Silence Is Not an Option

Cold Water Boot Camp

This evening I read the updated story about a paddler that died on April 1st in a lake in Washington state. In the article, one of the people interviewed mentioned a "Cold Water Boot Camp" video that they make their paddling students watch. A little googling brought me to http://www.coldwaterbootcamp.com. Wow, what a great website. Watch the video contained in the download section (for me, it worked best to download a high quality version and watch it offline), it's a 10 minute program that delivers the message. There is also a 30 minute version on DVD which I am considering ordering.

The video program features Winnipeg professor, Dr. Gordon Giesbrecht, aka "Dr. Popsicle." Dr. Giesbrecht has been informing outdoors people like me on the dangers of cold water for quite a number of years. I've seen several of his videos on YouTube and even on the Rick Mercer Report (this video is hilarious). However, this is the first time I've seen his Cold Water Boot Camp program.

Be sure to also watch some of the individual videos under the Boot Campers section. They are very informative. There are a number of things I took away from those individual videos and interviews - for one thing, the messages coming directly from the individuals really hits home. Another thing I noticed, is just how much effort it takes the rescuers to get the swimmers out of the water. Watch as they pull the swimmers in and imagine how it would be for another boater (canoe, kayak, motorboat - take your pick) to assist you if you were in the water. And in this case it was trained rescuers pulling a swimmer up onto a very stable boat with a low, smooth rounded gunwale. Doing the same thing into a canoe, or a fishing boat - good luck. Also, when the swimmers are pulled from the water and interviewed on the boat, note how bloody cold they are, and how they actually get colder than they were in the water.

There are a couple of important take home messages that I'll be better incorporating into my own paddling lessons after watching this video, some of it I knew already and all of it has been reinforced:

1. It's not hypothermia you need to worry about, it's cold shock, then incapacitation.
2. You will never live long enough for hypothermia to be a concern without a life jacket or PFD on.
3. It's ALWAYS cold water season in this part of the world.
4. Swimming in cold water is very, very hard.

To summarise the effects of cold water and the time you have to deal with the situation, Geisbrecht coined the phrase "1-10-1"

1 - 10 - 1

1-10-1 is a simple way to remember the first three phases of cold water immersion and the approximate time each phase takes.

1 - Cold Shock. An initial deep and sudden Gasp followed by hyperventilation that can be as much as 600-1000% greater than normal breathing. You must keep your airway clear or run the risk of drowning. Cold Shock will pass in about 1 minute. During that time concentrate on avoiding panic and getting control of your breathing. Wearing a lifejacket during this phase is critically important to keep you afloat and breathing. 

10 - Cold Incapacitation. Over approximately the next 10 minutes you will lose the effective use of your fingers, arms and legs for any meaningful movement. Concentrate on self rescue initially, and if that isn’t possible, prepare to have a way to keep your airway clear to wait for rescue. Swim failure will occur within these critical minutes and if you are in the water without a lifejacket, drowning will likely occur. 

1 - HYPOTHERMIA. Even in ice water it could take approximately 1 hour before becoming unconscious due to hypothermia. If you understand the aspects of hypothermia, techniques of how to delay it, self rescue and calling for help, your chances of survival and rescue will be dramatically increased. 

For more on my own experimentation with cold water, see my post from last month.

Out Practising What I Preach

Last Saturday we had gorgeous weather for the last day of March. Sunny, calm and warm with a high of 14°C. It was a great day for a paddle and with the kids at the grandparents my wife & I donned our paddling gear and got out in the kayaks for a couple of hours on the South Saskatchewan River. The river is still mostly frozen, but through the city it is open and most of it is available to paddlers.

I mention that we donned our paddling gear and that is a large aspect of what I wanted to write about. We dressed not just for the weather conditions, but for the water conditions. We dressed for immersion.

I was wearing my dry suit (Barrier suit from Level 6) with long underwear (wool top, polypro bottoms) and a fleece vest underneath. On my hands I wore neoprene gloves (2mm), and on my head I wore a thin neoprene (1mm?) cap. On my feet I wore my new (used) Chota mukluks for the second time but the first time where I was in the water.

K wore a wetsuit with long underwear underneath, and a fleece sweater and softshell jacket over top. Although K declined to test her immersion gear, if she had ended up in the water she would absolutely have been cold, but likely would have been able to function well for a period of time. She had neoprene paddling gloves at hand, but chose not to wear them.

I'll add my observations and lessons learned at the end. In the meantime here are some pictures from the outing, and a couple of videos of me in action (and getting rather wet).

Us.

Me.

K paddling the cedarstrip guillemot I built for her (and documented in detail in this blog).

Heading south, away from the boathouse and downtown Saskatoon.

The west side of the river was clear of ice but a strip ranging from a few feet wide to half the width of the river was present on the east side. 

Some of the marathon paddlers from the Saskatoon Canoe Club were also out taking advantage of the fine weather. 

We saw their sterns mostly. 

They are building a new freeway bridge south of the city. 

The geese don't mind the ice. 

Heading back toward the boathouse. 

Paddling among the drifting ice.

With the neoprene cap on, I'm ready to practice my rolls and rescues. 

A video of one of my rolls in this ccccooooolllllddd water. I only did a few! (Note that at 5 seconds in my head is high, my head reaching away from the water. That is why I needed to finish the roll with a forward scull to get a little extra lift.)


A short segment of me practising my scramble rescue in conditions that were less ideal than the pool I had practised in a few weeks earlier. Things were much harder this time.


So, after getting into that cold water and practising, I can say I learned a few things (good, because that was the whole point).

