Wavelength Kayaking Magazine: Spring 2009

WaveLength Your complete kayaking resource

Volume 19, Issue 2

MAGAZINE

Spring 2009 FREE at select outlets or by subscription

Bay Trail A golden age of paddling unfolds in San Francisco

National parks: Rare ecology protected in the Gulf Islands

PM 41687515

Safety and skills: Articles to ante up your kayaking survival arsenal

Plus: • Seaward Quantum review • Indian Arm • The art of marking charts

Mekong River Making up the rules in Laos

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SPRING 2009

Contents

This month's features:

Regular columns:

10

6

News



Golden Opportunities: The San Francisco Bay Trail Marine Trails 8 by Andrea Pflaumer

13

Day Trips: Indian Arm

14

Adventure Travel: Mekong River



by Bob Putnam



by Marc Paillefer

24

Paddle Meals



by Hilary Masson

20

Handle With Care



Gulf Islands National Park

26

New Gear

32

Skillset



by Alex Matthews

34

Wildlife



by James Michael Dorsey

36

Safety



By Michael Pardy

by Adam Bolonsky

40

Fishing Angles

Should I Stay or Should I Go?



by Dan Armitage

From the Rainforest

46

2009 events



Expect no rules for kayaking in Laos



by Hans Tammemagi

28

Quantum's Physics Review: the Seaward Quantum



by John Kimantas

30

Make Your Mark



Navigation: Marking charts



38

12

20

by Dan Lewis

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SPRING 2009

8/26/08 12:08:43 PM

Wavelength Magazine

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The First Word

by John Kimantas

WaveLength Don't take it for granted magazine

Spring 2009

Volume 19, Number 2 PM No. 41687515



Editor John Kimantas [email protected] Copy Editing Darrell Bellaart Advertising sales Frank Croft 

[email protected]

Writing not otherwise credited is by WL staff. Cover Photo: 

Clayoquot Sound John Kimantas

Safe paddling is an individual responsibility. We recommend that inexperienced paddlers seek expert instruction and advice about local conditions, have all the required gear and know how to use it. The publishers of this magazine and its contributors are not responsible for how the information in these pages is used by others. 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. Download back issues and articles online at www.wavelengthmagazine.com



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to subscribe: see page 35

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ISSUE AD DEADLINE DISTRIBUTION Summer 2009 April 15 June 1 Fall 2009 July 1 Aug. 1 Winter 2009 Oct. 1 Nov. 1 Spring 2010 Feb. 1 March 1 A product of:

Wild Coast Publishing 2101 Cinnabar Drive Nanaimo, B.C., Canada, V9X 1B3 Ph: 1-866-984-6437 • Fax: 1-866-654-1937 Email: [email protected] Website: www.wavelengthmagazine.com

I consider myself monumentally lucky to live here in central Vancouver Island. For instance, after work I can have an invigorating paddle around Newcastle Island, a gem of a provincial park just off picturesque Nanaimo Harbour. On the weekends I can take short trips out to those little jewels called the Gulf Islands. Or for a weekend in three hours of driving and three more of paddling I can be lost in the wilderness of Clayoquot Sound, or somewhere equally enticing off the west coast. In other words, I'm blessed with a wonderful array of largely pristine places to explore. The challenge is to keep it that way. I don't have to itemize the list of ways we've denigrated the marine environment and coastal waterways these last hundred years. But there should be alarm bells that sound, when everyone screams in unison enough is enough loudly enough that we take action. For instance, when killer whales are so tainted with toxic chemicals they exceed the limits for the disposal of hazardous waste at sea – that's the type of death-knell for our environment that people should hear. It should knock us into action. And yet, for all intents and purposes – crickets. I live in a world where progress is equated with economic growth whose only barometer is increased consumption. Maybe one day the wiser people of the world will realize that endless building doesn't beget a better world, that amassing material possessions at the expense of a healthy planet is a poor long-term strategy. But that day isn't here yet. Worse, it seems impossible to reverse our thinking. Can you imagine a political party in this day and age campaigning on a smaller, leaner economy? And yet what a wonderful philosophy to embrace. But any downturn in consumer purchasing is viewed as a catastrophe for everyone. Governments react to correct this by spending and building! So it is with great discomfort that I saw the new British Columbia recipe for weaning ourselves off fossil fuels. Enter Independent Power Projects – IPPs – and the frenzy to convert BC's streams into micro-hydro projects. If this is the solution to our reliance on fossil fuels, it is replacing one devil with another. IPPs are a major economic encroachment into BC's coastal wilderness, turning much of the south BC mainland coast into a patchwork of mini hydro projects and hydro lines. All once again in the name of progress, to fuel our ever greater demand for consumption. But why complain about a few hydro towers and wires if it means fewer internal combustion engines? It's this: there is no line to be drawn. There is no wilderness that won't be tamed and urbanized if it makes sense to enough people at the right time. We will eat up our wilderness and spit it out if need dictates it in the name of economic "progress." Whatever that is. There's more on IPPs and the fate of Bute Inlet on pages 6-7.  - John Kimantas

© 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. Some elements in maps in this magazine are reproduced with the permission of Natural Resources Canada 2008, courtesy of the Atlas of Canada. Also, our thanks to Geobase for some elements that may appear on Wavelength maps.

Full moon kayaking

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SPRING 2009

A Work of Art Made for Life If Monet had been a paddler, we’d like to think he would have approved. Designed by artist, assembled by sculptors, paddled by YOU. Visit our website to see our 6 new models for 2009, inlcuding the Infinity and Isle.

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Wavelength Magazine

5

News

Bute Inlet targeted for hydro; Two separate initiatives taking place in Canada could have catastrophic effects for the pristine nature of places like Bute Inlet. The inlet, famed for its grizzly bear habitat (see an article in our Summer 2008 issue), has been targeted for a massive Independent Power Project (IPP) as part of a BC Hydro plan to recruit alternate energy sources using public sector initiatives. The IPP process has led to a gold mine-like rush to stake energy claims along the British Columbia coast, most targeting small rivers for the creation of micro-hydro plants. Leading the charge is a huge project slated for Bute Inlet and adjacent Toba Inlet, just north of Desolation Sound. The project calls for dozens of dam structures on just about every river and stream running into Toba and Bute inlets, joined by transmission lines that would link the dams to Powell River. The main project being developed by Plutonic Power Corporation, started in July 2007 with completion slated for 2010, will

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Wavelength Magazine

consist of two run-of-river (meaning no dams) facilities located at the headwaters of the Toba Inlet on the East Toba River and Montrose Creek.

SPRING 2009

Another component involves 17 facilities at the headwaters of Bute Inlet. The estuary is one of the main grizzly habitats in southern B.C. The main powerline would run along the

News

rules to change status of rivers waterfront of much of Bute Inlet, then cross two mountain ranges as well as the middle of Toba Inlet. The two inlets were previously pristine: free of any development. It's a two-edged sword, as the project is billed as green energy, an alternative to fossil fuels and an economic boon for Powell River, a mill town which has suffered a downturn in the forestry industry. Once built, the project could produce enough energy to meet the electricity needs of 300,000 homes, with Plutonic Power claiming the ability to displace over 2 million tonnes of greenhouse gases annually. The creation of a transmission line through a previously pristine area also opens the door for neighboring power projects that could tap into the infrastructure. The surge of interest in IPPs across the province coincides with new federal plans to rewrite the Navigable Waters Protection Act with an eye to streamlining the legislation to

A view of Toba Inlet near Desolation Sound. Hydro transmission cables will cross near this formerly pristine area while also crossing the mountain ranges on either side.

fast-track infrastructure programs. Critics of the current NWPA have called it antiquated, giving minor streams the same rights of protection as major waterways. Early indications are revisions will limit the number of waterways that would fall under

NWPA protection. Critics of the changes say that many streams navigable by canoe, kayak or other small boats will no longer have any protection, meaning structures such as bridges can be built without any requirement to accommodate smaller vessel traffic. It also tentatively eliminates environmental assessments for development projects, with apparently few exceptions, raising the fear it will be a threat to salmon streams, with run-of-river hydro projects termed "ruin-of-river." At the very least, the amendments will alter the long-standing concept of navigation by water as a right. For more information: The Bute Inlet project: www.plutonic.ca Friends of Bute Inlet: www.buteinlet.net NWPA information: www.ispeakforcanadianrivers.ca www.saveourrivers.ca Have your say, read comments and keep up to date on the Wavelength Magazine forum, www.wavelengthmagazine.com/forum

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News

Paddlefest puts focus on green options The hot topic at this year's Vancouver Island Paddlefest is likely to be a shade of green – in terms of the environment. “It’s a part of paddling that can’t be ignored,” Paddlefest organizer and owner of Sealegs Kayaking Adventures Bud Bell said. “It would be hard to convince people to get in a boat and paddle through a sea of garbage and pollution. “We need to be responsible for our environment and make sure we protect it.” From developing environmental policies for guides to follow to using more eco-friendly materials in production of equipment, retailers and manufacturers alike are searching for ways to reduce an already small impact on the earth. May 9 and 10 at Transfer Beach in Ladysmith, fans of floating will be able to take a close look at the emerging products. See the Paddlefest ad page 12; more events are listed page 47.

