Based on the Calypso’s unique performance-oriented design, the Azul Sultan kayak brings these same attributes to larger paddlers or paddlers looking for added storage capacity and sea worthiness for extended expeditions.
Azul Sultan Specs
(fiberglass)
Length: 17’10”
Width: 21.25”
Cockpit: 16.5” × 30”
Weight: 58 lbs
MSRP:$3,350
[ Paddling Buyer’s Guide: See all sea kayaks for larger adults ]
The Azul Sultan kayak has substance
The Azul Sultan measures just under eighteen feet long and is quite narrow at 21.5 inches. The Sultan is available in fiberglass, Kevlar or carbon layups and while Azul’s specs show the fiberglass weighing 58 lbs, word from the factory is that they have it down closer to 50 lbs.
Storage space to spare
In addition to increased volume the Azul Sultan kayak has large eighteen inch bow and stern hatches and an eight inch round day hatch all with watertight Valley urethane covers. Azul has further increased the useable space in the Sultan’s hatches by contouring the bulkheads into the cockpit area.
[ Plan your next sea kayaking & touring adventure with the Paddling Trip Guide ]
The larger sized hatch in the bow is a pleasure for stuffing and storing gear that could otherwise only go in the larger stern compartment. We appreciated the convenience of a day hatch for keeping things organized and quick at hand on extended trips or day outings. To complete the outfitting Azul includes full bungee deck rigging and perimeter grab lines.
A proper fit is key
Inside the Sultan, we enjoyed the long cockpit allowing even our tallest paddlers the ability to take out his 36-inch legs while still seated. The seat and thigh brace configuration didn’t seem to fit any of our test paddlers without some additional foam modification. It was simply a matter of either raising the seating position, which not all paddlers were necessarily into, or padding down the thigh braces for a more egonomic fit. Ensuring a proper fit is a must in any boat, especially one like the Sultan where much of your control and enjoyment is from being part of the boat rather than just sitting in it.
A retractable skeg is controlled on the left side by a simple rope and cleat system. The skeg springs down (and up if you happen to scrub it on something) and you control the running depth by cleating it off.
[ Paddling Buyer’s Guide: See all sea kayaks with skegs ]
The Azul Sultan rides high
The Azul Sultan is one of those kayaks that seems to be about the same speed as the one you’re in, until it suddenly leaves you in its dust. The Sultan’s large volume rides high and rolls with the water. This is both unnerving for some and a dream boat for more experienced paddlers. The long waterline and narrow beam produces a boat that accelerates quickly and maintains its speed with ease.
The single hard chine makes small adjustments in direction a quick snap of your hips at the end of a forward stroke. The long waterline of the Sultan that produces great forward speed means you have to aggressively tilt and sweep this boat around for a complete change in direction.
Without the retractable skeg, lighter paddlers in an empty Sultan will notice that it weathercocks quite easily, there’s simply lots of boat for the wind to catch and not enough boat deep in the water to keep it going straight. Dropping the skeg halfway, more gear and/or a heavier paddler fixes this problem immediately.
Experienced heavier paddlers looking for a larger volume sea kayak with a hard chine British feel will love the Sultan. The Azul Sultan kayak is an ideal guide’s boat capable of big water and getting to where you need to be quickly. In the words of an old friend and professional sea kayak guide who happens to have a Sultan of his own, “Ah mon ami, c’est moi dancing bebe!”
This article was first published in the Fall 2001 issue of Adventure Kayak Magazine. Subscribe to Paddling Magazine’s print and digital editions, or browse the archives.
It was way back in 1905 when the Chestnut Canoe Company first introduced what would become one of the most popular and enduring canoe designs of all time—the 50-Pound-Special. A dozen canoe companies now produce their own versions of the 110-year-old timeless classic, yet I had never had the honor of paddling one. That was until this spring, when a Nova Craft Bob Special was delivered to the Paddling Magazine office.
Nova Craft Bob Special Specs
Length: 15’ max
Width: 35”
Capacity: 800 lbs
Weight: 40 lbs
MSRP:$2,599 (as tested)
[ Paddling Buyer’s Guide: See the Nova Craft Bob Special canoe ]
Origin of the iconic Bobs Special canoe
First made by New Brunswick’s Chestnut Canoe Company, the Bobs Special was first marketed as the 50-Pound Special. Its selling feature, aside from remarkable stability due to its wide beam, was its 50-pound weight—10 pounds lighter than boats of a similar size at the time.
When transmitting orders, the Chestnut Canoe Company’s telegraph code for the boat was BOBS. It here the mystery unfolds.
“The code BOBS was a salute to a beloved, senior British commander in the Boer Wars, Lord Frederick Roberts,” says Roger MacGregor, author of When the Chestnut was in Flower, a history of the Chestnut Canoe Company.
Roberts’ nickname? Bobs.
Bobs your uncle
Five-foot-three and sporting a truly excellent mustache throughout much of his life, Lord Roberts was one of the most successful commanders of the 19th century. He served in the British Army from 1851 until he retired in 1904, at the age of 72.
The Chestnut Canoe Company got many of their canoe model names from high-spirited characters on both sides of the South African Boer Wars. “These people became iconic and legendary in their own way,” says Jeremy Ward, curator at the Canadian Canoe Museum. Paul Kruger and Piet Cronje are two other wartime leaders whose tactics inspired model names.
More than a hundred years after it was first manufactured, the Bobs Special maintains its popularity. “They’re tubby little things and people adore them, whether 50 or 55 pounds,” says Ward. “It’s a boat for idyllic times.”
Feature Photo: Kaydi Pyette
Bringing the Bobs Special back
In 1979, the Chestnut Canoe Company closed up shop. Nine years later, Tim Miller, owner of Nova Craft Canoe, took a stab at creating his version of the popular design.
According to Miller, the only major change to the original design was to create a fuller bow to allow for a drier ride in rough water. Miller also tweaked the name from Bobs to Bob. And of course, Nova Craft isn’t building their Bob Special out of cedar and canvas. Our test model is an Aramid Lite material. Not as authentic perhaps, but 10 pounds lighter than the original is okay with me.
[ Paddling Buyer’s Guide: See all Nova Craft canoes ]
Once the ice on the river finally broke up, I unwrapped and launched my Nova Craft Bob Special.
A stable and stalwart canoe
Miller attributes the design’s popularity to its versatility. “Today the Bob Special is a really good all-arounder; it’s a good day tripper for a couple to putz around the lake for the afternoon, it’s a nice solo for going out fishing and a good weekender for couples who travel light.” Even the late Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau soloed his very own Bobs Special.
Adding to its charm, the Bob Special is remarkably stable thanks to its 35-inch width and shallow-arch hull. This stability has made it a favorite amongst photographers, anglers and parents with young, active children.
