A Legend Passes On

One of Canada's most famous, most determined, and possibly most crazy, paddlers died of cancer this weekend. Don Starkell of Winnipeg was famous for several paddling achievements in his lifetime.  He was a marathon paddler at a time when racing canoes was a big deal and you could even make a living at it.  He paddled across Canada in 1967 as a member of Manitoba's team in the Centennial Canoe Pageant and features prominently in the book Journals of the New Voyageurs.  In 1980-82 he paddled with his son Dana (initially paddling with both sons in their custom-made canoe) from Winnipeg to the mouth of the Amazon, an incredible journey documented in his captivating book, Paddle to the Amazon.  A decade later he undertook another mammoth expedition, this time sea kayaking the Northwest Passage.  Again the journey was documented in his book Paddle to the Arctic, as well as in the book Kabloona in a Yellow Kayak written by the late Victoria Jason who joined him for much of the journey.

Each of the books mentioned are among the most interesting and captivating paddling-related books that I own.  If you read Paddle to the Arctic, you really need to read Jason's account (a rebuttal of sorts) as well.

Had I ever met Don in person, I am not sure that we would have gotten along.  However, despite his quirks and foibles (or more likely, because of them), it cannot be denied that Don was an amazing man.  His determination and ambition meant that he accomplished in his lifetime what very few would ever be able to undertake let alone complete.  He made the paddling world a more interesting and exciting place, and I thank him for allowing me to experience his adventures vicariously through his books.

Here is the link to the Winnipeg Free Press article about Don's death.

Edit: Here is a link to an article from Canoe & Kayak Magazine, it's a good one. 

Winter Paddling on a Un-Winter-Like Day

Mark & I went out for a paddle last Sunday, taking advantage of some weather that is very unusual for January. Mark posted some photos and you can find them here.

Since I rarely paddle in the winter, and since this type of prairie paddling is so different from what the folks on the West Coast experience, I decided to post an account of our paddle on WestCoastPaddler.com. You can find the post at the link here. Here is what I posted for those folks:

I was out for a paddle on Sunday on the South Saskatchewan River here in Saskatoon. My friend Mark (http://www.wildpaddler.ca) & I, he in his solo canoe (which he built himself) and me in my kayak, launched from downstream of the weir and paddled downstream for a little more than 4 kilometers. The upstream and upwind paddle was much slower. We were on the water for a total of an hour and a half and during that time the temperature rose from about 0°C to +4° according to Environment Canada. Winds according to EC were from the wsw 22km/hr. It was a beautiful sunny day and extremely unusual for January being that it was so warm.
The river was mostly open with just some shore ice on the far shore and on sandbars, though the amount increased the farther we went from the weir. Likewise, the amount of floating ice increased the farther we were from the weir, though most of the pieces were quite small and of no consequence.
I was dressed for immersion wearing a drysuit with multiple insulating layers of long underwear and fleece. My feet had thick wool socks, the drysuit booties, and Chota mukluks. I was too warm in the body while paddling, but tolerably so. I had a neoprene cap on my head that I wore under a brimmed hat. That brim was very helpful to reduce the blinding of the low sun which at it's peak would only have reached 15.7° above the horizon. My neoprene paddling gloves were a tad cool and one finger on each hand quickly became cold so I think I should add some pogies to the system. The activity helped keep my hands from getting overly cold and they never got any colder than they were in that first few minutes.
Toward the end of the paddle with Mark close at hand I decided to try rolling, my first rolls in these conditions. I started by lowering myself into the water using the bow of his canoe. If I was going to have a cold shock response or have an unexpected reaction, I wanted to be able to pull myself up quickly. That went well and I committed to the full roll. With blocks of ice floating overhead, I didn't spend a lot of time hanging around under the boat relaxing (as I usually try to do). The rolls went very well, and the cold was tolerable. These might have been my fastest rolls ever (the buoyancy of the dry suit over the insulating layers no doubt helped). My head was certainly cold, but my upper body did not even feel the cold. Once up, my head quickly warmed. Three rolls seemed to be enough to prove the point that I could do it in these icy conditions and we finished our paddle shortly thereafter. I wish I had taken the opportunity to go for a swim. With help at hand it would have been a good opportunity to really test my system of dressing for cold water immersion.
Unfortunately, I left my camera in the car. Mark did take a few pictures so I'll post a link if he gets them up. 

Stuff That Works

I heard this Guy Clark song again this morning played by Glenn on CFCR.  It's a great song and I love the sentiment. (I've mentioned Guy Clark and his album Boats to Build before on this blog.)  The song appears on his recently released live album, Songs and Stories.

p.s. This is my 300th published post!

Hwy 915 Into Stanley Mission Washed Out

The road to Stanley has washed out in December, Holy Smokes! Too bad none of the articles I have found say anything about what caused the wash-out. I'm not sure if there was some unusual weather or what led to this. Stanley Mission is a favourite paddling (and even snowshoeing destination).

See the brief news article here: Hwy 915 into Stanley Mission washed out.

Solo, Vancouver to Alaska and Part Way Back

This is the video diary of a novice paddler that kayaked from Vancouver heading for Alaska. It's about 2 1/4 hours longer than I knew a youtube video could be, but it's well worth it if, like me, you enjoy living vicariously through the grand adventures of others. It's an epic video to document an epic trip. I really enjoyed listening to his reflections and tales of his journey.



