Video found on paddlinginstructor.com.
Since we support ” Leave No Trace” why not post a little video about it,
Leave No Trace from Michael Ramsey on Vimeo.
High action battle scenes, devastation, destruction, smoke, fear.
And cute kids.
Let’s keep our coasts looking good!!!
Hello everybody, it’s been a while I have not updated the blog, sorry about that…
Summer has been keeping me away from the computer, and paddling kept me away from home!
I come back to find out Joe O’Blenis has started his island race Circumnavigation, and even slept on the island next to mine, he was on Catala Isalnd while we slept on isalnd 44 in Nuchatlitz, about 2 NM south of him.
Needless to say he has done the hardest part of the trip so things are looking good, and he has to be in some very serious shape has he’s been paddling long days.
here is the SPOT report upodated daily: SPOT by Joe
and the Wavelength Magazine info about the great race.
On my end I have been paddling around Spring Island, the Bunsbies, Nuchatlitz… keeping the paddle wet and fishing here and there, there was some hot days, some very thick fogs, some winds but almost no waves at all.
Some solo paddling and long hours reading, then some days with friends and lots of cooking, playing cards, living the life of the kayaker.
Overall I encourage people to visit those places, amazing places!!!
Information I received from Paddle Canada by e-mail:
Paddle Canada is sending this announcement out to our current and past members on behalf and by special request of The Gulf Islands National Park Reserve (Parks Canada) located in BC.
Photo J. McCulloch/Parks Canada
Gulf Islands National Park – Sea Kayakers
Gulf Islands National Park Reserve (Parks Canada) will be conducting conference call focus group meetings in the first and second weeks of August 2010 in the evenings with outdoor experience enthusiasts. All focus group participants will receive a $50 gift certificate from Mountain Equipment Coopfor participating. As Gulf Islands National Park Reserve is a relatively new national park established in 2003, we would like to find out from boating enthusiasts like you how we can improve the boating experience. Whether you have previously toured in the Gulf Islands National Park Reserve area or not, we would like to invite you to attend one of these focus groups.
Please contact Cheryl Hooper, the focus group facilitator, if you are able to participate and if you have any questions, at the following contact information:
Email: cheryl.hooper@pc.gc.ca
Phone: (204) 983-7870
Please note if your household has more than one boating enthusiast, we would like to recruit just one of you for the groups.
Once your attendance is confirmed, we will send you the teleconference information. Along with a phone line, you will also require an operational high-speed Internet connection during the course of the focus group as we will want your feedback on various concepts that will require showing you photos.
Thank you for your consideration and we hope you are able to participate!
Laurie Peerenboom, Visitor Experience Manager
This month issue of Ocean Paddler, the sea kayaker Magazine from the UK, feature a Canadian paddler on their cover… Me!
You can follow this link to the magazine, the picture was taken last winter on Quadra Island by Rochelle Relyea while we were paddling some currents at Surge Narrows.
We stayed a few days and enjoyed the wood stove and the Sauna at Discovery Lodge…
I made a short video from the trip and you can watch it here….
and the pic!! I look good from far away with my back to the camera…. The kayak is a Chatham 16 by Necky Kayak… fun boat!
Ocean Paddler magazine
Now this is not advertisement, but I have to pass this on.
I have been looking for a big 1 person tent for a while, and they’re not cheap! It seems the smaller material is used, the more money they want for it.
Of course for $300 there are some sweet tent out there, but I already own a few as you can imagine, 3 or 4 season, 2 or 3 person… so I was looking for a good deal if I saw one.
And I found it.
MEC came out this year with the Camper 2, which is a small 2 persons tent, and it’s pretty small for 2 person. But you should see how much room it takes in my kayak.
The magic of it is the tent disappear behind my Skeg box (I would put a picture but you would not see much, it’s gone). So it packs to nothing, weight little ( I know we’re kayakers but you still have to carry it around when you land), and it’s a huge 1 person tent, or a small 2 person.
Now let me break the news… retail for $125!!
There are 2 doors, 2 vestibules, the floor come up very high and is polyurethane-coated for long-lasting waterproofness to 10,000mm (if you don’t know what that means, there is just not much more available out there). Good ventilation, easy to set up on your own, and a fair amount of room under the vestibule if your stuff is in drybags (just set up a tarp.. can’t go wrong that way).
For 1 person, all your gear fits in with you, and it’s roomy and great…
2 people is OK but tight, and sitting up you touch the top unless you are in the middle…
For the nice days, for those trips where you’re packing small, for a very good price, I have slept in it over 15 nights now and have not 1 complaint.
Love to pack it in my kayak… I can tell you that much!!!!
On sunny days don’t peg the vestibule and you have great access to the tent with both flap out of the way, on rainy days I had it set tight and the zippers did an awesome job (use bungee cords instead of rope for better results), still leaving lots of room to get in and close easily (it’s small so reaching is easy).
I hear the gear heads, too cheap, not strong enough, poles will break…. I just don’t think it’s true, it’s a 3 season tent not an expedition/set on the ledge/in 100km/hr winds, if you use it for what it’s design for, it will do just fine.
So far so good……
some links..
to the CAMPER 2
to some users reviews
CPAWS strikes again:
Today we have great news — all political parties in Parliament voiced their support for a new law by Environment Minister Jim Prentice to finalize the Gwaii Haanas National Marine Conservation Area.This comes after more than 2 decades of work by CPAWS, the local Haida, Parks Canada and many others to conserve this magical 3,000 square km area known as Canada’s “Galapagos of the North”.
With your support, we’re almost there!Please take a moment now to thank our politicians for this positive move, and to let them know how you feel about finalizing the law to establish Canada’s first deep sea national marine conservation area before Parliament adjourns for the summer.
TAKE ACTION HERE, CLICK ON THIS LINK: Send an e-mail to all of the federal parties’ environment critics and minister Jim Prentice.
Check out the list of Ocean related action on-going with CPAWS here…
Here is the add, the boat has been out on the water and will be around north America in a Month…..
Looks like a play boattt……
Beautiful video, Underwater images from British Columbia
(Victoria, Campbell River & Kyuquot)
Images © Jeffrey Gallant
Soundtrack (La mer) by Claude Debussy
Performed by the United States Air Force Band (PUBLIC DOMAIN)
First thing first, Ladysmith Paddlefest is coming up, so you better get your gear ready.
If you are starting out, go there and try boats, talk to everybody, try new things! lots of workshop, clinics and such, almost free…
check their website here and sign up.
Then we have MEC Paddlefest coming up on the 5th of June, more of the same but in Victoria at Cadboro bay,
a day long of demos, clinics, sea kayaking obsession… paradise!
get the info you need for MEC Paddlefest here..
Then finally some info about the Wave Grabber Series, your opportunity to rent and paddle a boat for 2 or 3 hours for $10, meet other paddlers, and have a BBQ to finished it off.
This is a joint effort by MEC Victoria and The Gorge Rowing Club to create a community paddle evening where you can paddle a boat without breaking your bank account and meet other local paddlers for the rest of the week, if you have your own boat, participation is free and you are welcome as well.
Mountain Equipment Co-op and Gorge Rowing & Paddling Centre welcome back Wave Grabber, a competitive and for fun race series that involves all types of paddling. Race for fun! Race a friend! If you love to paddle, just come on down. Take part in one, take part in all.