At only 15 feet long, for me the Bob is a solo or very light weekend tripper. Nova Craft claims a capacity of 800 pounds, so it will easily float my Dutch ovens—the problem is finding the room to put them. Serious tandem trippers unwilling to strip down should consider a lengthier Nova Craft model, such as the Prospector or something from their Cruiser series.
The Bob comes standard with Nova Craft’s black aluminum gunwales, comfortable ash seats with nylon lacing, as well as ash carry handles and yoke. Nova Craft will custom build you one in a variety of other materials, including fiberglass, Royalex, Aramid, Spectra and Nova Craft’s own Blue Steel, ranging in weight from 60 pounds down to only 40 pounds.
Choose your own Nova Craft Bob Special
The Nova Craft Bob Special is a classic design in modern materials. As a tip of the hat to the old war commander and Mr. Trudeau in his buckskins, I’d recommend trimming your Bob Special in the more authentic ash gunwales.
This article was first published in the Early Summer 2014 issue of Canoeroots Magazine. Subscribe to Paddling Magazine’s print and digital editions, or browse the archives.
On November 28th 2012, kayak manufacturer Sterling Donalson of Bellingham, Washington’s Sterling Kayaks was hard at work on his newest design. With over 300 hours invested in this latest project, the fruits of his labors were tantalizingly close. Then the unthinkable happened: a fire gutted Sterling’s workshop, leading to huge losses for the brand. Now, with help from the paddling community, Sterling Kayaks is on the way back.
Sterling Kayaks rises from the ashes
Donalson, 63, is a firm believer in extensive prototype testing, and his new boat had benefited from over a year of scrutiny by many well-known paddlers, chief among them kayak pioneer and longtime Sterling Kayaks collaborator, Reg Lake. The pair wanted to produce a sea kayak as playful as their successful Reflection model, but with a touch more hull speed and scaled down to fit a smaller paddler.
Many tweaks and modifications later, the design was finalized and ready to go to mould. Within days, the very first Progression kayak would be completed.
[ Paddling Buyer’s Guide: See all sea kayaks ]
Disaster strikes the shop
Donalson recalls: “I’ve got a very sensitive nose, and I noticed an unusual smell in the shop. I was looking around for the source when I saw smoke coming out of an electrical outlet. Then the outlet burst into flames.”
Shouting “Fire!” in case his two employees were inside the building, Donalson fought his way through the smoke. Exiting the shop he dialed 911, but by the time he hung up the entire building was in flames.
Thinking quickly, Donalson and one of his employees were able to wheel a trailer of demo boats sitting behind the shop to safety. The effects of the intense heat from the fire are still visible on several of these kayaks. Other boats and mould sets that were stored outside the building were rescued, with firefighters pitching in to help ferry items away from the blaze.
More tanker trucks arrived, but with the fire feeding off of volatile, highly flammable resins and solvents, firefighters decided the safest course of action was to confine the inferno and let it burn itself out.
“I saw smoke coming out of an electrical outlet.
Then the outlet burst into flames.”
Donalson watched helplessly as the blaze consumed his moulds, boats, materials, tools and the one and only master copy of his newest design. No one was injured, but the 100-by-60-foot, rented building that housed his shop was completely gutted. Virtually everything that he’d invested years making was gone.
A fresh start for Sterling Kayaks
Nearly two months later, it’s 4:30 a.m. and I’m up in the pitch dark of a January morning to catch the first ferry off of Vancouver Island. Today’s agenda is twofold: most importantly, Current Designs Kayaks founder Brian Henry is delivering a couple of vacuum pumps, a radiant heating setup and various other bits and pieces to Bellingham. I’m riding shotgun to interview Donalson.
The equipment in the back of the truck is a generous donation from Henry and his former business partner Campbell Black. Henry owns Ocean River Sports—a paddlesports store in Victoria and a Sterling Kayaks dealer—and Black owns Blackline Marine, a yacht repair company.
We meet up with Donalson and Reg Lake on the Canadian side of the border and transfer the equipment to their truck—it will go more smoothly if they import it into the U.S.
Upon first meeting, Donalson is instantly memorable: he is a big bear of a man, and he has only one leg. Diagnosed with bone cancer at the age of 15, his leg was removed at the hip. He deftly uses crutches to help get around and seems barely slowed by the lack of a limb. This is the first clue that this is a man not easily deterred from doing what he sets his mind to. And that he is no stranger to overcoming adversity.
As we transfer the equipment, Donalson takes an informal inventory. He spies an older vacuum pump and instantly knows what brand it is and what it will be good for. He’s pleased with the equipment—it’s some of what he needs to rebuild his business.
“When I was watching the shop burn, I called my wife Marsha and told her ‘everything is burning—it’s all gone!’” he remembers. “She asked me if everyone was okay and when I said that nobody was hurt, there was a pause, and then she said, ‘Fresh start.’ Just like that—‘Fresh start.’ So that’s what we’re doing.”
The community rallies around
Many others within the paddling community (and without) have also rallied to help. After the fire, several Sterling dealers submitted new orders for kayaks as a show of support, and in a bid to ensure that there would be cash flow.
[ Plan your next paddling adventure with the Paddling Trip Guide ]
We head to Donalson’s home and sit down in the kitchen for coffee and snacks with Sterling and Marsha.
Their small kayak business is very much a family affair—Marsha does the company’s books—and their welcome is informal and warm. Lake shows me a sculpture created by combining the fire-scorched remains of Sterling’s hand-tools. A pair of pliers, saw blades, drill bits, clamps, a hammer head, shears and a caulking gun—all charred by extreme heat—have been carefully welded together into the form of a kayak.
“Friends wanted to do something for Sterling, but they didn’t have money to contribute—so they made this beautiful sculpture,” Lake beams.
Marsha relates how a local businessman called her out of the blue soon after the fire. He offered to drop off a shipping container for them at no charge—he was in the container business and said that he himself had been through a fire. He reasoned that they’d need somewhere to store things while they rebuilt.
“I told him I didn’t think that we had anything left to put in a container,” Marsha tells me. Still, she thanked him and took his number. The container now sits behind their house and is filling up with some of the supplies needed for the new shop.
Feature Photo: James Manke
A lifetime of building kayaks
Donalson grew up making things—notably building experimental aircraft with his father, whose military career lead to frequent moves all over the world, including stints in Japan, Germany, France and across the United States. Donalson was a 13-year-old Boy Scout when he built his first kayak with his dad—a Folbot Sporty ordered from South Carolina. Over the years, kayak building became a hobby, and he made many more using plywood or space frame construction.
Boat building took a backseat to skiing in the ‘70s, with Donalson becoming the national amputee skiing champion in 1972. Now in the Belligham area, he was with the U.S. Ski Team, working with Allsop ski equipment and traveling to alpine resorts around the world.
But by the early ‘80s, Donalson was once again interested in kayaks. Frustrated with trying to find a kayak that fit him properly, he constructed his own. Researching materials and construction methods, this time he chose composites, building his first fiberglass kayak. He also built himself a one-foot-controlled rudder system.