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Pair take closer look at coast Two kayakers will be paddling the BC coast this spring to raise awareness for a host of potential threats. Chris Rhodes and Mike Reid are planning to kayak the 350 nautical miles in 35 days in May from Alert Bay to Kitimat in an expedition dubbed "A Closer Look." The destinations go hand in hand with the areas the pair want to examine more closely: Alert Bay is near the contentious salmon farms of the Broughton Archipelago, while Kitimat is the proposed port for the Northern Gateway Pipeline project. The university students and guides are hoping the trip will help raise awareness and inspire action to protect the BC coast. "As guides, and young wilderness-loving British Columbians, Mike and I were overwhelmed by the environmental problems that our generation has inherited. What do we do about all this depressing information? Let it accumulate and accumulate until we become numb and reticent? Instead, Mike and I searched

SPRING 2009 January 2009

Mike Reid, left, and Chris Rhodes are ready to paddle the BC coast.

for a positive outlet from the miasma of environmental problems we face," Rhodes says. " We wanted to know what was actually going on along our coasts up there. And to do that, well, we had to find out for ourselves." As well as some challenging paddling conditions, they are interested to see the proposed tanker route for Enbridge’s Northern Gateway Pipeline project – Douglas Channel, near where the Queen of the North sank – during a strong katabatic blow. For more information, visit www.aclexpeditions.org

News

by David Rive

Kayak museum unveiled at Ocean River Remember the Eskie? That green fiberglass kayak from the mid-70s that transformed the Pacific coast as the first sea kayak? If you don't remember it, no worries – Ocean River Sports in Victoria will bring you up to speed on this and much more of the region's rich kayaking history. Ocean River owner Brian Henry is transforming his store by displaying and chronicling a range of kayaks that played a role in the history of the coast's kayaking. The result will be a kayak museum within the store. And Henry is hoping others might come forward with samples to display. “Being a bit of a history nut, I’m intrigued by the origins of kayaking and the variety of innovative people who have contributed so much towards the social fabric of my favorite pastime," Henry says. "The Inuit boats in particular hold a special place in my mind and I continually find myself seeing how they gave birth to so many exciting modern design ideas. By displaying these special artifacts at Ocean

David Rive, left, and Brian Henry show the Eskie, one of the memorable kayaks on display now at Ocean River Sports.

River, we hope to engage and inspire the public with a truly fascinating history.” Already on display is a replica frame of a Baidarka – a traditional Aleutian skin and driftwood sea kayak – and the original 1981

Current Designs (then Ocean River) Pisces. It's a natural, as Henry, the founder of Current Designs, was its designer. Other entries include David Ford’s Canadian Olympic K1 racing kayak, an antique Klepper kayak and an early 1970s Vega surf shoe from England. It's just a start. Ocean River is calling upon paddling enthusiasts to lend unique historical kayaks to the museum project. Gary Doran, manager of the store’s Adventure Centre, sees huge potential in the idea. “I see it becoming a popular tourist attraction here in Victoria as we are a kayaking capital of sorts, and people who have a strong love for the outdoors seem to come here from all over the world. This will be something that they can really appreciate and it would be great for the next generation to see how we got to where we are today.” For any kayak museum enquiries contact Henry at [email protected]

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Wavelength Magazine

9

Golden Opportunities Marine Trails

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ellow Bluff, a spot below the north stanchion of the majestic Golden Gate Bridge, is one of Casey Walker’s favorite kayak launching sites. “The bay floor drops suddenly and dramatically, causing the water to roil,” says the San Francisco business lawyer. “It only happens on the strongest outgoing tide because there is an eddy right to the side of that play spot. You get into the eddy and circulate out to less rough water where you can be easily rescued. It’s not a place for beginners.” Across the bay, building contractor Rik Pickrell and his wife Sandra launch their Folbot off the Richmond Marina to make the 20-minute paddle over to the beach at Brooks Island, a native archaeological site and bird sanctuary. “We like the short trips because you can stop and lollygag on the beach and have a picnic. There’s a breakwater there so the water doesn’t get choppy – you don’t have to worry about strong winds,” Rik says. 10

Wavelength Magazine



by Andrea Pflaumer

sites and increasing the number of overnight accommodations. But the members quickly realized these were projects too big for the club to tackle. “BASK was all about having fun and being on the water. We knew this would take us directly into politics,” Walker says. It did just that, but rather Photo by Penny Wells than meeting a mountain of obstacles he found enthusiastic support among a variety From whitewater ocean surfing to bucolic of stakeholders. bird-watching expeditions, you’d be hard“People loved the idea,” he says. “Water trails pressed to find any other water trail in the world with as diverse paddling opportunities as don’t need right-of-way, building or grading. They involve the whole community and there’s the newly designated San Francisco Bay Water tourist potential.” Trail. Ringing nearly 500 square miles of open In 2005 state representative Loni Hancock water, the trail offers an up-close history lesson introduced legislation formally establishing about the Bay Area and its ecology over the past 200 years. the San Francisco Bay Water Trail, signed Formal designation of the water trail was into law by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. the result of lengthy efforts initiated by several Members of BASK celebrated by paddling individuals and environmental groups like Save across the bay from Berkeley to San Francisco. the Bay and Bay Access, plus people like Walker But overseeing the establishment, maintenance and members of the Bay Area Sea Kayakers. At and improvement of launching and camping BASK club meetings, discussions frequently sites as well as encouraging private investment and related tourism eventually required turned to the subject of improving access to SPRING 2009

San Francisco Bay Water Trail

Photo by Paul Kamen

Taking a break on Ashby Shoal. Middle left, opposite page: enjoying the roil in Yellow Bluff. Below: the Golden Gate Bridge at sunset.

financing. In spite of growing sentiment against incurring more state debt, California voters approved a 2006 water bond naming the water trail as a beneficiary. At that point Walker willingly handed over the reins to Ann Buell, the trail project manager for the California Coastal Photo by Jef Poskanzer Conservancy. The final hurdle, an training, education programs and ecological environmental impact report, is due to be stewardship of the bay. It also provided completed this summer. legitimacy to some existing casual sites and There’s still a lot of work to be done. eliminated those that were either found to be “Almost all the sites need parking along with a place to assemble equipment. They need on private property or in sensitive habitat areas. loading and unloading areas, docks and ramps, But for local paddlers there will be no formal ribbon cutting ceremony. restrooms and fresh water for rinsing off boats. “To us the trail has already existed,” says Food and drink nearby would be a bonus. Walker. “We recommended 86 sites we’ve been To the extent possible, access for people with using all along. They’re open and established.” limited mobility would be great.” A unique twist to the trail is its non-linearity. Although kayakers, canoeists and other “Think of it more like a web with anchor self-propelled boaters have been using many points. You can go from any point to any other of these launch sites for decades, formal point depending on the tide, the wind and your designation as a water trail offered a suite of stamina,” says BASK member Penny Wells. boons: publicity, maps and brochures, legal Paddling the San Francisco Bay requires protection for access and right-of-way, safety SPRING 2009

not only stamina but paying close attention to tidal charts, especially if you’re heading out the Golden Gate. “The tides around the bridge are most powerful – as is the wind,” Wells says. “You have to go out with the ebb and come back in with the incoming tide. The tides on a new or full moon can double the average paddling speed.” The San Francisco Bay drains about a third of the runoff in the state, receiving water from both the San Joaquin and Sacramento rivers. It can be especially high after a storm. A tide log can show a six-knot ebb, but if it has been raining for a while it will be higher. “Conditions can go from mild to wild within six hours, depending on what the tide is doing,” Wells says. In more protected areas, like the northern inlets and the marshes of the South Bay, tides present a different problem: the possibility of getting stranded at low tide. u Wavelength Magazine

11

San Francisco Bay Water Trail And because the bay hosts one of the largest shipping ports on the West Coast, boaters have to be vigilant of larger vessels and fast-moving commuter ferries. “You can call up vessel traffic control to find out who’s going to be where, when,” says Keith Miller, owner of California Kayak and Canoe at Oakland’s Jack London Square. “They know when these large vessels and container ships are approaching and their every movement when they’re in the bay.” This is especially prudent when visibility is poor: the chute that runs from the Golden Gate Bridge to the East Bay hills can become shrouded in fast-moving summer fog acting as an air-conditioning system for the hotter and drier communities to the east. But to a large

degree the trail is outside the shipping lanes. “The choicest kayaking is just staying close to shore – observing the interaction of water and land,” Wells says. The trail has been a great success story, the result of a lot of committed paddlers, environmentalists and people who just enjoy the bay. “The San Francisco Bay is just perfect for a water trial,” Miller says. “It’s a rare combination of natural and urban beauty. It was a no-brainer and long overdue.” < Andrea Pflaumer writes about art, culture and the environment from Berkeley California. For more about the trail including maps visit www.abag.ca.gov.

TRANSFER BEACH, LADYSMITH, BC

MAY 9 TH &10TH

Baffin Island

A unique paddling experience. 12

Wavelength Magazine

SPRING 2009

Where to paddle? Try the 'crown jewel' The ‘crown jewel’ for Bay Area kayakers is the three-mile paddle from the north shore of the bay at either Sausalito or Tiburon across the Raccoon Straits – the second deepest part of the Bay – to Angel Island, which sits mid-bay. “It’s a phenomenally spectacular paddle, but it’s not for beginners,” says Keith Miller. “At a minimum a person should have taken a sea kayaking class and a strokes and rescue class.” Originally a Miwok Indian village, the island served as a processing center for Pacific Rim immigrants entering the US at the turn of the last century – earning it the nickname of Ellis Island of the West – and as a military installation from the Civil War to current times. Getting to the kayak campsites on the west side of the island requires scrambling up rocks during high tide and then hiking about two miles up to a 300-foot elevation. The reward is a view that includes San Francisco, Alcatraz Island, the Golden Gate Bridge and Mount Tamalpais, the area's highest peak. Angel Island is one of only two official water trail campsites. The other is at Horseshoe Bay on the north end of the Golden Gate Bridge, with easy beach access. (Note the stentorian fog horns can rattle your bones on foggy evenings.)

Huge rock walls and icebergs dominate the seascape on this amazing sea kayaking expedition.