WHAT
This six-race paddling series offers fun recreational racing, followed by a delicious BBQ and draw prizes. Racers chose from one, two, or three laps of a 1.4km loop. Rental of a recreational kayak is included in the race fees, although private boats are always welcome. Races are open to recreational, performance, and flat water kayaks and canoes, surf skis, outrigger and marathon canoes, and paddle boards.
WHERE
Gorge Rowing & Paddling Centre
105-2940 Jutland Road (Selkirk Waterfront Community)
WHEN
Registration: 6:00 to 6:30 PM
Mandatory Safety Meeting: 6:30 PM
Race Starts: 6:45 PM
COST
$10.00 Includes boat rental, BBQ, and prizes.
Cash, debit, or credit available.
View Paddle trip plan 1: Sidney area in a larger map
2 possible trips, or 1 long one if you do both, beautiful area, open waters can offer some challenging conditions due to good fetch from the ESE and the amount of currents in the area. On calm days a very easy fun trip.
Trip plan 1 (around James and Sidney Island)
Last Updated by ASK < 1 minute ago
Total distance: 26.97 km
Fairly long crossing interesting in calm days or windier conditions for the intermediate to advanced paddlers. East Side of Sidney island is beautiful, camping on Sidney Island available.
Calculate Currents of Race passage, secondary location is Sidney Channel.
Listen to Marine weather forecast for Haro Strait.
Trip 2
Last Updated by ASK < 1 minute ago
Total distance: 13.09 km
A shorter trip, involving more currents and more small islands to navigate, beautiful area, lots of places to tuck in and break.
Calculate Currents of Race passage, secondary location is Sidney Channel. Any current faster than 4 knots at Race passage will create some feature around Goudge Island (especially during the Ebb).
Listen to Marine weather forecast for Haro Strait.
National Sea Kayak Symposium
May 14-16.
The Madawaska River, Ontario.
What is the National Sea Kayak Symposium?
Adventure Kayak’s National Sea Kayak Symposium (NaSKS) is a gathering of sea kayak and kayak touring paddlers (all kayakers really, except maybe whitewater kayakers) run in combination with Palmer Fest.
NaSKS is an on-water instruction-based weekend of teaching and sharing skills, knowledge, experiences and good times on the water.
It’s a weekend of on-water clinics, demonstrations and general camaraderie for sea kayakers of all abilities. NaSKS was inspired by the West Coast Sea Kayak Symposium held every year in Port Townsend, Washington.
Now using the proven Palmer Fest event model to focus on beginner, intermediate and advanced skill development we’ve taken everything we’ve learned from 12 years of traveling to festivals and symposiums and put it all together.
NaSKS is presented by Adventure Kayak and Rapid Media and hosted at the Paddler Co-op Boathouse.
When is NaSKS
May 14-16, 2010. Advance registration is required for this event and space is limited. Weekend package, only $129. Registration ends Friday. Register today.
Itinerary at a Glance
Arrive and camp on Friday night. Saturdays and Sundays will be the on-water clinics—two per day. The clinics go from 10am to 12pm and then again from 2pm to 4pm. You select your clinics in advance when you register.
Saturday and Sunday morning visit the HUGE Exhibitor Alley and check out the latest in boats, gear, trips and instruction.
About the Clinics
NaSKS offers more variety of on-water clinics than any other sea kayak symposium in the world. Plus we offer progressive introductory and intermediate clinics that build upon themselves throughout the weekend—allowing absolute beginners a place to start from scratch and build a skill base.
The intermediate progressive courses are idea for those who have taken their first course and want to build on basic skills. Click here for more information about the clinics and full clinic descriptions.
Why on the Madawaska River?
Locating on the Madawaska River has three major benefits… Location. Location. Location.
Palmer Rapids is ideally located between Toronto and Ottawa, New England states and western Quebec. Click here for directions.
The Madawaska River offers enough lakewater and touring opporunites as anywhere else in the province.
The Madawaska River offers deep and attainable currents, surf and boils ideal for intermediate and advanced clinics similulating ocean conditions.
It’s fun!
Family Friendly and Camping Event
NaSKS is a family friendly event with onsite camping. Arrive, park and spend the weekend, – no more driving required.
Daycare will be offered so that sea kayaking parents can escape to the water for the clinics.
Saturday Night Paddler Social
On Saturday evening there will be a special NaSKS gathering lead by Scott MacGregor, Publisher of Adventure Kayak magazine.
This gathering of professionals and enthusiasts is a celebration of the growth of the sport and a look forward at the future – how can be encourage more to join us on the water.
Followed by a paddlers’ social including catered barbecue, Reel Paddling Film Festival, boat and vendor exhibits, music and much dancing.
NaSKS is a celebration of sea kayak culture – past, present and future!
Registration Includes:
Two nights camping at Paddler Co-op Boathouse—Friday and Saturday night (see registration fees for this option, limited space, register now)
Saturday night catered BBQ dinner
Sunday morning breakfast
Two days of professional instruction in National Sea Kayak Symposium clinics
Extensive kayak test paddling/demos from top sea kayak manufacturers and venders in our HUGE Exhibitor Alley
Daycare services during the Saturday and Sunday clinics
An evening of the best paddling films of the year from the 2009 Reel Paddling Film Festival World Tour
Live Concert
Wristband Policy: You will receive a wristband that acts as your ticket for the weekend. Your wristband will be required for all clinics, test paddling, dinner, breakfast, films, bands and shuttles.
Weekend only $129. Register Today.
E-MAIL us at nick@activeseakayaking.ca
or call 250-507-8877
Plenty of people showed up and paddled, walk and generally said No to the marina, once again the rally made it to the first page of the Times Colonist,
if it’s not clear I don’t get it!!!!
I quote:
” Hundreds of Greater Victoria residents attended the rally, along with Victoria MP Denise Savoie and Maurine Karagianis, MLA for Esquimalt-Royal Roads, who oppose the development.”
and
“Karagianis, who has already delivered a 7,000-name petition to the legislature, called the marina a “huge, monolithic disaster.”
She told the crowd she has written to the province but has not yet had a response.
“We will take this fight into the legislature and hopefully no decisions, no backroom deals will be made about this before we get a chance to grill the minister,’ ” said Karagianis, as kayakers splashed their paddles and others clapped.”
Let’s see what happen now, the developer needs federal, provincial and municipal approvals, but none has come through yet, so there is hope it goes away like a bad dream….
The Big Wild got a fresh new look, and offers new easy opportunity for everybody to help protect the Canadian Wilderness…
Sounds like a good idea to me. Founded by Mountain Equipment Co-op and the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society, The Big Wild is a conservation movement that makes it easy for you to stand up for wilderness protection campaigns. Join us in calling on our political representatives to protect Canada’s precious public land and water forever. Do something small to save something big.
Here is the new trailer…
Visit the website at Thebigwild.org and get on the program…
Or become a fan on their facebook page…
On a different note, Wavelength Magazine has a nice On-line version to read… and offer some nice Eco-action possibility as well with the Clean Up the Coast Contest, a very cool idea to encourage paddlers to pick up the trash and take it out with them, and there are prizes of course.
And a nice option to purchase some Paddling Information, the new Maps are out here!!!!
New rally on Saturday the 17th of April to protect Victoria Harbour from developers plans to build a private Mega Yacht Marina on the north shore of Victoria’s Inner Harbour.
