We decided to name the blog “Wind Against Current” because we’re both fascinated by the effect of opposing forces. When you’re paddling, having the wind and current in opposition often creates what kayakers euphemistically call “interesting” conditions. In particular, if you’re paddling with the current and against the wind (one of Johna’s favorite scenarios) you may experience surprisingly large waves.
More broadly, in both science and engineering, opposing forces lie behind many interesting situations. Opposing forces create both colloidal suspensions and turbulence, airplane flight and its instabilities, heart rhythms and arrhythmias… And if you want to get metaphysical, many philosophies feature the notion of opposing forces of light and darkness, yin and yang, good and evil.
So we decided to create a space in which we could explore, with friends, the many ways in which opposing forces shape our world.
We invite you to join the discussion. We’re moderating comments for all the usual reasons, but we’ll never delete a post (even if we find it objectionable) without letting you know.
We look forward to hearing from you!
Vladimir Brezina (RIP) 
Johna Till Johnson
Wind Against Current 
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Hi Vladi – How about pasting a “star” on your kayak? I just nominated your blog for a “Blog of the Year 2012” award. Acceptance details is just a click away @ http://thethoughtpalette.co.uk/our-awards/blog-of-the-year-2012-award/.
Have a great day!
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Thanks so much! A star on the kayak is always welcome, and greatly appreciated!! :-)
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I nominated you for the Blog of the Year award. You can see it at http://ahecticlife.wordpress.com/2012/11/28/blog-of-the-year-award/
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Thanks so much! We very much appreciate the honor :-)
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Hey Thanks for liking :)
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You are most welcome, Nitin!
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Thanks for stopping by my lifestyle blog Bmore Energy, https://bmoreenergy.wordpress.com. Your blog looks so interesting I’ll have to take a tour. :)
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And thank you for stopping by here! Please do look around… :-)
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Vladi and Johna – I’ve just awarded your blog FOUR blogger awards. The full story here at http://thepalladiantraveler.com/2013/01/02/dont-shoot-the-messenger/
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Thank you so much!! We really appreciate these awards, and are glad you like our blog… Now preparing our awards post :-)
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I’ve nominated you for a Liebster Award. Don’t feel pressure to accept, but if you would like to, you will find the rules here: http://cancerinmythirties.wordpress.com/2013/01/03/a-long-overdue-thank-you/
Whether you decide to accept or not, I just wanted to let you know that I think your blog is great!
Thanks…
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Thanks so much for nominating us! Much appreciated!! :-) We are overdue with our own distribution of awards, but it’s coming soon!
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I’ve also nominated your blog for the Liebster Blog Award, because I really like it and I think it is very good. Feel free to accept the award. If you want to accept, here’s the link with all the information: http://praguebykaty.wordpress.com/2013/01/04/praguebykaty-blog/
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Thanks, Katy!! So glad you like the blog :-) :-)
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Hello there. Thank you for clicking the like on my blog. I found yours is awesome and now I am following you to revisit the other time.
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Thank you so much—so glad you like our blog! Thanks for following!! :-)
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Thank you for liking my post on Winter Training! It’s nice to know about you and your Blog and I’ll be back. Feel free to drop by mine again.
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Thank you, and welcome. Come back soon!
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What a wonderful blog idea – opposing forces! Isn’t that what living is? Navigating that terrain? I look forward to reading/seeing more!
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Lots more to come! Thanks for coming by, and come again!! :-)
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I have nominated you for a Beautiful Blogger Award. I greatly enjoy the diversity of your posts -beautiful images, kayaking adventures with bits of science thrown in!
If you wish to accept, please visit my blog for further details http://compostingwords.net/2013/01/12/beautiful-blogger-award-thanks-to-these-bloggers-for-adding-beauty-to-the-world/
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Thanks so much for the nomination!! We really appreciate it, and will respond shortly :-)
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Thank you for stopping by and liking my post! You are an amazing travel writer :) I look forward to future posts.
Best,
Megan
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You are most welcome, Megan! Much more to come in 2013!
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Hello,
I’ve nominated you for The Versatile Blogger Award.
Check it out:
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Thank you so much for the nomination— we really appreciate it!! :-)
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Your blog is great! I recognize that awesome bridge in your header as well. You have one new fan. All the best.
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Thanks, and thanks for subscribing, Dawn! You are in Brooklyn? I hope you have a view of the Narrows, the bridge and the water. We kayak through there all the time—although not since Sandy, sadly—so there will be more photos and posts from those parts forthcoming this year…
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Hi Vladimir,
Thanks for visiting!
You’re welcome! In September I kayaked for the first time on the Hudson at dusk, which was awe inspiring, which I was reminded of by your great blog. I am looking forward to more kayaking in the Spring! I live very close to the Narrows and the Verrazano Bridge and try to visit often. One of my posts is inspired by the Comorants I see fishing in the narrows. Looking forward getting updates of your posts.
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I saw your cormorant post—very nice! A great place for cormorants is U Thant Island in the East River:
Or, closer to you, Swinburne Island just south of the Narrows. Both only accessible by boat, however.