Pacific Rim Paddling Co. Box 1840, 621 Discovery St. Victoria, BC Canada V8W 2Y3 (250) 384-6103 info@PacificRimPaddling.com www.PacificRimPaddling.com

The last fjord

L

ocation is one of the main attributes of paddling at Indian Arm. It’s about 30 minute away from Vancouver, which makes day trips very civilized. Even better is that when you paddle away from the shores of Deep Cove into Indian Arm you are entering a geographical setting that very few large cities can boast as having in their backyard. Indian Arm is a classic coastal fjord, the southernmost fjord on the west coast of North America. Narrow with steep mountains jutting skyward and dotted with small islands, it offers a variety of destinations for the day tripper. In addition to the kayaking, the village of Deep Cove is a great place to start or end your trip with a tasty treat. For beginners: Consider Belcarra Park, a distance of about 5 to 6 km (3-4 miles) round-trip. Paddle south from Deep Cove on the western shore for approximately 1.5 km (1 mile) until you reach Gray Rocks Island. Circle the island and at a high you can paddle between the rocks on the eastern side of the island. Harlequin ducks can often be seen here. Paddle east, crossing the Indian Arm Channel to Boulder Island, a distance of about 1 km. From there you can paddle directly east to the green field of Belcarra Park. If you want to extend the trip, head south to Maple Beach and Admiralty Point, which is where Indian Arm

meets Burrard Inlet and leads to Port Moody. From Belcarra you can paddle northwest, crossing the small bay to Hamber Island. The passage between Hamber Island and the eastern shore dries at low tide. All these islands are tiny, so paddling around takes no time at all. From Hamber you can cut directly across or paddle north until you see a rocky shoal. Then turn west back to Deep Cove. For intermediate paddlers: Twin Island makes a great outing of about 10 km. From the beach paddle north across Deep Cove and along the west shore until you come to Lone Rock Point, also known as Danger Bay Island. This island was the lead-in shot for the old CBC show Danger Bay. Paddle 1 km across to Raccoon Island and then the second 1 km stretch to Twin Islands. Twin Island is a good spot to stretch your legs and eat lunch. As you return you can either paddle back to Raccoon Island and then Jug Island or you can paddle south along the eastern shore of Indian Arm past Ferrer Cove into Bedwell Bay. The western side of Bedwell Bay is a long peninsula with tiny Jug Island at the northern end. From there you can paddle directly west to cross Indian Arm to Deep Cove, a distance of about 2 km. For advanced paddlers: Thwaytes Landing is about a 20-km trip. As above paddle north from Deep Cove along the west shore of Indian Arm, past Lone Rock Point, Brighton Beach and Camp Jubilee. Thwaytes is located just south of Best Point, the half-way point of Indian Arm. Thwaytes is good place to take lunch. Cross Indian Arm to the Power station on the eastern shore and then paddle south along shore past Twin Island, Raccoon Island, Jug Island and the turn west to Deep Cove. SPRING 2009

Indian Arm

Photos by Rob Newell

Day Trips: Indian Arm

by Bob Putnam

Mt. Seymour Provincial Park

Thwaytes

Best Pt.

Camp Jubilee Brighton Beach

Twin Is. Racoon I. Belcarra Regional Jug I. Park Bedwell Bay

Lone Rk. Pt.

Deep Cove Gray Rks. I. Boulder I. Cates Park

Admiralty Pt.

Port Moody

Tips and hazards: Motorboat traffic can be very busy, especially during weekends in July and August. Stay close to shore when paddling north or south. Paddle in a pod when crossing, pay attention to the course of motorboats and make your intention obvious. Anabatic winds build in the early afternoon and can make the return trip to Deep Cove very arduous when paddling from the northern reaches of Indian Arm. Most of the shoreline is either privately owned or too steep to land on. The landing area at Thwaytes Landing is steep with large boulders. Twin Island, Jug Island, and Belcarra Park are the best spots to go ashore. < Bob Putnam is the owner of Deep Cove Canoe & Kayak Centre. See deepcovekayak.com for an interactive map and a webcam to help you plan your trip. Wavelength Magazine

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Adventure Kayaking



by Marc Paillefer

Learning on the  Mekong There are no rules when kayaking through Laos. Marc Paillefer found he had to make those up as he went along

Learning means loving the country – Loas proverb

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SPRING 2009

Mekong River

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itting on the banks of the Mekong in the small Lao town of Savannakhet, I pondered my options. For years now I have traveled around the Mekong, but how was I going to travel on it? The river is the social and economic engine that drives this part of the world. Yet except for a well-publicized section of river in northwest Laos, transport on the Mekong is hard to find at best, and non-existent the rest of the time. Then along came the old man in the dugout, paddling effortlessly along the current in the setting sun. Suddenly I remembered that green thing I have in the garage, used on long journeys on great rivers before, namely on the Nile and the Yangtze. But the Mekong is different. It is still a wild river. China has thrown dams across it, but in its upper reaches industry has yet to leave its mark. A year later, when I boarded my flight for Vientiane, the capital of Laos, my kit weighed 40 kilograms (88 pounds), boat and all. This was going to be a solo trip. Several friends had expressed interest, but actually committing to the three months away from work and family is a different matter. Thinking I might need a permit of some kind, the Mekong being along much of the border between Thailand and Laos, I enquired at the National Tourism Office. It was a sleepy, subdued place, as everywhere in Vientiane seems to be. After several desks and several kindly bureaucrats latter, I decided to let that sleeping dog lie. No one seemed to understand what I was after, or if they did they didn’t seem to care. I chose to start the trip in Huay Xai, a town on the Laos edge of the so-called “Golden Triangle” about 670 km upstream from Vientiane. I was able to travel upstream on the river for about half of this distance

and so got a look at what I was up against. The rest I had to travel overland for two dusty days. Dust as light as flour, feet thick at times, was thrown constantly by the ever-present logging trucks. I don’t know where the logs were coming from. From my vantage point everything seemed to be already clearcut. Villages had sprung up, perhaps of displaced indigenous people or migrants from somewhere else expecting a better life. They must be a sight in the wet season, but at least the dust would be kept at bay. Particularly pitiful were a group of elephants I saw trudging along the road. These were working animals. They had not seen a bath for some time, and given this creature’s affinity for water they were giving the Mahouts a lot of trouble. I couldn’t blame them. No photos I have do justice to these days. Huay Xai is a busy place, its markets full of Thai goods from across the river, and foreign tourists entering Laos to travel the Mekong to Luang Prabang, a recommended trip in guide books. A “tuk tuk” driver by the name BounPone was at first curious and then encouraging in my venture, and immensely helpful on that last day of buying fuel and provisions. In the morning I sent one last email to let everyone know where I was and when they would hear from me next. As if on cue, BounPone appeared out of nowhere and we lashed my boat to the roof of his tuk tuk. He drove me a little out of town to avoid the customs dock and any unnecessary attention, taking me to a wide and lazy stretch of river. The day was perfect, the sun having just burnt off the morning mist. This trip had involved a lot of preparation, and I had become tired of the details and constant explanations. When I shoved off, the weight of the planning instantly fell away. There was nothing to do now but paddle.  u

SPRING 2009

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Adventure Kayaking The first couple of hours were sheer bliss. The sun was warm, the river cool and refreshing, and paddling downstream with the current felt like the way it was meant to be. My GPS was telling me that I was making between 5 and 6 miles per hour without too much effort, and the boat was behaving like an old friend. Then came the first fast water. My particular background is in ocean kayaks, and my only experience in whitewater has been in rafts. In any case, I was less concerned about the river than the traffic I had witnessed on my trip up. Large boats work this part of the Mekong and when traveling downstream they are at full power to give them as much helm as possible. They don’t have the steerage or the room to avoid a kayak. It was up to me to stay out of their way. Rapids might not be the right word to describe what I was approaching, but the river broke into several channels, and picked up speed. I could hear an engine over the sound of the water and pulled into a back eddy just up from the first shoot. Sure enough, a large river boat appeared from around the bend. Something told me that it wasn’t alone so I waited and sure enough a second boat appeared. As soon as they passed I paddled hard for mid channel. Behind me came a blast from a horn. There was a third boat. Now committed to the current I had to stay on the edge of the shoot... bad spot. The last thing I saw before I was dumped was a tourist taking a photo from entirely too close a vantage point. It was a quarter mile or so before the river let me back on my kayak, and the only damage done was to my pride. I discovered what was waterproof and what wasn’t, but luckily no gear was lost. A lesson learned. My first day had exhausted me, with my head still caught up in the world of trip planning. I covered 25 miles and camped on some white

Scenes from the Mekong River and the author in his kayak (below).

sand left behind by the Mekong’s floodwaters. The night was surprisingly cool. As expected, in the next few days my mind slowed down, I got better at handling my boat and better at reading the river. I paddled from 10 a.m., after the morning mist burned off, until about 4 p.m. when the white sand was cool enough to walk upon. Then I would camp in yet another idyllic spot. It was hot, but the cool water temperature kept things tolerable. These were very good days. Passing several villages everyday and lots of traffic meant I never felt alone, but even with the sparse population much of the jungle riverfront had fallen prey to slash and burn agriculture. The people I would pass along the riverbank fishing or bathing or doing laundry were usually surprised, but always friendly. I learned early not to camp near a village. That attracted far too much attention. But regardless of how isolated my camp might seem, someone would always wander in to check out the white guy and all his odd gear. The men always went straight to the boat, with the woman more curious about the tent and stove. One young man happened into my camp one morning while I was boiling up some noodles. I offered him some; he quickly turned his nose up, and instead patted his own basket of sticky rice. He was on his way up the hill for a day of slashing and burning. He had about six pounds of sticky rice, thousands of calories, and I thought

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SPRING 2009

Mekong River to myself what a poor exchange. All those calories expended for the meager return that hillside would produce. Then it occurred to me that a kilogram of opium could buy a lot of sticky rice. Eight days and 200 miles brought me to Luang Prabang. This former capital of Laos has recently become a very fashionable destination for more then just intrepid backpackers. Budget airlines fly the well-heeled in from Bangkok for a couple of days of relaxation and French cuisine on the banks of the Mekong. The town is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, an architectural blend of two distinct cultures: traditional Lao urban structures and European colonial influence. I explored here for four days, allowing my skin a break from the sun. But there is a danger in lingering. Days can turn to weeks when captivated by a beautiful place. The next 120 miles of Mekong was a section of river I had been unable to get a look at before from the water. I had read of a kayaker who had paddled from Luang Prabang to Vientiane, so it could be done. Plus large cargo riverboats in

Luang Prabang meant they must have come from downstream at some point in time. A local boatman I questioned pointed upstream, then down, shrugged and said “same, same.” So after my rest, I put in again. How difficult could it be? The first two days threw no surprises at me, but the river traffic began to dwindle and this created some concern. I felt very much alone. On the third day my anxieties were confirmed. A narrow shoot, maybe 75 feet