Sterling debuts the Ice Kap
The first commercially available Sterling sea kayak debuted in 2006. Called the Ice Kap, it was a modified version of Nimbus Kayaks founder Steve Schleicher’s Kap Farvel.
The Ice Kap was a small, low-volume craft, so it made sense that the next model in the Sterling line would be a somewhat larger kayak. Donalson developed this boat in-house, working with Greenland-style expert Warren Williamson and well-known West Coast instructor and Kayak Academy founder George Gronseth. After much prototyping and extensive testing, the Illusion was launched in 2007. The Grand Illusion followed, providing similar performance but with a still larger fit.
While each of these models catered to paddlers of a different size, Sterling also offered custom cut-down versions that allowed even greater fine-tuning. In addition to these three trim choices, three different coaming options further tailored the kayak to a specific paddler.
Mixing and matching these options provided a level of customization that the big kayak manufacturers simply couldn’t match. Rather than attempting mass production, Donalson chose to remain small, focusing on performance-driven designs and producing just 80 or so boats a year.
The design focus for Sterling Kayaks was also becoming well established—above all, Donalson wanted his boats to provide the highest degree of control. They must be highly responsive to input, whether traveling in a straight line, carving tight turns or surfing waves. Furthermore, they should perform in all conditions from calm water to dynamic high wind mayhem.
Designing and testing the Sterling Reflection
The next model—the Reflection—would prove to be a watershed design for Sterling, but the story of its inception is as unlikely as the events that followed in its wake.
Since the debut of the Ice Kap, Lake had become a committed Sterling supporter, attracted by the company’s focus and Donalson’s extensive knowledge of composites.
“I’m prone to playing on the front edge of things, so I like
being around the building process,” says Lake, a self-described “gizmologist” and machinist by trade. “With Sterling, we can spend a lot more time staying with the question, rather than having to rush to one possible solution.”
Donalson, in turn, quickly recognized how important Lake’s four decades of kayaking experience were to the testing process and to developing innovative new sea kayaks.
With his whitewater background, Lake was naturally drawn to highly maneuverable boats that performed on waves and in currents. He started to get interested in how to “free the stern,” as he puts it—meaning how to dramatically loosen up the tracking of the back of the boat in order to make maneuvering, turning and surfing more responsive and dynamic. He was also starting to pay close attention to how sea kayaks paddled backwards.
“With Sterling, we can spend a lot more time staying with the question, rather than having to rush to one possible solution.”
This culminated in Lake asking if Donalson had a Grand Illusion in the shop that hadn’t yet been fitted with bulkheads. He did, and Lake promptly put a seat in the boat facing the stern and paddled the kayak backwards, testing its response to all the usual strokes and maneuvers. He returned to the shop excited that the kayak handled beautifully with its pilot facing “the wrong way.” His next move was to stick two Grand Illusion sterns together to create a new boat with a perfectly symmetrical hull.
Donalson, overworked as it was, had no time for additional designs but agreed to the project, specifying that Lake had to do the brunt of the work to get the boat started, while he would then fair the result and take the kayak to the prototype phase.
“Once the Reflection prototype earned Reg’s okay giggle—he has this special laugh when he really likes something—we took the boat to Skook,” Donalson recalls. “That’s where Rowan [Gloag, producer of The Hurricane Riders rough water film shorts] and the other Hurricane Riders got to try it for the first time.”
As they say, the rest is history. The design evolved into the most successful kayak yet from Sterling. The Reflection proved to be an excellent play boat for tackling surf or big current features like the famed Skookumchuck Rapids, and earned Outside magazine’s 2012 Outside Gear of the Year award.
Gloag is an enthusiastic supporter of the design.“As soon as I saw it I wanted to paddle it,” he remembers, “I could do things in that boat that I couldn’t do before. The Reflection helped me get to that next level with my paddling.”
A kayak builder who stays true to himself
Watching Donalson at work on a kayak illustrates his flair for simple and effective problem solving. Having only one leg means that he cannot stand for long periods comfortably, so he sits on a swivel office chair bolted atop a dolly fitted with industrial caster wheels. His workstations are built at the perfect height for his seated position, and he scoots his chair around the shop floor with such efficiency that I find myself wondering why I don’t have a similar setup at home.
Donalson is a designer who firmly believes in listening to what his customers have to say. He does not subscribe to the notion of building solely what he thinks is best, but instead has been successful in seeking input from talented paddlers and translating their feedback into boats that kayakers are excited to paddle.
Sterling Kayaks also represents the kind of grassroots, hands-on, owner-operated business that you just long to see prosper. In part because Donalson is so passionate about building kayaks, but also because there’s nothing quite like sitting down for a coffee with the president of the company, sharing an informal chat about what you want in a kayak, and knowing that he’s the guy who is then going to build it just for you.
Progression continues at Sterling Kayaks
Donalson was listening when his friends, supporters and customers told him Sterling Kayaks must go on. He’s settling into his new shop, in a modern building just two country blocks north of his old site. The new boat moulds—reverse-engineered from the salvaged boats—are nearly finished. True to form, Donalson told me he took the opportunity “to change any of the little things that bugged us” when they rebuilt the moulds.
Work on the lost Progression kayak continues.
This article was first published in the Summer/Fall 2013 issue of Adventure Kayak Magazine. Subscribe to Paddling Magazine’s print and digital editions, or browse the archives.
On April 1st, 2017, Mike Ranta and his trusted canine companion named Spitzii, began their third coast-to-coast solo canoe trip. Paddling from the Pacific Ocean at Bella Coola, British Columbia, Ranta and Spitzii plan to travel 214 days in hopes of reaching the Atlantic Ocean at Cape Breton, Nova Scotia. The audacious canoeing expedition, featuring 1,000 kilometers of portaging over the continental divide, seems ordinary to the 45-year-old Ranta.
Meet Mike Ranta, modern-day voyageur and canoe tripper extraordinaire
Mike Ranta was born of Finnish-Metis descent and raised in the small Northwestern Ontario town of Atikokan. Growing up in the “Canoeing Capital of Canada,” just north of Quetico Provincial Park and the adjoining Boundary Waters Canoe Area, Ranta began embarking on solo canoe trips at the the age of nine.
“I’ve been a paddler my whole life in Atikokan, and explored the area ever since I can remember,” says Ranta. “Though I can’t remember the first time I was in a canoe, ‘cause I was too young, I’ve always felt comfortable in one.”
Ranta embarks on his first cross-Canada canoe trip
In 2011, after quitting his job in the oil industry and selling everything he owned, Ranta paddled 130 days from Rocky Mountain House, Alberta, to Montreal, Quebec to raise money that would help keep the Atikokan Youth Centre from closing its doors.
Ranta drew his inspiration for his voyage from four men from Atikokan: Don Meany, Geoff and William Peruniak and Norm Jewett. They paddled from Rocky Mountain House, Alberta to Montreal in 1967 as part of the Centennial Canoe Race, the world’s longest canoe race. “They are legendary paddlers in my hometown,” Ranta says, “I’m also inspired by my old boxing coach, Bobby Davidson, and of course my father.”
