If dreaming up your own kayak design doesn’t sound like enough of a challenge, imagine also planning, engineering and building your own kayak manufacturing equipment; and then constructing a factory to put it in. And when that’s all done, producing boats, marketing them and running the entire business.
From high factory windows, tropical evening sunlight splashes across rows of candy-colored boats stacked neatly in racks. It’s after hours and the concrete floor of the Titan ‘Fantasy Factory’ is quiet; everyone has gone home except for owners Anthony Yap and Jackie Hennessy. In their office overlooking the factory, Jackie works on filling orders while Yap is in the research and design room—his favorite part of the building. Located on the edge of an industrial area in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, the Titan factory is only a 10-minute drive to the jungle, making the fantasy even more palpable.
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This international power couple are the brains and brawn behind the ever- growing Titan Kayaks. Hennessy, an Irish paddler, met Yap while he was competing at the Penrith Whitewater Stadium in Australia.
“We’ve worked 60- to 70-hour weeks for the past two years here in Malaysia setting up the factory,” says Hennessy. “Everything we have has gone into the company and it’s still just Anthony and I running the whole thing.” Yap’s name is usually the focus of attention and recognition when it comes to Titan because of his freestyle competition background, but he is quick to point the praises and credit toward his partner. “Jackie and I started it together,” he says, highlighting how the idea really came to fruition when they met.
With the new factory in action, Titan Kayaks are gaining momentum. “Our sales for the first three months in our new factory have doubled that of the last two years,” says Yap.
Titan sold their first boat in 2010, but Anthony began working on designs and prototypes years before that. The freestyle Genesis is by far their best seller, and can be found in outdoor stores around the world.
The company started production in Asia because Yap had family and connections in Malaysia. Titan Kayaks went from renting a small corner of another factory and third-party rotomolders to having their own custom-made equipment—including a new oven designed by Yap and created from scratch, specifically for making kayaks. Hennessy designed the layout of the factory with sections for modeling, assembly, packaging and storage. Together, they have developed the factory production line, trained their staff and even developed their own plastic. “We can finally have full control of quality and production times. Now, there’s nothing really stopping us,” she says.
Their next step is setting up a home base in Canada. “The dream is to have the Fantasy Factory in Malaysia that can build all the cool toys,” says Yap, “and have a design hub in Canada on the Ottawa.”
“The most satisfying moment of this work is seeing someone paddle into an eddy in your boat,” says Yap.
Yap and Hennessy can be seen on the factory floor in tank tops, shorts and sandals, going from admin to management and designer to laborer. Yap flies from one production stand to the next on his longboard. They may have a fancy new factory, but at its core, it’s still the same athlete-based company.
“We are kayakers making kayaks,” says Hennessy.
This article was originally published in Rapid, Volume 18 • Issue 3. Read this issue.
FROM A PASSION FOR PADDLING WORLD-CLASS WHITEWATER GREW THE DESIRE TO MAKE THE BEST DAMN BOATS POSSIBLE. ELEVEN WHITEWATER ENTREPRENEURS SHARE THEIR HOPES, DREAMS, FAILURES, AND WHAT IT’S LIKE TRYING TO MAKE IT AS AN INDEPENDENT KAYAK MANUFACTURER.
PHOTOS: LUIGI MAZZUCCHI
WAKA KAYAKS
SAM SUTTON AND KENNY MUTTON
THE SUN IS BARELY UP. Soft light touches the green water of the Kaituna River, making it sparkle. Giant fern trees, straight out of Jurassic Park, hang over the river as boat shaper Kenny Mutton and decorated freestyle athlete Sam Sutton slide from the riverbank into the water. Mutton and Sutton let whitewater take the sleep out of their eyes as they start their daily 6:30 a.m. lap of a river that is their backyard. If the roar of whitewater didn’t drown out their voices, a terrestrial bystander might know this isn’t just a leisurely paddle. It’s also a business meeting.
Good friends, good connections and good timing led to the creation of Waka Kayaks in 2013. Back then, Mutton and Sutton were discussing the idea of buying the Tuna mold from Bliss-Stick Kayaks and starting their own production.
“Both of us were a little out of money,” says Sutton. “I had enough to buy the mold, and Kenny paid for the set-up costs and airfreighting the mold. We both went in halves.” Mutton was the shaper of the original Bliss-Stick Tuna and Sutton helped with design and testing so it felt right that they were reunited with the design.