SPRING 2009

wide, preceded a sharp bend to the right. I’m not sure it was the fastest water I had yet seen but it was the most intimidating. I got myself lined up, committed mentally, and rode it through. Just when I thought I was in the clear, a boil turned to a whirlpool. I was in the wrong spot and in an instant the kayak rolled and I was in. The whirlpool had me, but spat my boat out into the current. My PFD was going to keep me afloat but watching my boat continue on downstream without me was a horrible vision. I had nothing, not even shoes. Everything was in that boat, and it was now out of sight. Without much choice, I committed to the current. Maybe an hour went by of floating down the river, and still no boat. What madness had brought me to this place? Eventually the boat came into site, spinning lazily in a side pool. All ended well, but I cursed myself for becoming complacent, and the feeling of a vacation was gone. The next few days were less pleasant. On the right bank was the province of Sainyabuli. u

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Adventure Kayaking

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Wavelength Magazine

SPRING 2009

Seldom visited by tourists and heavily logged, it did little to raise my spirits. The smoke from the dry season burn-off seemed heavier, and river traffic dwindled to almost nothing. I didn’t have to worry about being run over but it added an element of loneliness. I needed a drink. While I was setting up my camp one evening I heard the sound of drums coming from downstream. Thinking I had better investigate this, I came upon a Kamu village in full celebration for some reason. This was just what I needed. The drums stopped and jaws dropped as the white guy walked out of the bush. It took a few minutes to establish that there was not a single thread of common language, but that was not going to slow down this event. A place was cleared for me, the drums flashed up and out came the Lao Lao. This is the local hooch, a clear spirit of varying quality. Probably not the safest of grog, but definitely one that delivers. Proceedings went on well into the night, as we all got progressively less intelligent. I’m not sure when the drums shut down, but I did wake up in my tent, and I never did learn what the celebration was all about. Refreshed and fortified, I arrived in Pak Lai. I was now back on

What to consider when exploring Laos

For those considering such an adventure: The first leg of my journey, from Hauy Xai to Luang Prabang, is a very feasible trip for anybody reasonably fit, possessing a bit of gear and a few outdoor skills. It’s an eight-day paddle, with a very posh lodge conveniently situated at the halfway point. Here are a few things to know. You can enter Laos from Thailand at Hauy Xai, where you can get a 30-day visa. Nights are cool, even by Canadian standards, and mosquitoes are nonexistent. I wouldn’t do this kind of trip without it, but as it turned out, I never broke out my water purification gear. Everyday I was able to buy bottled water from river traders. Be very careful of the mud on the riverbank. Buffalo can disappear in it. Snakes also like riverbanks. Don’t get bitten. I can’t say enough about the people of Laos. I never once felt threatened and no gear went missing. UV and dehydration are your main concerns. I did this trip at low water (January and February). Under no circumstances should it be done at high water.

familiar ground and on a stretch of river with a daily service to Vientiane. This is very significant for the solo paddler. On the previous stretch with no such potential bailout, always in the back of my mind was what to do If I fell ill, broke an ankle, or got bitten by a snake. However, that was behind me now, and ahead lay a beautiful six-day run to Vientiane. The river had become far less intimidating, and there were more people about. Surprisingly, I saw my first mosquito on the last night. This is where the Mekong leaves the mountains of northwest Laos and spills out onto the broad, hot basin of western Thailand, where it meanders lazily first east and then south for the Cambodian border. But Vientiane! I had been paddling for 21 days and the trip was now in its sixth week. Somewhere I read that Huay Xai to Vientiane was 678 kilometres (420 miles), but my GPS was reading 942 km (584 miles). It was long enough; I had started talking too much to both my kayak and the Mekong. I packed my gear, then my kayak across a long sandbar, past the curious stares of backpackers sipping beer under umbrellas, and dropped it at the front door of a hotel I knew well. The manager recognized me, despite my appearance. “Where are you coming from?” he asked. “Huay Xai.” His look said it all. That was enough!

< Reach Marc at [email protected].

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SINCE 1907 Wavelength Magazine

19

Great Parks

ADVENTURE TOURISM W W W. N I C . B C . C A

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auled out on a small rocky islet, dozens of seals watched me Adventure Tourism Diploma warily with sad liquid eyes, their September or January starts grey plump bodies poised to splash into the 2 Years | Campbell River water at the slightest alarm. White gulls posed atop the outcrops. Groups of oystercatchers Call 1-800-715-0914 to with their long orange beaks jostled near the speak with a Student Advisor waterline. My camera captured the elegant today, or visit our website at www.nic.bc.ca/tourism. profile of a great blue heron silhouetted against the horizon. My kayak drifted silently with the tidal Valhalla_fall08.ai 8/27/2008 5:00:20 PM current along the Java Islets on the southwest side of Saturna Island. Balancing a pair of binoculars in one hand and a camera in the other, I reveled in the teeming marine life. But I had to take care to stay at least 100 metres from the shore, for these islets are designated as a Special Preservation Area. Under a deep blue sky, I’m enjoying my favorite pastime, paddling amongst the southern Gulf Islands off the west coast of British Columbia, one of the most beautiful and accessible archipelagos in the world. This area basks in Canada’s only Mediterranean climate. With the weather warm and dry in the summer and mild and moist in winter, a unique ecosystem has evolved with plants and animals that occur nowhere else in Canada. But surrounded by three major cities (Vancouver, Victoria and Seattle), the fragile ecosystem is threatened by development and tourism. To protect this area, the Gulf Islands National Park Reserve was created in 2003 consisting of 15 islands and over 65 Happily, it continues to grow as the park Nanaimo’s only Delta Kayak dealer islets. continues to acquire more property. 6550 Metral Drive, Ron Hamilton, the recently retired park superintendent, has been involved with the Nanaimo, BC park since it was formed. He knows better than (250) 390-6883 www.vpo.ca anyone why the park is special.

Your paddling adventure starts here!

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Wavelength Magazine

by Hans Tammemagi

SPRING 2009

The fragile fawn lily is one of the many spring blooms found only in the Gulf Islands in Canada.

“For such a small area the diversity is incredible,” he says. “It has sandy and rocky beaches, arbutus and Garry oak trees and each island is distinctive.” The unusual plants found here include many endangered and threatened species, including Taylor’s checkerspot butterfly, the sharp-tailed snake, shellfish, ferns and killer whales. “It is one of the most ecologically at-risk areas in Canada,” Hamilton says. The Gulf Islands are folded into steep, forest-covered hills and valleys with rocky shorelines, steep headlands and offshore rocks and islets. Perched on exposed fractured bedrock in dry shallow soils, plants develop slowly on these crags. u

with care

Gulf Islands National Park

SPRING 2009

Wavelength Magazine

21

Great Parks

James Bay

Bennett Bay

Hawkins I.

Georgeson I. Belle Chain Its.

Prevost I. Bright I. Red Its.

Winter Cove

Cabbage I. Tumbo I.

Channel Is. Roesland

Rucke Park (Provincial)

Saltspring I.

Loretta’s Woods

Boiling Reef Narvaez Bay

Prior Centennial

Java Its. Taylor Point Day-Use Area Blunden It.

Beaumont/Mount Maxwell Greenburn L.

Russell I. Isabella I. Brackman I.

Saturna Island

Portland I.

Gulf Islands National Park Reserve

Dock I. McDonald Campground

Rum I.

Sidney Spit

Sallas Rocks

Vancouver I.

D‘Arcy I.

Unit Rocks

From The Wild Coast, Vol. 3

Basics of the Gulf Islands National Park Reserve Basic camping areas: Beaumont, Pender Island; Cabbage Island; Narvaez Bay, Saturna Island; D’Arcy Island; Portland Island; James Bay, Prevost Island; Rum Island. Moorage, mooring buoys &/or dinghy dock: Sidney Spit; Beaumont, Pender Island; Cabbage Island; Arbutus Point and Princess Bay, Portland Island. Protect the Park: No campfires are permitted. Do not disturb or feed wildlife. Camp only in designated spots. Keep 100 metres from islets. Leave no trace of your visit. Information: Get brochures, maps and information from Parks Canada at offices in Sidney, Pender Island, Saturna Island or call 250 654-4000 or 866 944-1744. Online: Visit www.pc.gc.ca/gulf

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SPRING 2009

If trampled, these ecosystems may not be able to recover for many years, if at all. Todd Golumbia, the park ecologist, describes his favorite habitat. “I love the temperate rain forests, which are deep and mysterious,” he says. Towering, ram-rod-straight Douglas firs are the most common tree, but red-barked, gangling arbutus, the western red cedar, western hemlock and Garry oak are also common. Ferns, mushrooms, banana slugs and salal bushes populate the understorey. Many plants such as the Garry oak and arbutus trees are in the northern extreme of their habitat, making this one of the few places in Canada where they are found. On the drier rocky ridges, there are open wildflower meadows and grassy hilltops. In spring, moist places burst into color with wildflowers including camas, stonecrop, white fawn lilies and chocolate lilies. Sometimes I am rewarded by a clutch of calypso (fairy slipper) orchids, which John Muir, the celebrated naturalist called “the rarest and most beautiful of the flowering plants.” Delicate and deliciously perfumed, they are one of six orchids found in the Gulf Islands. But with loss of habitat, they are rapidly being lost (I hold their locations a close secret). Land animals include numerous deer, raccoons and even feral goats (on Saturna and Prevost islands). There are very few predators although black bears, cougars and wolves are (very) occasionally seen. Birds include bald eagles, which are icons of this area, great blue heron, falcons, turkey vultures, migratory and resident seabirds, shorebirds such as gulls, cormorants, black oystercatchers and pigeon guillemots. Life under the water is just as diverse as that above. Fresh water from the Fraser River mixes with ocean waters that flood through Juan de Fuca and Haro straits to create a nutrient rich, highly productive marine environment. The rocky reefs, lush beds of bull kelp, protected bays, eelgrass meadows, estuaries and fast tidal flows between the many islands create homes for sea stars, crabs, anemones, sea urchins, barnacles, oysters and the Pacific octopus, the world’s largest. Other marine life includes seals, sea lions, river otters, harbour porpoise, Dall’s porpoise as well as summer visitors like minke, gray and humpback whales. My favorite underwater creature is the killer whale. I dream of kayaking amongst a pod of orcas, their large smooth bodies rising and falling in the water, their tall dorsal fins towering over my kayak. But the killer whale population is dropping and they are on the endangered list. The cause of their plight is the same as that facing the Gulf Islands Park: too many humans. Salmon, their main food —and also the eagles’ —

