We're all saying it wrong...

Misused word of all time - Kajak, sealskin hunting boat.

Kajak = ha - yuck

came by on Kajak - Kajakkut
Present tense using Kajak - Kajavunga
past tense came by Kajak - KajakkoKauvunga
Our kajak - Kajavut
My Kajak - Kajaga

— angusandersen900 (@AndersenAngus) August 25, 2020

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. 

Lazy Cabbage Rolls Recipe

Here is a recipe that I've made a couple of times for trips and it's worked really well. Be careful not to overdo the quantities. Although I've seen it elsewhere (can't recall where), it has been posted by "Tripper" on the MyCCR.com forums. I'm putting it here so that I can find it again more easily the net time I'm looking for it. I'm making it today, getting ready for net week's Reindeer Lake kayak trip.

http://www.myccr.com/phpbbforum/viewtopic.php?f=23&t=38377

My modifications will include using a powdered tomato sauce purchased from Thrive Life (I highly recommend their freeze-dried and dehydrated products for camping foods) and using minute rice.

Lazy Cabbage Rolls

• 1 - small head of coarsely cut cabbage (dehydrated)
• 2 - large cans of tomato sauce (dehydrated and ground into powder)
• 1 - can diced tomatoes (dehydrated)
• 1 - pound lean cooked ground beef (dehydrated)
• 1 - package of Uncle Ben's precooked heat and serve rice
• 1/3 cup - dried onion flakes
• Some - salt, pepper, garlic powder and paprika

NOTE:
When drying the cabbage, fill the trays up! The trays should be overfilled. Cabbage dries really well and you'll end up with next to nothing after it dries. You should end up with one medium freezer bag of dried cabbage for every single head of cabbage dried.

Layer the cabbage on each tray very thickly. One head will fit in a four tray dehydrator and look very overfilled as the trays will not nest properly if at all. Trust me, it will not look that way the next day after it dries. Cabbage dries down really small.

Dry the tomato sauce as leathers and grind them into powder using a blender or other similar device. Turning it into powder speeds up the re-hydration process. Store the powder in it's own bag.

How to Cook

Rehydrate the cabbage, diced tomatoes, ground beef and onion flakes in a single pot with warm water.

After about four hours or soaking bring the mixture to a boil to cook the cabbage. Cook until the cabbage is heated well but not cooked to the point of being soggy. El Dante is best.

Drain the water off into a separate pot leaving enough water equal to half the height of the mixture in the pot.

Stir in the tomato sauce powder a bit at a time. As the sauce thickens, slowly add in small amounts of the drained water as needed while adding the tomato powder until you get the desired consistency. Always add water sparingly. It's easier to add a bit of water than it is to boil it off.

Then add in the the package of rice, some salt, pepper, garlic powder and paprika to taste.

Gently heat for another 5 to 10 minutes and serve.

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.

Freya Hoffmeister - North American Circumnavigation

Freya is doing it again - she has set out on yet another circumnavigation and this time she has her eyes set on North America. She set out from Seattle on March 23rd, 2017 heading northward. She plans to do the circumnavigation in a a couple of legs, the first of which has her heading toward the arctic in a clockwise direction around North America.

I've been reading along as she posts to her blog and it's created some very enjoyable reading - I love living vicariously through adventurers like Freya. You can read her blog here: http://freyahoffmeister.com/posts/

As I write this, she is approaching the northern tip of Vancouver Island (Day 23). I decided to create a map showing her progress because, well, I like maps. :)



~ UPDATE: Freya has uploaded her track so far, and it seems to be updating with the camping locations as she goes, rendering my map above both inferior and redundant. :) Check out her version here: https://fusiontables.googleusercontent.com/embedviz?q=select+col2+from+1h2vMAo6H1yO7eRDeXfdFP1uUnTDOL06MUeAtDUws&viz=MAP&h=false&lat=63.6722663543392&lng=-114.11640625000001&t=3&z=4&l=col2&y=3&tmplt=4&hml=KM


Early in her trip she crossed over from Port Townsend, WA, to Victoria, BC. I was surprised with how easily she tosses off a crossing like that.

Open this map full screen.

Saskatchewan Paddling Symposium, April 25th

Hi folks, the Saskatchewan Paddling Symposium is less than three weeks away! April 25th is going to come very, very fast. But, everything IS coming together very nicely, albeit a tad hectically. I am super excited.