Prior to his departure, Mike Ranta had never paddled a big river, like the North Saskatchewan, nor had he ever experienced the wild winds and enormous bodies of prairie waters across Manitoba. “I learned a hell of a lot in those 130 days,” Remembers Ranta of the particularly stormy year. “How I walked away with my life is beyond me, but I’ve been hooked on long-distance canoe trips ever since.”
Inspired by the accomplishments of other cross-continent paddling teams, Ranta was convinced he could travel solo from coast to coast in a single season. Determined to try and having spent a few years training, on April 1st, 2014 Ranta and Spitzii departed from Vancouver. He paddled for 214 days and made it as far as Tatamagouche, Nova Scotia just 150 kilometers short of Cape Breton.
With two big canoe trips under his belt and a false sense of accomplishment gnawing at his mind, Mike Ranta studied the map and found what he believed to be a faster voyageur route through the prairies via the Qu’Appelle River. Effectively bypassing all the Manitoba lakes and their heinous winds, the route was Ranta’s chance to shave time off his previous trips and reach his desired goal.
On April 1st, 2016, Ranta and Spitzii once again departed from Vancouver. Along the journey Ranta invited veterans to meet him and sign his Souris canoe. Ranta and Spitzii experienced the country’s geographic diversity as they travelled up the Fraser River, through the Kootenay Mountains, the prairies, past his hometown of Atikokan in northern Ontario, along Lake Superior and finally out to the east coast. After only 200 days they successfully made it to Dominion Beach, Cape Breton, completing what many considered impossible.
“I couldn’t think of a more Canadian way to say happy birthday than to paddle across the country one more time.”
Inspired by Alexander Mackenzie’s historic discovery of the overland route to the Pacific Ocean, Ranta decided he would this time embark from the isolated coastal community some 600 kilometers northwest of Vancouver.
Mike Ranta’s 18-foot Souris River Canoes Wilderness 18 is currently enjoying its second cross-country canoe trip. It’s made of Kevlar and carbon fiber and is outfitted with custom-built plywood decks. Having successfully traversed Canada in 2016, Ranta figured his canoe—patches and all—would easily survive the rigors of another 8,000-kilometer trip across this vast nation.
“I spend almost two-thirds of each year in my canoe,” explains Ranta. “I cook on the water. I drink my coffee on the water. Sometimes I’ll spend over twenty-four hours in my canoe without getting out.”
Spitzii keeps the local wildlife in check
When curious onlookers engage the boisterous Ranta about his nine-year-old pure-bred Finnish spitz, aptly named Spitzii, the modern voyageur always answers, “He’s my chief navigator, my head bear scarer, and he’s my best friend.”
Grizzly bears were not an uncommon sight on this canoe trip. | Photo: David Jackson
Mike and his trusty companion Spitzii. | Photo: David Jackson
Spitz carry a heavy reputation as a solace, loyal breed with exceptional abilities in the wilderness. If keeping bears at bay around camp isn’t enough, Spitzii adds the necessary companionship that keeps Ranta going through the darkest days. “He’s got a real sense of humor,” laughs Ranta of his his furry friend who has accompanied him on all his major trips.
In 2016, Ranta swamped his canoe in the swollen Kaministiquia River. Once on shore Ranta immediately noticed signs of a wolf pack. “He was gone for 24 hours. I swear all of Thunder Bay came to the bush and helped look,” recalls Ranta. “The thought of hurting Spitzii is what keeps me safe out here. I don’t know what I would do if I lost him.”
“The big thing on this trip is just getting lots of calories,” explains Ranta of his eating habits. “I try to eat right from the land, but these trips don’t allow time for that.”
Mike Ranta using natures cutting board. | Photo: David Jackson
Living off the land. | Photo: David Jackson
Despite his relentless forward progression, Ranta is a master of wild edibles. He’s a keen fisherman and a college-certified chef, which all combine for many interesting meals. A typical day will see a morning of three or four instant oatmeal pouches, Nature Valley bars coated in crunchy peanut butter through the day, a lunch of fried walleye with a can of beans, and then a dinner of Ranta’s trademark, Mukmuk.
To make Mukmuk, fry a half-pound of bacon, onions and mushrooms, add water and Kraft Deluxe Velveeta on Shells, boil, simmer, add cheese, fried fish and finally a can of mushroom soup. The dish is rich in calories, full of energy, relatively fast to construct and keeps Spitzii on his toes in case bears come looking for a plate.
Ranta’s nose is often turned up in search of a nearby Tim Hortons. While most of his time is spent in the wilderness, Ranta resupplies at grocery stores when he paddles through towns. Sometimes it might only be days between a store, other times it’s weeks.
“I like to live from the land, but I love a Tim Hortons,” says Ranta through a smile. “And if the voyageurs had known about McDoubles, I think they would have loved them too.”
Over the mountains with a canoe cart
Knowing what he calls a “true” canoe trip would require him to travel with his canoe across the country by foot and paddle, Mike Ranta was inspired to design his first aluminum portage cart. He modelled his cart after the traditional Métis Red River carts used throughout most of the 19th century in the fur trade to bypass rapids and connect the prairies prior to the railway.
Dogs deserve massages too after a long portage. | Photo: David Jackson
Trudging through. | Photo: David Jackson
“My 2014 trip was a disaster. I had a horrible time pulling my canoe on the mountains that year,” recalls Ranta of his first coast-to-coast trip. By 2016, Ranta designed a high performing, rugged canoe cart that was light enough to be paddled across the country.
Last year he traded out rigid bike forks for a set of 16-inch tires and better sets of kids’ suspension forks. Ranta’s cart frame has now survived its second trip through the mountains of British Columbia, where the bulk of portaging is done.
Ranta came to realize however, there was a minor bend in his frame, thus creating a problem. Along the 1,000 kilometers of this portage, he figures he went through 16 inner tubes and at least eight tires. By the halfway point of their 2017 canoe trip, Mike Ranta and Spitzii had spent nearly one-third of their time, roughly 35 days, weather bound in heavy storms.
“It isn’t the storms or the good times that make people quit, it’s here in camp waiting where people get tired of big trips,” admits Ranta.
Hand crafted canoes made as thank you presents. | Photo: Dave Jackson
Mike’s infamous birch bark hat. | Photo: David Jackson
Craft work helps to pass the time
To combat the time spent patiently waiting for a change in weather, Ranta uses his small pocketknife to pass the time and whittle thank you gifts for those who have helped him along the way. During one particular six-day storm on Cedar Lake in Manitoba, Ranta whittled fourteen miniature canoes in the span of one tent-bound day.
Where most might stop at the whittling, Ranta emerges from his canoe with a small Tupperware container filled to the brim with fur, leathers, scissors, glue, carious and other miscellaneous crafting items to finish his tiny creations with seats, thwarts and little voyageur bundles.