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Thank you – this is an incredble photo!!!! I have never seen so many together like this- wow! How does one visit these islands if they don’t have their own boat? Thank you for this.
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Cormorants are actually very common in New York Harbor, but most people don’t see many of them because they tend to congregate and build their nests on offshore structures such as this
(see more in this post) and the many small islands around the harbor where they won’t be disturbed. U Thant and Swinburne Islands are just two examples. (Here is a nice New York Times article about the cormorants of Swinburne Island.)
They are not disturbed there because the islands are accessible only by boat, and even then you are not allowed to land because most of the islands are bird sanctuaries. But you can come close. If you don’t have your own boat, get someone to take you. For U Thant Island, you could try the Long Island City Community Boathouse. For Swinburne, American Princess Cruises has regular bird- (and seal-) watching cruises through the harbor. Or you can always try Marie Lorenz… :-)
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Thanks once again Vladimir! Great stuff… I have been observing 2 Cormorants for several years in the Narrows. I cycle around the shoreline from Spring until late Fall and I almost always see two, flying and fishing. I made the assumption they are the same “couple”. I’ve also spent hours with the Block Island Cormorants, but, they congregate on a rock in the Old Harbor, I again assumed they were nesting there. Lucky for these Cormorants that they can live with little disruption so close to New York City and millions of people! I love the water but most of my observations have been from the shore. Cormorants are incredible looking and their wing drying routine is just great to watch. I have just begun sketching them.
Your photos are really, really special …I didn’t realize Cormorants nest in trees, or so high in the air. New York has so much wildlife – I am looking forward to some new exploration by boat! Thanks for sharing this – I am creating a children’s book about the Cormorants in the harbor – and now with this new insight I will be expanding my story…. Thanks also for introducing me to Swinburne Is. And U Thant Is and Marie Lorenz’s blog! I will spend a more time exploring your and Johna’s blog… It has so much great stuff! Thanks so much for sharing! Dawn
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You are most welcome, Dawn! Let me know if you need more information. Good luck with your cormorant investigations and the book! I am looking forward to seeing how it turns out :-)
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Thank you!
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hey guys…if you have a spare minute, we would love to hear your feeback on our blog :) .. follow this link for a very quick survey: http://kwiksurveys.com/app/rendersurvey.asp?sid=z6e8g6iyclbln6797894&refer=
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Done! And you are welcome ;-)
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Pingback: 109. The Beautiful Blogger Award. | Sofie's Diary
I nominated you for the ‘Beautiful Blogger Award’. Congratulations!!
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Thanks so much, Sofie!—we are greatly honored by this recognition… :-)
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Hi Vladimir!
I love reading your blog so I nominated you for a Liebster Award!!
http://itypecrazyfast.wordpress.com/2013/02/27/ive-been-nominated-for-a-liebster-award/
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We thank you so very much for the award, and even more importantly, are very happy that you enjoy our blog!! :-)
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Hi Vladimir & Johna, I’ve nominated you for the Very Inspiring Blogger Award: http://catbirdinafrica.wordpress.com/2013/03/21/the-very-inspiring-blogger-award/
I hope you’ll accept but if you feel it’s too much work, I certainly understand!! :-)
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Thanks so much!! We really appreciate your thinking of us! :-)
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You’re welcome! I so enjoy your blog! :-)
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great view on the forces of many things… they create fascinating paradoxes (opposing forces that is)
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It’s been a while since we wrote this, but it’s certainly turned out to be that way :-)
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Nice blog. I really like the photos and your description of the kayaking trip around Manhattan. I’ve biked most of the way around it once, not in snow, and felt proud of myself for having accomplished that. Thanks for liking my pale travel photo.
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We’ll have to try biking around Manhattan one of these days, now that it’s possible… It’s just more convenient by water ;-)
Thanks, Rosemarie, and thanks for following our blog! Lots more to come!!
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I so enjoy your photos and your travel accounts. Guess I should call them kayaking accounts! Wonderful stuff.
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Thanks so much, Judy!! Many more to come, we hope! :-)
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Yes!!
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I like your blog and have nominated it for a couple of awards:
I hope you accept them! :)
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Thank you so much—we really appreciate it!! We’ll post an awards post as soon as we are able…
P.S. Loved your “Desert’s Door” post… :-)
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Thanks for stopping by my blog, really like what you you’ve done here. nice work, any thoughts on the app background changing? We’ve got similar perspectives, ‘currents’ can really help give context to your decisions as to whether your going to ‘go’ do something or find something indoors!J
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Thanks, J! Similar perspectives indeed… :-)
A changing background for your app would certainly make it more lively. Detailed background images might make it too cluttered, I think, but colors changing with the time of day, or such like, would be attractive… I am looking forward to the final implementation!
And thanks for following our blog!!
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Hi, I’ve nominated you for the Epically Awesome Award Of Epic Awesomeness following my nomination by “Charles Schnyder Photography”. Hope you can accept.