There are several reason for fighting against this and the City is actually trying to stop this from happening, so let’s show our support and meet on the water or on land to Say no:
No To:
-Loss of public access to this large area of the harbour
-Impact on quality of life and enjoyment of natural harbour, pathways and views
-Serious safety issues for all harbour users
-Environmental impacts
-No public consultation
There is a serious concern the Marina would leave no room for small boats to travel in and out of the inside of the harbour without cutting across the landing line of the Float-planes…. and that’s a Plan B for sea kayakers!
For more info Visit SaveOurHarbour.com and get on the water!
You can write a letter to your minister, become a Facebook friend with SaveOurHarbour and more HERE…
Meeting place on the 17th:
Supporters On The Water
Meet on the water at either:
Gorge Rowing & Paddling Club @ 10:00
Ocean River Paddling Club @ 10:30
Supporters On Land
Meet on the Westsong walkway
at the foot of Paul Kane Place @ 11:00
This is how it would look like, and it’s right along the landing lane of the float plane…
Well, KayakPaddling.net has been one of our link for years but here is some info in case you have never come across it.
KayakPaddling.net contains a great assortment of innovative, fully animated tutorials for open water paddlers. The step-by-step tutorials range from showing how to get into a kayak, all the way to the fine details of successful eskimo roll. This is a good starting point for all beginning paddlers, and paddling instructors can use it as a supporting material.
The website is available in multiple languages and new language versions will be released soon.
KayakPaddling.net and its contents are designed by visual communication designer and paddling enthusiast Niko Hakkarainen. The language versions are being translated by volunteers from various countries.
KayakPaddling.net has been nominated in multiple competitions and it has won the Europrix Top Talent Award 2008 for best interactive computer graphics and eEemeli 2008 award for best Finnish e-learning solution.
The website sets new standards for teaching sports techniques on internet by combining modern 3D technology and thoughtful use of interaction.
It’s very interesting to see and be able to look from the comfort of your home with all your attention on the screen, best learning conditions in many ways.
Of course then you need to go out….
It’s been too long I haven’t posted anything, seems to me things are slow right now, but here is some news en Vrac:
“This is Canoeing” is out and about, you’ll see the trailer and articles about it everywhere, because it’s gooooddd…… Trailer here!
After many months of waiting, the Valley Website is running, smooth, sharp, like some of their boats! Check it out,
And the new Wavelength Magazine is out too, find it at your local paddling shop or follow this LINK to have a look at it on-line:
Breaking news… once again I am the guy you see on page 26 facing away from you… this is just because Alex is so good looking…
Speaking of who, here is a page with a number of Articles written by Alex Matthew about paddling Skills, a little bit like a “Best Of”!!! Refresh your skills and get on the water, lately it’s like summer here and the paddling has been outstanding.
Last but not least, MEC Victoria is getting their paddling gear in…. good deal on Lendal Paddle and a new Aurora Fiberglass by Discover kayak for $2200, just had to put it out-there..!
Thanks to everybody that took a minute to fill out the survey bellow, it’s still open so go ahead if you haven’t yet, thanks to Paddle Canada for promoting the survey as well,and Wavelength Magazine.
Get off your computer and on the water!!!! lately we’ve seen Sea Lions, seals, eagles, and porpoises… Get out there!
Here is the brochure, made and distributed by Environment Canada to help mariners make sense of the Weather Marine Forecast. On those 2 pages you have the definition of all the vocabulary used in the Forecast, contact info, 3 different ways to access your Marine Forecast, and… this is gold… all the locations of the Weather stations, Lighthouses, Ocean Buoys, Area Forecast... If you click on the pages you’ll get a bigger version where you can read the small prints, and a link at the bottom will give you a good document to print.
At the bottom of the page is a Survey, all the information collected will go to Environment Canada in a effort to help them understand how sea kayakers use the brochure and the Marine Weather Forecast, so speak up!! After you fill the survey you have to hit the submit button. Thanks for your time.
For a good Printing Adobe version of those slides follow this link: Marine Weather Brochure
Here is the Survey:
Now we think we have it rough here in BC paddling all winter,
Have a look at this, winter paddling in Toronto, including sleding the boat on ice to open water,
Credit goes to PaddlingInstructor.com, Brrrrr!!!!!
Have a look at these and give us a call for more details, there is lots of exciting stuff coming up….
A short video of Dodd Narrows, just south of Nanaimo. Current is at about 7 knots, and that boat just powered right through it, kicking up a nice wake, wave in moving water.
Here is what UVIC had to say about the Green Start Marketplace:
Start your September off in a green direction at the annual Green Start Marketplace. Community businesses, non-profit organizations, UVic groups, vendors, artisans and craft merchants will come together to create a public market and connect with the campus community over sustainable practices, products and services. Take a break from classes to enjoy live music and check out the marketplace around the inner UVic quad and Petch Fountain.
ASK got to talk with students and UVIC staff about sea kayaking, the industry, Paddle Canada, SKGABC, how to look into a sea kayak Guide job and so on. There was also a lot of questions about where to get good rentals in Victoria, so here is the list:
-The obvious Ocean River Sport with their dock on the water and boats ready to go.
- Selkirk Station, Bike & Kayak rentals & tours offer a 2 hours rental for $25, and in summer the evening for $20, hard to beat.
Find them at 80 regatta landing in Victoria, on the Gorge. Follow the link here.
– the Wave Grabber is a paddling vessel RACE of 2-4 km, just for fun.
Cost is $10. first come first serve, and here are the dates and time.
Races are every second Wednesday at 6:30pm, arrive early to register. You register on location at GORGE ROWING CLUB, 105-2940 Jutland Rd . Afterward, BBQ and Prizes, plus Pictures are loaded on the website, have a look Here!
The Wave Grabber Race Series are brought to you by MEC, for more info you can also e-mail lkelsey@mec.ca
Of course if you are looking for Instruction, just contact us…
and now a video for fun.
Attention all, the Canadian Coast Guard is threatening our lighthouses with new plans to de-staff the remaining 27 of BC’s staffed lighthouses. One of the first victim would be the Trial Island Lighthouse, and we do get in touch with them often, last time was 3 days ago when they signaled us there was 25 whales passing in Enterprise Channel, and that’s good info right there.
But more than that, the keepers have called the Coast Guard to help Sea Kayakers in distress in the last 6 months, and they always deliver their weather reports (where the automated weather stations are sometimes out of order for months… like Solander Island last spring).
The Georgia Strait Alliance is working on protecting our staffed lighthouses and you can read their website info HERE.
Here is a extract of the the text off their web page:
“Lightkeepers are often called upon for assisting search & rescue and RCMP & fisheries officers. They play a major role in maintaining public and environmental safety of the Strait of Georgia, including spotting oils spills and other environmental incidents. In addition, lighthouses work best with maintenance – the loss of the light’s visibility due to condensation, snow during the winter and seagull feces means that the safety of mariners is at risk.
Most critically, boat traffic primarily relies on the lightkeepers’ VHF weather bulletins as the automated reports are not always available nor are they as in depth. ” End of quote.
To wrap this up, the Georgia Strait Alliance is giving you a chance to act by Signing up the
“Stop Canadian Lighthouse De-staffing petition”. Get to the petition here and use your voice.