If the red canoe complete with Spitzii barking from the bow isn’t a lasting enough image of Mike Ranta, his birchbark hat should do it. “I learned about building with trees, bark and the land when I was a young fella,” says Ranta as he inspects the seams of his gnarly hat. “I started making miniature birchbark canoes for friends and family. I loved the process until one day I had the idea to make a hat.”
While Ranta admits there was no real inspiration for his hat, he says it’s become an iconic part of his life. Each hat is not an easy undertaking and each one is unique. “I make a new hat for each trip. It takes me about three days to harvest and create it,” explains Ranta.
Just like a traditional birchbark canoe, Ranta uses spruce root to lash the seams and three pieces of birchbark to put the hat together. Rather than keep pine pitch and bear fat on hand, Ranta uses a mixture of ash and silicone to seal the seams.
Mike Ranta’s third canoe trip is all about saying thanks
On previous trips, Mike Ranta worked tirelessly to accomplish his goal of reaching Cape Breton, often missing the opportunity to speak with various communities and schools along the way. Having grown up in Northwestern Ontario, Ranta understands the impact an inspirational speaker can have on the youth of a small town.
This time he wants the canoe trip to be about interacting with as many people as possible. “Some kids might blow right past my message, but they never make it past Spitzii. Kids love him and he’s great with them.”
Reading through the thousands of signatures cluttering his canoe, Mike Ranta declared: “My last trips were about making it from coast to coast as fast as possible. This trip is about thanking all the great people I meet along the way.”
Mike Ranta speaking at a school about his adventures. | Photo: David Jackson
Best friends in a boat. | Photo: David Jackson
The self-proclaimed “modern voyageur” has been shaking hands with every person he’s met since departing Bella Coola, just before getting them to sign his canoe. There are signatures from Sweden, Germany, Britain, Poland, Austria and Argentina, and of course the United States. Ranta even attempted to portage right across Parliament Hill in Ottawa, drawing quite a crowd before being turned away by security. He was later invited back to participate in the parliamentary Remembrance Day ceremonies.
“I get a great energy from these people. When times are tough, I look down and know that they’ve all got my back. That really helps keep a fella going out here. We have such a beautiful country and we should all be so grateful. My goal is to spread the love and compassion that we’re known for as Canadians.”
This article was first published in Issue 51 of Paddling Magazine. Subscribe to Paddling Magazine’s print and digital editions, or browse the archives.
David Jackson is an assignment photographer traveling with Mike Ranta and Spitzii documenting their journey. Jackson filed this story while held up by weather in the Fisher River Cree Nation, Fisher Bay, Lake Winnipeg. Follow along at davidjacksonphoto.com.
At last year’s Chattajack 31, one of the premier long-distance paddling races on the North American calendar, the top three paddleboarders blasted across the finish line minutes ahead of the field of hundreds. Two were predicted—pros and perennial champions Larry Cain and Bart de Zwart—but in third place was a complete unknown, a middle-aged MD from Hilton Head, South Carolina, named John Batson. And if that was not surprising enough, another newcomer had a hand in Batson’s third-place finish: the Paddle Monster website and app.
Turning into a Paddle Monster
Batson was a newcomer to racing and to Chattajack, yet found himself drafting the two elite racers right off the start and miraculously hanging on for all 31 miles. “It was one the best days of my life,” he recalls. He credits his success to online coaching from Cain through Paddle Monster, a new service quietly transforming the SUP racing scene by turning everyday paddlers like Batson into speed demons.
Part online community, part virtual paddling classroom, and part personal coaching service, Paddle Monster—you may have seen it spelled Pdl Mnstr on stickers or hats—is a phenomenon changing the way a significant segment of the competitive SUP community trains and paddles. If you’ve noticed the average speed at your local race series ratcheting up, or perhaps an increase in the collective breadth of the latissimus dorsi or a general glow of camaraderie and pride, then I point to Paddle Monster. This fast-growing app has taken the Internet long-tail phenomenon—using the global reach of the web to aggregate people with arcane interests into a community of critical mass—and applied it to the small world of SUP racing.
Building an online classroom
Paddle Monster was founded in May 2016, by Cain, an Olympic champion canoeist and former Team Canada paddling coach, and North Carolina SUP entrepreneur, John Beausang. The pair wanted to find a way to deliver Cain’s coaching expertise to a large number of SUP paddlers without the limitations of traditional online coaching.
“The inspiration came from taking online courses and seeing how much I enjoyed working with nationally recognized thought leaders,” says Beausang. “And we witnessed how difficult it was for coaches to manage and schedule meetings and Skype calls with clients. We thought there must be a better way to be able to serve more people in a group setting, but still maintain that personal contact.
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Cain was inspired by the competitive canoe and kayak club he grew up in, where a coach posts one program for dozens of athletes, and then makes individual modifications. Sharing the program helps to keep costs down and limits the workload for the coach.
Cain and Beausang decided to set up an online forum, where every member who pays a $50 monthly fee gets access to a training plan and unlimited communication with the coach through the forum, which operates like a virtual classroom, where everyone can see and learn from everyone else’s questions and answers.
Paddle Monster becomes a community
Nearing its two-year anniversary, Paddle Monster has become a feature-rich app filled with instructional videos, blog posts, articles, discussions and a Facebook-style social media feed where members proudly share race results, training data, paddling selfies and sunrise photos from early morning workouts.
“We live five miles from each other, but we met through the Paddle Monster forum. Now we’re friends and training partners.”
The community grown from the social media features has been a big bonus, say Cain and Beausang, with Paddle Monsters everywhere getting together to train or meet up at races. The site helped Cleveland, Ohio, SUP paddlers Steven Barry and Tony Galang discover they were training around the corner from each other.
“We live five miles from each other, but we met through the Paddle Monster forum. Now we’re friends and training partners. We usually do our three hardest paddles a week together,” says Barry.
Others, like John Batson, use the app to overcome the isolation of training alone. “There are very few individuals in the area who paddle for fitness or racing,” he says. “In addition, my work schedule often limits my paddleboarding to solo sessions at odd hours. Paddle Monster allows me to be an individual paddler, but train in a group with similar goals,” says Batson.
Paddle Monster continues to grow, last year expanding to outrigger and surf ski coaching and adding four new coaches: Molokai OC-1 and SUP champion Travis Grant, six-time world surfski champion Teneale Hatton, top 10 world-ranked SUP racer Seychelle, and the Canadian Olympic team paddle strength coach Chris Chapman, who provides a paddling-specific strength program to complement the other coaches’ training plans.
Beausang is understandably proud: “Where else and in what sport can the average person be coached by an Olympic gold medalist, a 24-hour paddling world record holder, or a six-time world champion?” he asks.
Paddle Monster now has over 1,400 users at various subscription levels with up to 500 actively training.