“Waka means canoe in Maori,” says Sutton. “We wanted to keep our Kiwi roots even though we weren’t going to manufacture the boats in New Zealand.”
Designed and tested on the warm water of the Kaituna, Waka’s rotomolded boats were manufactured for three years in the cold north of the Czech Republic. The two paddlers had contacts in the Czech making the start-up easier and knew it was close to their largest market, which meant saving money on shipping costs.
At that rural Czech factory, the building was camouflaged with no signs for Waka Kayaks out front. The houses butted up against each other along the street, giving way to a massive roller-style garage door that opened up into what used to be an old pig farm.
In May 2016, the factory moved to Italy, 40 kilometers south of Milan. “We had a bit of a supply issue at the old location when it came to production—the move has been an awesome step forward for Waka and its future,” says Sutton. “Plus, the food is really great in Italy.”
“We have only just figured out how much running a business costs, and it’s more in buying materials for full-scale production. Some things you need to buy three years supply,” says Sutton. “That makes a big impact on balancing cash and at the end of the day you are still unsure you will get a single dollar from the year.”
Using a third party for manufacturing means Mutton and Sutton have less control of production times and supply. The biggest challenge Waka has faced is keeping up with the demand of boats, says Sutton. “People knew who I was in Europe and Kenny was the man at shaping so it was easy to market the boat straight away,” he says.
When Sutton is paddling and racing around the world, it’s satisfying for him to turn up at a river and see a fleet of Wakas at the put-in. It’s even more rewarding when he hears that his boats help paddlers progress their ability. He talks about a 50-year-old Tutea paddler who fired up a run she’d only done once in her life. “She said it took her a grade above her previous ability,” says Sutton. “Giving her the chance to paddle harder whitewater again was cool.”
A handful of professional kayakers, including Aniol Serrasolses and Evan Garcia, have turned down money from other companies to paddle for Waka for free, says Sutton. “As soon as they tried it, they didn’t want to paddle anything else,” he adds. “We just want to make a boat that we love racing down in the morning and that makes you feel like a gangsta.” —Carmen Kuntz
FEATHERWEIGHT KAYAKS
BEN FRASER
IF THE HAND-DRAWN, custom art decorating the bottom of the boat doesn’t give away a FeatherWeight kayak, the amount of air between the boat and the water will. The kayaks are designed, built and tested in the Ottawa Valley, where owner Ben Fraser often takes his lunch break at Buseater. When the bright blue Marlin on the bottom of his boat is visible, it means his session is going well.
FeatherWeight’s origin story is simple. “Basically, it’s just a couple dudes who love to kayak. We wanted our own boats to be the best they could be and people liked them. There was demand so we started making them,” says Fraser.
Ottawa Valley local and freestyle authority, Dave Nieuwenhuis, and Fraser worked side by side to combine the characteristics they liked from different boats. “I missed the edges from my O-Fish but loved the forgiving rides of the Superstar,” Fraser says. The two paddlers created a Frankenstein prototype that had the whole package. Nieuwenhuis is no longer a part of the handson production but is still the creative genius behind the brand’s hand-drawn artwork.
FeatherWeight boats currently come out of an unlikely location: a small, 10by 10-foot shop in an ordinary south Ottawa neighborhood. The long hallway leading into the workspace is lined with molds piled up along the wall. A single workstation occupies the center of the room and boats, molds and materials lean against the walls and sit stacked in corners. Past workshop locations have included garages and the Nieuwenhuis family barn near the Ottawa River, but this suburban shop is much warmer during Canadian winters.
Fraser has always been self-employed, so the transition from carpentry to boat builder was a fluid one. “It wasn’t so much a one-time investment as a cumulative investment and putting in lots and lots of time,” say Fraser, who now works fulltime on boats. Fraser takes home money for the labor of each kayak but admits it’s sometimes a struggle to finance large purchases like rolls of carbon fiber cloth.
“When I can afford to build another mold I do,” he says. “I’ve managed to feed myself and keep a roof over my head. It’s starting to feel quite successful.”
Despite FeatherWeight’s growing popularity, each boat is built with impeccable attention to detail. Six FeatherWeight boats were flying high on Garborator during the Freestyle World Championships in 2015.
Materials and design are key to FeatherWeight performance. “I think both the construction—aerospace grade carbon with premium epoxy—as well as the design of the boat itself, sets us apart,” he says. “And, of course, the custom artwork.” A fully outfitted FeatherWeight goes for $3,200 CAD. Over the last year FeatherWeight has sold 30 boats.
