wavelength magazine winter 2009

WaveLengthWaveLengthYour complete kayaking and coastal exploration resource

MAGAZINE

PM

416

8751

5

El Vizcaino Biosphere Off-season fitnessAn intimate look at the ecologyof a Baja wonderland

A full program to get you ready

for summer

We’re taking you paddling around the world: Svalbard, Greece, Nicaragua, Croatia and more

Exotic Destinations

Winter 2009FREE at select outlets

or by subscription

Volume 19, Issue 5

2 Wavelength Magazine Winter 2009

http://www.westerncanoekayak.com

http://www.deepcoveoutdoors.com

Winter 2009 Wavelength Magazine 3

8 Life in the Mangal Great Parks/Ecology by James Dorsey

12 New Vistas Exotic destinations around the world Various contributors

22 Gift guide/New Gear For the kayaker who has everything

34 Servant of the Maps Off-season trip planning by Neil Schulman

38 Off-season Conditioning Health and Fitness by Roy Stevenson

42 One bear, two barenaked ladies Reflections by Lyn Hancock

8

12

34

Contents

4 First Word

5 News

24 Paddle Meals by Hilary Masson

26 Day Trips Bay of Islands by Keith and Heather Nicol

28 Skillset by Alex Matthews

30 Fishing Angles by Dan Armitage

32 Rainforest Chronicles by Dan Lewis

37 Kayak With Comfort

44 Marketplace

Regular columns:this month's features:

http://www.pygmyboats.com

http://www.deltakayaks.com


magazine

Winter 2009 Volume 19, Number 5 PM No. 41687515

Editor John Kimantas [email protected]

Copy Editing Darrell Bellaart Writing not otherwise credited is by Wavelength.

WaveLengthWaveLength

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© 2009. Copyright is retained on all material (text, photos and graphics) in this magazine. No reproduction is allowed of any material in any form, print or electronic, for any purpose,

except with the permission of Wild Coast Publishing.

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the Atlas of Canada. Also, our thanks to Geobase and Google for some elements that may appear on Wavelength maps.

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ISSUE AD DEADLINE DISTRIBUTION Spring 2010 Feb. 5 March 8 Summer 2010 May 7 June 8 Fall 2010 July 9 Aug. 8 Winter 2010 Oct. 1 Nov. 8

I recall some particularly harsh open ocean conditions back when I was a much less experienced paddler – not just big waves, but truly trashy conditions for hours on end. And by trashy I mean sloshing, unpredictable water, whitecaps and general turbulence with misaligned swell. Add a strong headwind to make matters worse.

The trip was down the outer coast of Vancouver Island from Lowrie Bay to San Josef Bay, just south of Cape Scott. I had been holed up at Lowrie Bay for two days already. On the second day I attempted to leave but the conditions on the outside along Cape Russell were hideous. So I turned back.

The next day I left the protection of the bay and found the conditions somewhat better than the day before, but not by much. I discounted turning back, figuring slow progress was better than no progress. Bad plan! The first hint should have been the wave that nosed my bow underwater, allowing a huge old bull kelp frond to land over the bow. I was stuck. The water was sloshing enough to require constant bracing, and the weight of the huge bull kelp kept me pinned. Between waves I took chops at the kelp with my paddle, eventually cutting through it to free myself. Oddly I chose to continue on.

Along Cape Russell from Lowrie Bay to the next shelter at San Josef Bay is only three miles. I fought the wind and waves for three hours along that stretch, working doubly hard to make a snail’s pace. When I finally turned into San Josef I decided to stay on the outside of the twin Winnifred Islands at the entrance, just to stay out of the rocks. I thought I had rounded the first island successfully and was rounding the second when I looked back. An odd thing had happened – the wind had blown me backward into the first island. Considering my backward progress I decided I had best go inside the lee, then come out between Winnifred and Helen islands before ducking into the safety of Sea Otter Cove.

I did get a momentary break from the wind and waves on the lee. But I knew I was heading into a bad situation. This route would put me sideways to the waves in shallows. Bad as it was when I headed into the pass, it got worse when a monster wave approached, complete with a head of breaking water. I remember looking up at it and saying out loud, “I’m going over.”

Going up the wave sideways was a bit like riding an elevator. I remember sitting on the top, holding my paddle ready for a brace with no water within reach on either side. My kayak disappeared in the white water in the wave’s top. I waited to topple...

But I didn’t. The kayak simply bobbled in the white water then I rode down the far side. It was my worst wave ever and I didn’t even need to use a brace stroke. With no time to celebrate I made my way as quickly as possible into Sea Otter Cove, always wary another big wave might follow. It didn’t, and I made it to safety. The rest of my day was spent in my tent eating power bars and beef jerky while reading. It was heaven.

It was an odd lesson for me that my kayak was actually a better kayak than I was a kayaker. It’s incidences like these – going outside your comfort level – that give you the confidence to become a better kayaker. And confidence is a huge part of the equation. The simple ability to assess a wave, know how it will affect the kayak and how to best manage it is, in my mind, far more important than clinics that teach a stroke without the conditions in which it will be applied. Expand your comfort a titch and you’ll likely be surprised how comfortable it becomes. Just be sure to do it in a controlled environment with a good safety network. In other words, not like me!

- John Kimantas

the First Word

Gaining confidence the hard way

Cape Sutil,north Vancouver Island

by John Kimantas

WavElEngth is an independent magazine available free at hundreds of print distribution sites (paddling shops, outdoor stores, fitness clubs, marinas, events, etc.), and globally on the web. Also available by subscription.

Articles, photos, events, news are all welcome.

Find back issues, articles, events, writers guidelines and advertising information online at wavelengthmagazine.com

Cover Photo: Svalbard Islands Michael Powers

Michael Powers is a California-based photographer. His latest trip is Nepal.

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http://www.wavelengthmagazine.com

mailto:[email protected]


news

What on earth is John Dowd up to now?Kayaking pioneer John Dowd, who

helped put a name to sea kayaking with his pioneering book Sea Kayaking: A Manual for Long-Distance Touring, is less a kayaker these days than he and his wife Bea are hosts to visiting kayakers at their Clayoquot Sound retreat.

But the founder of Sea Kayaker Magazine and Ecomarine in Vancouver has found a new reason to return to the water, albeit in a bit more dramatic a way than the 1960s Dolphin he once paddled.

Dowd recently stopped into Nananimo, home of the Wavelength Magazine headquarters, to show off his latest project: the Sealegs amphibious watercraft.

The New Zealand-built watercraft features three hydraulic wheels powered by a separate in-board engine mounted under the center console along with electronic ignition and all-terrain balloon tires.

The tires allow Dowd to drive the Sealeg (not to be confused with Sealegs Kayaking on Vancouver Island) directly from his boat trailer to the water and back again.

It has obvious commercial and rescue applications, but Dowd will likely appreciate it more than most for the ability to land the craft in surf and simply drive up his beach and home.

The pricetag? A ballpark of about $100,000 – a bit more than your average kayak. Visit www.sealegs.com.

John Dowd demonstrates the Sealeg’s on-land prowess at the Brechin boat ramp in Nanaimo.

And the winner is... Mitch Homma from Encalitas, CA,

is the winner of his choice of kayaks in Wavelength Magazine’s 2009 kayak draw.

The choice he faced: picking from a Delta 16, Seaward Quantum, BorealDesign Epsilon C100, C200 or C300 or Current Designs Infinity.

The draw took place at the West Coast Sea Kayak Symposium in Port Townsend, Washington on Sept. 26. On hand for the draw were Mark Hall for Delta Kayaks,

Glenn Lush for Seaward and Kurt Renner for Current Designs. The draw can be seen on Wavelength Magazine’s Planet Kayak (www.planetkayak.net). Just scroll into the video icon at the beach at Fort Worden.

And his choice of kayak? The BorealDesign Epsilon C200, which is in the process of being built for him now. Congrats to Mitch and BorealDesign.

http://www.sealegs.com

http://www.valleyseakayaks.com


Kayak surfers focus on Portugalnews

European teams earned just about every top spot at this year’s World Kayak Surf Championships in Santa Rita, Portugal, with England taking the team event and the British Isles winning most other key honors.

The only top slot to a North American paddler was Jim Grossman from Idaho who took the Master IC (International Class) category.

Canada’s best performance was by Brent Daniel from Vancouver Island, who finished ninth after a troubled quarter final heat. Valerie Bertrand, the former world champion from Canada now paddling for Norway, was also denied a place on the podium, with Naomi James from Wales taking top spot in women’s HP (high performance) and Ainhoa Tolosa from Basque Country in women’s IC.

Adam Harvey, 16, from Jersey took the top honours in the junior HP class. His performance earned him seventh overall in the men’s competition.

