Toporama Maps

I keep forgetting where to find this, so I might as well make a blog post so that you and I can both find it.

The Government of Canada's Toporama mapping site is a handy resource for trip planning. It lets you view the topographic maps for anywhere in Canada. https://atlas.gc.ca/toporama/en/index.html

This link should take you right to the Weaver River, for example: Weaver River Map (Forbes Lake to Weaver Lake section). 

You can select and print off your map areas, which is nice. There are also measurement tools. 

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River Safety Day

Last year I participated in River Safety Day, spearheaded by the folks behind the Prairie Lily and Inland Marine Technologies. I attended a few of the planning meetings and got to spend some time that afternoon playing in and on the water doing some rescue demos. It was a great day on the water, even if my capsize was a bit contrived. They created the following clip to promote this year's event.

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Last year I took part in the River Safety Day that was spearheaded by the folks behind the Prairie Lily and Inland Marine Technologies. It was a great day to play in and on the water, even if my capsize was rather contrived.

At River Safety Day last year, we capsized a vessel for demonstration purposes. Be sure to join us May 4, 2019, for River Safety Day, where you can see other great river demonstrations ˙ ˙ ˙ ˙ ˙ #YXE #ShareTheRiver #riversafety #watersmart #besafeonthewater #livingyxe #riverfun #saskatoon #watersafe #saskatooning #yxeliving #saskatoonevents #bridgecity #riveradventures

A post shared by Saskatoon River Safety (@riversafetyyxe) on Apr 15, 2019 at 4:35pm PDT

February Paddling

I got out for a paddle this morning since it was quite warm and I didn't need to be at work. It ended up being a short paddle (~45 minutes) since the wind came up pretty strong, but it was good to be out on the water. It was a really nice start with no wind at all. Later when the wind came up I was enjoying the challenge and the waves, but being out on the water alone in 0°C weather with strong gusting winds removed the margin of safety that I want to keep at all times when I paddle.

PalYbro, an acquaintance on Twitter, spotted me while he was biking down the Broadway bridge and posted this short video clip: (Follow the link to see the tweet & the video since embedding here doesn't seem to be working.)

Life is but a dream, eh @BryanSarauer?

Extreme low-fi warning but just wanted to celebrate someone embracing all #yxe winter has to offer. pic.twitter.com/IMjb1hVeZD

— palYbro (@palYbro) February 14, 2018

Here are a few photos and a short video from my outing.

Dead calm on the water before I set off. (Glad to see the newly applied Princess Auto reflective decal is doing such a good job of reflecting the camera flash. The decals are applied to both sides of both blades, vertical on the power face, horizontal on the backside.)

Ready to seal launch. Unfortunately, someone's been doing too good of a job of clearing the snow and sanding the boat launch. That made for a less than smooth slide down onto the water. 

Getting closer to the point where I turned around. The wind is coming up a bit, but is still fairly mild. Plus, it was a tail wind. 

On my way back to the start. Snow pelting me giving a nice snowy look to the event. 

Things were starting to get pretty fun. The wind came up quite a bit more than you can see from the photo, but I was busy paddling, not taking pictures with my phone. :)

Now I'm off to Victoria in a few days for a family vacation and I intend to do some paddling while there. I'll be packing my drysuit for sure! 

By the way, this paddle amounts to at least 16 months of paddling at least once a month, all in Saskatchewan. Assuming that I get out again in March, this will be the 2nd winter in a row where I paddled outdoors at least once a month all winter. 

The List: International Version

The following is something that's been languishing in my drafts folder for years. I's not doing any good there, so I might as well publish it as is, even if I haven't quite finished it or polished it.

Some time ago I published a list of places I want to paddle. I am definitely Canadian-centric and all but one of the destinations picked for that list are located here in Canada. However, my dreaming of paddling goes beyond our borders and I was reminded of this when a Norwegian paddler (and moose hair researcher) visited our lab a while ago. So, in honour of Knut, here is my international wish list of paddling, again in no particular order.

