Lincoln Paddle Co.

Lately I’ve been thinking about how many sweet water experiences we have right here in Nebraska… that most of us never actually experience.

Sunset paddles.
Platte River floats.
Middle Loup days.
Full moon nights on the lake.

We wait for trips to Colorado or the coast to feel “adventure.”

But it’s found some here too;)…

So I’ve been toying with something.

What if we made it ridiculously easy to show up, get outside, and actually experience a few of these places — without having to plan everything yourself?

Pop-up water micro-adventures.
Simple.
Curated.
Just show up.

If I hosted a few of these this spring/summer around Lincoln + Omaha… would you want in?

Drop a yes, 🌊 or message me if that sounds like something you’d actually do. 😎

The drive through Nebraska’s Sandhills to get to the paddlers paradise that is the Niobrara River —always makes me think of poem —So This is Nebraska :) 👇
The gravel road rides with a slow gallop
over the fields, the telephone lines
streaming behind, its billow of dust
full of the sparks of redwing blackbirds.

On either side, those dear old ladies,
the loosening barns, their little windows
dulled by cataracts of hay and cobwebs
hide broken tractors under their skirts.

So this is Nebraska. A Sunday
afternoon; July. Driving along
with your hand out squeezing the air,
a meadowlark waiting on every post.

Behind a shelterbelt of cedars,
top-deep in hollyhocks, pollen and bees,
a pickup kicks its fenders off
and settles back to read the clouds.

You feel like that; you feel like letting
your tires go flat, like letting the mice
build a nest in your muffler, like being
no more than a truck in the weeds,

clucking with chickens or sticky with honey
or holding a skinny old man in your lap
while he watches the road, waiting
for someone to wave to. You feel like

waving. You feel like stopping the car
and dancing around on the road. You wave
instead and leave your hand out gliding
larklike over the wheat, over the houses.

"...We’d unhitch a gate, drive into a pasture, dodge the cow p**p and the cows, wade through tall prairie grass, duck under a barbed wire fence — and we were there. A tiny pond with a muddy tint. Frogs ribbiting. Sun sinking.

My go-to lure was a red and white hula-popper. I’d reach back, hit the button on my Zebco and let it fly — the popper landing with a deep plop upon the still topwater... Then I’d work it across the surface, each dip enticing the bass to strike.

The cicadas would start humming. Mosquitoes biting. Horseflies too. But—pulling in a largemouth bass as the sun sets might be one of my favorite scenes in life. The action for sure, but my favorite part—the high fives, the smiles, the laughs with a guy named Babe..."

Read it here...the story behind the story of spending a summer floating across Nebraska ;) 👉 https://substack.com/home/post/p-189711384

Doubt sucks. But I’m pressing on👇

I’ve quit this thing 17 times. Gotten jobs, quit jobs, closed my rental business. It’s been lonely. It’s been costly. And somehow — it’s also been the most alive I’ve felt.

Every time I try to walk away, I can’t.

So here I am.

——

I’m building a water brand from the most landlocked state in America.

Nebraska. Corn. Beans. Hardworking people. Not a lot of water you can see.

But we’ve got farm ponds dotted across the prairie. Rivers nobody thinks about. Moments that change your life if you slow down enough to notice.

That’s where this started — on a muddy farm pond at sunset with my grandpa. Zebco reel. Hula popper. Cows in the background. Nothing fancy.

But when that bass hit and Grandpa high-fived me?

That feeling changed my life.

——

It’s called The Float Crew.

The idea is simple: life is better on the water, with good people, slowing down.

Not about the fanciest gear or the most exotic destination. About the crew you go with. The stories you come home with. The way water has this quiet power to slow everything down and reconnect you to what matters.

Here’s what I’m building in 2026:

A film about floating across Nebraska with my friend Sam — premiering Spring 2026.

Small batch gear that celebrates the crew, not just the activity.

Free Float Clubs — no pressure, no rentals, just people coming together on the water.

And stories. Lots of stories.

——

I’m committing this year to it. All of it.

If it fails, it fails. If it goes, it goes.

But I feel like God put this vision in my heart, and I’d spend the rest of my life wondering “what if” if I didn’t try.

My dream is to help thousands of people experience what the water can do for you. If that can happen in Nebraska, it can happen anywhere…

If that resonates — follow along. Big things coming.

— Kyle ;)

From a summer float trip 😎…going through the GoPro on this arctic day—dreaming of the next adventure…

Six years ago, I borrowed an old green kayak from a buddy and drove to the lake with two broken Amazon straps and my hand out the window holding it all down 🤣.

People honked as my new boat bounced into the sky. I didn’t really know what I was doing haha. Where to launch. just did it.

That awkward first paddle changed a lot of things.

It led to a kayak company. A ton of customers who got to enjoy the goodness on the water. And this past summer—floating across Nebraska with a buddy, meeting others and finding adventure even here in cornland.

I think about that green kayak often. As a way to remember that a gift, a nudge and a good way forward doesn’t mean it’s going to be easy.

That the awkward first steps matter.

I’m sharing these stories in a short film called Float Nebraska—the summer two friends floated across Nebraska, sharing what we found.

I don’t have it all figured out. In many ways it feels like that day I just got in the green kayak. Hand out the window. Not knowing where to launch. Just doing it anyway.

Life is fast. But when you slow down—float, with good people, a crew—it becomes even better and I just want to share that…Stay tuned for the stories, the film, and what we found. 😎

https://open.substack.com/pub/floatcrewjournal/p/the-green-kayak?r=563gyo&utm_medium=ios&shareImageVariant=overlay

Next story coming soon. 🌊

In 2020 I went out with my kayak and just started taking pictures— floating on farm ponds and muddy lakes here in Nebraska. Not long after that turned into a business, taking people out in a place not so known for water adventures.

If you’ve been following along, you know Lincoln Paddle Company closed in 2025.

This account has been transitioning over the fall and winter—sharing stories from my summer floating across Nebraska & beyond ;). Where I truly saw something special with the people, the places and the ways that we can enjoy being outside —and on the water.

Now, as we head into 2026, this account is officially becoming The Float Crew. Apparel and community for landlocked water lovers.

Here’s what that means:

→ New content: Building Float Crew in public (apparel, film, Float Clubs)
→ Same mission: Helping people slow down and get on the water
→ Same community: Landlocked water lovers (that’s you)

If you’re here for that, stick around.

If not, no hard feelings—thanks for the LPC memories. ❤️

But if you believe life’s better on the water? Welcome to Float Crew.

much more to come 🫡
-Kyle