Daniel was one of three Vancouver Island surfers in the competition. More results are available at http://portugalks.blogspot.com/.

Yukon 1000 looks to 2010The epic Yukon 1000 Canoe race is

gaining momentum on an international scale.

This year saw 15 teams from the US and three from the United Kingdom taking up the challenge, with the UK contingent taking two of the three top kayak spots: first and third overall.

The Yukon 1000 began in Whitehorse in Canada’s Yukon Territory and continued for 1,000 kilometres to the Alaska Pipeline Bridge northwest of Fairbanks. Completing the route meant seven to 12 days of upwards of 18 hours of paddling a day.

The fastest time was by Richard and Henry Hendron in a kayak in 6 days, 2 hours and 11 minutes.

Teams are already signing up for 2010, with a British team already raising £1,000 for the Make a Wish Foundation charity.

The Yukon 1000 is unique in that it will be held on a different river in the Yukon each year. In 2010 it will be held on the Pelly River from Faro to Pelly Crossing.

For more information, visit http://yukon1000.com.

Adam Harvey surfs his way to the top.

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http://www.kokatat.com

http://www.aldercreek.com


news

Marina fight takes legal turnThe fight to keep a mega-yacht marina out of the paddling right-

of-way in Victoria Harbour on Vancouver Island is intensifying into a potential legal battle.

In a rare show of activism by a paddling group, the South Island Sea Kayaking Association (SISKA) has teamed up with community and environmental groups to call on the federal goverment to hand over the environmental assessment of the proposed marina to an independent review panel for public hearings.

The current process allows the public only one hour to object in front decision-makers, with some key public officials stating support for the project prior to the hearing – a fact found in documents obtained through a Freedom of Information request by Victoria lawyer Irene Faulkner, who is representing SISKA.

For more, visit www.savevictoriaharbour.com or read the Wavelength Forum thread at www.wavelengthmagazine.com/forum.

An overlay of the marina plans (top center) on the existing Port of Victoria Traffic Management Scheme. View a larger image online.

Imag

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Tim

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http://www.blacklinemarine.com

http://www.cdkayak.com


As the first pink rAys of dawn tint the water ripples, I step outside to watch sandpipers gathering breakfast. If the tide is out, there may be a coyote hunting for scallops in the

shallows. Most mornings, the tracks around my tent tell me the trickster had visited me again looking for an easy theft under the cover of night.

The smell of coffee and warm tortillas waft from the morning’s cooking, and the first osprey of the day passes overhead looking for minnows lurking near the water’s surface.

It is morning in San Ignacio Lagoon, Baja Mexico, and another day in paradise is beginning.

I work here as guide and cetacean naturalist, now in my 12th season. This lagoon is a giant nursery for the pacific gray whale, gaining international fame for its whale watching, but my work here has allowed me access to a second world the public rarely sees.

The channels of San Ignacio that the whales frequent are surrounded by miles of mangroves, and they in turn support a wildlife ecosystem

great Parks by James Dorsey

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Above: a desert fox; main photo: coyotes hunting on the mudflats; bottom right: an egg thief licks his lips in anticipation.



el vizcaino Biosphere

unparalleled in the world. Mangroves are, by definition, coastal

shrubs and trees that thrive in a brackish environment. The term ‘mangal’ refers to a large area encompassing all the plants in the mangrove swamp or forest. About 110 species of foliage fall under the umbrella of mangroves, each adapted to exploit and thrive in this unique environment. The entire lagoon is surrounded by mangal.

In an area of extreme tidal exchanges such as in this lagoon, mangroves impede water flow and provide a natural habitat for oysters and clams, and this in turn becomes a wildlife haven.

When I am not on the water working with whales, I am kayaking through the hundreds of mangrove channels that are home to over 300 species of sea and coastal birds and a myriad of land creatures that are drawn to the prey-rich environment.

To view the mangal from the air, one would think it a barren land, mostly devoid of wildlife except for the expected rattlesnake or scorpion. But that is misleading. The mangroves of Baja contain one of the largest concentrations of wildlife in all of Mexico.

Due to the remote location of this lagoon on Baja’s southwestern shore, and the almost total lack of human invasion into the mangroves, animals show little fear at my approach. The silence of my kayak allows me to enter their world almost without restriction. I can glide over a crystal clear littoral, where sand dollars the size of pancakes litter the

sandy bottom while watching crabs hide from my passing shadow by holding spiny urchins over their heads as a shield.

The water is so clear I can watch sea stars walk along the sandy bottom taking prey as one of the most efficient predators in the ocean.

The nests of osprey, blue herons and cormorants are all available to my camera while curious night herons watch this strange creature in a kayak pass silently by. On sandy breaks, thousands of curlews gather as one, landing and taking off with military precision while black scoters keep pace with my boat on the

u



great Parks

water. I know one channel where a pair of oystercatchers has nested for three years. I can usually count on one of them for a warm welcome.

But it is not just seabirds that inhabit the area. If I am early enough, I might catch coyotes digging for clams or scallops, their coats glistening in the sun from their protein-rich seafood diet. The coyotes here eat so well they resemble wolves in size. Hauling out to wander on foot through the countless islands that dot the lagoon I have encountered peccaries, foxes, tarantulas, rattle snakes and even a lone wolf.

While wolves are rare in Baja I spotted one’s tracks along the shore one morning and followed it through the ice plant to almost stumble on its nightly lair. The

click of my camera shutter startled it just as it was waking and it jetted off into the chaparral like a smoky apparition.

I have watched coyotes raid nests for eggs, and was entertained by one for several minutes. After

digging a young octopus out of its cave, the hapless coyote ended up with its would-be prey wrapped around its snout.

Roadrunners are a common sight, jetting in and out of the ice plant, usually with a lizard in their beak.

Three different mountain ranges ring this lagoon, standing purple in the morning’s mist to provide a dramatic backdrop for long drafts of hundreds of pelicans flying in formation. Osprey prefer to hunt in the early hours here before the local pangas take to the water and stir things up. They nest for life and build epic homes from driftwood that can weigh hundreds of pounds in order to stand up to the powerful chubascos that blow in from the open Pacific. They are a welcome sight and most of the

whale camps have built platforms to aid them in their nest construction. These sea eagles are the top of the aviary food chain in the lagoon. Above it all, high up in the thermals, stately frigate birds coast on unseen currents.

In the distance you can see the “Three Virgins,” all active volcanoes that last blew their tops about 10,000 years ago. The lava runoff from that final blast traveled for several miles before cooling off in the ocean. The lava now lines much of the lagoon’s coast, alternating hard, jagged formations in between stretches of white sand and ice plant.

This is where my camp is located.I can sit for hours drifting with a

lazy tide and watch Pacific gulls picking up clams from the tidal flats and drop them onto the lava to break them open, proving that what many consider to be a dumb bird has, in fact, enough cunning to use tools.

Deep in the mangrove maze there is little difference when the tides exchange and I can glide silently along, like a log on the water, unobtrusive enough to have birds land on my deck for a rest, or even to peck at my bungee cords in hopes of supplementing a nest. Often when I return to my boat after an excursion on shore I will find dozens of curious birds going over my craft in search of whatever

Above: a flock of wimbrels congregate on the beach, fringed by gulls. Left: an ibis in flight.


el vizcaino Biosphere

they can carry off. Over the years I have been accepted by these animals as a resident not to be feared. In this vast silent arena, a kayak is the perfect entry vehicle.

Paddling here is not difficult, and in fact it is so easy it would be a perfect spot for beginners to learn, if only it wasn’t so inaccessible. But it is that very remoteness that accounts for the still wild environment. In my twelve years in this lagoon, I have yet to encounter another paddler in the mangroves.

This lagoon is part of a two-million hectare preserve called El Vizcaino Biosphere. Everything in it, on land or under the water, is protected under Mexican law. While the Mexican government is not known for its environmental policies, in San Ignacio Lagoon they know the treasure they have and work hard to keep it pristine. There is a warden who watches over all and has authority to issue citations if anyone is caught harassing the animals.

While thousands visit this lagoon each year to see gray whales, no more

El Vizcaino Biosphere

BAJA CALIFORNIAGuerrero Negro

La Paz

Santa Rosalia

Isla Angelde la Guarda

Loreto

Puertode San Carlos

San Ignacio Lagoon

A young heron hunts in the mangrove.A young night heron.

than a handful ever venture off into the labyrinth of the mangroves. They are a natural treasure and for me, a getaway within a sanctuary.

< You can reach James Dorsey at

[email protected].