1. The Fjords of Norway. The west coast of Norway looks simply stunning and I would love the opportunity to paddle there. Perhaps we can travel to Norway under the guise of visiting my wife's Norwegian relatives. 
2. St. Kilda. These remote Scottish islands are the featured location of the stunning video Sea Kayak with Gordon Brown, An Instructional Journey Around the Spectacular Islands of St Kilda. What can I say? The subtitle doesn't lie. 
3. New Zealand. Rugged fjords, mountains, wildlife. 
4. Australia. Home of kayaking greats like Fat Paddler & Gnarlydog, the Great Barrier Reef, Tasmania and so much more. I should really break this out into 5 or more individual items on this list.  
5. Cape Horn, Chile. Way beyond my skillset, but man the southern tip of South America looks awesome with a coastal environment that's just about as rough as it gets. Those fjords and islands looks so inviting, in a harsh way. 
6. San Francisco, California. Golden Gate Bridge, my buddy Cam (nearby in Sacramento), and a hotbed for California sea kayak activity. 
7. Homer, Kenai Fjords, Kodiak, etc., Alaska. Lots of potential destinations, all of them pretty awesome. To be inspired, have a look at the video I shared a some time ago here. 
8. Iceland. Hmmm, maybe remote fjords are a theme here?
9. Isle of Man. Another branch of my wife's family is Manx and it looks like this "self-governing British Crown Dependency" would be pretty cool to circumnavigate.
10. Belize. Since this made the first version of the list, I better keep it on the international version. Jimmy's pictures still look pretty cool. 
11. Baja. A winter feeding ground for grey whales and abundant sea life. Sounds good to me.

Sunday Afternoon Paddle - And a Visit From The Water Rescue Team

I finally managed to take advantage of the warm weather and get out for a paddle on the South Saskatchewan River yesterday afternoon. The air temperature was a high of 11°C (cooler on the water I expect) and there was a fair south breeze as a headwind for the first half of the distance I paddled. The water was ice cold, literally since I was paddling among chunks of ice. Most of the river was ice-free (excepting many small bits and occasional larger chunks) in the section that I paddled since the weir breaks up the ice.

View upriver shortly after launching.

As I set out, I was passed on the river by a fellow in a kayak (Dagger Alchemy 14) wearing only a tank top & combat pants - no PFD, no wet suit, no protection from the water of any sort. He had launched a few hundred metres farther downriver from me. I launched at the north end of the city and paddled upriver towards the weir.

Fellow paddler visible along the on-shore ice across the river. 

View upriver while underway.

It is still March, after all.

As I approached the area downriver of the railroad bridge and the weir, there were suddenly a huge number of sirens all around. I was across the river and noticed firetrucks at the weir on the west side, then driving slowly along the road on that side of the river (Spadina). I paddled across to see what the fuss was and was hailed by fire-folk in drysuits. They told me they had a report of a kayaker in the water in distress and asked if I'd seen a blue-green kayak or paddler - someone spotted something as they were driving over a bridge and called 911.

The only person I'd seen was the fellow who went past me in the blue kayak - but he was still in his kayak since I could see him just upriver a couple hundred meters from me. They launched their water-rescue boat just upriver from where I was and roared off downriver to look for the person in distress. Meanwhile I hailed the other paddler and asked if he'd seen anyone else in or on the water (he hadn't). We then paddled together back toward the place I had launched, and I also gently advised him on more appropriate paddling attire. I told him that if nothing else please wear a PFD to make the body recovery much easier for the rescue folks. As we paddled back the rescue team pulled up on their return upriver to again ask us if we'd "seen any bodies". We hadn't.

My theory is that someone saw a floating chunk of ice in the river which could have had a blue-green look and could have been kayak shaped. Maybe they linked that with the fellow in the blue kayak and thought that he ended up in the water. It's not a very good theory, but I'm not sure what else might have happened.

At the end of my paddle I did a roll and even went for a swim. I can confirm that the water is very cold, and the drysuit works very well. Drysuits cost a fair bit, but they are a great investment in comfort and safety. A used or clearance drysuit can be a great way to greatly enhance your safety on the water and to extend your safe paddling season.