The GSA also launched a Video Campaign, Send them a short video telling them your story about how a lightkeeper has helped you in your time of need on the water and they will post it to their YouTube & Facebook pages.
Here is my video, of course I just borrowed it for the occasion…
This is what the Georgia Strait Alliance had to say:
” Thanks to your efforts, and the loud voices of protect from many other groups and individuals in the region, on September 30, 2009, the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) announced that it would put aside its decision to de-staff lighthouses on BC’s coast.
Instead, they will conduct a thorough review, including consultations with lighthouse keepers and other stakeholders. GSA will keep the pressure on DFO to ensure that the review process is transparent, comprehensive and includes all coastal communities.
Keep checking our website – http://www.facebook.com/l/6528c;www.GeorgiaStrait.org – and our FB page, for more information, and thanks for adding your voice to the opposition to DFO’s plans “.
For once we made a difference, always a good feeling!
A Stunning and Inspirational Slide Show by Shawna Franklin and Leon Sommé. The presenters are none others than :Shawna and Leon co-own Body Boat Blade International on Orcas Island in the San Juan Islands, an award winning kayak school devoted to producing the safest, most skilled and fun loving paddlers and coaches in the world. Their passion is to teach other paddlers the skills that they need to safely kayak in the beauty of a stormy sea. They are literally neighbors!
In the summer of 2007 Shawna Franklin, Leon Sommé and renowned cinematographer Justine Curgenven successfully circumnavigated Haida Gwaii – Thee Queen Charlotte Islands. This rugged archipelago is perched at the edge of the continental shelf off the northwest coast of British Columbia. Come hear the story of their journey around this magical land!
Haida Gwaii waters are some of the most challenging in North America. Miles of rugged shoreline on the exposed west coast make for committed long distance paddling with few safe-landing spots.
Living out of their boats for 4 weeks, the team traveled lightly, without logistical shore support, allowing them flexibility to respond and react to the challenges they met on the sea and to get to know the warm and gracious inhabitants of this remote outpost.
You can Visit their website here, and the show will take place Friday 23 Oct 19:00
Where: UVIC’s Harry Hickman Building Room 105 (HH105)
Hope to see you there,
NIck
Take a few minutes to follow this link to the ” Kayaking Safety Module” and discover the basic needs of a beginner kayaker thanks to the Coastguard boating Education program.
The internet base tool will take you on a typical short day outing paddle and ask you questions based on safety and common sense. You will also have to make decisions based on your situation and reflect on the adventure, while getting more info whether you pick the right answer or not.
Pretty cool, cover the basics, food-water-shelter-kayaking safety, I am a little jealous New Zealand thought of this before us, but hey I was busy paddling!
Found this on PaddlingInstructor.com….
MEC Gear Swap is all about gathering the community’s “gear heads” and promoting the reuse and recycling of used gear! MEC invites any co-op members to register to have a table for $5-$10 and sell or swap their no longer needed gear. In addition MEC brings a huge collection of their own used or warrantied gear to sell at awesome deals!
This year Gear Swap:
WHEN: SUNDAY OCTOBER 18TH 2009. 11am – 3pm
LOCATION: JAMES BAY COMMUNITY CENTRE
140 Oswego St, James Bay, Victoria.
For more information, please email lkelsey@mec.ca or contact the store at 250.386.2667.
Food for thoughts, often paddlers run into the same problems over and over. During rescues it’s ” I don’t know where to put my paddle”, about stowing gear it’s ” should I have my VHF radio on me?”, and should you carry your towing system with you at all time????
To me it all come down to working out your Systems, your gear should work for your System to achieve your goals.
When it comes to Towing I have decided to carry a North Water PFD Quick Release Sea Link because it’s always on my PFD, it has a good quick release system, I can use it as a Pig Tail for contact tows, for clipping my paddle on, for walking along the shore line with my own boat on tow…. but also for a short tow with the 5 meters of line stowed in the pouch or a long tow if I rig it with my mandatory Throw bag.…
All those things work for me because I use them often, play with the gear on a regular basis, and for some reason I worked out all the kinks out of that one.
My systems might work for you, or not!
Design your own!
But if I change anything in the system I have to train with it again, New PFD is an issue I try to avoid but I need a new one every so often, and it play tricks on me… I want a towing system, a pocket for my VHF radio, enough room for my grease pen and a strobe somewhere (notice that the strobe bother me as it is always attach on your back where you could not activate it without taking the PFD off…talk about a good System right there)…
Anyway, I just ran in to that article form the archives of Canoe&Kayak about PFD and Coast Guard regulations… Since the weather is looking Grey I figure it would make for some good reading!
Happy paddling.
A short video I took a week ago of some salmons waiting for the rain, mostly Chum salmons. There were bears swimming, salmons swarming and jumping, you just have to drive to Thasis and get it all!
I have more videos and I hope to eventually make a short clip with close ups and slow downs, cool footage to work with.
But for now the water is calling, and here I go!
A video link to a 1932 video shot by Capt Bartlett, form the British Pathe Video library:
QUOTE “Along with bluff old Capt. Bartlett (who accompanied Peary to the Pole), we reach Greenland’s coast and meet the hardy Eskimos.”
Shots from on board the schooner Morrissey. END OF QUOTE
There are several awesome clips to watch but that one just caught my attention, the comments are priceless, here is a teaser: ” The Eskimo can do almost anything in a kayak, it’s pretty hard in liquid ice (Rolling) but it’s an easy way to wash off your face or wake up in the morning!”.
On this one you can watch some actual Walrus hunting done from a sea kayak, and lots of footage from the every day life of an Eskimo… pretty cool, I found all this interesting stuff at OnKayaks, a very witty paddling blog!
Greenland paddlers, original 1930 movie
At MEC right now you can get Lendal Paddles on special, and you could also demo them from the shop before you spend the money. If you decide to try that, you could book a time at the store and try one of their boat as well, no sense in wasting a good opportunity to fall in love with a new kayak…
The Lendal are the paddle of choice in the UK and appears in all the movies by Justine Curgenven , This is the Sea 1, 2 , 3 and 4 and seem to be loved by a lot of European paddlers. I just happen to get a couple of them, and give it a try.
Loved it!
The paddle give a very solid feel. Lendal claim to fame comes from their locking system, and it’s Fame all right. Paddling a 4 pieces paddle feels like a one piece. Now why would you paddle a four piece, that is the question?
A 2 piece would allow for a lot lighter of a paddle, but the idea is to make it possible to keep the same shaft but have access to different paddles as you can purchase different blades for different sizes, materials, shapes… or just replace that one broken blade without chucking the paddle all together! Hum, why not!
In any case, I found the paddle (Lendal Kinetik 600 CC Blade) very smooth. There is plenty of power for forward paddling, and plenty of volume for playing, rolling, skulling, and bow Rudders… Yet it did not feel like a huge blade that would tear my body apart in the next few years, and the blade move very gently in the water (yet you have to get use to it, changing paddle is always tough).
Another thing was that the bent shaft ( you could get a strait shaft) on a 210Cm kept my hands pretty close to the center, and you can’t put your hands past the bend so… a smaller ” paddling box” but oddly this felt good and forced me to keep close to the core, a solid feeling.
It’s maybe a little heavy for the price if you own a Werner Carbon, but you can be rough on your Lendal and still be gentle with your Werner, depending on your mood.