The peculiar peccary.

http://www.seakayak.ca

http://www.bajakayakadventures.com


exotic Destinations


New Vistas


exotic Destinations


Wavelength looks at kayaking locations around the world, starting with Norway’s remote Svalbard Islands

at the top of the world

Photos by Michael Powers


exotic Destinations

If you go:After one aborted attempt in 2008, the chance to be the first

to circumnavigate the Svalbard Islands by kayak remains open. Don’t expect it to be completed anytime soon – the route is treacherously icy. See www.ohad.info/svalbard/ for the video Nine Lives on the hazards in store. Most tours are by cruise. A few Scandinavian companies offer combination cruise and kayak camps. Visit www.5stars-of-scandinavia.com for one such itinerary.

Above: the team ponders its next move in the face of a glacier. Right: a fitting hood ornament for such a barren landscape. Bottom right: a herd of reindeer passes the shoreline. Below: taking a break from a busy day.


http://www.vpo.ca


exotic Destinations

If you go:The best time of year to visit

is May to October. While self-directed trips are an option, tours can offer peace of mind. Sea Kayaking Kefalonia is based out of Kefalonia, the biggest island in the Ionian Sea offering multi-day trips, day-trips and accommodation packages. Visit seakayakingkefalonia-greece.com.

Greece covers 15,000 km (about 9,500 miles) of coastline, almost half the coast of the Mediterranean Sea. With more than 3,000 islands, delicious and diverse cuisine, rich history and culture, it forms a perfect terrain for sea kayak vacations. The Ionian Sea on the west coast of Greece generally offers the calmest sea with warm, clear waters along with numerous islets, picturesque villages, sea caves and dramatic coastline to explore.

Above and below: camping in Afales Bay, Ithaca.

The picturesque village of Assos, Kefalonia island. Rock stratification on the cliffs, Kastos island.

The white sand at Argostoli, Kefalonia.

Ionian images

Photo by Pavlos Georgilas

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exotic Destinations

November to March is the dry season in Nicaragua, so expect to experience summer-like conditions in the tropics. Paddle with plenty of water and sun protection. April to July will bring short bursts of rain in the late afternoon, but mornings and daytime hours can be perfect for tramping on beaches and paddling. Depending on the year, August to October can be rainy with hurricanes and localized flooding, similar to spring. Companies such as Ibis Exchange Kayaking and Tours can arrange day tours, camping tours, and all-inclusive Pacific coast tours for both kayaking and trekking. Visit www.ibiskayaking.com.

The Padre Ramos Estuary and Nature Reserve is one of 78 federally-protected Nature Reserves in Nicaragua. At 22,000 acres it contains one of the largest tropical mangrove estuaries left in all of Central America. View fish, ibis, herons, parakeets, frigate birds, sea turtles and other marine life from the seat of your kayak, plus enjoy expansive beaches and warm ocean waters. The surrounding rural fishing communities offer a unique cultural perspective while nearby volcanoes, hot springs, and the city of Leon make the Pacific northwest coast of Nicaragua a destination for adventure travelers of all types.

Into Padre Ramos

Nicaraguan reserve offers a tropical mangrove paradise

If you go:

Sun sets over the Pacific Ocean, Estero Padre Ramos reserve

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Deep in the tropical mangroves.

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Dona Reyna of Padre Ramos offers a local welcoming smile.Ke

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exotic Destinations

Here’s the official count: 65 species of birds, 140 types of mammals, 117 types of reptiles and amphibians, and over 40 species offreshwater fish to be found in 13 ecosystems such as mangroves, palm swamps and bloodweed forest. The incredible statistics belong to Corcovado National Park, part of the Osa Peninsula in southwest Costa

Rica, one of the most species-rich areas in Central America, one National Geographic has called “the most biologically intense place on Earth.” Among the attractions is the brilliant scarlet macaw, jaguar, spider monkey and many other rare tropical rainforest creatures.

If you go:Winds rarely begin before noon each day, making it an area for

calm seas and ideal sea kayaking in the mornings. Land trails and camping are allowed in the park, but reservations and a permit are required. An excellent website on the attractions and travel logistics is hosted by Ambicor (Ambiente, Biologia e Investigacion en Corcovado) at www.corcovado.org. Bus and road travel as well as charter flights are possible, while tour operators can manage the details for you. This area is a specialty of Gulf Islands Kayaking (www.seakayak.ca), which has been running Costa Rican tours for 23 years now, Also offering Costa Rica trips is Island Escapades (www.islandescapades.com).

Osanice!

Photos courtesy Gulf Islands Kayaking/www.seakayak.ca


http://www.kayakutopia.com


exotic Destinations

If you go:Because of the remote nature, tours are likely the best option. Arctic tours are

specialized and correspondingly expensive. One of the few operators offering High Arctic tours is Pacific Rim Paddling. Visit www.pacificrimpaddling.com.

With the surrounding ocean frozen for nine months a year, sea kayaking in the high Canadian Arctic is a unique opportunity. With the midnight sun high in the sky, days are no longer governed by darkness. July is usually “break up month” when the pack ice begins to disappear and open water makes a welcome return. August is normally the only month in which you can enjoy sea kayaking and view some of the spectacular scenery that few paddlers will ever encounter.

Canada’s High Arctic offers

icebergs and adventure

alexandra Fjord, Ellesmere Island

Bottom photos of Pond Inlet, Baffin Island.

Photos by Dave Thoss

The High Arctic


exotic Destinations

Remote beaches and small villages await in Croatia

Mana Island, Kornati Archipelago

Photo by Erik (Jocke) Stal

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Village of Sali, Dugi Otok Island.

Sipnate Bay, Kornati Island.

Borovnik Island, Kornati Archipelago

Croatia is a place of surprisingly rich history, set in the heart of the Mediterranean Sea. A line of archipelagos from Istria in the north to Split in the south offers a chance to kayak thousands of islands set in the 200 miles between. Two national parks, Kornati Archipelago and Telascica Bay, offer a wild and natural setting to explore.

If you goYou’ll find warm and sunny weather from March to

November, with countless possible routes for self-directed tours. If you opt for a tour, you won’t find many operators. One is Travel in Kayak, which offers small group trips. Visit http://travelinkayak.blogspot.com/

Into the Adriatic


Here’s an item not likely to be in a kayaker’s inventory. But it’s a piece of gear growing increasingly popular every year.

Advanced’s anchor system weighs in at just three pounds and features a unique folding/locking four-fluke design. It is great for use with kayaks and canoes and it holds well on most types of bottoms, from sand to rock.

The galvanized anchor has a sliding collar which keeps the flukes drawn up tight against the shank when stowed, then drops to lock the flukes open when deployed. It is easy to remove the anchor from the water: simply pull and stow. The system includes the collared, galvanized grapple anchor, 60 feet of line, a carabineer, line float and a mesh travel bag.

MSRP: $29.95. www.advancedelements.com

How well dressed is the kayaker in your family? Outerwear is usually the first problem a kayaker will solve. But what about the base layer, say, for winter paddling? How much thought has been given to undies? Well, Icebreaker has considered this carefully, of course, with the answer being found in merino. You’ll find a warm, breathable performance base layer in the BodyFit 260 Active Base Layer with styles for both men and women. It features a three-way zip collar (up, down, or up and rolled or folded over) with a drop-tail reverse zip that doesn’t show the teeth, a thumbs loop and construction from 100% merino. Wavelength would like to give the nod to our newest advertiser beginning this issue, Valhalla Pure Outfitters, by pointing out they offer the Icebreaker at all participating stores: Victoria, Nanaimo, Squamish, Kamloops, Vernon, Kelowna, Grande Prairie and Red Deer. MSRP $199.95. Visit www.vpo.ca.

gift guide / new gear

for thekayaker

Advanced Elements

Icebreaker

Night paddling offers unique opportunities and unique hazards. Aside from the ever-present risk of broadsiding a beluga whale, Seattle Sports has removed one nighttime hurdle: failure to see your compass. This new model offers a photosensitive switch that automatically turns on a dim red LED light for easier nighttime viewing. Large compass markings are easy to read, and a suction cup mount allows for secure placement anywhere on the deck.

Now all we need is an LED light to make belugas more visible.

MSRP: $39.95. www.seattlesportsco.com

Seattle Sports

Anti-barnacledeodorantKayak video game

Camp silverware

Dehydrated powdered alcoholInflatable sauna

Electronic dropped sunglassesdetector

http://www.yakgrips.com

http://www.roadracks.com

http://www.danuu.com

http://www.bckayaks.com


gift guide / new gear

who haseverything

North Water

SoloRescue AssistEvery kayaker has a paddle float – but likely

not a paddle float as multi-talented as this one.North Water has unveiled the Four Play

paddle float that is: 1) a double-ended paddle float; 2) a beaching pad to protect your kayak’s hull; 3) a vehicle protection pad when loading your boat onto a vehicle; 4) a chair and backrest; and 5) a sleeping pad. (Five functions for the Four Play. It seems North Water’s math is as bad as ours.)