“We have Paddle Monsters throughout Europe, Asia and North and Central America, Hawaii, New Zealand and Australia,” says Beausang.
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Orienting one’s life around elite-level paddle training is a huge commitment. “The one issue we have is for some people it’s too much,” admits Cain. “There are people who join and after a month or two they cancel and they say it’s not for them.” But he continues to be inspired by how many people embrace the challenge and get results—not necessarily at the level of Batson, but in every case exceeding personal limits as proof of the Paddle Monster motto #trainingworks.
Paddle Monsters excel in the race
Mona Barbera, 67, is a paddler from Newport, Rhode Island. After training from an instruction book for two years and continually getting sidelined by injury, she joined Paddle Monster and saw her injuries disappear and her race results improve within 14 months. Her successes include “smoking a couple of 20-year-olds” at a recent event and coming in second overall at another race where she “won a jar of local peanut butter and a bag of really good bread.”
More to the point, like many Paddle Monsters, Barbera is a regular person enjoying the satisfactions of a second life as a competitive athlete. “I am a psychologist, couples therapist and author. I have been known to show up in a session discreetly wearing neoprene under professional attire so I can hop on my board right after,” she says.
This article was first published in Issue 53 of Paddling Magazine. Subscribe to Paddling Magazine’s print and digital editions, or browse the archives.
Tim Shuff is a former editor of Adventure Kayak magazine. He is also enjoying a second life as a competitive athlete, and raced in last year’s Chattajack 31.
Rain or shine or snow, and occasionally with perfect flow, kayak festivals come in all shapes and sizes. From officially unofficial gatherings of good friends to well-funded, multi-sport mega-fests.
These unique assemblies of river enthusiasts, first-timers and nomadic paddlers produce intense challenges, excellent learning opportunities, and unforgettable memories. Add these seven kayak festivals to your bucket list.
Best Kayak Festival You’ve Never Heard Of
Neilson Race
This grassroots event is organized by the Quebec Connection boys and is the province’s sickest annual race. It’s also just up the road from the best poutine stand, ever. The Neilson Race is a pure time trial—keep your teammate close through three kilometers of intense whitewater. After the race, partake in the friendly mass start boatercross event, running all the way to the Tui-Oui Poutine stand for a meal well-earned.
BEST KNOWN FOR: A gasoline-fuelled fire takes center stage for the group photo every year—keep your drysuit on as the beer starts flying with post-race stoke.
Since 2002, the Nile River Festival has brought the international paddling community together to celebrate the 6,863-kilometer river—the longest in the world—while highlighting the world-class whitewater of the White Nile. Chill time is the only thing you won’t find during this four-day festival.
Try your hand at the big air freestyle ramp, the gruelling 35-kilometer endurance race, the Nile Special Freestyle Throwdown or the Hendri Coetzee Itanda Falls Memorial Race. It’s a perfect excuse to ditch the winter blues and enjoy one of the best rivers on the planet.
BEST KNOWN FOR: The mandatory beer funnel at the end of the three-hour endurance race.
The small town of Voss, Norway explodes with extreme sports during the last week of June. This seven-day festival attracts hundreds of athletes and tens of thousands of spectators, hosting multiple kayaking races, as well as competitions in BMX, skateboarding, skydiving, paragliding, hang gliding, rafting, skiing, snowboarding, climbing, cliff diving, longboarding and base jumping.
Over the past 22 years, the festival has become as much about the music, culture and community of extreme sports as it is about the competitions themselves.
BEST KNOWN FOR: The myriad of world-class rivers within an hour of Voss to fill your spare time.
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Best Festival For Beginners
Machu Picchu Kayak Festival
Come for the festival, stay for one of the seven wonders of the modern world. The Machu Picchu Kayak Festival takes place on a friendly section of Urubamba River in the small Peruvian town of Santa Theresa.
Just upstream of the festival location, the ruins of ancient Incan city Machu Picchu overlook the river as it flows through the sacred valley. The festival boasts warm water, and multiple races encourage even the newest kayakers with beginner categories in the time trial, giant slalom and boatercross races.
BEST KNOWN FOR: Machu Picchu is just a 1.5-kilometer hike away.
[ Plan your next South American kayak adventure with the Paddling Trip Guide ]
Kayak Festival With Best Vibes
Gauley Festival
The community, river and history all help make Gauley Fest what it is. Thirty-five years ago friends gathered to celebrate the derailment of a hydroelectric project on West Virginia’s Gauley River. Year after year the gathering grew, with more than 5,000 people attending last year.
Non-kayaking friends will love the live music, vendors, silent auction and wild party. This is the single largest gathering of whitewater enthusiasts in the world, has guaranteed flows and proceeds go to support American Whitewater—what’s not to love?
BEST KNOWN FOR: Guaranteed good times, on and off the water.
The North Fork Championships (NFC) is considered by many to be the best weekend of the year. Located on the North Fork of the Payette River, the extreme racing championship is held each year on the third weekend of June. The three races on this class IV to V+ river draw some of the best boaters in the world.
The North Fork’s accessible roadside location makes it incredibly spectator friendly. The makeshift village of friends, athletes, and vendors in the field at Crouch delivers the best times, while the infamous party is guaranteed to turn into a rowdy ruckus.
BEST KNOWN FOR: Pushing the limits of extreme racing, and keeping it family friendly—at least until nightfall.
No festival does a better job of providing activities for the whole family than the GoPro Mountain Games in Vail, Colorado. Each year, more than 70,000 people descend on the small mountain town during the second weekend of June to take in the annual display of sport, art, and music.
The Mountain Games provide multiple kid events, including a kid’s mud run, kid’s yoga, and a youth climbing competition. Just want to spectate? Get inspired watching the Bouldering World Cup series, slacklining competition, and freestyle kayak event—all within the confines of downtown Vail.
BEST KNOWN FOR: Mountains of Music provides free concerts with big-name acts every night of the festival, so you can unwind or wind up.
This article was first published in Issue 54 of Paddling Magazine. Subscribe to Paddling Magazine’s print and digital editions, or browse the archives.
The Solstice GT Titan will fit big and tall paddlers. | Photo: Victoria Bowman
Surely the hardest part about crossing an ocean in a sea kayak is sleeping. When Ed Gillet paddled from California to Hawaii in 1987, he resorted to using a double kayak so he’d have room to snooze. Other voyages, like Peter Bray’s 2001 Atlantic crossing or the 2007 Crossing the Ditch expedition from Australia to New Zealand have spent big bucks on custom-made kayaks with sealed cabins. Pity that none of these adventurers had had the spacious luxury of a Solstice GT Titan kayak from Current Designs.