Fraser compares paddling a carbon boat to riding a top-of-the-line mountain N bike. The all-round performance translates to a better experience. It’s easier to catch the wave, and easier to get a good bounce, which translates to easier airtime because you have a lighter boat over your head.
Positive feedback from paddlers fuels Fraser during those long days and
nights in the shop. He loves seeing others having great surfs and epic days on the water. “For me, the most rewarding part is seeing so many people having their best boating days ever.” —Carmen Kuntz
PHOTOS: JENS KLATT
SPADE KAYAKS
HANS MAYER, OLLI GRAU, MATZE BRUSTMANN, JAN HALUSZKA AND JENS KLATT
WHILE SPADE KAYAKS may be new to the game, the guys behind it are not. Together they have over a century of experience. The German and Austrian company was created from a lifelong passion and dedication to whitewater kayaking.
Founder and CEO Hans Mayer is a long-time innovator of the European kayak market; he worked with Prijon in the ‘90s, ran a kayak shop for over a decade and was a European distributor for Confluence. He always dreamed of owning a kayak company, so when he realized most kayaks weighed over 55 pounds and thought they satisfied profit margins more than paddlers, he decided something needed to be done.
The idea percolated for a while and in 2014 all those years in the industry paid off. Knowing all the right people, he was able to assemble his dream team: Matze Brustmann, renowned whitewater kayaker and extreme skier, came on board as a product tester. Jan Haluszka contributed his 3-D modeling skills. Jens Klatt became the company’s graphic designer and photographer. And the founder of Eskimo Kayaks, Edi Schnappinger, is advising.
Mayer knew that much of his kayak company’s success would come from its designer so he enlisted one of the best. Designer Olli Grau was a freestyle champion in 1995 and literally wrote the book on the sport, White Water Kayaking: The New School of Modern White Water Kayaking. He has worked with other boat manufacturers in the past, creating such classics as the Dagger RPM and the Necky Blunt. Grau’s focus is as much on ergonomics and weight optimization as it is on creating a boat that can handle the rigors of aggressive paddling.
To improve performance and reduce weight, Spade opted to use blow molding to manufacture their kayaks. According to Spade this creates a much denser and significantly stiffer hull while reducing the overall weight of the model by 10 percent when compared with a similarly sized rotomolded hull.
The only boat in Spade Kayaks’ lineup so far is the Ace, also known as the Ace of Spades (see our review on page 51). Grau and the rest of the Spade team created a sturdy cockpit featuring a direct interface between paddler and hull. The footrest, thigh braces, seat, hip pads and backrest are tailored to the ergonomics of a paddler. The design team consulted orthopaedists to ensure the seat directly connects the paddler to the boat in a way that isn’t tiring, cramped or forced.
“Everybody in the company is a paddler at heart,” confirms Jens Klatt—at the end of the day, they just want to make the best boats possible.
With no external investors, Spade Kayaks is entirely funded privately, which means this quintet can do whatever they like so long as they keep their customers happy. And so far so good—Spade has manufactured, and sold out, approximately 500 kayaks to date. For now, distribution remains primarily in Europe.
“Since our investment in the molds was so immense—blow molding is expensive!—all of us are working for free at the moment,” says Klatt. “That means we need other jobs to make a living. Therefore, the time we can spend in Spade is limited and it could be dangerous for us to grow too fast.”
So, what will the future bring for Spade?
“Good question,” says Klatt. “Slow growth with a close focus on quality is our motto at the moment. But we will keep on trying to reduce every gram we can without losing stiffness and safety features.” —Colin Field
PHOTO: HARRY GILS
ED SKRZYPKOWSKI
WHEN IT COMES TO squirt boats, surf kayaks and freestyle kayaks, you wouldn’t exactly call Binbrook, Ontario, the world epicenter of the sport. But just 27 minutes from steel-town Hamilton, resides Murky Water Kayaks; a place many of the world’s best paddlers look to when they need a custom boat.
Owner Ed Skrzypkowski is the shaper, builder, marketer and CEO of Murky Water and his passion for building boats was born of his passion for paddling them.
“We spent every weekend up on the Ottawa,” he says. “We did paddling trips down to West Virginia, Colorado, Idaho and you always wanted to design something of your own that you thought would be better. That’s how I got into building.”
He built his first boat about 30 years ago. “I bought an old slalom boat, cut it up, shortened it, flattened it, made a deck for it, and then it was my own personal design.” Skrzypkowski then spent five years working at Upstream Kayaks in nearby Guelph, Ontario.