Gulf Islands National Park

The distinctive and slightly neurotic black oystercatcher is one of the at-risk species found in the Gulf Islands.

has decreased significantly, the orcas are being harassed by whale watching boats, and the waters are polluted with toxic chemicals. Golumbia explains the problems he faces. “Our job is a contradiction. We must promote recreation but we must also protect the park.” He points out that the park is “porous” to the public – that is, it has no gate or entrance so there is no control over who comes and goes. And many visitors, unfortunately, have no idea what lands are part of the park and how very sensitive they are. “Education is key,” he says. “We must make people aware of the uniqueness and fragility of this area.” Golumbia also stresses that boaters and kayakers visiting the park should get maps and

information from Parks Canada. “It’s important to stay out of the Special Preservation Areas (the islets) and to leave no trace of your visit,” he says. “If in doubt, call us.” Soon after, I paddle from Pender Island to Rum Island, one of the prettiest in the Park, with one stroke following another in a soothing hypnotic rhythm. A seal head pops out of the water and its large eyes watch my progress. As I pass Moresby Island “No Trespassing” signs glare down from the shore. I am happy that the National Park Reserve is protecting a little corner of this paradise. < Hans is a freelance writer and avid kayaker living on Pender Island. He has written seven books and is the environment columnist for the Vancouver Sun.

SPRING 2009

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Paddle Meals



by Hilary Masson

Rescued by a seaside restaurant I discovered this recipe while kayaking in the Sea of Cortez. It was the seventh day of the trip and we had just finished the last crossing. There was still another hour and a half of paddling before reaching Loreto and the prospect of a cold margarita. Then, out of the desert like an oasis, we came upon a seaside restaurant called El Picazon. It was an easy sell to finish the trip early, pull onto the beach and order food and a cold drink. On the restaurant menu was this recipe for coconut prawns. On my next trip I adapted this recipe for easy camp cooking. Now we can enjoy this on any beach, on any trip, and reminisce about that fun seaside oasis.

Calling it a day early earns a new favorite recipe for prawns

Ingredients:

• 24 medium-large uncooked prawns • 1 large egg, beaten • 3/4 cup of flour • 3/4 cup of shredded coconut • 1/2 tsp of seasoning (garlic powder, cayenne pepper, black pepper and paprika)

Traditional Method:

1. Remove the black intestinal vein of the prawn by cutting the prawn open following

Chipotle cream dipping sauce: Try this easy dipping sauce with the coconut prawns and you’re sure to use it again for all sorts of other dipping; such as mixed veggies, tacos and wraps, fresh barbecued fish. The options are unlimited. • 2 chipotle chilies from a can in adobo sauce (minced and seeded). These are found in the Mexican food isle of your grocery store. • 1 cup non-fat sour cream • 1/4 teaspoon salt Mix the ingredients in a bowl, making sure the Chipotle chilies are minced as fine as possible, so that when blended with the sour cream it makes an even consistency. Enjoy! 24

Wavelength Magazine

the curve of the back with a thin sharp knife. Fold the prawn open and rinse. The vein should wash away; then pat dry with a paper towel. 2. Add the flour into a bowl with the seasoning mixture. 3. In a mixing bowl, whisk the egg. 4. Pour the shredded coconut into a shallow dish. 5. Take each prawn and dip first into the flour, then into the egg, and roll in the coconut to coat. Set prawns aside on a dish or plate so that the coating has time to set. 6. Heat 2 cm of vegetable oil in a large frying pan or skillet until it is fairly hot. Fry all prawns in the oil for approximately two minutes until the batter has turned a golden brown and the prawns are cooked. Turn prawns once during cooking. 7. Once the prawns are cooked remove them from the pan and drain them on paper towels to get rid of excess oil. 8. Serve hot with your choice of dip. SPRING 2009

My Method: Try using a Dutch oven or Outback Oven instead of frying the prawns in oil. This is a much healthier choice, and my preferred method. 1. Preheat the Outback Oven while preparing the prawns. 2. Take each prawn and dip them first into the flour and then into the egg then roll them in the coconut to coat them. Set them aside in a dish or on a plate so that the coating has time to set. 3. Place a sheet of wax paper on the bottom of the baking tray of the Dutch Oven. Arrange the coated prawns on the baking tray and place in the preheated oven for about 12 to 15 minutes or until the prawns are golden brown. 4. Serve hot with your choice of dip. < Hilary Masson is a guide and part owner of Baja Kayak Adventure Tours Ltd. Visit www.bajakayakadventures.com.

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SPRING 2009

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New Gear

Current Designs Isle

Werner expands its line of paddles for 2009 with the high-angle and highvalue Tybee. It comes with fiberglass reinforced injection molded nylon blades and a carbon blend shaft. Great for recreational paddlers who prefer a high angle style of paddling, it weighs in at just 907 grams (32 ounces) at 210 cm. The blade length is 43 cm, the width 18.25 and the surface area 608 square cm. Length options range from 205 to 230 cm. The pricing: suggested retail at $130. www.werner.com

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Solo Rescue Assist

Photos by Leanne Chetcuti

Werner

There shouldn’t be much mystery which island Current Designs had in mind when they named this new super-sized Greenlander – one of nine new boats by the CD crew for 2009. The Isle is made for the larger paddler with performance in mind and the benefits of a hard shallow-V chine. It is available in both fiberglass and Kevlar. www.cdkayak.com

Wavelength editor John Kimantas gives the Solo Rescue Assist a workout.

In the build a better mousetrap category, U.S. Navy engineer Phil Dang has added some refinements to his Solo Rescue Assist worth noting. If you're not familiar with Solo Rescue Assist, it reverses the concept of the traditional paddle float by using a counterbalance and the weight of water. Essentially, a collapsing metal pole is capped by a vinyl bucket. Set up much like a paddle float in reverse, the bucket fills with water, and the counterbalance force created is enough that you can pull yourself up the outside of the boat and re-enter from the water. Coupled with an optional ladder system, it can help injured or potentially disabled paddlers to get back into the cockpit. And even for those mobile, the system is a leg up. Step up, keep your weight on the outside of the kayak, step in, sit down. The only trick is to keep your weight on the opposite end of the counterbalance. This is the reverse principle to the paddle float, where you enter from the same side as the float. Dang's most recent touch to the contraption is a modified end cap that allows attachment of the counter-balance to any kayak with an eye pad located in the appropriate location forward of the cockpit. The counterbalance also has SPRING 2009

great applications for stability for fishing, resting and photography – anywhere you require balance. The force the bucket creates is virtually untippable. One on each side: a phenomenally stable outrigger system. www.solo-rescue-assist.com

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North Water Undies for your paddles? Yes! North Water's new PaddleBritches allows kayakers to store a spare paddle within easy reach. If you’re a fisherman you can also secure the end of your fishing rod on a handy adjustable reflective loop. You can then tuck your primary paddle into the loop while reeling in that big one. www.northwater.com

SPRING 2009

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Review

by John Kimantas

Seaward has given new life to the old Brit-boat design

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inter in British Columbia is full of surprises, especially when clear skies and low winds can make the paddling as good as you could expect on any summer's day. Such was our luck in January when a group from the Nanaimo Paddlers kayaking club set out from the Cedar boat ramp to hit the rapids of Gabriola Passage to try out the Seaward Quantum. The Quantum is definitely not a middle-ofthe-road, please-everyone type of boat. It is a Greenlander first and foremost, complete with a skeg, a hard double-chine and built with a sense of purpose that aficionados of this genre will appreciate, but with enough North American touches to ensure it meets the best of both worlds. Dare we say it's a hybrid? Consider the low rear deck and Greenland-style bow, making this a traditional performer, but add the Quantum is a hand-crafted boat built with ways exceeded them. for instance flush hatches, a departure from care. No offshore assembly line built this boat. The basics: The Quantum may be a the Brit preference for round plastic hatch The Quantum is comfortable, but novices leap for those used to the traditional North covers. So what you have is a pick-and-choose will no doubt find the first encounter twitchy. American style, but a few minutes of testing of features that offers a departure from the Beginners looking for the initial stability of an and the twitchiness is likely to disappear in plethora of Brit boats staking claim to the ocean liner won't find it here. favor of a more moderate initial stability and North American market. That's not likely to deter the serious paddler a good secondary stability, aided by the The mix creates a kayak that can look and drawn to this style of boat. And for our small multi-chine. feel as good upside-down as right side up. but respectable Nanaimo Paddlers test crew, Comfort is good but the cockpit is For me this was a return to Seaward after the boat lived up to expectations, and in many surprisingly short. At 5'11" I had very little room spending a summer in 2006 in the Seaward Quantum specs Ascente, and I was interested to see how Total storage Weight the company had progressed. Seaward Length Beam Depth Cockpit 17.3' 21.5" 13" 31"L x 16"W x 12.25"D 224 litres 54 pounds is renowned for its finish, and it is clear

Quantum's physics

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Wavelength Magazine

SPRING 2009

Seaward Quantum

rescue system, to name but a few features. The rating Touring: With a capacity of 224 litres, the Quantum provides a middle-of-the-pack storage capacity – enough for comfortable weekends but shy of a good expedition capacity. The Quantum's shape means good tracking for long stretches on the water. This is the type of kayak you can spend days in without regret. Playing: This is undoubtedly what Seaward had in mind in designing the Quantum, particularly the low

Win this kayak! Seaward Kayaks has graciously offered to place the Quantum in the array of kayaks being offered in Wavelength's 2009 kayak draw. See page 35 for more information on how to win.

in front of my feet; don't expect much in the way of foot-area storage. Seaward has traded its old foam cushion seat pad for a molded, padded seat – a great improvement for comfort. From there you get Seaward's attention to detail: recessed fittings, well-placed deck compass, knee brace pads and a quick-release

back deck (ideal for rolling), Greenland style bow and skeg. Our testers thought it rolled easily. Stability: Expect initial twitchiness but better control at the higher levels of performance. Edging is comfortable. The positives: The finish and attention to detail is the Seaward hallmark. The result is a great looking boat on the water and off, with lots of handy features. Overall: Anyone shopping for a Brit-style kayak will want to consider the Quantum for its array of handy features that other models likely don't have. Well-designed decking means the ability to keep everything within easy reach. In other words, it may not appeal to everyone, but it is definitely among the top options for those considering this style. More info: visit seawardkayaks.com.