Nice day for a swim, as long as you are wearing a drysuit and plenty of insulating layers. 

By the way, here is what I wore for my paddle. I was warm above the water (not hot) and comfortable in the water for several minutes.

• Merino wool long-sleeved top
• Level Six Hotfuzz one piece fleece "unisuit"
• Thin wool socks
• Thick fuzzy synthetic socks (feet get cold resting against the bottom of a kayak in icewater)
• Level Six Emperor drysuit
• NRS Mystery storm hood
• NRS Mamba pogies
• Ball cap
• Gul sailing boots (designed for sailing, work well for paddling and available at a local paddling shop)
• Neoprene spray skirt

Here is a Google Earth estimation of my paddle. 6.5 km paddled. The weir is marked at the south end (bottom) of the image. You can see where I looped back to chat with the firefighters hailing me from shore, and where I paddled back to join up with the fellow in the blue kayak.

Fairly approximate representation of my paddle path. The blue dots represent the very approximate path of the fellow in the blue kayak. 

Surviving After a Paddling Accident

Last week while packing for a canoe trip I was contacted by Global Saskatoon to comment on how to survive after a mishap on a paddling trip. In addition to being a paddling instructor, I am the Paddle Canada representative for Saskatchewan, and am a co-author of the AdventureSmart paddling safety awareness program called PaddleSmart.

The interview follows on the recent tragic death of David Dice along the Churchill River, a section that I paddled in 2010. I do not know the details of what happened, but according to news reports David was found below Needle Falls on Kinosaskaw Lake. Shortly after David was found by fishermen, his wife Enid Dice was found upriver somewhere along Needle Rapids. She had been there without supplies for 8 days. The reports don't offer much for details, though they do mention she had a fire going (it will make your life easier to have some reliable means of starting a fire on your life jacket or in a pocket, and redundancy is good!). The Dices are very experienced outdoorspeople and paddlers, and David's early death is a loss to the paddling community. My condolences go out to all of those grieving David's death.

http://globalnews.ca/video/1533357/surviving-eight-days-in-the-wilderness



A few more details were reported via CBC: http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saskatchewan/details-emerge-on-sask-couple-s-tragic-canoe-adventure-1.2750011

One of the first people to speak to Enid after the ordeal was Ric Driediger, owner of Churchill River Canoe Outfitters, who was also one of the last people to see the couple before they set out on their trip.

He says he learned, from Enid, that the couple's canoe capsized as they were navigating a set of rapids on the lake known as Needle Falls*.

They were separated and Enid swam to shore with her husband's backpack that had a sleeping bag and an emergency fire-starting kit. There was no food, however.

*I wonder if this statement as reported is correct. It seems more likely that they were running Needle Rapids (C2+ to C3), about 2.25 km above the falls, or the outlet from Sandfly lake (C3), a further 1 km above Needle Rapids. It seems unlikely that they would have been running the falls (C5), but the earlier sets of rapids are manageable for the canoeist with skills in rapids. This also makes sense since Enid had no gear other than what she swam to shore with and was separated from her husband who was reportedly found on Kinosaskaw Lake in the eddy below the falls. Were the capsize to actually have occurred at the falls, she would have been mere meters from her late husband, the overturned canoe and much of the gear including the SPOT. 

A map of the region:

Open this map full screen.

Aerial view of the rapids at the outlet of Sandfly Lake. We portaged these.

Class 3 rapids at the outlet of Sandfly Lake.

Uppermost portion of Needle Rapids from the spot where we scouted the set. This is the river left channel. 

Jay & Rod scouting Needle Rapids. 