Watch it in HD if you can.

p.s. You don't have to watch it all at once!

Washburne

I stumbled today across a link to the website of Washburne Marine Products.  Washburne Marine Products was, at one time, the "umbrella" under which Randal Washburne operated his cottage industry activities making and selling kayak carts and other accessories.  The company no longer operating, the website now contains some of the stories of Mr. Washburne, an early author in the early days of North American kayaking, boatbuilder, and someone who prefers to be out of the limelight.  I have only read bits and pieces of the paddling-related articles on the website so far, but what I have read has been very interesting and I look forward to reading more.  The retelling of his experiences from 30 years ago offers an interesting insight into the kayaking world.

One year I was invited to appear at a kayak symposium on Lake Michigan.... Brits Derek Hutchinson and Frank Goodman were the main attractions, and I discovered that due to the powerful influence of the primary kayak entrepreneur and guru, British style sea kayaks and style were the only ones allowed. He and his sycophants quickly discovered that I paddled something non-British and rolled infrequently, and they ignored me for the rest of the weekend. I gave one seminar on kayak navigation at which both attendees listened politely and left quickly. Otherwise I spent the weekend watching Derek teach elaborate recovery scenarios in which everybody’s kayak has sunk.

This email went out to all of the Saskatchewan people on the Paddle Canada email list this morning. I'm a little surprised to see that simply copying and pasting here works.

December 1, 2011 PADDLE CANADA  PAGAIE CANADA An Introduction from Saskatchewan Regional Director, Bryan Sarauer  Greetings! I have joined the Paddle Canada Board of Directors as the Saskatchewan Regional Director in the last month, taking over from Jim MacDonald who recently stepped down from the position. I wanted to take a moment to introduce myself. I am a canoeist, kayaker, kayak instructor, year-round camper, biologist, father, and husband. I am passionate about paddling and the outdoors, and I try to share that with the people around me, especially my kids. I am also continually learning - learning how to be a better paddler & instructor, learning how to lessen my impact, and learning about the world around me. As a new Board member, I am beginning to learn what issues are facing PC, what projects it has underway or on the radar, and what concerns Saskatchewan paddlers may have. To that end, I would invite all Saskatchewan paddlers to contact me in the coming months in order to discuss what paddling issues are in mind and what should be on our radar. I want to learn what visions you might have for Paddle Canada and for paddling in general, and how I can help achieve those goals. I look forward to doing what I can to enhance paddling in our province and across the country. Cheers, Bryan Sarauer Regional Director for Saskatchewan, Paddle Canada  sk@paddlecanada.com

It's Official...

Well, the period for comment has ended and so it is now official, I am the Regional Director for Saskatchewan for Paddle Canada.

Last month I was asked by PC secretary, Doug Taylor (who co-led a course I took last spring in BC with Viki, a former Sask Regional Director), to take on the role of Regional Director for Saskatchewan on the PC Board of Directors. The position was vacated by fellow paddler and instructor Jim MacDonald who is off paddling in Belize at the moment. (It's hard to sit on a board when you spend as many days paddling remote areas as Jimmy does.) After learning more about the role and level of commitment required, I agreed to be nominated in the position. A notice was sent to the Saskatchewan portion of PC's mailing list, calling for other nominees (there were none), feedback on me as a nominee was requested (as far as I know, there was no outcry of objection), and now the byelection process is complete.

So, I look forward to learning what issues are facing the Paddle Canada organization, and to learning how I can contribute to growing paddle sports within Saskatchewan and across the country.

What A Great Stripper!

I found this today via Twitter on Water Fun Cartoons.  It's a web site with a weekly paddling cartoon so go check them out. This one's for the boatbuilders:

Derek Hutchinson on Modern Sea Kayaking

This video recently turned up on westcoastpaddler.com or via Twitter. It's Derek Hutchinson being interviewed on the beach during the 2007 West Coast Sea Kayak Symposium. He provides some pretty interesting perspectives on a variety of aspects of sea kayaking in Britain versus North America, and the 40 years ago versus now. Arrogant and out to lunch, or a genius and visionary pioneer? Some of each, I suppose.



Not coincidentally, here is an article from Adventure Kayak Magazine from 2008 that was posted today on the Adventure Kayak blog.

The Fat Paddler Talks About His Book And Depression

In the video below, Sean Smith, author of the recently released book, The Fat Paddler, talks about some of his motivations for creating his blog and for writing the book.  I have been an occasional reader of the blog for years and so this book is high on my "to read" list.  It has been getting great reviews from around the paddling world (here's one and here's another).

Dave Learns About Boatbuilding

David Letterman learns about boatbuilding and woodworking from "Parks and Recreation" actor, Nick Offerman. OK, I had no idea who that was, or what Parks and Recreation was, so I had to look it up.

Soggy Bottom Boys And Their Constant Sorrows

(I posted this also over on the NSE blog, but it's so good I thought it deserved the re-posting.)

Great idea for a video, but their execution could use some work. ;)



What a great finish!

Thanks to Paddling.net for bringing this video to my attention.

Photos From The Broken Islands Group

Last summer our family canoed on the west coast, paddling in to the Broken Islands Group, part of Pacific Rim National Park. It occurred to me this evening that I never wrote up a trip report or posted the photos from that trip. Here, at least, are some photos from this fantastic 5-day canoe trip in BC. The captions should help to explain some details.
 

A Song for the End of Summer