Current Designs Solstice GT Titan Specs
Length: 17’7”
Width: 24.25”
Depth: 15.87”
Cockpit: 35” × 17.5”
Rear Hatch: 22.5” × 12.5”
Forward Hatch: 14.5” × 9.5”
Weight:
55 lbs (fiberglass)
50 lbs (Kevlar)
Total Volume: 140 U.S. gal
MSRP:
$2,899 USD (fiberglass)
$3,349 USD (Kevlar)
[ Paddling Buyer’s Guide: See all sea kayaks for larger adults ]
Try the Solstice GT Titan on for size
Despite the Dagwood sandwich proportions (take a look at the extra depth along the seam) the Titan’s footprint on the water is that of a normal boat. The Titan is essentially just a “double high-volume” cut of a Solstice GT hull—same length and width with an extra inch and a half of depth to give it 30 percent more volume.
Gigantic is beautiful
The Titan retains the performance characteristics that have made the Solstice GT one of the best-selling boats of all time—stability, speed, reasonable manoeuvrability. The noticeable effect is high windage, but this is a small concern for the very large paddlers and loads this boat is meant for.
The shallow-V bottom is nearly flat at the cockpit and results in rock-solid initial stability worthy of a fishing or filming (or sleeping) platform.
[ Plan your next sea kayak adventure with the Paddling Trip Guide ]
Our Titan bobbed above the water like a cork when loaded with average-sized paddlers and their gear. We concluded that the larger the paddler, the heavier the load, the better. We imagine a multitude of uses for what is surely one of the world’s largest production singles: long expeditions, cross-border drug trafficking, eco-friendly international shipping, wilderness programs for Overeaters Anonymous, “mothership” services for friends with small boats, and of course, a brilliant new solution for slumbering at sea.
Photo: Rapid Staff
Stowage to spare, and then some
We loaded the Titan for a weekend by haphazardly dumping in the entire contents of our camping and kayaking storage crates, and we still had room for all the extra gear that our friends couldn’t fit in their Greenland boats. Then, at the campsite, this scary stowaway popped out of the rear hatch and said, “Wow, these Current Designs’ hatch covers are perfectly dry.”
The sleek and practical deck layout features colour-matched, flush-mount hatch covers, reflective deck lines and recessed deck fittings. The extra-large cockpit opening and standard wide-base seat meet the needs of a rapidly “growing” population.
Feature Photo: Victoria Bowman
Steady feet
A glimpse inside reveals flawless Kevlar layup, glued plastic bulkheads and the Sea-Dog foot brace system whose pivoting pedal allows the rudder to be controlled without sliding the feet.
Whether you’re setting out on an ocean-spanning voyage or simply taking a local coastal jaunt, the Solstice GT Titan kayak from Current Designs will provide plenty of space to paddle in comfort—plus the extra room to catch a few Z’s.
This article was first published in the Spring 2007 issue of Adventure Kayak Magazine. Subscribe to Paddling Magazine’s print and digital editions, or browse the archives.
Twenty-four boats charging class IV and V rapids at the same time as quickly as possible is a recipe for disaster—the exact kind of pandemonium most people try to avoid on the river. Not at the Neilson Race. Chaos is the norm for the notorious boater cross events in whitewater’s blossoming race scene.
In the days before the second annual Neilson Race, organizers faced a predictable dilemma: would the water level cooperate? The makeshift gauge, a painted rock at the takeout, showed lower than ideal conditions.
On race day, the gauge was nowhere to be seen.
Unprecedented rainfall the night before had filled the river to the brim and then some. A nearby town was on flood alert. No one had seen the river so high.
[ Plan your next kayak racing & training adventure with the Paddling Trip Guide ]
The Neilson Race changes course
“There was no way they were going to race down the section that now had holes big enough to send 30-foot long logs into a cartwheel,” says paddling photographer Dylan Page.
A new location was scouted at the last minute and Page, who’d arrived to capture the event, was dealing with a challenge of his own: with the river spilling over its banks and raging through thick forest, where would he position himself to shoot?
“I walked up and down the course and managed to spot one tree that was overhanging the river,” he says. “I threw on my PFD, just in case, and climbed the tree.”
Knowing he’d have a tiny window of time to shoot, he readied his camera and waited for the racers.
Feature Photo: Dylan Page
“When the paddlers came around the corner, everything was in motion,” Page recalls. “Water going in every direction, the tree I was perched in swaying, kayakers going forward, backwards and maybe a couple upside down. Ten seconds later they were gone.”
The resulting photo captures exactly what Page had set out to do.
“I wanted to show the chaos that is 24 kayakers barreling down a swollen river,” says Page. “I chose to frame everyone in one shot and to exaggerate the proximity of the kayakers by compressing the perspective using a telephoto lens.”
This article was first published in the Early Summer 2015 issue of Rapid Magazine. Subscribe to Paddling Magazine’s print and digital editions, or browse the archives.
Creek boating offers a chance to get down and dirty with challenging terrain and water flows. | Feature photo: Wonita or Troy Janzen/Pixabay
Creek boating offers experienced whitewater paddlers a chance to get down and dirty with steep, rocky terrain and lower water flows. The resulting ride can be an awesome adrenaline rush, but creekers must keep a cautious eye and a confident hand right from the put-in. If you’re an aspiring creeker, follow these 10 tips to help ensure a fun ride.
Boil lines form at the base of waterfalls, along eddylines and other places with the right combination of features and currents. Boil lines are constantly changing and, if you are in the wrong place at the wrong time, have the potential to work you hard. The water is aerated and unpredictable, making it difficult to roll and easy to catch an edge and flip. Use aggressive paddle strokes to cross boil lines, and stay relaxed and in the front seat if one takes you for a ride.
[ Paddling Buyer’s Guide: View all creekboats ]
2 Beware undercuts and caves
Water should pillow up against rocks. If it doesn’t, there might be an undercut, cave or boulder sieve. The danger with these features is that the water flows into, beneath or through the rock and takes you inside. Careful river reading, solid boat control and starting your moves early are essential to avoiding these.
Understand the rules of the river. | Illustration: Paul Mason
3 Watch for wood strainers and sieves
Wood strainers act like rock sieves or noodle colanders, letting water pass through but trapping larger objects like kayaks and their occupants. Clues that indicate wood might be present include brittle banks with overhanging topsoil and many fallen trees in the forest. Wood in the water is not always obvious, so be cautious even if all you see is a branch. The safest way to manage this risk is to run the creek as if there is wood around every blind corner.
4 Size it up for yourself
At the put-in, judge whether the levels are high or low. Ask yourself if there is reason to think something downstream might have changed. Understanding flows and visual gauges and treating each creek like a first descent are fundamental to creeking. The critical element to a successful run is the confidence of individuals at the put-in. Don’t be afraid to walk away if it doesn’t feel right. If you decide to put on, make sure the group has well established signals and a plan to communicate once you’re in the thick of it. Nothing is more unnerving than working down a steep creek with someone frantically waving at you in a game of indecipherable, high-stakes charades.