David & Enid's Blog: David and Enid's Travels


Here are some items you should consider having with you, or on you, whenever you head out paddling. Most of these items can be fit into a small pouch that can be attached to the life jacket or contained in a pocket. These items are described as "The Essentials Plus" in the PaddleSmart program:

• Transport Canada Required Items:
1. Life jacket
2. Whistle
3. Throw bag
4. Bailer
5. Waterproof flashlight
• Other Essential Items:
1. Fire making kit
2. Signalling device (e.g. whistle, signal mirror)
3. Extra food and water
4. Extra clothing
5. Navigation & communication devices
6. First aid
7. Emergency blanket or shelter
8. Knife
9. Sun protection

In the pocket of my PFD I have a small pouch that in the video linked above has had the contents spread out. The contents include a signal mirror, granola bar, fishing line, snare wire, ~20' of thin cord, orange bandana, emergency blanket, lighter, & fire starter. In the canoe or kayak I also almost always have extra clothing, rain gear, some form of shelter (tarp &/or a bothy bag), extra food, water (though we can usually drink our water from the lake), first aid kit, more lighters, matches and fire starting stuff. 

Lack of Wilderness Skills

This was an interview on CBC that Keving Callan recently did. It's a great piece and raises the concern over a diminishing lack of wilderness skills that seems to be occurring across Canada. It seems that if you camp without a trailer with attached deck and gazebo, you are really roughing it. I would also say there is an ever-increasing reliance on "stuff", and the skills seem to come a distant second. Kevin mentions getting training, and while I wholeheartedly support that notion, I do think that people just need to make the effort to get out there and "do it".

Paddling As A Workout

The following is a guest post from Joseph at  Austin Canoe & Kayak. By the way, Austin is having their own taste of winter right now. 

It is common knowledge that getting a good workout is important for a healthy lifestyle and well-being. As most of you know, paddling can be quite the workout depending on your activity and water conditions. However, these different types of conditions can give you different types of workouts. Let’s dig deeper into what they can be…

Paddling for Exercise
Though we are currently in the depth of winter, spring will soon be upon us and fitness enthusiasts have more of an opportunity to emerge from the gyms and return to the outdoors (though many of us have been out all winter). This could mean getting off the treadmill and hitting a real running trail or hopping off the stationary bike and getting on a real one. However, for those of you who just can’t stay off the water consider integrating paddling into your daily workout regime.

Many people think paddling is a great way to connect with nature and water, and it is! But what many people tend to forget is that paddling can actually provide quite the unique workout, especially for your upper body. Paddling can also offer great aerobic and cardio benefits, depending on how intense you get. Paddling can help round out your workout regimen by pairing it with something like running or cycling, which focuses on lower body strength.

Some of the Many Benefits
One of the best benefits of paddling as a workout is that it provides an incredible core workout. The core of your body is made up of upper and lower ab muscles and is strengthened through the turning and shifting of the kayak and paddles. Each turn of the kayak results in the use of these ab muscles, which over time builds them into a strong core. A strong core is important for everyone. It gives you better stability, balance, and support for your back, hips, and joints.

But of course, the paddling motion does more than strengthen your core. Each stroke of the paddle uses the shoulder and arm muscles, which over time increases your muscle mass and muscle tone. The repetitive stroke motion also can turn paddling into an aerobic workout, depending on how much you are exerting yourself. Calorie burn, of course, varies by paddler and is dependent on how hard and long you paddle, and what types of water and wind conditions you are paddling in. Continuous paddling can be compared to swimming at a moderate pace or a slow jog. Lastly, this continuous movement of the paddle raises heart rate and helps better your cardiovascular health. There aren’t many sports out there that offer such a great combination of strength training, cardio, and aerobics all while enjoying the great outdoors!

For those looking to build your anaerobic capacity, interval training can be a great way to achieve this. This entails paddling hard for one minute, relaxing for two or three and then going hard again. Interval training is very commonly done by kayak specific athletes but can be useful for anyone looking for additional anaerobic workouts.

Balancing Your Workout

Paddling offers a great alternative to more conventional workout routines. It can help break up just about any exercise program, which is great for strength, endurance, and overall fitness. Conventional workouts tend to focus mainly on the lower body, so paddling supplements these activities very well. Paddling is easy to jump right into, but over time skill and technique will improve to make for more effective workouts. We encourage you to investigate further into all of the things that will increase the benefits of paddling workout. Learning proper stroke technique and posture are both key to ensuring a good workout.