I went surfing with this paddle and even thought it’s a “touring” paddle, there is plenty of power for playing, broaching, bracing and rolling. Maybe my new favorite…
I liked it a lot, give it a try, I had 2 ladies try it and they did not want to give it back, so if you get one just don’t give it to anybody! Apparently Lendal paddles as a company is having some difficulty and you can read about that here! You can also visit the Lendal Website for more info.
Good day, happy paddling,
Nick
Just a short video of the first surf of the season, it was so much fun to get back at it, with some nice smooth waves (not in the video, smooth waves ride looks boring… too bad, they are my favorites!)
NOT POLITICALLY CORRECT BUT…. I couldn’t resist, forgive me!
Yesterday afternoon, after a few hours of Strong SW winds, a little playing by the rocks….
OK, I thought today the weather was snippy, we have been talking about this phenomena where all of a sudden when you are changing after a wee paddle you feel like time is of the essence, and you want to be dry again NOW!
That is called winter, and yes I know the paddlers from the rest of the country are laughing at me while they read that page, but what do they know about winter paddling anyway, their water freezes! It’s called ice!
Whatever…
Here if there is ice we paddle through it to the water, and we play year around… thanks for little victories… especially if you are the lucky owner of a drysuit. No this is not advertisement!
It’s just my personal point of view, nothing like a couple of dry fleece layers and a drysuit to keep me happy in January.
The good news is that there are many options on the market, in term of materials, brands, prices… price is usually a big one… And there is always the WetSuit option, should I spend all that good money or get a wet suit!
Here is a link to a GEAR REVIEW written by Canoe&Kayak about your options, Christmas being just around the corner.. Halloween is not good for paddlers. The article will go into details about every Dry or Wetsuits you could ever dream of, and give you the opportunity to become a international shopper, with suits from the UK, the US, or our good old Canada (Level 6).
The list of wetsuits is impressive as well, and they will keep you warm. Here is my only concerns about wetsuit, on day 2 of that winter trip, in the morning after your second coffee, you will look at your wetsuit (by then wet and cold Suit) and realize you have to crawl into it!!! Haaaaaa, nightmares still haunt me from those days, and I highly recommend pouring some warm water in your wetsuit before you try getting in, or shop for a drysuit and boost the paddling economy! More to the point, here are the main reasons to look at buying a suit.
I think the main argument is this: you go from a 3 month paddling season to a 8 months paddling season, or year round if you are adventurous. Certainly those late falls day where it’s still warmish and sometimes sunny or those early spring outings will be a lot more comfortable and realistic if you are dressed in a drysuit. Rain, drizzle, winds, no big deal as long as you worked out your under-layer system! Landing for a tea break or your lunch, you can walk in the water and keep your toes dry, sit on a drenched log and start eating… get back in your boat warm and dry.
There is also the “Confidence” factor, paddlers wearing a drysuit are more likely to try new things, edge a little, punch through a small wave… as your skills level go up, your paddling season extends again.
The drysuit around here can also be looked at as a safety item. While the suit won’t replace every safety gear you carry with you and make you safe any-day in any-conditions, it certainly help diminishing the consequences factor of a capsize, a roll, a good rescue, strong rain and the rare (but too real) “fall of the boat” while getting out at the lunch spot which happen to be 3 hours away form the car…
Finally having your toes dry and warm is priceless to me, the hood is sometimes very appreciated, the relief zipper… well, provide relief!
All around, the drysuit provides warmth and comfort, both physically and mentally. You certainly don’t NEED one, but if you get one there will be no going back… Food for thoughts!
Quote” It was the first time Kevin Callan had been paddling since a man dressed as a bear jumped on him and fractured his ribs! The accident happened while Kevin was filming a programme about bear safety and put the affable canoeist out of action for a month. When I came over to film with him, he was back less than subtly with his red canoe covered in white maple leaves, like a gigantic amalgamation of Canadian flags! The best selling author is a lovely funny chap who likes the canoe as a means to get into wilderness… “end of quote”
So goes the journal of Justine Curgenven, the film maker from Cackle TV we have to thanks For the series of This Is The Sea movie. The film maker from the UK was apparently filming some footage in Ontario not too long ago, running rapids and enjoying our fall color.
Read more about her experience by following this link to her journal….
Here is a link to Kevin Callan’s blog giving some more details about the DVD project, the players, the story, sounds very good and exciting news for canoeists….
It’s been a while I have not given you a post, too much time working or mostly too busy surfing… can you blame me??
Anyway, The sea kayaking world is in uproar as the UK company Valley Kayak is about to launch their new website… while our dear Ontario Web Kayak News Guru at PaddlingInstructor.com just finished revamping his site… good looks!
And I am just about to change my Home page too…
In the mean time, I am looking at trying some more boats and playing around, always looking for something new, well guess what, I found your new boat!
Not only this company managed to sneak up on me, but they are way ahead of everybody else.. are you excited yet?
I give it to you to break the tension, Royak invites you to order their Blender-boat!
More details you ask!
Here: QUOTE ” Built around the exact same design as our TOURBOAT 2 , which comes standard with “dual” water resistant forward storage compartments, the “Blender Boat” comes complete with a solid state blender mounted inside the compartment closest to the paddler, leaving the second box open for storing personal items such as wallet, keys, cell phone, camera, etc. Includes: 12v 10 Amp GelCel battery, carrying strap, plug-in wire harness, and battery charger.
NOTE: The blender is removable allowing additional storage capacity! “END OF QUOTE ”
And if you are not interested in Smoothies, you can have a look at the NOTEBOAT, a boat “with the stereo system of your choosing mounted inside the forward-compartment closest to the paddler”, for the DJ paddler…
With technology and some creativity, nothing is impossible and the future looks bright…
Happy paddling, enjoy the rain!
Another good resource to remind us of the effect of cold water. Let’s keep in mind the water temperature barely change here year around, so this is true in summer too.
A new website giving lots of info and statistics about cold water,and very sobering facts… visit coldwaterkills.com for more info. I don’t want to sound grim so remember to wear immersion gear if there strong possibility for a swim, carry some dry clothing to change, and wear you PFD no matter what.
Here are some simple facts to keep in mind, it’s very sobering to read them like this:
In 2004, 410 people drowned in Canada, 130 were boating.
COLD WATER
60% drowned in water under 10 degrees C
34% drowned in water between 10 – 20 degrees C
LIFEJACKETS
Only 12% were properly wearing a lifejacket
2% were improperly wearing a lifejacket
DISTANCE FROM SHORE
43% were less than 2 metres from shore/safety *
66% were less than 15 metres from shore/safety*
HOW THEY ENDED UP IN THE WATER
26% fell or were thrown overboard
48% were in a boat that capsized or was swamped
SWIMMING ABILITY
Non-swimmer = 29%
Weak = 15%
Average = 12%
Strong = 10%
Not identified = 34%
For more info about the effect of cold due to Hypothermia you can follow this link. And here is another “cold water boot camp” video HERE.
In a effort to not scare people away from the sport, it is sometime avoided to talk about water temperature. It is unfortunate as people aware of the challenge and equipped for it are very comfortable and safe, AND I LOVE COLD WATER WHEN I AM DRESSED FOR IT!
Here is some info about an informative evening at the Shaw Ocean Discovery Centre.