It fills these roles by unfolding. Great idea, but not neccesarily a replacement, comfort-wise, for your current sleeping pad and possibly seat. MSRP: $90. northwater.com

Skill paddlers and the cautious alike will love to try out this rescue device, which reverses the concept of the paddle float with a counterbalance and adds an optional ladder platform for ease of mobility when re-entering a kayak cockpit. The counterbalance uses the weight of water to transform a kayak into a stable platform that allows self-rescue capability. The ladder will be particularly appealing to those with mobility constraints.

MSRP: $120-$160. www.solo-rescue-assist.com

Nu/Oso Natural West Coast Adventure Gear

The growing popularity of MP3 players has spawned a whole industry of waterproof covers to protect your iPod and the like. But maybe the solution isn’t how to protect your MP3 player – maybe the answer lies in a waterproof one.

Enter the Nu waterproof MP3 player, designed for swimmers and watersports enthusiasts. The core is a durable aluminium casing (with an anti-scratch finish) and waterproof headphones. The headphones screw into the MP3 player body for a watertight seal.

There are limitations. It recharges by USB through the headphone jack, meaning your MP3 player is dead in the water, so to speak, once your battery dies. Functions are basic, as is the display (or lack of, in lower end models, not to mention no ‘random’ mode). But it’s all a small price to pay for the chance to listen to music while upsidedown in your kayak. MSRP: $99-$179

www.osoperformanceproducts.com

More and more paddlers are opting for a Greenland paddle, and some of these paddles are hand-crafted and worthy of being called art. In other words, they need protection. NWCAG has come to the rescue with its new Greenland Paddle Bag to protect the paddle while in storage or transit. The bag has two sheaths padded with foam which slide over the blades and then cinch up with a buckle system. The sheaths are four inches wide with the length extending to 90 inches. MSRP:$40. www.bckayaks.com

overboard insuranceSea-spray

aftershave

A day

withno wind

Mosquito-free universe

Paddle polish

Bungy cords that can’t get lost

bigger house for all the gear

Friend to listen toold kayaking stories

Solar powered portable beer fridge

http://www.nimbuspaddles.com

http://www.watersdancing.com


Paddle Meals by Hilary Masson

One speciAl dAy last winter was the ultimate day of kayak sailing. The group I was guiding

was sailing south along the Baja coastline with each person using a sail on their boat. Harnessing the light wind seems so natural in the Sea of Cortez, especially with that light, steady northwest wind which is so common throughout the winter.

We were having a ball, laughing and enjoying our speedy progress. For a while we even had a group of dolphins cruising with us. We finished the paddle to our campsite in half the normal time, set up camp and went fishing on a protected reef nearby. Trolling with a hand line turned out to be quite effective, as we caught a wahoo tuna. This fish is thin and long similar to a barracuda, but with a distinctly tuna-like face. These are rare fish to catch, especially from a kayak, so we headed back to camp excited and inspired to create a paddle meal to remember.

Fresh ceviche was in order, and an array of other appetizers for grazing. I love having a meal that is comprised of a few different appetizers, like tapas. So here are my four favorite appies to use on a paddling trip, inspired by a windy day of paddling, sailing and fishing in the Baja. Relax while the appies are finished and then you can start to think about options for a late dinner.

The avocado relish is a great topping to spoon onto fresh seafood, tacos or tostadas. The most standard picnic lunch items like sandwiches and wraps can be reinvented by adding a caprese salad. The best use of fresh-caught seafood in warm climates is by making ceviche, a lime-marinated salad. Change up the presentation from the normal stainless-steel bowls by carving cucumber shot glasses and serving the

ceviche inside this edible bowl. This will impress any ceviche connoisseur!

Another appetizer that will inspire awe after a long and active day paddling is this dates, bacon and cheese recipe. You’ll see why I call them Hot Dates.

Try these four unique appetizers while on your next winter paddling trip, and enjoy.

<Hilary Masson is a guide and part owner of

Baja Kayak Adventure Tours Ltd. Visit www.bajakayakadventures.com.

Tremendous tapas

Avocado Relish Brochette:

Caprese Salad with Basil Vinaigrette:

A day of clear sailing and great fishing inspires appy smorg


gift guide / gear guide

Ceviche in Cucumber Shot Glasses:

Hot Dates!

http://www.advancedelements.com

http://www.solo-rescue-assist.com


Day trips

the BAy Of islAnds, located in western Newfoundland, includes some

of the most rugged and spectacular shoreline in Newfoundland. It consists of many large islands and three fjords, so the kayaking options are abundant. From a base in Corner Brook you can paddle for several days and still leave large sections unexplored.

For Beginners: Options here include paddling along the inner bay near Corner Brook. The most popular put-in is a beach at Mount Moriah and a 4-km (2.5-mile) paddle to Cook’s Brook, named for Captain James Cook, who explored this area in 1767 and produced such fine maps you could use them for kayaking today. You can paddle part way up Cook’s Brook if the tide is high or simply land on the adjacent beach and watch the antics of the common terns if it is low. Another option for novice paddlers is to put in at the Humber Valley Rowing Club wharf and paddle toward the Humber River or to Prince Edward Park.

For Intermediates paddlers: For paddlers who are comfortable with stronger winds and wave conditions

you can set out from the community of McIvers and head to Woods Island. The distance is just a couple of kilometres and once you are on Woods Island you can paddle around it if you are feeling strong (it is a 20-km trip), or

linger on its beaches if you are feeling less energetic. With Blow Me Down Mountain rearing its 600-plus metre head nearby, Woods Island certainly has a scenic backdrop.

Another paddle for intermediates is a visit to Seal and Governor’s islands in York Harbour. These flat-topped islands are just offshore and Seal Island in particular is worth visiting for its hidden sandy beach and seabirds squawking all around.

For advanced paddlers: For advanced paddlers or for intermediates when the winds are light, you can test your skills in the open Gulf of St. Lawrence at Bottle Cove. One of our favorite trips in this area is the paddle from Bottle Cove around South Head Lighthouse to Lark Harbour. This trip paddles beneath shear 200-metre cliffs and gives great views of the rugged islands just offshore. There are also fine waterfalls and a sea arch that you can paddle through at high tide along the last half of this 13-km paddle.

From Bottle Cove you can also paddle in the other direction to Little Port and Cedar Cove. Beware that this

is a lee shore to the prevailing southwest

IslandsBay

of

by Keith and Heather Nicol

On the way from Bottle Cove.


winds and so pounding surf may not let you land easily on the broad beach at Cedar Cove.

tips and hazards: The water in Newfoundland is generally cold so wear a wetsuit and have other safety gear with you. Also, get a weather forecast and try to do any big open water crossings or open Gulf sections by noon before the day’s wind comes up.

< Keith Nicol’s website for paddling in Newfoundland

and Atlantic Canada can be found at www2.swgc.mun.ca/~knicol/hikingandseakayaking.htm

Bay of islands, nFlD

Nfld.

CedarCove

Bottle Cove

LarkHarbour

Woods I.

York Harbour

Guernsey I.

BAY OF ISLANDS

South Head

Pearl I.Tweed I.

Mt. Moriah

Cook’s Brook Humber Arm

Goose ArmPenguin ArmNorth Arm

Corner BrookRowing Club

Humber R.

Prince EdwardPark

CORNER BROOK

McIvers Pt. launch

Satellite image © Google 2009. Waypoints for all features available on Planet Kayak: www.planetkayak.net

http://www.silvabayinn.ca

http://www.feathercraft.com

http://www.stellerseakayaking.com


The ‘ladder’ is a rescue that seems to have sea kayakers talking lately. It is fundamentally one of many variations of the well-established bow-tip-out rescue. In fact, it is sort of a mashup of the “bow-tip-out” (see Wavelength Fall 2007 issue) with the “cowboy scramble” (April-May 2006 issue).

To perform the ladder, start with a traditional bow tip-out rescue setup: the rescuer approaches the bow of the capsized kayak and positions himself perpendicular to the inverted boat to create a ‘T’ formation.

Secure a good grip on the capsized boat’s bow by committing your weight onto the overturned hull. Even upside down, a kayak has plenty of flotation and will easily support you (this is assuming that the capsized kayak has appropriate

Skillset By Alex Matthews

flotation fore and aft – usually in the form of waterproof compartments sealed by bulkheads at both bow and stern). With one hand on the keel, reach across your body with the other and grip the bow’s grab-handle. This will put you in a great position to pull the boat up onto your deck.