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Wavelength Magazine

29

Navigation



by Adam Bolonsky

A few minutes of planning before a trip can take the guesswork out of on-the-fly decisions

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hart reading takes practice. One way to speed up the process is to get in the habit of marking up your charts before you paddle new areas. If you also take a few minutes to waterproof your charts (an easy task) and make them portable, you can continue to mark up your charts while you’re on the water. Marking up charts before you paddle a new area is also an excellent way to make your trip safer, easier and more enjoyable. First, look over the contours of the coastline shown on your chart. Look for low areas, preferably those without cliffs or large boulders, that might make potential safe landing areas, or possibly camps (to read shoreline features, see the Fall 2008 navigation feature, available online at wavelengthmagazine.com). The safest shoreline contours are those that indicate beaches, cobble strands, protected coves and ledges. The best bailouts are those close to roads so that you can hitchhike or take public transit back to the put-in – or even call a cab if need be. Mark these areas on your chart, as it is much more difficult, once on the water, to look for places to land and wait out bad weather, deal with equipment failure or regroup after big mishaps such as capsizes. In short, mark up your chart with notes: where to camp, where you can find safe havens. Doing so will make landing in an emergency faster and easier. To make actually finding those areas easier once you’re on water, take care to mark the relevant landmarks, shown on the chart, that lie near those areas. If your chart shows a water tower or stand of radio antennas, for example, on a hill near an area where the coastline is low, circle them. Marking up charts involves about a half a dozen other intuitive steps. Connect your A to B points with

Make your mark

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Wavelength Magazine

thick bold strokes. You can draw your lines on a waterproofed chart with a grease pencil or colored felt-tip marker. Your A to B points might be your put-in to your first landmark (that island you want to look at, for instance), and the next place you plan to make landfall – the cove tucked away inside that bold headland, for example. Next, along the easy-to-see lines connecting your A and B points, write, in clear handwriting, the compass heading. Make sure the notation is legible, so you can read it from the foredeck and readily transfer the heading to your foredeck compass once you’re on the water. Next, somewhere along the line that SPRING 2009

connects your A to your B point and the compass heading between them, add in the backbearing, or the compass course you’ll need to follow in case you need to turn back from B to A. Add in also a couple of letters to remind you of what direction the compass heading represents. SW, for example, for southwest, if the heading is in the 240 range, E if the heading is in the 90 range, and so on. Using simple abbreviations like E, W, S, N, etc., to remind you of your direction does much to encourage heads-up navigation. Rather than staring at your compass to stay on course, you navigate along basic points of the compass by making a mental note of where north is in the area (by picking out a landmark) then making

Marking your chart a mental and visual note of the other three points of the compass: east, west, south, to keep yourself oriented. You then navigate by these landmarks primarily, glancing down at your compass from time to time to be sure that you are on course. Encouraging heads-up navigation is a worthy notion. With heads-up navigation, you spend more time looking at your surroundings and less time staring at the compass or GPS. Not only do you get to enjoy your surroundings more, you’re more aware of other boats, changes in the weather, what your paddling companions are up to, etc. To make heads-up navigation easier, make bold notations on your chart that you can read with a glance. Note along the A to B line where you expect to encounter tidal currents, shipping lanes or ferry traffic. If ferries are a concern, consider making a note of their schedules. Needless to say, some passages from A to B are more complex than others: the fast tidal waters of British Columbia, Alaska and Long Island Sound, for example, or Nantucket and Vineyard Sounds off Cape Cod, or off the Elizabeth Island archipelago of Buzzards Bay, Massachusetts. Keep in mind that tidal velocity can be either an asset or a difficulty; consider marking the optimal time to make a tidal crossing, and at what time to avoid the area. Consider making note of how long it should take you to paddle between A to B. Including notes for the time and distance between A and B is useful in areas prone to fog, haze and limited visibility – especially if B is a small island in the middle of nowhere. In short, making note of how long it should take you to reach B gives you an idea of how soon you should begin to look for B, and how soon you should regroup and reconsider why you haven’t attained it yet. To estimate how long it should take you to paddle between the two points, use a handy rule of thumb: if you’re a paddler with an efficient forward stroke, you can probably paddle a nautical mile in somewhere around 15 to 20 minutes, give or take. Marking up charts also serves another purpose: in addition to providing a reference you can glance at from the cockpit, marking up a chart means that you carefully read your chart before you left. You know where to land in an emergency; you know where to portage to avoid hazards; you know where landings are likely to be dangerous if not impossible. < 

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Wavelength Magazine

31

Skillset



by Alex Matthews

Stirrups a valuable foot up in assisted rescues

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hen it comes to performing an assisted rescue, the key element to success is often the swimmer’s ability to get out of the water and onto the kayak’s stern deck. Whether you are lifting the bow of the boat to drain it before re-entry or pumping the water out after the swimmer has re-entered, the biggest challenge is likely to be that ‘long difficult climb’ up onto the stern. With the empty kayak stabilized by a paddling partner, a strong, fit swimmer can simply pull with their arms and lunge up onto the deck aided by a powerful and well-timed kick. Once there, while staying low, with their chest in close contact with the deck, they can swing their legs into the cockpit and then twist into a sitting position in the cockpit. It’s fast, efficient and requires no extra gear. But there are a number of factors that may make this approach less than ideal. Firstly, some swimmers will not have the upper body strength required and will struggle with the lunge. A large volume boat with a high back deck also makes getting up onto the stern more difficult. Bulky PFDs or items stored on the deck can also increase the challenge. Likewise, injury, hypothermia or fatigue can quickly rob a swimmer of the athleticism required to complete the maneuver. In these situations a sling reentry is a great option. Slings are little more than a piece of tubular webbing or rope tied in a long loop. Once in place and adjusted to length, a sling works just like a step, allowing you to use the big muscles in your leg, rather than your arms, to get up out of the water. With a step up, getting your chest up onto the stern of your kayak requires little more than flopping across your boat. There are a number of ways to rig a sling. Some rely on wrapping the sling around paddle shafts, which puts a lot of strain on your paddle. My favorite method is one of the simplest: just drape the sling around the combing of the boat to be reentered, then adjust the length of the sling as needed in order to provide the best step up. (It’s also worth noting that a sling can be used in conjunction with a paddle float for a solo re-entry, although as always, an assisted rescue is faster and far more stable in rough conditions.) A sling can be easily made from a length of floating rope. Webbing can work well too, but remember to include some flotation in your system if the webbing you’re using doesn’t float (most doesn’t). There

Photos by Rochelle Relyea

Stepping up 1

2 32

With the kayaks facing opposite directions, the rescuer commits aggressively to stabilizing the empty kayak.

With the sling in place around the combing, and adjusted to length, the swimmer places a foot on the sling and steps up. Wavelength Magazine

SPRING 2009

Sling-assisted entries

3

is nothing less useful than rescue gear that sinks to the bottom when not secured. About 14 feet of line is a good starting length. Tie the two ends together to create a loop (an overhand knot is fine, but feel free to get fancier with a double fisherman knot if you wish). As the combing sizes of boats vary widely, it’s important to start with a big (overly long) loop of line. In use, you can quickly tie a second knot into the sling in order to achieve the desired length. Note that this rig can be easily improvised with just about any length of webbing or rope (like a bowline for instance) as long as it’s long enough. Kayak gear manufacturer North Water also produce an excellent commercially available rescue sling. It incorporates flotation as well as a plastic clip. It is simple, compact, easy to use, and very quick to adjust to length via a quick-slide buckle – a great feature. With a sling in place it’s so much easier to gain the stern deck: just put a foot on the loop (once adjusted to an optimal length) and step on up!

The swimmer flops across his stern deck with a hand on the rescuer’s kayak for extra stability.

4 Facing toward his stern, the swimmer feeds his feet into the cockpit.

5

< Adapted from “Sea Kayaking: Rough Waters” by Alex Matthews available at www.helipress. com. Alex has authored and co-authored several kayaking skills books and has been involved in the design and development of kayaks. Contact him at [email protected].

