along the Arctic Ocean where polar bears roam. From the Arctic Ocean they will dogsled and canoe south through central Canada, kayak across the Great Lakes, then follow the annual whale migration past the salt marshes and sea turtles of the Atlantic Coast, finishing in the mangroves and coral reefs of the Florida Keys.

Dave and Amy will paddle a Current Designs Solstice GT and Solstice GTS up the Inside Passage, across the Great Lakes and down the Atlantic Coast line. For the whitewater river sections of Alaska and the Yukon they've chosen a Royalex Wenonah Cascade. Rounding out the watercraft quiver, a Kevlar Ultra-light Wenonah Champlain will deliver them through the lakes and rivers of Central Canada and Minnesota's Boundary Waters.

Wenonah Canoe and Current Designs wish Dave and Amy safe travels and the best of luck in this awesome adventure.

You can follow the progress of the North American Odyssey by visiting their website: http://www.wildernessclassroom.com/blog/updates/north-american-odyssey.html