5 Use care when you go chasing waterfalls
Waterfalls lure many boaters to try creeking. Sticking the line on a burly waterfall is amazing, but there are lots of things to consider in this environment. First, figure out if there is a clean, achievable line. Break the drop down into the approach, the lip, the base of the falls and a safe eddy below. If you can see a line through these four zones, the next steps are organizing safety, determining hazards and, most importantly, figuring out methods for good communication. Before anyone runs a waterfall there should be a clear plan for how everyone will safely reach the eddy below.
Boofing is as essential to creeking as ollying is to skateboarding. The goal of boofing is to get your boat over something you’d rather avoid, like a nasty hole. Practice on small pourovers with enough water for your boat but not so much that it forms a sticky hole. Square up to the feature, plant a vertical paddle in the water, wait until your bow has passed the edge of the feature and then, with an explosive pull on the blade in the water, lift your knees and shove your shoulders forward simultaneously to make the boat jump forward.
7 Hop from eddy to eddy
Eddies are the brakes of a creek boat and the best way to deal with line-of-sight issues on steep creeks. Creeking safely depends on your ability to break down rapids with lots of stops and to never go downstream of the last eddy. Precision and confidence are very important: Creeking often violates the kayaking rule of thumb that you should always have a back-up eddy below. Sometimes the micro eddy above the lip of a drop is the only out. The secret to becoming an eddy-hopping expert is to treat every eddy on a creek as do or die.
[ Plan your next whitewater kayak adventure with the Paddling Trip Guide ]
8 Hole escapes and avoidance
Playboating skills translate well to dealing with holes on creeks. The main difference is trying to cartwheel or loop an 80-gallon creek boat out of a hole. Creek boats have volume, which means they stick in holes. The other challenge is that holes on creeks may look benign at first glance but are often very retentive. Your best bet is to avoid holes altogether, or else punch them with the clear intention of driving right through. Look for water moving downstream when scouting a line through a hole and integrate the timing and power of your boof stroke to propel your boat through the sticky zone.
Never underestimate how important it is to move slowly into a rapid that needs scouting. This limits the risk of being swept downstream and gives you as many options as possible for scouting, portaging or ferrying into a line. Scouting from the outside of a bend offers the farthest view downstream but makes it harder to get to the opposite bank if needed. The first person down probes the run and sends any important feedback up to the group.
If the rapid is big enough to warrant a scout, then setting safety is usually a good idea as well. How to set safety is hugely situation dependent and should be learned by proper instruction. A couple key principles to keep in mind are that you must have a safe zone downstream that you plan to pendulum the swimmer into, and never commit yourself or the rest of the group to a worse situation in a panicked effort to save a swimmer.
Creek boating offers a chance to get down and dirty with challenging terrain and water flows. | Feature photo: Wonita or Troy Janzen/Pixabay
10 Take slides in stride
Slides are creek boating’s joy rides. The skill set is similar to that used in running waterfalls—finding a clean line from approach to exit is the recipe for success. Good forward posture and a readiness to brace at any moment will help keep you on line. Like waterfalls, when you can see your landing zone from start to finish, your ability to stay on line and upright greatly improves. Staying upright in this shallow, cheese-grater environment is your foremost goal.
This article was first published in the Early Summer 2010 issue of Rapid Magazine. Subscribe to Paddling Magazine’s print and digital editions, or browse the archives.
Creek boating offers a chance to get down and dirty with challenging terrain and water flows. | Feature photo: Wonita or Troy Janzen/Pixabay
Whitewater kayaking is ideally suited to building both muscle and camaraderie, but the sport also comes with its own set of quirks and lessons that drill themselves deeper into our brains with each passing trip. Read on to see if these takeaways from whitewater kayakers might sound familiar to you.
Whitewater kayakers understand…
1. Feeling like someone you spent one day kayaking with is a close friend
Sometimes friends you spent a single day paddling with become close buddies in your mind. We’re not sure why exactly, but we think it has something to do with the instant trust you place in the hands of your paddling partners and the enthusiasm for a shared experience. Whatever it is, whitewater kayakers know that we make friends way faster on the river than at the bar (but we like the bar too).
2. Feeling terrified and ecstatic in the same five minutes
Whitewater kayaking is so full of different features and conditions that your emotions can ride the full spectrum over the course of a day on the river. Every paddler knows the feeling of scouting a technical drop or a rapid bigger than they are used to and feeling the familiar rustle of butterflies in the stomach. Once you successfully tackle the feature in question, the satisfaction and stoke you have for yourself happily creeps in.
Many people dream of owning a beautiful home and filling it with expensive and stylish furniture. Whitewater kayakers find their dreams often take a slight detour—think no home, a sweet van, a kayak for every discipline and no schedule. The idea of living in your vehicle and paddling a new stretch of river everyday and never checking your inbox is the real American Dream for paddlers.
4. Forming a single dreadlock every summer
Constant wet hair inside a helmet, beanies and the curious lack of a comb at take-outs all season long can lead to the inevitable uni-lock. Once it gets going, it’s hard to tackle. Bonus points if your uni-lock is part of a mullet. See #5.
5. Going for a quick paddle and coming home twelve hours later
When you have a commitment in the evening but want to squeeze in a session on your local play wave or explore a new section of river, it’s easy to tell yourself (and your friends) it will be just a few hours. This is seldom true. A host of events can stretch a kayak session hours longer than expected, including lost keys, shuttle problems, a bad swim, forgetting your watch or just having a really, really awesome time on the water.
6. Getting excited when your new friend is a whitewater kayaker too
Not everyone you meet understands the thrill of spending days paddling remote rivers or how it feels to get your flat spin the first time. When you find out someone likes this incredibly specific sport just as much as you do, it’s a bit like being a kid on Christmas morning.
7. Conceiving of the mullet as an acceptable hairstyle
Short and serious on top and long and free-spirited in the back? Sign us up. Most paddlers can count multiple friends who have sported mullets. Liquidlogic even released a whitewater kayak called The Mullet. There is nothing as spectacular as taking off your helmet at the end of a long day of river running and shaking out a mullet straight out of the 1970s.
8. Risking an indecent exposure charge every time you go paddling
Few other sports include so many 30-second nudists. When the change room for whitewater kayakers is the forest, parking lot or just a section of riverbank, a few moments of nudity at the takeout and put in is par for the course.
9. Owning a $500 car and a $2,000 kayak
Whitewater kayakers understand that money is best spent on amazing experiences, not material items. You just need a car that will get you to the river and the fry truck after paddling. But a gorgeous carbon kayak or that new creek boat you’ve been eyeing? Those items are worth spending money on, every time.
10. Sleeping literally anywhere except a bed
Whitewater kayakers are well versed in the concept that anything you can get horizontal on is an appropriate sleeping spot. Think dirt patches, pallets, ditches, trunks, roofs, farmer’s fields and stranger’s couches. Real dirtbags know some minor discomfort (like having rocks as pillows) is a small price to pay for keeping costs low and staying close to the river at all times.
This article was first published in the Early Summer 2010 issue of Rapid Magazine. 