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Wavelength Magazine

33

Wildlife



by James Michael Dorsey

In praise of the Great Blue

With the aura of a warplane and the dance of a dork, the blue heron is sure to entertain

The familiar whoop whoop reaches my ear a split second before the dark shadow passes overhead. I watch the surface minnows scatter as the large silhouette glides over them and smile because my old paddling companion, the great blue heron, is with me once again. With a wingspan wider than my outstretched arms and its long spidery legs splayed flat out behind it, this great bird brings to mind a mighty war plane. After the California condor, the blue heron is the largest bird on the west coast, and from the cockpit of a kayak, they often tower over me as I paddle by. While the blue heron is found inland, it is most commonly seen along the coast, especially in marshy areas. Perhaps it is not technically a seabird as it does not travel far out from the coast, but it has been a paddling companion of mine for enough years to qualify in my own mind, and I have found it to be friendly, curious and endlessly entertaining. When it begins to mate, it could give “Dancing with the Stars” a run for its money. It is a migratory wading bird found throughout north and Central America, but also in the West Indies and Galapagos Islands, that feeds primarily on small fish that it spears with its long pointed beak. But it will also eat snakes, shellfish, rodents, amphibians and reptiles. I live in southern California near Marina Del Rey, the largest man-made marina in the world. I usually paddle out of there to follow the coast. I can speak from long experience when I say not only are there vast numbers of blue herons around, but these

enormous birds have totally acclimated to the place, making themselves right at home on boats and along the docks. They are so used to people they sometimes will not move when you walk right by them and it can be very intimidating to paddle past a boat slip and have a three-foot-tall bird staring down at you. They have a screeching kind of croak that they do not hesitate to use if smaller birds invade their space, and I have even had them take a half-hearted swipe at me for paddling too close to their resting spot. I have seen young herons land on kayaks for a rest while learning to fly, and had them swoop over me so low as to feel their draft countless times. Once a young one landed on my deck and used my bungee to scrape off a bit of sea grass that was caught on its beak. Sometimes I have felt they deliberately go out of their way to relieve themselves on my kayak. Its name is a bit misleading as the color scheme is quite varied, being mostly blue-gray over the upper

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January2009 2009 SPRING

yoga GreatKayak Blue Heron portion of its torso with black flight feathers and a redbrown to black stripe along its flanks. It has a gray neck with nearly white face and two black plumes on top of its head running from just behind the eyes and tapering off to the rear of the head. Its legs are red to brown. During mating season the males aggressively stake their claim to an area from other males, usually where a former nest has been or sometimes they will claim an old nest for restoration. The male will shriek loudly at the first approach of a female and put on a grand display of dancing and gyrations to attract her attention. No disco floor has ever seen slicker moves than those of a

blue heron in pursuit of a mate. He will flap his wings, kick his long legs and screech as though someone is killing him. You have to be a female heron to truly appreciate this degrading spectacle. Once together a pair will mate almost immediately, but they are not monogamous and take a new mate each year. I have the pleasure of paddling in an area that boasts over 40 types of seabirds, and always feel it will be a great day when I pass a blue heron on my way into the < blue. James Michael Dorsey can be reached at [email protected].

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Wavelength Magazine

35

Safety



by Michael Pardy

John Kimantas photo

Traveling in a group can be part of the fun, but not necessarily if one person takes pictures while everyone else sets up camp. (Cow Bay, Flores Island, Clayoquot Sound)

A

s an outdoor guide and instructor with a busy outfitting business and a family, I don’t get many chances to tour for fun. When I do, I don’t want to take on much of the responsibility of organizing and leading these trips because I want a break from work. The reality is though, that I have a lot of leadership experience and have most of the gear, which makes me a logical choice for group organizer. These competing interests can cause problems, as I found out. A few years back we planned a five-day trip for family and a couple of friends to the Broken Islands Group. We discussed the goals of the trip – a relaxing week in the islands with friends and time to explore. What we hadn’t discussed were individual responsibilities, leaving it entirely to chance. In particular, I was deliberately avoiding most responsibilities related to navigation and scheduling. More importantly, I didn’t want to spend much time in the kitchen or on other camp chores. To their credit, my wife, Kari, and friends Bill and Karen recognized my implicit desire for a work-free week and tried to take on as much of this work as possible. The issue of responsibility came to a head a couple of days into the trip after a rough crossing. My wife pulled me aside and expressed concern about our safety. She reminded me that our friends had little experience, seemed scared, and that we needed to do something or this trip might turn them

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Wavelength Magazine

Groups and goals Casual friendships can go awry, often with dangerous consequences, if roles of a group aren't clearly defined off paddling forever. She also reminded me this was my area of expertise; she was willing to help, but I needed to be more involved in this trip. We set up camp, and over dinner we discussed the day’s events. Bill and Karen said they enjoyed the day but were scared by the crossing. The water was rough and controlling the kayaks was harder than they expected. This loss of control left them uneasy. My seeming indifference only served to exacerbate their anxiety. What they needed from me were some tips for handling their boats in rough water and reassurance that the conditions were within their ability. Bill and Karen needed to know I would be there to provide emotional and technical support when they needed it. I realized that I had become a passive member of SPRING 2009

the group, essentially isolating myself from the others and our shared experiences. Once we sorted through these issues we agreed that I would take responsibility for heading up discussions about weather, sea state and other kayaking-related issues and the others would take responsibility for running the campsite. This is not to say that I sat around and watched as my friends worked to set up camp and cook dinner, or that they followed me blindly on the water. We each simply had our area of responsibility based on our strengths. I needed to become an equal and active member of this group in order to achieve our goals. This trip highlighted for me the importance of agreeing not only on the location and the obvious format of the trip, but also the implicit goals and expectations of group members. In my professional work as a guide, goals and expectations are laid out by the organizations for which I work. Individual responsibilities are delegated by the trip leaders. In the context of a peer group, I needed to take a step back and work with the others to develop and agree to a shared set of goals and expectations. Goals and expectations should include the following: Goals of the trip: What is the group

The Group Contract trying to accomplish by going on the trip? Membership: Who gets to be a group member? Are there specific requirements for membership including financial commitment, skills, equipment, and time? Expectations of the group members: What does each group member expect to get out of trip? Location of the trip: Where is the trip happening? Duration and time of year of the trip: How long is the trip? What time of year is the trip? Money: What are the costs of the trip and who pays for it? What is the budget for incidentals? Style of travel: How does the group want to travel? Leadership: How will the group establish roles and responsibilities? Decision making: How will the group make decisions? In peer groups, these topics must be addressed by the group members. Many peer groups have paddled together on several trips as well as shorter paddles and have developed a shared understanding of many

of the fundamental topics without explicitly discussing them. Under most situations, this is not a problem. But under stress, either because of external factors such as weather or challenges to logistics, or internal factors such as injury, illness, conflict or anxiety, peer groups can experience difficulties in gathering information, making decisions and solving problems. A crisis is not the time to resolve potential conflicts around goals and expectations. Longer and more challenging trips require greater clarity and acceptance of group goals and expectations. Clearly articulated goals will also help answer other fundamental questions such as membership, style of travel, and leadership. Many trips have an obvious outcome, such as the circumnavigation of an island. Other trips have less tangible goals such as experiencing and exploring the local ecology. On many trips there is an explicit goal clearly articulated, but embedded within this goal are a series of goals and expectations not articulated. Groups should dig deeper and bring these implicit goals and expectations to the surface and include them in the planning of the trip. Implicit goals and expectations often

relate to the style of travel of the group and the individual responsibilities of group members. Personal expectations should match the group goals. If the group is planning an island circumnavigation and a group member is actually more interested in exploring the local ecology, then the group may experience conflict when it comes time to leave the beach in strong winds and waves. In my situation, I first had to accept that although I was physically on the trip, I was not actually working with my friends and family toward the goals to which we all agreed. My passivity was undermining the trip; I needed to become an active member of the group, bringing my skills and experience to our shared experience. What I learned was that not all paddling is work. I can share my skills and use my experience in new ways in peer groups to not only meet my needs but the needs of others. But this can only happen if we share our goals and expectations and work together toward our common goals. < Michael Pardy lives in Victoria, where he runs SKILS Ltd. He can be reached at [email protected].

WWW.FEATHERCRAFT.COM / MADE IN CANADA / PADDLED WORLDWIDE

SPRING 2009

Wavelength Magazine

37

From the Rainforest



by Dan Lewis

Should I stay or should I go? A s a paddler I am torn between a desire to hike and paddle everywhere – to explore every nook and cranny of each and every rock and island on the coast – and a divergent desire to just stop, look and listen to the nature around me. No need to chase after it, just wait and let it come to you. This conflict manifests in my desire to explore my backyard here in Clayoquot Sound thoroughly, versus my dream of paddling the entire coast of British Columbia. Becoming intimate with Clayoquot Sound is a modest goal by the standards of the modern globetrotter. And then there’s the rest of the B.C. coast. Twenty years ago I set a goal to paddle down the Alaska panhandle and the B.C. coast all the way to Washington. Again, a fairly modest goal compared to many modern expedition kayakers. How have I done? Pretty good, but recently I revised my plan – I figure at this point I’ll be doing well if I can simply paddle the entire B.C. coast in this lifetime. That’s why Bonny and I have spent parts of the last three summers kayaking the North Coast of B.C., from Prince Rupert to Bella Bella. The level of intimacy we have been able to find up there reminds me of what it was like when I first started paddling down here. I felt then that I knew a place if I could name the major channels and islands, if I could look across the bay and knew the name of the far point. I’ve come to accept that B.C. stands for

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Wavelength Magazine

To get to really know a place, one has to embrace it Big Country – it would take many lifetimes to possibly get to know it all. When I visit a First Nations village up north, I know I am a visitor who might pass through once or several times at most. Back home, I am getting to know the different tribes a bit, even learning a smattering of the Nuu-Chah-Nulth language. It is a completely different experience. My inner struggle was perhaps reflected in my choice of books for our expedition this summer. For the first leg of our voyage I brought along Walt Whitman’s Leaves of Grass, the original 1855 edition. “I lean and loafe at my

SPRING 2009

ease,” he wrote, “observing a spear of summer grass.” My kind of guy! And indeed I did take opportunities to do just that. We spent days just sitting under the tarp, scanning the horizon and both ends of the beach, waiting and watching for wildlife to appear. We were not disappointed. One day on Porcher Island we were watching humpback whales spout offshore, but kept being distracted by flocks of Townsend’s Warblers – fluffy fledglings the size and shape of golf balls flitting through the spruce branches not six feet away, their wee buzzy voices begging for food, nearly choking as their harried parents stuffed bugs into their gaping mouths. Another day I was sitting on a beach, intently staring at the place were I had just seen a wolf slip away into the forest, hoping it might reappear, when I noticed in my peripheral vision a big bull orca leading a pod past the bay. When Bonny showed up I was so flabbergasted I could barely explain that I was actually in the process of looking for a wolf. The whales blowing off the point were only the side show! Some days I would get in the kayak and just toodle about – easy days of fun paddling. One day, in a light northwest breeze under a cloudless blue sky, I went to fetch water in a nearby cove. Reflected sunlight dappled overhanging cliffs burdened to the lip with moss-carpeted rainforest, water droplets refracted sunlight like miniature prisms as they dripped into the saltchuck, and I sat in my boat