About the Author:
Joseph is an avid kayaker based out of the central Texas area. He has paddled many of central Texas’ waterways and has attended and/or participated in many kayak fishing tournaments, races and paddling festivals. He’s currently employed at Austin Canoe and Kayak (ACK) and loves that he gets to spend time working with his favorite toys.

Warm Winter Paddling, Part 3

An unusual weather pattern settled over the prairies last week. In the wake of the much-hyped "polar vortex" that brought very cold temperatures to much of the USA (i.e. the jet stream pushed cold northern air southward - sounds like "winter"), we had a week of unseasonably warm weather. With the warm winter air, comes the wind. Mid week we even had winds of up to 110 km/hr here in Saskatoon. As a result, although I had wanted to take advantage of the warmth and get out on the water earlier, I was unable to do so until the dying hours of the system (work and family life were also major factors). So, with the wind blowing about 30 km/hr from the west, I went down to the river on Sunday morning to check the conditions. Happily, the river bank created a lee blocking the wind, the conditions on the west bank of the river were calm and beautiful. Home I went to grab my kayak and paddling gear and returned to the river to get out for a short paddle.

Ready to go & dressed for immersion: NRS neoprene hood, long underwear top & bottom, Level Six hot fuzz unisuit (one-piece long undies), fleece sweater, double layer of warm socks, Level Six Emperor drysuit, Chota mukluks, thick neoprene pogies, PFD, spray skirt. 

The paddle was indeed short - my GPS tells me that I was moving for just over 45 minutes - as we had other family activities happening that day and my wife needed the car. But, a short paddle is much nicer than no paddle at all.

It was 1.6°C at launch according to Environment Canada. I launched from the west side of the South Saskatchewan River at the boathouse in Victoria Park because it afforded me good access to the river and parking. Transporting the kayak to the water had never been easier, simply sliding the boat along in the snow. Launching was OK, the docks are out at this time of year (though a piece remains this winter) and the river bottom here is muddy due to the silt that the water treatment plant just upriver dumps back into the river (an iron-rich clay that the plant filters out of our river). I chose not to launch at the piece of dock due to a large tree branch caught up under and beyond the dock. However, I was able to get in from the bank easy enough without bringing a bunch of the orange clay mud on board.

Taking a break  in the eddy to get a couple of  photos.

Looks like I really need to stretch the neck gasket on the drysuit!

With the low angle sun, the snow and water, it was REALLY bright. I must remember to bring sunglasses next time.

The open channel in the river sticks to the west shore and that shore was ice free meaning egress was possible to the west bank anywhere that I paddled. The open channel is fairly narrow from the boathouse and upriver to beyond the water treatment plant, so the current was relatively strong through this stretch. I was able to paddle upriver at about 3 - 4 km/hr. I paddled upriver about 35 minutes until my allotted time was nearly up, then turned with the river and headed downstream. Now going at speeds of up to 13 km/hr, I was back at the boathouse in just a few minutes, so continued downstream toward downtown Saskatoon, before once again turning back toward the boathouse.

The ice pushed up this large chunk, 1.5 m or so tall.

Heading downriver toward the city centre.

Happy paddler!

Strange tracks in the snow.

It was a short paddle and a beautiful day on the river. Clearly, it was so short that any sensible person wouldn't even have bothered. I'm glad I did.

GPS track overlayed on Google Earth satellite imagery. I have drawn in the approximate ice cover as a translucent white shape (I only drew it as far as the Idylwyld Bridge, though it does continue downriver to the weir). Upriver on this map is toward the bottom left corner. 

Winter Paddling, Part 2

I posted recently about our family's trip to Florida and getting out for a paddle on the ocean while there (see Winter Paddling, Part 1 here). The next day, I got out on the water again, this time with the rest of the family.