Dr. Brian Riddell, CEO Pacific Salmon Foundation
Thursday, 19 November 2009 at 7pm
Shaw Ocean Discovery Centre, Sidney, BC
Standard admission rates apply – $12 for adults;$6 for children aged 6 – 17 years. Free to Annual Pass Holders.
Annual Passes $22 at the door.
Pacific salmon are an iconic species on the west coast. If you care about salmon, you can not be complacent about their care. It is impossible to over emphasize the importance of salmon in our history or in the ecology of the Pacific Northwest and especially now under the threat of climate change. This talk will consider the current state of salmon and knowledge, the array of threats to them, and changes in thinking about who is ultimately accountable for their care. Dr. Riddell, presently the CEO of the Pacific Salmon Foundation, will review the health of salmon in BC and what could be done to better protect salmon.
Dr. Riddell is the former Division Head of the Salmon and Freshwater Ecosystems Section, Science Branch, Fisheries and Oceans Canada. After 30 years within the Department, he is now the CEO of the Pacific Salmon Foundation. Dr. Riddell has received numerous awards for his work in salmon conservation and management, and is one of Canada’s most respected and decorated salmon researchers and managers.
It’s coming up soon and it’s not just about Sea Kayaking but it is certainly about the outdoors, the experience, the trips, and some very good footage … the Banff Mountain Film Festival is in town…. In Victoria at the University Centre Farquhar Auditorium … on the 22nd from 1930 to 2130
You can have a look at the trailer to wet your appetite and buy
you ticket here.
This is a video of Baynes Channel for entertainment, and shows why you want to understand tidal currents predictions and plan your trips to Chatham and Discovey Island carefully. The race there presents different challenges depending if you are close to shore or farther in the middle, the speed and direction of the current, and a possible opposing wind.
The height of the tide also affects the features you’ll find there, so it’s a very dynamic environment, with many variables. It is hard to predict what you will find any day at any time, but you can bet on some turbulent waters at maximum Ebb and Flood if the speed is over 3 knots in your calculations. Under 3 knots, you are still venturing in possible rough water situations, depending on wind direction and speed, tide height, and more importantly your skills level.
But this video shows it’s also possible to have fun in rough water, play in tide races, and deal with the challenges we encounter on the water. Granted it’s not for everybody, but it’s not impossible either.
For the die hard, look for Stern rudders and high and low braces, use the Pause button and see for yourself how it works!
On a gloomy Sunday morning with a forecasted wind of 40 knots SE, I am met by Dave at the gate of the Canadian Forces Base in Esquimalt. I am to visit the Rescue Coordination Center (RCC) for the Western part of Canada and finally get the answers to my questions at the source.
Where do I start from there??
When you walk in the Center, it is just as you would imagine, high tech, quiet, dimed lights, rows of Computer screens at each work space, huge charts on the walls displaying the current position of the resources available (Boats, Coast Guard station, Helicopters…) and the possible Search and rescue missions on-going.
There are 4 main stations, responsible for Coordinating about 4000 rescues a year, involving 3 different bodies (Coast Guard, Air Force and occasionally the Navy) all within approximately 920,000 square kilometers of mainly mountainous terrain of Yukon and British Columbia and 560,000 square kilometers of the Pacific Ocean extending to approximately 600 nautical miles offshore including over 27,000 kilometers of rugged British Columbia coastline. Simply? It’s very Big!
The RCC is responsible for planning, coordinating, controlling and conducting aeronautical and maritime search and rescue (SAR) operations within 
Victoria’s Search and Rescue Region (SRR). So if a plane goes down or a boat is in distress, the phone rings and the mission starts. The staff is then responsible for collecting the information, deciding on the what resources to involve, and being the communication link between all the people involved in the field and the rescuees. The timeline is kept recorded from the first call to the end of the mission, which can take days.
RCC is not involved with searches on land, which is the responsibility of the RCMP, but sometimes help coordinate; or lend assistance and provide resources (such as helicopter…).
As we talked about the Center the atmosphere is relaxed, and I find out that 2 out of the 3 staffs present in the room sea kayak and have been on the water with me!
Then the phone ring.
And then you know this is not just an office because the phone ring only once and everybody is paying attention, there is electricity in the air and I notice alarms everywhere, red lights blinking, screens flashing, phone ringing… You can tell that Time is of the essence and those professional know it.
Stand down, no emergency, and back to talking.
So I wanted to know as a sea kayaker, what counts most? Communication, visual means of being seen, and common sense!
- Communication: If you can’t call for help when you are in distress….
The winner in that category is the VHF radio, and you know why: waterproof (I would hope so… we’re kayaking right), it allows you to talk directly to the Coast guard and any boat in the vicinity with their radio turned on. It can be relayed to the RCC if needed, you can use it to talk with the rest of your group, listen to the weather….
The second place goes to the PLB, or Personal Locator Beacon. RCC can access your info once you activate your PLB, getting info to call the person of your choice (you fill out this info when you register the device). From them they can get confirmation on the trip, float plan, group size, color of your boat, medical needs…. The PLB gives them your exact location (if you buy one with a GPS location) and the alarm will sound in a few different places, all instructed to call the RCC and launch a search. It’s not as flexible as a VHF because you can’t talk back and forth, but it’s bullet proof in term of reaction from the RCC.
If you have a cell phone, pack it and keep it dry, if you have reception it can come in handy on land, in the water it’s a different story.
There is also now a VHF hand held with DSC feature (Distress calling: the push of a button sends out a automatic Mayday call to all vessels and CG, with your info – pre-registered- and your GPS location). This sounds good but contrary to the PLB, the signal is carried by your radio and not sent to a satellite. Do some research or e-mail me for clarification about this.
There is also SPOT, and we have some articles on the site about that so use the Search box on the top- left corner. Here is an excellent review about it as well.
-I wanted to know what can be seen:
To professional Search and Rescue personnel, strobe light or glow sticks will be visible when they are wearing night vision goggles (night, low visibility). Can’t miss it! Sounds good to me. Reflective tape is good too. To regular boaters, strobes in most days with poor visibility, flares if you have them.
In good weather, as in sunny and bright, none of this will do you much good. So think smoke flares (pretty rare in sea kayak but an option) or apparently a large orange garbage bag inflated by you will do a great job. Visible from far away, searchers will come closer and inspect it. Since it’s dirt cheap, pack small, and could be used in a number of ways, it sounds pretty good.
Anything else you like is good but did not get brought up in the discussion.
- To finish, common sense is something you should take out with you every time you go kayaking. So I was told anyway!
Wear a PFD at all time, paddle in group, listen to the weather, go only when you feel it will be safe for you and your group, take a course, learn to self-rescue, practice your assisted rescues…..
Then here is a few things sometimes forgotten that are important to the RCC staff:
- If you are calling in an emergency, always start with your location. From there they can launch a search.
- Wear you VHF on you (if you need to land before you can use it it’s likely to work against you).
- If things go down hill, call early. It’s easy to call off a mission but you can’t win back the time that’s passed. RCC emphasize they don’t mind standing by as you give them updates, until you are safe and it’s over or until they send in somebody to help.
To finish this post, here is one thing we can do to help them help us! Write in some way your name and phone number on the inside of your boat, and contact the Coast Guard immediately if you realize your kayak as floated away during the night. RCC has to initiate a costly and unnecessary Search for any small vessel found floating by itself. If your phone number allows them to ensure nobody was in the boat, they can just return your kayak and forget about the Search.