“I kept playing around with my own boats, as Upstream Kayaks grew, but then I realized there’s no market in producing your own boats,” he recalls. “You’re better off having well-known designers and just building their boats. I also thought it would be better to be smaller and more customized.”
So he left Upstream Kayaks and incorporated Murky Waters in 1994.
“I got permission from Jim Snyder to build his squirt boat design. Then I had other designers like Ian Thompson; he came up with the Departure when he was competing for the Canadian team. We did a lot of work with Corran Addison too when he first started up with Riot.”
“More recently we were approached by Jackson to build their competition boats; the carbon fiber All Star and the Rock Star. We basically pay them a royalty for every boat we build.”
Today Skrzypkowski is still working with the same basic precepts. Producing 40 to 70 boats per year, he runs the operation with his wife on their own property. Murky Water offers a seemingly limitless range of boat construction and designs. You can customize size, shape, graphics and materials. He hand crafts boats in his 2,500-square-foot shop using carbon, polyester or Kevlar. He’ll work with you to beef up the areas that need beefing up, or lighten the lay-up where it’s appropriate. But the custom attention to detail doesn’t mean it’ll be the most expensive boat you’ll ever buy.
“My aim has always been to build the lightest and strongest boats, but also the most affordable,” he says. “I think to keep the sport going, you have to make sure the products are affordable.”
As for the future of Murky Water Kayaks?
“This is going to be a deciding year,” says Skrzypkowski. “I’ve had some issues with health the past couple of years and I realized we’re actually turning away work because I physically can’t keep working seven days a week. I’d like to see the business go into younger minds, younger hands, that can keep the products going. I’m always canvassing; wanna learn a new trade? Especially if you’re a kayaker. You have an advantage because you understand the forces these boats go through.”
As for Ed, he obviously doesn’t get enough time on the water anymore, but he hopes to change that. “I haven’t kayaked seriously for about 15 years,” he says. “I got into building because I love kayaking. Before I do the ultimate mystery move into the ground, I’d like to get a few more years in the kayak and run a few rivers again.” —Colin Field
PHOTO: HAMISH IAN MACKELLAR
TITAN KAYAKS
ANTHONY YAP AND JACKIE HENNESSY
IF DREAMING up your own kayak design doesn’t sound like enough of a challenge, imagine also planning, engineering and building your own kayak manufacturing equipment; and then constructing a factory to put it in. And when that’s all done, producing boats, marketing them and running the entire business.
From high factory windows, tropical evening sunlight splashes across rows of candy-colored boats stacked neatly in racks. It’s after hours and the concrete floor of the Titan ‘Fantasy Factory’ is quiet; everyone has gone home except for owners Anthony Yap and Jackie Hennessy. In their office overlooking the factory, Jackie works on filling orders while Yap is in the research and design room—his favorite part of the building. Located on the edge of an industrial area in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, the Titan factory is only a 10-minute drive to the jungle, making the fantasy even more palpable.
This international power couple are the brains and brawn behind the evergrowing Titan Kayaks. Hennessy, an Irish paddler, met Yap while he was competing at the Penrith Whitewater Stadium in Australia.
“We’ve worked 60to 70-hour weeks for the past two years here in Malaysia setting up the factory,” says Hennessy. “Everything we have has gone into the company and it’s still just Anthony and I running the whole thing.” Yap’s name is usually the focus of attention and recognition when it comes to Titan because of his freestyle competition background, but he is quick to point the praises and credit toward his partner. “Jackie and I started it together,” he says, highlighting how the idea really came to fruition when they met.
With the new factory in action, Titan Kayaks are gaining momentum. “Our sales for the first three months in our new factory have doubled that of the last two years,” says Yap.
Titan sold their first boat in 2010, but Anthony began working on designs and prototypes years before that. The freestyle Genesis is by far their best seller, and can be found in outdoor stores around the world.
The company started production in Asia because Yap had family and connections in Malaysia. Titan Kayaks went from renting a small corner of another factory and third-party rotomolders to having their own custom-made equipment—including a new oven designed by Yap and created from scratch, specifically for making kayaks.
Hennessy designed the layout of the factory with sections for modeling, assembly, packaging and storage. Together, they have developed the factory production line, trained their staff and even developed their own plastic. “We can finally have full control of quality and production times. Now, there’s nothing really stopping us,” she says.