Based on a recommendation on LinkedIn, I booked a tour for my family through A Day Away Kayak Tours operating out of Titusville. We chose the "Mondo Combo Refuge tour", a tour in Indian River Lagoon at the Merrit Island National Wildlife Refuge that starts off in the afternoon and goes into the evening. The tour promises wildlife & bioluminescence. Offering a sampling of a few items, it sounded like a good fit for the family.

It took us longer to get to the launch than I anticipated, due to being more accustomed to open prairie driving, finding a giant geocache(store), a protracted pee break at McDonald's, and a stop to allow a sailboat pass under a draw bridge. When we arrived at the launch we were a bit late but our guide didn't seem too bothered (we had touched base via phone en route). It turns out we were the only ones on the tour - we were getting a private tour!

Almost to the launch, waiting for a sailboat to pass under the draw bridge. 

At our launch near Haulover Canal. We paddled tandem open-cockpit kayaks, one adult and one kid per kayak. I usually prefer something a little more sleek. 

Pre-paddle family portrait. The boat behind would just have come through Haulover Canal and under the drawbridge pictured earlier.

Kid 1

Kid 2

Strange plant life (mangroves) growing out of the brackish water.

A fellow on shore was throwing a net to catch bait fish.

Hauling in his catch.

My wife was VERY cool to the idea of encountering alligators while paddling. She got used to it pretty quickly with the reassurance of our guide, Tim. Kid 2, however, was not so happy. 

Checking out an alligator from a few feet away.

Osprey.

Woodpecker holes in the palm tree stumps.

You can see me on the right taking advantage of the high performance characteristics of the Pamlico 135T by carving a beautiful edged turn. Of course that's a joke. The thing doesn't really carve an edged turn at all. 

This must be where our herons come to spend their winter. Like all the birds we saw in Florida, they were much less afraid of us than they seem to be at home. 

Sunset approaching in the lagoon and watching for manatees.

We saw the ripples and nostrils that were the evidence of a couple of very large beasts below us. Two manatees swam below our kayaks then surfaced some about 30' away. Although we couldn't see much of them due to the murky water of the lagoon, it was a very neat experience.

Another heron.

Sunset over Indian River Lagoon.

Tim certainly had a relaxed approach.

Family portrait on Indian River Lagoon.

Just after sunset we saw two dolphins, a mother and calf. The light is too poor to get a good photo, but we really enjoyed seeing the pair swimming nearby. The adult seemed to be shepherding the calf. 

Just a sliver of a moon. My wife noted that it seems the wrong way 'round down here. 

Soon to be heading in search of glowing jellyfish.

Waiting for it to become dark enough for the bioluminescent comb jellyfish to appear. There are no photos of that because, like my previous attempts to photograph bioluminescence with a point & shoot camera, it didn't work.

Highlights of the paddle were definitely seeing the wildlife while on the water. We saw an alligator up close, heard wild pigs in the bush, saw the nostrils and upwelling from the tails of a couple of manatees, saw the dorsal fins and backs of a couple of dolphins, saw osprey, vultures, herons, and kingfishers, saw many jumping fish, heard the strange sounds of red drum fish in the dark, and  held glowing comb jellyfish with their undulating lights.

Partial GPS track of our paddle. In total, we paddled only about 7 km during 3 hours or so on the water. The straight line is where I had the GPS off for a while. 

Close up look at a part of the paddle that Tim referred to as "the Maze", where we saw the alligator and the manatees. From the water level, things seem quite natural. From the satellite views it seems clear that the area is heavily modified by humans.

A broader look at the area we paddled (purple squiggles at center). Cape Canaveral is at the lower right, Titusville is to the left, Cocoa Beach would be farther south. 

Our guide, Tim Raley happens to have an online persona as "Primitive Tim". Check out his blog at http://primitivetim.blogspot.ca/ and his youtube channel at http://www.youtube.com/user/PrimitiveTim. Here's a video he posted a few days after our tour; I wonder if it's the same 'gator? (I'm sure it isn't.)

Also check out his related blog post: http://primitivetim.blogspot.ca/2013/12/nature-had-other-plans.html