Hope this post was helpful, contact us if you have any questions, and thanks to the RCC staff for having me over. For more info about the RESCUE COORDINATION CENTER, follow this link.
To contact Joint Rescue Co-ordination Centre Victoria on a non-emergency search and rescue matter or question:
Telephone: 1+250-363-2339 (Monday to Friday 0800-1530)
Fax: 1+250-363-2944
Email: RCCVictoria@pac.dfo-mpo.gc.ca
This post to bring your attention to a blog run by a local paddler and kayak designer.
The blog can be viewed at Kayak Noise and is ran by Spike Gladwin. Spike is , in his own words:
QUOTE” I’m a kayaker and designer. My job is Lead designer for Necky Kayaks, Ocean Kayak and Old Town Canoe/Kayak. I have been kayaking for 35 years and paddled in nearly as many countries and enjoyed many disciplines of the sport.” END OF QUOTE
The blog was brought to my attention by Alex Matthew (local famous writer of books and articles…) who just wrote a boat review on the blog.
There are nice videos, great pics of paddling, and if you are interested in kayak design, this is as close as you’ll get to a boat designer sketch book!
As you work your way down the older posts you’ll run into all kind of facts about Necky boats, expedition paddlers in Necky boats, and a post about Hayley Shephard attempting a circumnavigation of South Georgia Island. Hayley website can be found here, and I’d like to congratulate a local paddler from Victoria, Beth Anne Masselink, who will be on the support crew as a back up for the trip.
Go Beth go, we’re hoping for pictures while you’re at it!
Anyway, another cool blog from a person that’s clearly passionate about kayaking, check it out.
News are coming down to me slowly about some good looking boats, unheard of so far, and that’s exciting, a little like new tracks on fresh snow… or new routes on fresh Salt-water I guess!
Anyway, for what I understand, P&H is launching some new models to “replace” the Capella Serie in some way, the new boats go by the following names:
The Aries in Fiberglass and the the 3 ply plastic P&H Delphin, I believe both will be available in 150 and 155… this is clearly going toward a line of playboats, and kayaks easy to store and deal with when times come to carry them, which sounds very good to me.
a few pics:
THE ARIES
THE ARIES
And then the cousin, very similar boat but made of plastic:
THE DELPHIN:
THE DELPHIN
So far I gathered about that much… The Aries & the Corelite Dephinius play off the agile Cetus / Scorpio designs. They are re-sculpted to get the most out a high energy environment which means they are aimed to shine in crazy water and tide race play. P&H tells us both models offer quick acceleration for catching waves and surging through gaps, ample rocker for fast response, and a pronounced mid section to allow the kayaks to side-surf and spin on edge.
This sounds like a good boat to learn kayaking in, responsive, fun, light… never mind “high energy environment”, this could be the ultimate Day boat for sea kayakers that don’t want to get bored…
I’ll keep you updated if there is more, you can visit P&H website, not very exciting, or their Facebook, much better: here. And keep in mind MEC will have those this spring, and there should be some available for Demos…
A little mix of paddling news, paddling worlds, 2009 is getting there…
First of all a Big Chapeau to Freya Hoffmeister who has completed her 332-day, 9,400-mile sea-kayak circumnavigation of Australia. The 45-year-old German is only the second paddler to accomplish the feat, and the first woman to complete the challenging circuit. She also was the fastest, by nearly a month. More here about this…
On a more local note, the Tide and Current Tables for 2010 have arrived in Victoria and can be found at Munro’s Book, so you can plan your trips ahead or find out where and when you favorite Tide Race will show up…
Have a look at this video for an awesome view of the water underworld, an army of sea star come to devour a dead seal pup…
And Lendal Paddles has officially been sold to none other than Nigel Denis in the UK, and MEC Victoria is selling their last Lendal paddles at very good prices… Christmas is here right?
Apart from that, I am kayak fishing and it’s good around here, I think I’ll make a video tomorrow!
And follow this link to an article on Canoe&Kayak magazine and tell me why it’s a good article???
see you on the water.
By request, here is a quick view of the dates for the Courses coming up in 2010:
We are going to run some awesome programs, there are a lot of new teaching aids and new approaches to strokes teaching.
The best news is that I will be using videos on the water to help with Observation and Correction. We’ll spend some time recording each students and then give back personal feed back with images to clear the concepts and misunderstandings.
When you are watching yourself from away everything seems obvious and the learning curve steepen up, plus you get a souvenir to take home…
So here are the dates:
Level 2: March 18-21
Level 2 : May 1-4
Level 1 : May 8-9
Level 2: May 29- June 1
Level 1: June 5-6
For more info about the courses Curriculum, follow those links:
Level 1 info
Level 2 info
And if none of those dates work for you, contact us for more options…
Trying to bring you some news and help you spend your money on this great Christmas season….
Lots of interesting
new stuff coming from Justine Curgenven’s Movie production Cackle TV:
- First thing, you can now buy “This is the Sea 1″ by download… so you can buy and watch without stepping out…
You just need to follow this LINK with you Credit card ready and click…
Click HERE and it will take you to the write up and trailer of the movie.
_The second thing is that Cackle TV is now coming out with a movie about Canoeing as well, so it looks like all water-sports will get to shine and that’s good to hear. Showing a awesome sense of Humor on the blog, the author comment “Some people will be relieved ( or disappointed?) that the acronym is the very respectable TIC !” Standing for This Is Canoeing,, pointing out that the Serie of This Is The Sea are commonly referred to as TITS…
On her blog Justine confess she’s been out kayak Surfing quite a bit as well… You can also find her on Facebook and Youtube…
Here is the Canoe piece that she posted so far..
and then the Trailer of “This is the sea” just because I couldn’t resist!
Well, back to talking about technology… I am sure most people have now heard of SPOT and the services they offer. The general idea is to offer the option to people in the back coutry to let friends and family know where they are on Google earth by the push of a button. The device also offer a 911 option to call for help when needed.
While there is no argument lots of people are very happy with SPOT, there are also a few arguments that keep coming back:
- It’s expensive as you have to keep paying year after year to keep your “account” open
- You don’t know if the message as been sent as there is no obvious feed back from the device (different LED flashing pattern would be nice)
- Now for safety, about the 911 option there is the concern that SPOT is a private company renting satellites to transmit your signal. Possibly if they did not pay their bills or decided to close the door and go to Mexico…. you’d be left pushing the button..
Now I know this is unlikely and there are recourse and firewalls, but here you go, SPOT is initiating a Voluntary Return Program for their new SPOT-2 as there seems to be a problem with them…
Of course every manufacturer runs into trouble, but it’s a little scary there as the company claims that SPOT is all you need to get Roadside, marine or back-country Assistance!
While I think the beauty of the idea is to provide the people that stay at home a realistic position of their loved ones out there, I would not say all you need is a SPOT for your safety… but I guess that’s just marketing at work.
Certainly the fact that SPOT is largely advertise will get the message to the main population and in that regard save lives. Nobody knows what a PLB or an EPIRB is, or a VHF radio… but SPOT is out there and selling units so I guess it’s good.