• Things are harder in cold water.
• Things are harder when you are wearing a bunch of stuff.
• Water that is at or just above freezing is really, really cold. (Shocking news, I know.)
• The dry suit works well. I was mostly comfortable in the water except for those parts not inside the suit (hands and head). 
• There was a cold spot at my lower back and that would quickly sap heat if you were in the water for a prolonged period. Perhaps my vest & long underwear top rode up?
• A one-piece insulation suit (such as this or this) would prevent that from happening. 
• 2mm neoprene gloves make it very difficult to grab deck lines even if they are not overly tight. The bulk of the neoprene made grabbing a 4mm rope from the smooth surface of the hull very difficult.
• My fingertips quickly became numb when I was in the water.This made the dexterity issue mentioned above worse and it happened in only a couple of minutes. Had I been in the water for more than a few minutes, my hands would have been like using 2x4s.
• The thin neoprene cap did not help much. Rather, it seemed to trap and hold the cold water against my skull and after rolling I had to loosen the strap to drain the water away. I think in a real world situation where the head is mostly out of the water (though with waves crashing over) it would be a net benefit.
• Holy hell that water was cold.
• The bulk of the suit and what I was wearing under it made the scramble rescue much more difficult. 
• I need to calm down and slow down my roll. Also need to calm down and think about what I am doing for the rescues. This may have been the real reason my scramble rescue failed, it wasn't only the bulk of the suit. 
• My new Chota Mukluks do not stay on when swimming. Anyone want to buy a pair of gently used paddling muks? I think they are a little large for me, which can't help. 
• The filtrate discharged from the water treatment plant just upriver of the boathouse is a muck that looks like and has the consistency of baby sh!t. 

So, in conclusion I need to:

• Keep practising.
• Consider a different neoprene cap (like this or these).
• Get pogies.
• Calm down in the water.
• Add beads to the deck lines to make them easier to grab. 
• Sell the Chota Mukluks and go back to something that I'm sure will stay on when swimming.
• Ask my wife to stop laughing at me on video.

The take home lesson of the day: Find a safe way to practice your rescues in less optimal conditions because that's where you'll need them. 

Sage in 50 Words

In order to keep track of my business expenses for Coldspring Paddling Instruction, last fall I started using Sage Simply Accounting. I am not an accountant, and using the software has proved to be anything but simple for me. Sage does have some basic tutorials online, but they only get you so far. They have lots of advanced courses on offer, but it's hundreds of dollars for those courses and the software, and my wife, tell me that I don't have hundreds of dollars to spend on becoming my own accountant (rock and a hard place, I don't have hundreds of dollars to hire one either).

This week I received a newsletter from Sage. In it, they called for users to describe what the new name they are releasing for the software this year, Sage 50, means to them. Well, I was feeling a bit grumpy and felt I needed to respond. Here is that response.

My submission for Sage in 50 words:

The name Sage 50 means to me and my business that I am not nearly old enough to use or understand Sage 50. Or perhaps, that Sage 50 is only 50% value for my company, or that I’ll only make 50% use of it, or understand 50% of it.

Perhaps not quite what you were looking for, but it honestly reflects my impression of the new name. After spending last weekend working on my taxes and bookkeeping, I realize that Simply Accounting was not really designed for the home-based business that is too small to hire an accountant and where there is no background in accounting. Yes, it's more powerful, but at this point I'd prefer user friendliness. I'm a smart guy and I am not afraid to learn, but the training that Sage University offers is well out of my price range and I cannot consider it at this point (I cannot fork over hundreds of dollars of the money I'm not making this year to learn to keep better track of the money I'm losing as a start up). The free training included gave me a start, but really was too basic to be very much help. I should add that it's not [necessarily] the software that I need training in so much as accounting. Software I can figure out.

Regards,
Bryan Sarauer

Coldspring Paddling Instruction

Think I'll win their contest? I'm not holding my breath.

On that note, I'm going to spend this morning going over the stuff I entered for 2011 and see how much was lost when I restored from a backup that wasn't as recent as it should have been (that was a computer failure, not a Sage software issue). 

Swim Drink Fish Music

Where have I been all this time? Although I've been vaguely aware of the Riverkeepers organization for some time, I just learned about this component of Riverkeepers called "The Swim Drink Fish Music Club."

The Swim Drink Fish Music Club is an online music and audio experience developed by Lake Ontario Waterkeeper in collaboration with other Waterkeeper organizations across Canada and the United States.

The Swim Drink Fish Music Club brings together artists, activists, and citizens just like you who care about clean water. By celebrating the Club's exclusive and rare music, you are contributing to the fight for swimmable, drinkable, fishable water in your community.

Check out the video with Gord Downie narrating. I love the Canadian waterscapes featured throughout. Also, at about 4:02 is the start of a shot showing Waskesiu beach (in Prince Albert National Park). I recognize the swing set & playground where I've spent time with my kids.


Artists + Waterkeepers = Swimmable, Drinkable, Fishable Future from SwimDrinkFishMusic on Vimeo.

The list of musicians involved is great and includes Elliott Brood, Great Lake Swimmers, Ohbijou, Dave Bidini, Gord Downie, The Sadies, The Gertrudes, Violet Archers, Sarah Harmer, Bruce Cockburn, Broken Social Scene, and even Pete Seeger, plus many more (I recognize the Canadian indie bands, but there are American bands and others).

As  Tim Vesely of the Violet Archers states in the intro to a song, "swim, drink, fish, music, that's four of my favourite things to do right there. How could I not want to get involved?"

While you are at it, check out North Saskatchewan Riverkeeper which works to protect the river that runs just 40km from my home.

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.