By pushing with your top hand toward

your bow and pulling with your lower hand gripping the grab-handle it is very easy to rotate the kayak enough to break the suction created by the capsized kayak’s cockpit. You can also direct the swimmer to his stern and have him press down on it by getting his chest up onto the keel. This will raise the bow of the inverted kayak, at which point you can

The laddersuccess

to

The assisted ladder rescue offers a mashup of more established techniques that could help nervous swimmers

1

2

3

Establish contact with the capsized kayak’s bow, creating a ‘T’ formation.

Haul the capsized boat across your lap, allowing the water to drain from the cockpit.

Rotate the emptied boat upright, and grip it securely in your lap.

Phot

os by

Roch

elle R

elyea


assisted ladder rescue

yank it up across your spraydeck. Once the bow is elevated, water inside the

inverted kayak will flow down toward the stern bulkhead and drain out. Next, rotate the kayak back upright.

Here’s the point where the Ladder rescue differs from the traditional bow-tip-out: Instead of pulling the swimmer’s kayak in parallel to your own boat, keep in it your lap with its bow hatch roughly over your cockpit.

The rescuer now hugs the kayak and holds it in the ‘T’ formation with an aggressive grip on the boat and its perimeter lines. The swimmer re-enters starting from the stern (which is nice and low in the water due to the boat’s angle). While straddling the boat with legs spread, the swimmer can climb the ladder of his kayak to regain the cockpit. Once over the seat he drops his butt into the boat and then pulls his legs in afterwards. Once the swimmer’s spraydeck is back on and he’s ready to paddle, the rescuer simply slides the kayak out of his lap, launching it back into the water.

The ladder rescue is especially reassuring for nervous swimmers, as it creates a very stable platform and makes communication between rescuer and swimmer easy. It’s important to note, however, that the ladder is much better suited to kayaks without rudders, as a rudder on the capsized boat will be in the swimmer’s way and make climbing atop the stern far more awkward or even hazardous. In rough conditions the rescuer’s face is also more exposed to injury from the swimmer’s boat than in the more traditional parallel setup.

<

Adapted from “Sea Kayaking Rough Waters” by Alex Matthews available at www.helipress.com.

4

5

The swimmer can now straddle the stern of his kayak and climb up it to regain his cockpit.

Dropping his butt into the seat, the swimmer pulls his legs in, reattaches his spraydeck, and grips his paddle, ready to be slid back into the water.

http://www.nimbuskayaks.com


Fishing angles By Alex MatthewsBy Dan Armitage

Deck the hulls

Winter is considered the “off ” season among geographically challenged anglers, who are

forced by Mother Nature to fish vicariously through long winter months by tying flies, repairing tackle, reading books and magazine articles and rigging craft for the coming fishing season.

Paddlers pondering changes to their boats have never had so many after-market angling options available to them, and the sport that many of us gravitated to for its simplicity can easily morph into a web of bungee cords and leashes tethering everything from drift socks to aeration systems to our craft.

I admit to getting caught up by the array of accessories, and justify to both my wife and accountant that trying out every new kayak fishing gizmo is part of my job. I give them all a try, but few accessories remain for long on our family’s fleet of boats, which includes a Hobie Outback, a pair of Pelican DLX 100s, a Wilderness Systems Pamlico 120, a duo Pamlico Lite, an Old Town Otter XT and a Watermark Jon Buoy.

The Hobie is my primary fishing and project rig, although it came standard with what I still consider the one and only

accessory you really need to transform any kayak into a fishing craft: rod holders. The Hobie Outback, with the foot-powered Mirage Drive, is an excellent open water fishing machine, leaving both hands free for casting and retrieving and stable enough to allow me to (carefully) stand in still waters to get the most out of my limited fly casting abilities. Options I have added and

use on a regular basis include a sailing kit (for trolling – and fun), an aerated bait tank, a turbo kit for the Mirage Drive to get extra power and speed (if less draft), a dodger for inclement weather and an electronic depth/fish-finder. All these are available from Hobie, and the latter has proven the most useful by far. (I’ll be documenting that install process in a future column).

That said, the Hobie is not the best choice for river fishing. With a draft of about 18 inches with the Mirage Drive cassette in place, and less-than-nimble in flowing water, I rely on my standard paddle-powered kayaks for fishing in streams and rivers. (The Mirage Drive cassette is easily removed and replaced with a plug to allow the Outback to be paddled conventionally). After a season of messing about in it to see what I needed and what I did not, based on my style of fishing, last winter I rigged the Pamlico 120 for serious fishing. I suggest anyone do the same when considering customizing his or her craft for fishing, if only for a few “shake-down” fishing trips.

For example, tempting as it was to install a trolley-type anchoring system on the kayak last winter, I realized after a season of experience that I rarely needed to anchor

Winter is a great time to review your rig and add accessories for the coming season. It’s also tempting to over-rig with angling items you really don’t need.


to fish in moving water. When I did, a simple rubber-coated, two-pound barbell attached to parachute cord and lowered hand-over-hand and snubbed to a quick-release jam cleat was the most convenient answer. To merely slow my progress in the current, I rigged the other end of the line with a snap onto which I can attach one or two short lengths of chain to lower over the side and drag on the bottom.

Whether in the Hobie or aboard one of our other kayaks, I realized that while fishing with my family we often needed only slight adjustments to our boat’s position to remain in casting distance of a particular spot. Breaking out the double-bladed paddle was a pain and often overkill for the slight nudges against the water that were needed. Instead, we reached for ping pong paddles that I rigged for each kayak, which were easily accessible and offered just the touch required. At a thrift store I purchased paddles that had rubber pads the same colors as the kayaks they were intended for, and spent a cold winter weekend triple-dipping each wooden paddle

in spar varnish to waterproof them. This fishing season, when we needed to move a bit, we just reached down and broke out the hand paddles for a few sweeps to gain the position we needed.

As I write this, I have just returned from the local department store with a colorful armload of “swim noodles,” which were deeply discounted at the end of the swimming season. Again, I selected the soft foam floating pool toys in colors that matched those of the kayaks they are intended for, and plan to stuff them below deck to serve as extra flotation as well as fun swim accessories to break out on hot summer days. I also plan to cut some of the foam into short cylinders to serve as wrap-around leader storage and as handy hook and lure holders, and will experiment

with slitting lengths of the tubes lengthwise to snap in place around the cockpit to serve as a padded bolster. By cutting vees in the foam, short sections of gunwale-mounted padding can serve as a handy place to set down a fishing rod while releasing a fish or re-rigging a line.

It is these types of projects that allow anglers worldwide to weather the winter months. With our highly adaptable, easy-to-rig and quick-to-forgive type of watercraft, we are limited only by our ingenuity.

<Dan Armitage is a boating, fishing and travel writer based in the Midwest. He is a licensed

(USCG Master) captain, hosts a syndicated radio show, and presents kayak fishing and

photography seminars at boat shows.

Rigging your rig

Keeping things simple is usually the best system to keep in mind when rigging a kayak for fishing. A small auxiliary paddle would help this lad maintain position, allowing him to stow his double-bladed paddle out of the way.

http://www.hobiekayaks.com


Rainforest Chronicles by Dan Lewis

sleep in until eight. Now this is wilderness camping – or at least a holiday! Listening to the VHF

radio marine weather forecast in the tent: it sounds like a no-go day. Fine. I’m still knackered from yesterday’s long day of paddling in fully loaded kayaks. I open my eyes: it’s a spectacularly beautiful day. Bonus!

We are camped in a place we newcomers call Pidwell Cove. It is about an eighth of a mile long; reddy-brown sand. The first such beach we’ve camped on in three weeks (sandy beaches, although common enough on the west coast of Vancouver Island, are rare on the North Coast of BC’s mainland). I walk the length of the beach a few times, then jog, then sprint, working up enough sweat to dive right into the cold ocean to fully awaken and begin the day.

A quick wilderness morning snack of a shared apple, some

crackers with honey and hemp hearts, and I’m off for a pre-breakfast toodle (an aimless paddle with the intent to play and explore spontaneously rather than actually go anywhere).

Paddling east along the southern edge of Swindle Island: the shoreline is stunning. Massive granite sections – big hunks of red, brown, and purple cliffs – extend upwards from the sea to the coastal fringe forests above. Millbanke Sound is to my right,

exposed to the open Pacific, source of the wee swell washing me up and down as I paddle in close to the steep shore. Eight eagles come screeching into the bay.

I notice small waves breaking on a reef offshore and head out to investigate. I find an isolated ridge of rock and park myself at the eastern extremity. I start to realize that I can hang out here for as long as I want to. A timeless eternity – no deadline, no ‘to-do’ list, nowhere to go and no one expecting

me.Just sitting there, hovering in

clear water about a foot above the rock. Appreciating the immense beauty of small things: the nudibranchs in the water, washing helplessly to and fro with me; the gazillions of tiny fish, made visible only by their tiny shadows; the barnacles frantically waving their feet; the blue mussels and orange seastars clinging to the shallow reef below. Occasionally bigger wave sets arrive. I catch a

Bonn

y Glam

beck

phot

os

A Pidwell morning

A good beach is the starting point for a day that rejuvenates the soul


Rainforest Chronicles

few and surf over the reef, deliciously close to feeling the bite of those barnacles, then resume my contemplation between waves.