But if you are a kayaker looking for safety electronics, try to carry a few different options with you just in case… Have a look here for more options…
And while I am at it, if you are shopping for Marine Grade Electronics, Try shopping at Waypoint Marine as they have the best prices and service you can dream off, I am always a happy customer there!
Sign up for an exciting day dedicated to Marine Weather in relation to sea
kayaking around the Canadian West Coast, with Vancouver Island as a focus.
Our speaker, Hamish Murray is a Professional Marine Weather Forecaster for
Environment Canada and a kayaker as well. He teaches meteorology courses
across the country.
The day will be divided in two parts:
-Morning Session: 9 to 12am
A basic introduction to weather, covering
vocabulary, the forecast information we are
looking for, the relevant things to note
down. The last hour will be open for
questions to keep things interactive and
personal.
-Afternoon Session: 1 to 4pm
We will cover more advanced weather
related subjects such as Weather systems
and fronts, weather data maps, long range
forecasting… and the last hour will be left
open for questions.
Weather forecasting is one of the most elusive skills sea kayakers have to
develop and this is a chance to talk and ask questions to a Forecaster from
Environment Canada.
Whether you are starting out or looking for Advanced tips, I think you will get
something out of the day…
Cost: $50
Location: Victoria, BC
Date: Sunday, February 7th, 2010
Time: 9am-4pm
Contact us to Pre-register and start your 2010 Sea kayaking season early….
The Season First episode is now out, watch it here...
A new project by our local film maker Bryan Smith, The Season is 22 episodes of HD video delivered via the internet for free. It will run for 4 months and then it is over. “Our goal is to develop a widespread audience and bring strong story telling back to adventure media. The Season will run its course and that will be it. We are already working on another web TV series that will follow after this show completes. Don’t expect the Season to stick around, but Fitz and I are not going anywhere. There will be lots more to come.”
The project follow 5 individuals for a season. The sports represented are snowboarding, bouldering, mountain biking, whitewater and sea kayaking. Shot entirely in HD, all 22 episodes are going to be available for free via iTunes. Brian Smith is working the cameras hard and came up with some amazing footage, next generation movie… images stolen from suspended cable and remote controlled cameras on tracks, the quality is a beauty and the angles priceless, this is how you would follow people if you were a bird.
Exciting stuff if you ask me…
There are several trailers and videos to watch follow this link the Official Website: theseasontv.com
or keep up with the Production at reelwaterproductions.com and keep an eye on the blog.
There is lots more info and great interview at Paddlinginstructor.com.
Can’t resist, here is some footage!
The Season Trailer from Fitz Cahall on Vimeo.
If you love videos then keep an eye on that page..
Of course there are many places to go, and as a kayaker living on Vancouver Island I sometimes wonder if one life will be enough. There are beautiful spots, remote places, untouched wilderness, pristine waters… where to start?
Here is an option for you, we just came back from a little trip to Quadra island, North east side of VI, by Campbell river. Why there you ask, a number of reasons.
It was a little bit of a drive, but once there it was as if we had landed in another world. The area is beautifull, this is where our tides meet on Vancouver Island, meaning on a flood the water is flowing North to South from the North end of VI to Quadra and flowing South to North from Victoria to Quadra…
So lots of wildlife due to big tidal exchanges, many channels to explore, a great place to learn how to calculate currents times, Turn and maximums… Summer brings Killer whales, Bears, salmon, eagles…
The island offers great current paddling for the adventurous, and if you worry about traveling there on your own you can contact Coast Mountain Expeditions to get a guided tour, lots of good food, find the secret spots…
We went there for the currents, and we got plenty! There is no question the area should be entered carefully after good planning, but if the currents are slow or if you time your passage at slack, what a beauty! Of course we aimed to play, and did, videos and pics to come later once the gear is cleaned and dry…
We stayed at Discovery Lodge (slide show here), and let me tell you about it! The main room upstairs offers A View, you just don’t get tired of watching it. There is a stove… everything is made of wood, comfy sofas, huge dinner table, nice bedrooms downstairs and a sauna on the dock! I know it’s a little to much but it was for work so what could I do?!
In the end we ate, hung out, made fires, paddled hard and forgot about the rest of the world.
Now not only can you go, it’s easy and the price is right!
There is also talks about a possible “Moving Water Festival ” this summer that would take place on Quadra and be organized to offer Sea Kayakers an opportunity to try paddling in currents. Since the West Coast Sea Kayak Symposium is no more, it makes sense to introduce some new ways to meet people and bring the industry together.
Any way I look at it, if you go there you won’t regret it, whether you paddle on your own, on a guided tour, or not at all!
Pictures by Dave Aharonian, Visit his Website Here.
And more pics about this trip and a short report by Alex Matthews at Kayak Noise
Well, episode 2 of The Season is out and let me tell you, it’s action time.
I’ll let you decide if you like it, the video is clean as water from around here, pristine! and the Camera work beautiful, the sea kayaking skills I think speak for themselves…. What do you think?
The Season Episode 2 from Fitz Cahall and Bryan Smith on Vimeo.
Whether you want to try 10 different kayaks, meet manufacturers, keep up with what’s new, or just hang out in a crowd of Sea Kayakers, there are
a couple events every year you should attend!
We have 2 Paddlefests coming up this year, and rumors of a “moving water festival” for 2011 on Quadra Island…
But let’s take care of 2010, In order:
- Vancouver Island Paddlefest in Ladysmith will take place on the weekend of May 15&16.
QUOTE: “Paddlefest 2010 — May 15 & 16th — is a weekend-long festival with activities and events for paddlers of all ages and paddling abilities. Located at Transfer Beach in beautiful Ladysmith, British Columbia, participants can attend this free event and enjoy a variety of activities including vendor/trade show, workshops, demonstrations and fun activities.” You can have a look at the schedule and see if you find anything of interest under “Classes and Workshop, teachers and speakers will be present…
- MEC Paddlefest will then take place on June the 5th, information is not quite ready yet but It will be as seen last year, on Cadboro Bay, probably on a sunny day, and with vendors, exibitors, manufacturers, as well as classes and workshop all day…. I don’t think you can go wrong signing up!
Both events are almost free, sometimes a $10 fee is requested to cover the cost of organizing and running those events but really, it’s almost free and it’s lots of fun.
On a different level but still related to promoting the outdoors through free sources, MEC victoria is launching a new campain dubbed “the Brown Bag Lunch Series”. Here is MEC take on it:
Quote:” Join us each week for a fun, fast, and informative series of sessions. Led by our team of Product Specialists, the Brown Bag Lunch Series covers everything from choosing the right rain wear to tuning up your bike for summer. February 25 Staying Dry Lots of rain and high humidity make choosing rainwear a real challenge on Vancouver Island. Join us as we talk through the world of Gore-tex™, Entrant™, urethane coatings, and Durable Water Repellency and discuss their various advantages”.
The serie will take place every week and aim to educate and share knowledge with novices and intermediate outdoor users. The session run from 1230 to 1300, keep an eye here for the next Subject to come… or you can contact the MEC organizer at mpardy@mec.ca.
On the same note, this summer MEC will be running the Wave Grabber Serie in collaboration with the Gorge Paddling club, where once a week you’ll be able to rent a kayak for the evening and have a BBQ after paddling for a total of $10 per person, I will post more info about this in the future so stay tune and enjoy a week of sun…. going surfing!