From the Rainforest picking plump ripe blueberries. Heaven on earth! It reminded me of a summer holiday, as I wrote in my journal (although 2008 featured some of the worst summer weather I have ever experienced). By contrast, the book I brought for the second half of our expedition was John Muir’s Travels in Alaska. I used to think of Muir as a mountain man, climbing amongst the glaciers of the high Sierra, not a paddler. Turns out Muir is a sea canoeist: “For those who really care to get into hearty contact with the coast region, travel by canoe is by far the better way… With plenty of provisions packed… in rubber or canvas bags, you may be truly independent, and enter into partnership with Nature; to be carried with the winds and currents, accept the noble invitations offered all along your way to enter the mountain fiords, the homes of the waterfalls and glaciers, and encamp almost every night beneath hospitable trees.” One of the better descriptions of paddling I’ve ever read! It was hard to read Muir while on the trip. I kept getting the feeling that he would not be reading books while out in the wilderness. He would be sucking every last morsel of sweetness from the day, even on days when most of us would rather hide in the tent and, well, read a good book. For example: “Next morning was cloudy and windy, snowy and cold, dreary December weather in August, and I gladly ran out to see what I might learn.” When I complained about not getting out in the gnar as much as Muir would have, Bonny would console me by pointing out that Muir had hired a crew of Tlingits who would paddle the canoe while he sketched, set up camp while he roamed about looking for glaciers, and cook meals to which he could return after dark. In the end, I try to achieve a balance between my allegiance to home and the urge to roam. I’m getting to know my backyard pretty well – I’ve paddled over four thousand miles in Tofino harbour alone! And I’m hoping to continue paddling the north coast in years to come. Ultimately I realized this summer that one could spend an entire lifetime getting to know any particular place. Whether close to home or far afield, the coast is alive and amazing wherever you go.

A whole new world is about to unfold...

Planet

Kayak

Paddling the web will never be the same again.

< Dan Lewis and Bonny Glambeck operate Rainforest Kayak Adventures in Clayoquot Sound SPRING 2009

Wavelength Magazine

39

Fishing Angles



Fishing FAQs I

love to talk fishing. And one thing I have noticed over 20 years of communicating professionally is that some people are shy about admitting what they don’t know. That includes fishing, and experienced anglers often won’t ask questions about the basics – skills they figure they should know, but don’t quite know how to master. Here are my answers to four of the most frequently asked questions I receive. How do I set the reel’s drag? The reel’s drag is designed to allow the spool to release line, even when it is engaged and you are reeling in, if a fish pulls hard enough to potentially break the line. The amount of tension you set the drag to hold until releasing line is based on the breaking strength of your line. It should be set to “slip” at 50 to 75% of the line’s tested strength to make sure it releases line before it breaks. You can set the drag by loosening it and threading the line through the rod’s guides and attaching it to a hand-held scale. Reel down to the scale and then lift the rod as if landing a fish, and tighten the drag until it holds at a point where the scale shows a reading of one-half to three-quarters of the pound test you are using. Always test your drag with the line threaded through the guides and under the tension of a flexed rod to create actual fishing-like conditions. How and when do I set the hook? The hook’s point needs to be set in the fish’s mouth in order to maintain a firm connection between you and the fish while you land it. Traditional hooks are set by removing any slack in the line and giving the rod a sharp upward or sideways snap to use the line to drag the sharp hook into the fish’s flesh. Set too soon and you risk pulling the bait right out of the fish’s mouth; set too late and the fish may feel the hook or the line, sense the deception and spit the bait out; or it may swallow the bait, resulting in a deep hook-set that may prove fatal. Learning when to set the hook when fishing for a particular species with a particular bait or method takes trial and error. You’ll know when you’ve done it right: you’ll start catching lots of lip-hooked fish! 40

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What if the fish swallows the hook? Most fish will be hooked in the mouth, where the hook is easily backed out and removed. Having needle-nosed pliers, commercial hook removers or hemostats makes the job easier. But sometimes the fish can swallow the bait – and the hook – which becomes impaled deep in the throat, possibly even be out of sight. If that’s the case, it’s almost always better to cut the line as close to the hook as you can and release the fish. The hook may rust away or dissolve over time or the fish may be able to live with the hook imbedded, and the fish’s chances of survival are better than if you probe around with pliers or a hook remover and do more damage. What do I do if I get a snag? Snags are a part of fishing, and you need to be prepared to lose some terminal tackle and lures and have enough back-up line and tackle to keep on fishing. That said, when you do hang up, try wiggling the rod tip lightly while moving around to vary the angle of the pressure. If you can get upstream or to the far side of the snag from where you were when it originally hung up, you can often pull the hook free. What you don’t want to do is break your rod by flexing it violently overhead or to the side to try to force the hook free. If you’ve tried SPRING 2009

by Dan Armitage Knowing when to set the hook comes with practice: jerk too soon and you’ll take the bait right from the fish’s mouth; wait too long and the fish will detect trouble and spit the bait before you react!

gently wiggling and shaking at all the angles of pull available and the hook is still snagged, you should point the rod at the bait, reel the slack out of the line and, between the reel and the first guide, wrap a few turns around your hand if the line is light – say 12 pound test or less. You’ll want to have a towel around your hand, or wrap the line around a stick, if it is stronger than that, so as not to cut into your skin. Don’t pull with the line going directly to the reel or it will dig into the remaining line on the spool, cutting it or creating problems there. Once you have a firm grip and all slack out of the line, keep your rod pointed directly at where the line enters the water, turn your head to the side to shield your face and eyes, and slowly back up. The line will break – or the hook will straighten or break free – and the rod won’t break in the process. Check the remaining line for worn knots or fraying, retie your terminal tackle and get back to the fishing! <

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 kayaking fishing seminars at boat shows.

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SPRING 2009

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Events 2009

March 14-22, 2009 The Pacific Rim Whale Festival Ucluelet-Tofino, BC Each spring the entire North American population of Pacific grey whales migrate along the west coast of Vancouver Island, BC. An estimated 22,000 greys make the journey from Mexico's Baja Peninsula along the west coast to their summer feeding grounds in the Bering and Chukchi Seas near the Arctic. Travelling close to the shoreline, the whales provide excellent viewing opportunities from the rocky headlands along the coast between Ucluelet and Tofino. Free public viewing stations are available at Amphitrite Point Lighthouse in Ucluelet and at the Wickaninnish Centre in Pacific Rim National Park. Get even closer to these magnificent animals with a whale watching excursion with local charter boats or floatplanes from Ucluelet or Tofino. Visit www.pacificrimwhalefestival.org

March 19-26, 2009 Paddle Florida Join Paddle Florida on Florida's beautiful Suwannee River. The spring trip is 123 miles of paddling, camping, campfires, entertainment and camaraderie beginning at Spirit of the Suwannee Music Park and ending at Manatee Springs State Park.  Paddle Florida is supported by the Suwannee Wilderness Trail and the Florida Park Service. Visit www.paddleflorida.org.

May 9-10, 2009 Vancouver Island Paddlefest, BC Vancouver Island's largest kayaking symposium is held at Transfer Beach in a weekend-long festival with activities and events for paddlers of all ages and paddling abilities. Participants can attend this free event and enjoy a variety of activities including a trade show, workshops, demonstrations and fun activities. Visit www.paddlefest.bc.ca

Watch for the events page updated regularly at wavelengthmagazine.com/Events.html

May 16-17, 2009 Northern Rockies Paddling Symposium, MT The symposium runs rain or shine at Wayfarer’s State Park just outside of Bigfork, Montana. Demo and compare different boats, ask questions, learn techniques, cash in on great deals, and meet others who share the same interests.

May 21-26 2009 Immersion Sea Kayaking Skills Symposium, Homer, AK

Participate in five days of sea kayaking instruction in scenic Kachemak Bay and develop boat control skills, rescue skills, navigation skills and more. Courses taught on a progression are aimed at developing your sea kayaking skills in calm water, wind and waves, tidal streams and open crossings. Expedition paddler and adventurer Sean Morley is the guest speaker and instructor. Visit www.alaskakayakschool.com/symposium09.

June 7, 2009 Round Bowen Challenge Bowen Island, BC

The 10th annual Round Bowen Challenge is a 34-km race around Bowen Island in Howe Sound, BC.

June 12-14, 2009 South Sound Traditional Inuit Kayak Symposium Twanoh State Park, WA This family-friendly weekend event features instructors and competitors in Greenland-style kayaking. Activities include paddle-making classes, on-water instruction, demonstrations, games and evening presentations. Suitable for beginners to advanced paddlers and rollers. Visit www.qajaqpnw.org

June 18-21, 2009 Inland Sea Kayak Symposium Washburn, WI The Inland Sea Kayak Symposium is a three-day instructional gathering for beginner to advanced kayakers. Classes include strokes, rescues, women-focused paddling, Greenland paddling training and more. Keynote speaker this year is Nigel Dennis. Visit www.inlandsea.org

July 15-19, 2009 Assembly “Sail & Paddle” Keuka College, Keuka Park, NY (Finger Lakes Region) Hosted by the Wooden Canoe Heritage Association, the event program includes presentations and displays regarding research, documentation, identification; construction and repair skills; canoeing skills; camping skills; and children's programs. Visit http://wcha.org/assembly.php

July 20, 2009 Yukon 1000 This is the first year for the Yukon 1000 Canoe and Kayak Race – 1,000 miles down the Yukon River. Teams are required to carry Spot devices and use them to report their position on a regular basis. Teams are also required to stop for 6 hours each night, verified by Spot telemetry. The winning team is expected to reach the Alaska Pipeline in just under a week. You can watch the race on the web at http://yukon1000/resultsx. html?race=09y1k. This race is open to tandem canoes and kayaks, voyageur canoes, and teams of two solo canoes or kayaks travelling together. Teams must have previous wilderness and canoe racing experience. The entry fee for this race is $250CN or $212.50US per person. For more information visit http://yukon1000.com/, or email mailto:[email protected] or phone 1-867-668-4630.

Explore. Learn. Share. The oldest kayaking resource on the web is just getting started. Visit www.wavelengthmagazine.com 46

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SPRING 2009

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