Check it out at www.saskpaddlingsymposium.com and see you on April 25th!

Pogies vs. Gloves for Coldwater Paddling

I've had some discussion (argument) recently with a knowledgeable fellow about wearing pogies versus gloves while cold-water paddling. The other fellow dismissed pogies as not adequate and argued that gloves are better because they keep your hands warm if you end up in the water, a valid point. Pogies are attached to the paddle shaft and if I swim, I'll have to take my hands out to perform the rescue and now have bare hands. The argument goes that you should always have something on your hands. 

Here's the thing, for me at least, gloves don't work. I have thick neoprene gloves and I'd much rather wear the pogies (mine are NRS Mambas). In the gloves, my hands get wet and cold. Once cold they will stay cold. Further, have you ever tried to do anything wearing thick neoprene gloves? It's hard. Grabbing deck lines is hard. Performing any sort of task is difficult, even when the hands are warm. Once you have cold hands in cold neoprene, they become practically useless for hanging onto anything smaller than a paddle shaft. 

By contrast the pogies act like a good set of warm mitts. My hands are toasty warm even when wet. I can pull the pogies off, perform some task with bare hands, and get them back in the pogies fairly quickly to re-warm or perhaps before they get cold. And my hands do re-warm in the pogies. In a rescue situation I now start out with warm dexterous hands, can get myself back in the kayak with a minimum of trouble, and get my hands back on the paddle shaft and back into the pogies. Gloves slow my rescues and keep me in the water longer. 

For me & my large hands, pogies + thin gloves does not work well since my pogies fit snug enough to make getting them on with gloves tough - and they do need to fit properly. However this may be a good option for some people. 

I should note that I do bring gloves with me when I cold-water paddle, and I keep them accessible. 

Whatever you do there is one major point that I would like to make - MAKE SURE IT WORKS FOR YOU. Try different combinations. Practice your rescues in the conditions you paddle. It's one thing to conclude that something works, but you have to ensure it still works when the sh!t hits the fan. Go for a swim then make sure you can still use your hands.

Going for an icy swim close to shore is a good way to verify that your clothing system actually works, without getting in over your head. If it passes this test with a few minutes in the water, move on to rescues to ensure that you can still help yourself. 

I enjoy paddling in conditions that many call "crazy", but I won't do it with the deck stacked against me. I paddle what might be considered dangerous conditions, in a very safe manner. 

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. 

Kayak Asshole

This is pretty hilarious. Enjoy! Thanks to the Kayak Yak blog for sharing! http://kayakyak.blogspot.ca/2014/08/kayak-asshole.html

Saskatchewan Canoe Symposium

Mark your calendars! On April 25th we are having a fantastic event to celebrate all forms of paddling in Saskatchewan. In conjunction with the 50th anniversary of one of Canada's oldest and foremost caone outfitters, Churchill River Canoe Outfitters, we are gathering as many folks as we can from far and wide to get together and share campfire stories and tales of adventure. We'll be looking at the history of paddling in Saskatchewan, the current state of paddling in our region, and take a look forward to an exciting future!

www.saskpaddlingsymposium.com

Paul Mason (accomplished paddler, author, creator of Bubble Street cartoons, and son of famed paddler, Bill Mason) will be visiting from the Ottawa Valley along with many other paddlers young and old. Ric Driediger of Churchill River Canoe Outfitters will be giving the keynote address.

In addition to a fantastic supper at TCU Place in Saskatoon, there will be exhibitor displays (including Coldspring Paddling, of course) and a "Show & Shine" for paddle-craft of various sorts that folks want to show off (I better put a fresh coat of varnish on the cedar-strip kayak!). Have a canoe, kayak or other non-motorized craft that you want to show off? Then sign up to put it on display!

Some of the vendors & organizations involved in supporting this event or attending as exhibitors (so far, and not necessarily complete):

• Churchill River Canoe Outfitters
• Clearwater Canoeing
• Maskwa Paddle Co.
• Classic Outdoors
• Eb's Source for Adventure
• Escape Sports
• Montreal River Outpost (same folks you've seen mentioned on this blog as Kisseynew Canoe Company)
• Coldspring Paddling Instruction (yup, we'll be there with bells on!)

~We'd love to have more exhibitors join us so if you're interested in a table or booth at the show, give them a shout: http://www.saskpaddlingsymposium.com/ - see the "Be an Exhibitor" tab.

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