So rarely do we take the time to watch a day on our blue planet unfold, and how precious to have not only the time to do so, but also such a wild place to do it in! What a vista laid out before me – to the east, in the foreground, the assorted islands in the vicinity: Price, Lady Douglas, Dowager and Athlone; in the background, the mainland: from Don Peninsula up Seaforth Channel to Bella Bella, King Island and Dean Channel; then south to Namu, with distant Calvert Island barely visible under a pillow of cumulus clouds.

The sun is beating down, heating the day up quickly enough to actually see it happen, especially if you’re slowed down enough to notice. The islands and mountains are breathing, with puffy cumulus clouds over

land the visible manifestation. Clear blue summer skies are everywhere else. The wind is a light breeze – so much for that wind warning! But I do notice early signs of a front approaching: the halo around the sun and the high cirrus clouds. And above it all, the stars and planets, invisibly whirling about their orbits. Seldom do we think of them above when we can’t see them.

Cruising the outside of the reef, I’m still wearing my helmet, avoiding the sketchy-looking moves – taking the easy rides, just relaxing. Three dozen harlequin ducks swim by, small blue and cinnamon ducks with strikingly ornate white facial markings that breed on rushing rivers in the Rockies, then spend the rest of their year in the surf-swept rock gardens of the Pacific coast. I finally reach the western tip of the reef and, succumbing to the call of hunger, head back to camp.

Evening now. Four harlequins swim right by our little campfire at high tide, barely twenty feet away. Poking their heads down into the water like mergansers, riding the surge up and down the beach with the flotsam. Perhaps they are preying on the tiny surf perch I felt underfoot and saw them darting off in the shallows this morning.

The front moves over around sunset: first a high thin veil, taking 15 minutes to pass over, next a layer of alto-stratus clouds. The color of the sea fades from the aquamarine it has been all day — the colour of Bonny’s Japanese glass ball, the first she’s ever found, still gleaming blue in the dying light of a perfect midsummer day.

<Dan Lewis and Bonny Glambeck operate

Rainforest Kayak Adventures .

A Pidwell morning“So rarely do we take the time to watch a day on our blue planet unfold.”

http://www.quadraislandtourism.ca

http://www.nic.bc.ca

http://www.coastmountainexpeditions.com


trip Planning

rAin puddles spill across the street. Pedestrians outside my window duck like Quasimodo,

trying to hide from the rain. My short bike commute gets me soaked through my raingear, and by 4:30 p.m. I need a headlamp to open the garage. Putting my bike away, I trip over two bright yellow sea kayaks – an expedition boat and a shorter play boat, both annoyed at me that they’ve been sitting in the garage so long.

It’s not that they don’t get used in winter. Winter in Oregon is a great time to paddle inland waterways, see bald eagles and big rafts of ducks, and brave the wind in the Columbia Gorge. But it involves layers of fleece under the drysuit, gloves, a neoprene hood and a thermos of hot tea. And when it’s raining and dark before 5 p.m., camping loses a lot of appeal. So the expedition-worthy Explorer sits in the garage while all I manage are day trips.

Of course, there are other ways to get a

wilderness fix. I could fly to Baja or Belize, but airfare runs more than I’m ready to part with on a non-profit salary, let alone the cost of renting boats. So I stay local. But as the rain drives me indoors, I’m doing something else: looking at maps and charts, and pondering dreams.

the cartographic comaWhile my bank account may balk at Baja,

time off allows the imagination to roam. Visions dance in my head of pushing off

for two weeks or more next summer when the light lasts late into the evening. And while flipping through guidebooks in the winter may seem like idle daydreaming, it’s where the genesis of the next trip lies.

I spent much of one winter staring at charts of the north end of Vancouver Island and the B.C. mainland, trying to glue together an island-hopping route across the edge of Queen Charlotte Strait. I started where the guidebooks stopped giving much information, and started seeking past travelers and emailing locals. Mostly

mapsServant

of the

by neil Schulman



Off-season trip Planning


I got responses like “hmm, not a lot of people go there, but I’ve always wondered about it.” Of course, the fewer people who go there, the more I want to go myself. That’s where the charts and maps and the daydreams come in.

I love maps, atlases, charts – anything that shows me the visual landscape of places I haven’t been. They’re addictive. I can stare for hours at the outlines of a coast, the topographic lines of a mountain range I’ve never seen, or the sinuous curves of a river. It’s all fodder for the imagination. I can imagine gunkholing along some island-strewn coast next summer with my vacation time. Or should I plot a long river

trip? Cart my kayaks up to some long, glacial-sculpted, deep blue mountain lake in the far north? For the map addict, a world atlas is a dangerous thing.

Dangerous, but also essential for trip planning. Over the last winter I organized a trip across the edge of Queen Charlotte Strait. At the time there were no good guidebooks to the area, so my map addiction came in handy – pouring over the topography of glacier-carved inlets, looking for flat areas that could hold a tent, spotting narrow areas that would likely hold tidal rapids. I figured out where we could pick up a food drop (half of which didn’t show, but that’s another story), plus alternate routes if the weather got bad or if our ambitions to cover miles sagged.

the group thingIf you’re planning trips, winter’s a great

time for the most critical part of the whole endeavor: building the group. Despite living in the midst of a large community of skilled, fun and amiable kayakers, getting a good group of people together can be a challenge. And it’s not just finding dates that work for everyone’s calendar. It’s also finding paddling partners whose skill

and judgment you trust, and who enjoy similar styles of paddling. I’m a gunkholer by nature, preferring to poke into every nook and play at every surf wave I can find, rather than beeline from one point to another. And then there’s that intangible quality: are they a good person to be stuck in a tent with during a three-day storm? So in winter, as the idea of a trip forms in my head, I’m also scoping out friends.

Building the right group is more art than science. I have friends I’ve logged enough miles with that we know how we’ll respond to the inevitable changes of plan, bad weather days or not accomplishing a set goal. But if this isn’t the case, there’s nothing better than a shakedown cruise to get a sense of the dynamics.

Choosing a group also means choosing group size. Larger groups can decrease risk (thus the phrase “no less than three upon the sea”).

u

http://www.orcaboats.ca


trip Planning

They also build more camaraderie, and give everyone a mix of energy. But the bigger the group, the more complicated the decision-making and the slower you’ll be to break camp. And in vertical, glacier-carved landscapes where flat spots are small and far between, keeping the group to one or two tents can be a major advantage.

That winter, as our group put our plans together, we did more than clog tables at the local pubs with charts and calendars. We put on our warm clothes and went out in the Columbia and paddled together, practiced rescues and made sure we were comfortable with each other on a long trip with complex currents, long mileage and potential bad weather – all of which, it turned out, we encountered, and laughed our way through around the campfire.

the ‘unusual’ tripObviously, the first place you’ll look will

be guidebooks, physical and online. But I’ve done a lot of trips that guidebooks haven’t covered, or where they’re noticeably out of date. Once, during an attempt at a winter trip up a flatwater section of the Grand Canyon, we found that a “camping spot” was dense with ten-foot tall trees that had grown up since the guidebook had been last updated. If you’re traveling off the beaten path, finding information will be hard, and you’ll need to take that as part of the fun. And

sometimes – like on one trip to British Columbia – we found our route altered by the fear of covering twenty miles to a camping spot that we weren’t sure existed.

The path less traveled means you’ll need to rely on the centuries-old craft of seamanship: interpreting the features of the landscape and sea bottom and the movement of water and weather to anticipate the paddling conditions. Narrow passages usually can produce strong tidal currents and shallow rocks can produce minefields of breaking waves as the tide drops. How to hone this skill? Next time you go out, watch the weather. Then guess from the movement of the clouds and the sea what the weather forecast will be the next day. Then turn on the VHF and see if the forecasters agree. This will help you hone your prediction skills.

And in the age of the internet, you can research historical weather patterns for an area. Want to know what the average wind speed has been for Neah Bay, WA, on July 10th? It’s only a click away. This is especially handy for trips where the weather forecasts aren’t in English.

Another place you can turn is the old hikers’ standby: the topographical map. Unfortunately, many charts contain relatively little topographical detail about landforms. As a backpacker who learned how to stay found by relationships to peaks and ridgelines, I seek out the landform detail of topographic maps to accompany the chart datum.