Their next step is setting up a home base in Canada. “The dream is to have the Fantasy Factory in Malaysia that can build all the cool toys,” says Yap, “and have a design hub in Canada on the Ottawa.”
“The most satisfying moment of this work is seeing someone paddle into an eddy in your boat,” says Yap.
Yap and Hennessy can be seen on the factory floor in tank tops, shorts and sandals, going from admin to management and designer to laborer. Yap flies from one production stand to the next on his longboard. They may have a fancy new factory, but at its core, it’s still the same athlete-based company. “We are kayakers making kayaks,” says Hennessy. —Carmen Kuntz
This article originally appeared in the Rapid Summer/Fall 2016 issue.
Subscribe to Paddling Magazine and get 25 years of digital magazine archives including our legacy titles: Rapid, Adventure Kayak and Canoeroots.
While Spade Kayaks may be new to the game, the guys behind it are not. Together they have over a century of experience. The German and Austrian company was created from a lifelong passion and dedication to whitewater kayaking.
Founder and CEO Hans Mayer is a long-time innovator of the European kayak market; he worked with Prijon in the ‘90s, ran a kayak shop for over a decade and was a European distributor for Confluence. He always dreamed of owning a kayak company, so when he realized most kayaks weighed over 55 pounds and thought they satisfied profit margins more than paddlers, he decided something needed to be done.
The idea percolated for a while and in 2014 all those years in the industry paid off. Knowing all the right people, he was able to assemble his dream team: Matze Brustmann, renowned whitewater kayaker and extreme skier, came on board as a product tester. Jan Haluszka contributed his 3-D modeling skills. Jens Klatt became the company’s graphic designer and photographer. And the founder of Eskimo Kayaks, Edi Schnappinger, is advising.
Mayer knew that much of his kayak company’s success would come from its de- signer so he enlisted one of the best. Designer Olli Grau was a freestyle champion in 1995 and literally wrote the book on the sport, White Water Kayaking: The New School of Modern White Water Kayaking. He has worked with other boat manufac- turers in the past, creating such classics as the Dagger RPM and the Necky Blunt. Grau’s focus is as much on ergonomics and weight optimization as it is on creat- ing a boat that can handle the rigors of aggressive paddling.
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To improve performance and reduce weight, Spade opted to use blow molding to manufacture their kayaks. According to Spade this creates a much denser and significantly stiffer hull while reducing the overall weight of the model by 10 per- cent when compared with a similarly sized rotomolded hull.
The only boat in Spade Kayaks’ lineup so far is the Ace, also known as the Ace of Spades (Rapid’s review here). Grau and the rest of the Spade team createda sturdy cockpit featuring a direct interface between paddler and hull. The footrest, thigh braces, seat, hip pads and backrest are tailored to the ergonomics of a paddler. The design team consulted orthopaedists to ensure the seat directly connects the paddler to the boat in a way that isn’t tiring, cramped or forced.
“Everybody in the company is a paddler at heart,” confirms Jens Klatt—at the end of the day, they just want to make the best boats possible.
With no external investors, Spade Kayaks is entirely funded privately, which means this quintet can do whatever they like so long as they keep their customers happy. And so far so good—Spade has manufactured, and sold out, approximately 500 kayaks to date. For now, distribution remains primarily in Europe.
“Since our investment in the molds was so immense—blow molding is expensive!—all of us are working for free at the moment,” says Klatt. “That means we need other jobs to make a living. Therefore, the time we can spend in Spade is limited and it could be dangerous for us to grow too fast.”
So, what will the future bring for Spade?
“Good question,” says Klatt. “Slow growth with a close focus on quality is our motto at the moment. But we will keep on trying to reduce every gram we can without losing stiffness and safety features.”
This article was originally published in Rapid, Volume 18 • Issue 3. Read this issue.
FeatherWeight Kayaks' Ben Fraser working on a boat
If the hand-drawn, custom art decorating the bottom of the boat doesn’t give away a FeatherWeight kayak, the amount of air between the boat and the water will. The kayaks are designed, built and tested in the Ottawa Valley, where owner Ben Fraser often takes his lunch break at Buseater. When the bright blue Marlin on the bottom of his boat is visible, it means his session is going well.
FeatherWeight’s origin story is simple. “Basically, it’s just a couple dudes who love to kayak. We wanted our own boats to be the best they could be and people liked them. There was demand so we started making them,” says Fraser.
