Friday, May 27, 2011

National Lifejacket Day, 2011

National Lifejacket Day came and went & I missed it again (it was on May 19th). This is something I would help to promote if only I was reminded about it beforehand. To see my comments from last year's day, which I missed then too, see my post from almost exactly 1 year ago: http://pawistik.blogspot.com/2010/05/national-life-jacket-day.html. You can also see the CBC interview I did on the subject of PFDs (I checked and the link to the video still works).

I've entered the date into my calendar for next year, maybe I'll remember?

Thursday, May 19, 2011

Trailer Design

Coldspring Paddling needs a kayak trailer so that I don't have to transport 5 kayaks at a time on top of my CRV like I did last week (too bad I didn't take a picture of that, but maybe it's better to avoid photographic evidence). I have a nice sized utility trailer that I want to extend the tongue of and add trees to. I've been playing around with Google Sketch-Up to design my modified trailer. What do you think of the design? It should be able to haul at least 8 kayaks (would do 6 nicely as illustrated), or 4 canoes, or 4 kayaks & 2 canoes, and so on. It shouldn't be overly heavy or tall. Plus, there's a fair bit of room for gear in the 4'x6' box. Now, hopefully I can get Rod's help to build it!


Update (27/5/2011): My trailer is at a local welding shop for the modifications. He suggested stiffening the long tongue with a brace that goes upward from the tongue to the top of the trailer box. Also reinforcements are needed where the trees will bolt on to the trailer box. The trees will be removable, bolting into a socket that remains in the trailer box. Also, for simplicity, only one upright will be used for each tree (not two as illustrated), but with the cross bar joints strengthend with a triangular piece of metal welded in at the joint.

Wednesday, May 18, 2011

One More Round for the Sheepdogs!

Well, the Sheepdogs have survived all the way to Round 1. Now vote & help this great Saskatoon band get to the top!

Playing At The Pool



I was out last night with the Kelsey Kayak Club and decided to finish off my evening in the pool by going off of the 4' high diving board.

Monday, May 16, 2011

Boat Building Music

Thanks to Rider over on the WCP forum for pointing out this video to the paddling community. I love Matt Mays & El Torpedo!

Matt Mays & El Torpedo "Building a Boat"

OR Water Bottle Parka Review


Works great!
By Pawistik from Saskatoon, SK on 5/16/2011
5out of 5
Pros: Insulates well, Effective, Simple
Best Uses: Day Paddling, XC skiing, Snowshoeing, Winter Camping
I've been very impressed with the water bottle parka used with a 1L Nalgene. I had made my own out of blue foam, webbing & duct tape. The DIY version worked, but I'm now ready to retire it or loan it out to friends in favour of the OR Water Bottle Parka. I used it this winter for snowshoe camping trips at -32°C and it kept my water liquid all day (starting with hot water). I used it this weekend in warm temperatures (sunny, but not hot) and it kept my iced tea cool all day.

In short, a great & effective product that does what it's supposed to.

PC Level 2 Course in BC

A few weeks ago I was in BC for a Paddle Canada Level 2 kayaking course. The course was run by Viki and Doug, who instruct with Kingston Sea Kayak Instruction and Comox Valley Kayaks, respectively. Viki and Doug work very well together and they put on a fantastic course, I can highly recommend them if you get the chance. It was tonnes of fun and I feel like I learned a lot. Rolling a loaded kayak in the current of Surge Narrows by the end of the course felt like a fantastic achievement!

Here is a slideshow of some of my photos and a couple of videos taken during the course. Enjoy!



If you prefer, visit the Picasa Web Album directly.

Friday, May 13, 2011

Goepel Passage Rolling and Rescues

Here is a video from the recent kayaking course that I was on. This was filmed at the outflow of Goepel Passage, near Surge Narrows Provincial Park and the east side of Quadra Island, BC. We were practicing rescues, with one paddler heading out into the current across the eddy line, attempting to roll, then "wet exiting". The partner in another kayak was supposed to head out into the current and TX rescue the first paddler, emptying their kayak of water and helping them to get back in their kayak, all while floating down current in the tidal rapid. In the video here, you see the first paddler, Dave, head out into the current, perform two rolls, then flip a third time in order to wet exit the kayak. Meanwhile the second paddler, Mark (on the left side of the video), heads out to rescue Dave. Unfortunately, Mark may have got his edging wrong as he crossed the eddy line because he too flipped, but unintentionally. That meant that I had to stop filming and go rescue one of the paddlers (Dave) while one of the instructors (Doug) went to retrieve Mark. That is, after all, why I was positioned downstream from the others. It turned out to be an excellent practice of real-world dumps!



For pictures from the course, see my earlier post.

Help the Sheepdogs Get Through to Round 1!

Keep on voting for the Sheepdogs!

Monday, May 09, 2011

Last Saskatchewan Pirate

This one's for you Dave!

Here's a great song to sing while paddling at the end of a long day in a head wind.



Last Saskatchewan Pirate, originally written and performed by the Arrogant Worms and brought home to the prairies by Captain Tractor.