And then there’s the latest technological marvel, Google Earth. As soon as it came into vogue, I looked up the locations of

past trips where not being sure of places to camp had caused me to abort. While its data is often unclear (especially for areas with a daily change in water level) it’s another resource for being able to peer at a landscape to find campsites or streams to replenish your water supply.

Once I have this info, I write it all on my chart so it’s in one place. I also write in other things that may pop up during a trip: current stations, water sources, alternate routes if it’s windy or the surf is too big, bailout spots if it gets truly nasty. I also plot the courses of likely crossings so I don’t have to do it on the water if the fog rolls in.

the real McCoyThe best information comes from folks

who have been there before. Of course, if you’re dreaming of a less-traveled spot, it will take you longer to find someone who has, but that can be part of your winter project. I’ve found some great campsites over the years that someone has told me about that aren’t in the guidebooks. A longtime resident once told me exactly how some tidal currents worked for which no tables existed – and, of course, he was exactly spot on. Sometimes asking the locals for the secrets of their back 40 may seem like asking a fisherman to share his best fishing hole, so I ask as humbly as I can, and I figure they’ll share what they want to.

So now I’m trading ideas with my friends, as we go on our increasingly rainy off-season paddles. Hakai Pass to Port Hardy? A long trip along the soggy, ice-laden coast of Alaska? What about a long river trip, somewhere in the far north? Or should I spend two weeks closer to home, paddling the coast of southern Oregon and northern California? It’s time to start finding out.

And of course, I may hear “hmm, not a lot of people do that.” They may not. That doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t and that I won’t. It’s part of the appeal. Roll out the charts, and start dreaming. Next summer’s coming right up.

<Neil Schulman lives in Portland, Oregon,

where the charts, are, unfortunately, up-to-date. When he’s not staring at maps, he does

conservation work, paddles, photographs and tries to stay out of trouble.

Camping spots may not be all that was promised when it comes time to check out a site found in an old guidebook – a discovery made on a Grand Canyon adventure.

http://www.suspenz.com


Kayak With Comfort

Wanted: kayak-friendly accommodationThis fall had to be one of the nicest

seasons ever in the Pacific Northwest and BC. Almost every day saw a bright ball of sunshine in the forecast, right through until mid October.

It did get cooler, of course, and there was some wind, but for those who picked itineraries carefully, this would have been a banner year for being in a kayak late in the shoulder season.

Wavelength Magazine is on a bit of a mission of sorts in trying to locate kayak-friendly accommodation that can help lengthen the kayaking season even more. The eventual goal is a B&B Marine Trail that potentially links together to form a route. While that may not be possible in the summer (some locations only book per week in season and/or close off-season), wearing the monicker “kayak-friendly”

should help kayakers make selections and distinguish the few lucky B&Bs suitable for catering to paddlers.

In the meantime, we’re going to start featuring a kayak-friendly resort in each issue to provide a growing resource of accommodation options for kayakers. And it seems fitting to start with the Paddlers Inn in the heart of the Broughton Archipelago.

Inside Passage

Featured Accommodation: Broughton Archipelago Paddlers Inn

Gulf Islands

The Paddlers Inn dock.

The floathouse lodge kitchen. The floathouse cabin.

Visitors can sea kayak in comfort from this oceanside or floathouse accommodation deep in BC’s Broughton Archipelago. You can pick catered meals or cook for yourself. Guided kayak tours and rentals are available, as well as charter boat tours and kayak transport. There’s even acupressure massage available, plus trails, beaches and an inland lake to enjoy. Visit www.paddlersinn.ca.

http://www.paddlersinn.ca

http://www.solstuawest.com

http://www.paddlersinn.ca

http://www.staygabriola.com


kAyAking offers a rare combination of physical and spiritual benefits that few other

sports can match. Paddling through calm waters while observing aquatic wildlife and scenic coastline can refresh the soul of even the most burned-out city dweller. Repetitive paddling offers a physically tangible feeling, even when fatigued, of achievement and fitness.

Yet many kayakers don’t get full benefit from their paddling. Poor conditioning can lead to early fatigue and soreness that diminishes the full enjoyment. To fully appreciate kayaking, one needs to be as well conditioned as possible. It’s the best way to ensure that when you pull the kayak out of the water at the end of a pleasant day’s kayaking, you still have enough energy to stay awake to view that perfect sunset.

With winter upon us, you should now be contemplating your off-season conditioning program for the next few months to extract the most pleasure from next year’s kayak outings. Here’s one such program that will have you fitter than ever before, and thus better prepared for the rigors of the sport.

It helps to have a concrete series of

goals for your workouts. Given that kayaking requires a unique meshing of several fitness factors for maximum performance, your conditioning goals should include developing the elements of fitness listed below.aerobic conditioning

For paddling for sustained periods of time, often in rough water, a high level of stamina is required. We call this cardiovascular or aerobic endurance. To develop this important aspect of kayak conditioning you can choose your favorite aerobic activities and spread them out through the week. Your goal is to do three to five cardiovascular workouts each week, varying in length from 30 to 60 minutes.

Aerobic activities that are good for improving a kayaker’s endurance range from jogging and running (outdoors or on a treadmill), to stair machines, elliptical machines, cycling (on the road or in the gym), cross-country skiing, snowshoeing and swimming. Swimming is particularly important for kayakers because it works the upper body while also training you for that day if ever when things go wrong and you find yourself swimming for safety.

Muscular Strength/PowerWe no longer believe that paddling is

in itself enough for adequate conditioning for kayaking. Propelling the weight of your body and kayak against water resistance is hard work. The essence of resistance training is to train your muscle groups to deliver more force, or power, with each stroke by overcoming the resistance more efficiently. The stronger your muscles, the larger the range (or reserve) will be between your cruising and maximal efforts. This translates into cruising at a lower percentage of your maximum effort for a longer time.

Exercise science and research now shows that it’s a more efficient use of your training time to do heavier weights and fewer repetitions versus low resistance and high numbers of repetitions. In other words, you’ll still develop your muscular endurance by using heavier weights and sets of eight to 12 repetitions, as long as they are done to muscular fatigue or failure.

It is difficult to perfectly simulate the paddling action through most weight training exercises, so stick to exercises that provide general conditioning to the appropriate muscle groups in the off-season, and do the cable, resistance band, medicine ball, dumbbell exercises and simulation drills closer to the kayaking season.

A common belief among kayakers is that the legs and hips are not important in the paddling action. Considering that they initiate each stroke and anchor your trunk to the

health and Fitness by roy Stevenson

Off-seasonconditioningfor kayakers

Aubrey Clark demonstrates the cable seated rear delt row, one exercise in a complete menu that will prepare you for the next paddling season.


Off-season Conditioning

boat, providing stability during the paddling action, this is simply not the case.

The following split workout strength training program allows for balance between muscle groups while focusing on the major muscles groups – the back, shoulders, arms, core and legs – used during paddling. Development of Core Strength

Few sports activities place such a repetitive, rotational stress on the core musculature as kayaking. What is the core? The group of muscles around your hips, torso, pelvis and lower back that provide a platform for virtually all of the movement you perform when paddling.

The unique rotational trunk movement used when kayaking in a seated position creates a relentless shearing force along the spine. And as we know, 80% of people experience low back pain at some time in their lives, so the statistics would indicate that most kayakers might be susceptible to some form of low back pain, exacerbated by the paddling action. And indeed, sports medicine physicians note that most injuries or soreness in kayakers occur in the back

(and shoulders and arms). Flexibility

Recent research shows that flexibility may not be the panacea it is claimed to be in terms of injury prevention, reducing post exercise muscle soreness and improving sports performance. Many exercise scientists now believe that having a stronger, less flexible musculature enables you to develop more power in your movements versus over-flexible muscle groups that tend to be able to resist high force movements less efficiently, and are thus more prone to injury.

Nevertheless, this is not absolution to ignore basic stretching. You should indeed do a few flexibility exercises for your back, shoulders, hamstrings, hip flexors, buttocks and arms, especially when you finish your workouts. The goal is to prevent a further reduction in the range of motion about your joints that may come from strength training and aerobic activity. Work towards a reasonably lengthy range of motion to provide a reserve of movement for your kayaking muscles.

The benefits

u

http://www.wernerpaddles.com


health and Fitness

leg extensionAdjust the seat so your knees are aligned

with axis of the machine. Lean back against the pad, extend your legs straight out to full extension, and slowly return.

leg CurlLie face down on the bench with knee

joints aligned with the axis of the machine. Adjust the leg pad so that it is on lower part of your calf. Hold handles securely and flex knees as far back as comfortable. Return slowly to a straight leg position.

leg PressLean back on machine with your back

firmly against the pad. With legs shoulder width apart, and ankles, knees and hips aligned, slowly straighten your legs. Do not lock out your knees. Press heels against the platform through full range.