You can see your nomination on my WP Blog.
https://alienshores52.wordpress.com/2013/04/13/epic-awesome-award-nomination
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Thanks so much for that epically awesome nomination! An award that is new to us—we’ll try to spread it more widely… ;-)
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This just came up in my facebook feed and I first thought that the photo at number 6 was one of yours: http://www.facebook.com/#!/photo.php?v=10201031126360899
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It could have been—except i wouldn’t paddle a bright yellow kayak, so hard to stare at in the sun all day ;-) Thanks!!
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You have an impressive blog, and congratulations on the numerous awards! Thanks for liking my pattern! Sally
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Glad you like it! Thanks so much, Sally!! :-)
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Hello! Your blog looks pawesome! Looking forward to following your adventures! =^.^=
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Thank you so much! Please do—lots more to come!! :-)
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What a great blog! I look forward to reading some of your older posts (I’m new in 2013). In the meantime, you might even enjoy a blog my husband did when he built my cedar-strip kayak in 2010. I call her Corazon, Redfish design called Spring Run. I modified the plans (mainly the cockpit) and I also designed the patterns on the boat. Enjoy (I blog about triathlons currently).
This link is to the very first post at the beginning of the build:
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Thanks, Sandra! Yes, please do take a look through the blog. It’s over two years old now, with several hundred posts… :-)
And many thanks for the link to your husband’s boat-building blog. A lovely boat, well worth the time it took to build. I hope you are still enjoying paddling it!
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Oh, you betcha! He’s building a sailboat now. :-) It’s a bigger project, about a 20′ boat. I’m a lucky woman!
http://www.bluestempaddler.com/sootytern/
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:-)
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Hi Vladimir! Thanks for the “like” on my post. I’ve really enjoyed following your blog .
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Thanks so much! Lots more to come :-)
Your blog is great too—we are following it!
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Congratulations! You’ve been nominated as a VERY INSPIRING BLOGGER by Jadi at jadicampbell.wordpress.com. Go to her most recent post to see your nomination and learn about the award. THANK YOU for sharing your experiences and ideas with the blogosphere!
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Thanks so much for the nomination, Jadi—we really appreciate it!! :-)
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I’ve seen your fabulous entries to the weekly photo challenge and I must say I admire your work! Cheers
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Thanks so much, Jean! Lots more to come!! :-)
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Hi guys!
Thanks for stopping by my blog and liking my Weekly Photo Challenge :)
Very interesting concept behind your blog – I’m going to have to spend a bit of time working my way around it.
Cheers :)
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I’m not sure there really is a concept, the way the blog has developed, but there are certain themes… Thanks for coming by! I hope you will find enough to enjoy to keep coming back :-)
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Hi, thanks much for stopping by and liking my latest blog post photo challenge. I read with interest your ‘about’ page and look forward to reading more of your posts.
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Thank you, and do stop by again—much more to come!
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I have to say your blog is pretty incredible. I don’t know how you manage to put in the time to find this stuff, research it, and present it in such a fun and engaging way. I absolutely live for the water, and coming to your blog fills me with bliss. Let me tell you, I don’t think I’ve seen anything like this kind of coverage of the waterfront. Please keep it up!
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That’s such a lovely compliment! It does take a long time (less than you might think, though, because half the time we are simply documenting things that we ourselves have done). But it’s worth it if people like you read it! :-)
In turn, we are very happy to have discovered your two blogs. (I love Great Lives especially, while Johna I think prefers Workplace Monsters.) I hope our other readers will check them both out!
Thanks for following our blog!
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thanks! Look forward to seeing you very soon!
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Brilliant stuff here! Hello, and thank you for dropping by my blog and liking my pages – very much appreciated! All the best, Michael
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So glad you like our blog, Michael! Many thanks for stopping by! :-)
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Enjoyed your pics. I will keep an eye on your contributions to some of the photo challenges.
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Thanks, and thanks for following our blog! A couple of photo challenges come up every Friday…
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First time I ever read your profile. A neuroscientist ?? Why am I not surprised : )
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I was trying not to let it show too much… ;-)
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Too late for that Vlad : )
Everyone knows that neuroscientists float !!!
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You mean that neuroscientists are less dense, or alternatively (depending on which side of the argument you are on) more lightweight, than other people? ;-)
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I would suggest that the grey matter in your cranium exceeds the weight of your body consequently you NEED a kayak to keep afloat : )~
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The weight of the rest of my body is unfortunately considerable, and it is that which needs a kayak to keep afloat ;-)
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No way ! I have seen you!
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:-)
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Excellent blog. I always follow your posts and they are interesting, inspiring and exciting. I’m adding you to my blogroll. Hope that’s ok with you.
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Of course that’s ok, Jose—we are honored! We are so glad you find Wind Against Current inspiring and exciting… Thanks so much!! :-)
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Hi, thanks for stopping by my blog and liking my weekly photo challenge post! I’ve previously took a kayaking course before and during qualifying the test that we had to go through, we had to kayak against the wind that day and woah, it was such a challenge! I did pass the test, but what a workout it was!
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Wind will do that… unless, of course, you go with the current! ;-)
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HEY! You’ve got a Sunshine Reward! http://ordibild.com/2013/10/29/a-day-full-of-sunshine/
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Thanks so much for nominating us, Ninna—we appreciate it very much!! :-)
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