Flat Bench Knee UpsSit on the end of a flat bench, hands just

behind the buttocks, gripping the bench. From a straight leg position, flex your knees in front of you as high as they can go, then return to a straight leg position.

Dumbbell Chest PressPlant feet firmly on the floor with

buttocks, head and shoulders on the bench. Pull shoulder blades together and hold them there, while lowering your arms so that upper arms are parallel with floor. Do not lower any further than this. Push arms straight up, above elbows, and then pull the dumbbells together. Reverse this action slowly and repeat.

Cable Seated Rear Delt RowThis action is similar to a Cable Seated

Lat Row, except the arms come through much higher. Plant feet firmly against the foot platform and keep your trunk vertically straight at 90 degrees to the bench. Place two pulley handles on the cable. Grip handles, with wrists facing downwards, elbows facing outwards, and slowly pull the handles straight back towards your chest. Keep your shoulder blades squeezed together through this action. Slowly return to start position without bending forward.

Standing Dumbbell Biceps CurlStand with legs shoulder width apart and

knees slightly bent. Tuck elbows in toward your sides while they are aligned under your shoulders. With dumbbells in hand and forearms facing forward, slowly contract biceps and pull dumbbells up as far as they will go. Slowly return to starting position.

Downward transverse Cable PullAdjust the cable to its highest setting,

with one cable handle. Stand facing cable post with legs shoulder width apart and hands gripping handle. Keep arms straight and up and to your right, above or at head height. Slowly pull handle downwards and across your body, pivoting slightly with your trunk and feet. You should feel this across your back as you pull downwards. Reverse the movement slowly back to start position. Don’t forget to do this exercise in both directions, to your left and right.

1

3

4

5

6

7

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This program can be done 2-3 days each week, with at least one rest day between each session. If you are very fatigued and sore after this workout, split it into two workouts, and allow two days rest between each session. Start with one set of 10-12 repetitions of each set for 2-3 weeks until you are comfortable with the exercises. Then from weeks 4-6, do two sets of each exercise. From weeks 7-12 do 3 sets of each.

2


Off-season Conditioning

Back extensionAdjust the back extension machine so

you can fully flex your torso below it. With hands crossed in front of your chest, slowly straighten your back while breathing out. Straighten back to 180 degrees, then slowly lower your torso while breathing out.

triceps extension on machineStand facing the cable machine with

legs shoulder width apart and knees slightly bent. Adjust the cable so that it is at highest setting. Set a curved triceps bar, about 18 inches long, on the cable. Grip curved bar with hands sloping downward to the sides. Slowly push bar downward to full arm extension. Slowly return to start position.

Cable Standing lat RowAdjust the mobile cable pulley to the

lowest setting. Place two handles on the cable. With quads locked in a ¼ squat position, and trunk leaning slightly forward, slowly pull back the handles toward your abdomen until your elbows are by your side. Return slowly back to start position.

<Roy Stevenson has a master’s degree in exercise physiology and coaching from

Ohio University. He teaches exercise science at Seattle University in Washington State

and has coached hundreds of serious and recreational runners and triathletes in the

Seattle area.

9

bk

bl

http://www.oceanriver.com


trips in the wilderness, and now I shoot bears with my camera. And this is what this barenaked lady was trying to do that day in August when after days of dismal weather the rains stopped, the sun came out and Kalavati, my paddlemate, the other barenaked lady in this story, suggested we celebrate by baring our all. We took our clothes off and with oyster appetizers and goblets of wine in hand, we skipped across the bridge and along the boardwalk to the tent platform for Happy Appie Hour.

We celebrated in different ways. Kalavati froze in yoga pose. I fidgeted with my camera trying to get even better views of the picturesque little islands that studded the beach below us. Eagles chattered from trees on bigger islands in the background. The setting sun that soon would show this scene in silhouette could only add to the drama. We were Eves alone in Paradise.

I put down my camera and tripped over the wine. We watched in horror as the cedar planking turned red. Oh no, Eve is wineless

Reflections

this is the story of one bear and two barenaked ladies on a paddling trip to

the Pinkertons in Barkley Sound. Bear with me as I give you the bare essentials of this adventure. Those opposed to nudity should now leave. They may not think this a beary nice story or me a beary nice girl.

Let’s get our bearings. Kalavati and I, the two barenaked ladies, launch our kayaks at Torquart Bay and paddle for an hour and a half to the pretty Pinkertons just outside the Broken Group Islands in Pacific Rim National Park. This is where I have the use of a cabin on two exquisite little islands linked by a bridge and surrounded by a bracelet of other little islands. In 1963 I studied bald eagles here from the same cabin that Kalavati and I visit now 45 years later.

Bears are residents here. You see bears foraging the shoreline of Vancouver Island as soon as you round Lyall Point and paddle along Equis Beach. You breakfast with bears poking around the mudflats at low tide as you sit on the deck of the cabin and sip your coffee. You retreat back into the bushes when bears get to the clam beds behind the cabin before you do.

It was in 1963 while spyglassing eagles from the front door of the cabin that I dropped my binoculars, picked up a gun and shot a bear. An assistant, several eaglets and my husband and I lived on this bear all summer, eating bear roasts, bear steaks, bear stew and stir-fried bear as the larder depleted.

But times and attitudes change, dry foods are readily available for summer-long

in Paradise! Bear in mind that we Eves were also kayakers who had limited ourselves to one glass of

wine a day. “Let’s lick it up,” said Kalavati, who soon would be off to India to an ashram.

“Bear down on it. Let’s take a picture of it,” was my reaction. “Wooded Chardonnay!”

And then a bear came to the party. It ambled onto the stage from the right, nose down, poking around the rocks for crabs a few metres from our platform. I pointed my lens and clicked off several shots, cursing the fact that this was a black bear against black rocks in the silhouette of a setting sun and was about to exit the stage to the left. It would soon be out of sight behind the bushes at the bend of the island.

“If it continues around the island to the dock where our kayaks are, I could get a shot of it from behind the bushes at the top of the stairs,” I told Kalavati. She meditates in crises. I crack jokes. “I wonder if I should put my clothes on.”

No time. I knew a shortcut to the bear’s

by Lyn HancockWriting capturing the spirit of kayaking

Author Lyn Hancock bares her soul – and more – in the retelling of a wildlife photo shoot that goes awry

One bear

twobarenakedladies

&


Reflections

possible destination where I could take its picture from the safety of a miniature raincoast jungle. So barenaked and brandishing my 400mm lens, I bounced back along the walkway, skipped barefoot across to the next boardwalk leading to the dock and I had barely made it to the trees when I heard sounds of thrashing through the bushes. I froze – and not in yoga pose!

I have to stop the story there. Bear with me again as I take you to another scene and bring on more players.

sOme Of yOu have met Jaime, my 25 year old kayaking guide from Belize,

who works his way around the world with his kayak and stores his stuff at my place in between jobs. “You must meet Lyn,” he told his girlfriend, Nina, from America. “She’s my Mom.”

So Jaime borrowed one of my kayaks and brought Nina to Barkley Sound to camp on Hand Island about 20 minutes paddle from the Pinkertons. It was Nina’s first kayak trip. It poured with rain, it was windy, wet and cold, and they had forgotten their pots and utensils. “Take her to Jacques

and Jarvis, it’ll be nice and protected in there,” I advised.

Now Jaime was at a crossroads in life, waffling between kayaking the world and settling down with a wife and children. He worried that for an adventurer like him, marriage might be unbearable.

It was in the lagoon between Jacques and Jarvis after a wild ride across Peacock Channel in a rainstorm that he saw Nina smile through the slits in her rain gear. He suddenly made up his mind and proposed. “Of course,” she beamed as they rafted their kayaks together, clutched each other’s rainclothes and kissed.

“And now you must meet your new mother-in-law,” said Jaime. “She is staying over there in the Pinkertons. Let’s go visit.”

Traditionally, when young men take their fiancées to meet their mother for the first time, she is in her best dress, sitting in her best chair, and presiding over her best china set pouring a cup of tea. Not so, Jaime!

When he brought his fiancée to meet his mother-in-law, she wasn’t dressed in anything. She was barenaked, running through the bush, with camera in hand, chasing a bear.

Jaime is the one to tell the rest of the story.

“You should have seen the look on your face. You were so embarrassed. Your arms flying everywhere... Then you must have thought ‘what the hell’ so you spread your arms, shrugged and hugged.”

Well, that’s the bare bones of the story. But darn it, no picture. So next day I re-enacted the scene and Kalavati clicked one.

Remember this is a bear story, no bull. (Thanks Mary!)

<Lyn Hancock is a Vancouver Island-based

author who can most often be found fully clothed. Visit www.lynhancock.com.

The classic happy ending: boy gets girl, girl gets boy.

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