Ottawa Valley local and freestyle authority, Dave Nieuwenhuis, and Fraser worked side by side to combine the characteristics they liked from different boats. “I missed the edges from my O-Fish but loved the forgiving rides of the Superstar,” Fraser says. The two paddlers created a Frankenstein prototype that had the whole package. Nieuwenhuis is no longer a part of the hands- on production but is still the creative genius behind the brand’s hand-drawn artwork.
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FeatherWeight boats currently come out of an unlikely location: a small, 10-by-10-foot shop in an ordinary south Ottawa neighborhood. The long hallway leading into the workspace is lined with molds piled up along the wall. A single workstation occupies the center of the room and boats, molds and materials lean against the walls and sit stacked in corners. Past workshop locations have included garages and the Nieuwenhuis family barn near the Ottawa River, but this suburban shop is much is much warmer during Canadian winters.
Fraser has always been self-employed, so the transition from carpentry to boat builder was a fluid one. “It wasn’t so much a one-time investment as a cumulative investment and putting in lots and lots of time,” say Fraser, who now works fulltime on boats. Fraser takes home money for the labor of each kayak but admits it’s sometimes a struggle to finance large purchases like rolls of carbon fiber cloth.
“When I can afford to build another mold I do,” he says. “I’ve managed to feed myself and keep a roof over my head. It’s starting to feel quite successful.”
Despite FeatherWeight’s growing popularity, each boat is built with impeccable attention to detail. Six FeatherWeight boats were flying high on Garborator during the Freestyle World Championships in 2015. Materials and design are key to FeatherWeight performance. “I think both the construction—aerospace grade carbon with premium epoxy—as well as the design of the boat itself, sets us apart,” he says. “And, of course, the custom artwork.” A fully outfitted FeatherWeight goes for $3,200 CAD.
Over the last year FeatherWeight has sold 30 boats. Fraser compares paddling a carbon boat to riding a top-of-the-line mountain bike. The all-round performance translates to a better experience. It’s easier to catch the wave, and easier to get a good bounce, which translates to easier airtime because you have a lighter boat over your head.
Positive feedback from paddlers fuels Fraser during those long days and nights in the shop. He loves seeing others having great surfs and epic days on the water. “For me, the most rewarding part is seeing so many people having their best boating days ever.”
This article was originally published in Rapid, Volume 18 • Issue 3. Read this issue.
I’ve spent a solid quarter of my life teaching kayak school—the kindergarten of whitewater. Just like grade school kindergarten, there is a Zen quality to immersing oneself in the very basics of anything. A seemingly complex and dynamic activity like navigating a little boat down a moving river can really be boiled down to just a few key elements. These elements become the rules of whitewater paddling, and may also become the rules by which to live one’s life. I propose that all you really need to know about life you already learned in kayak school:
Everyone feels awkward putting on a skirt for the first time.
Wet exits are good for you. Practice makes perfect.
No, these boats are not supposed to go straight.
Say you’re sorry when you bump into somebody.
The butterflies you feel before you get in your boat will never go away.
You will grow to appreciate them.
Always make sure your spray skirt tab is out.
Water shouldn’t be forced up your nose.
Your head always comes up last.
Swimming is a part of paddling. So is walking. Smart people know this.
Even though all whitewater boats look the same, some people will argue for hours about their subtle different qualities. Stay away from these people.
When in doubt, scout.
Throw rescue ropes to friends in need. Don’t let go.
Thanks to the late, great William Nealy, scouting and spitting will forever be related.
Look where you want to go.
Always pack a healthy lunch. Stay hydrated.
Always have a plan.
Always have a backup plan.
Don’t overthink it. But don’t under-think it either.
Going with the flow is all hippie and cool, but at some point you have to take control and impose your will upon your direction (Newton’s First Law).
When you are unsure of what to do, lean forward and paddle (Newton’s Second Law… sort of).
For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction (Newton’s Third Law).
Rely on yourself. Be there for others.
Point positive.
Eddies are the calm spots, but at some point you have to get back into the current.
You get to decide for yourself the meaning of success.
We are all between swims.
Take care of rivers—these things are special.
Enjoy the ride.
Always take a minute to look back upstream to appreciate what you’ve accomplished.
This article originally appeared in the Rapid Summer/Fall 2016 issue.
Subscribe to Paddling Magazine and get 25 years of digital magazine archives including our legacy titles: Rapid, Adventure Kayak and Canoeroots.
Ben Stookesberry's walks along a bridge over a whitewater river under flags in Myanmar.
A first descent, source to sea on a river considered one of the cradles of civilization. Paddling the raging headwaters of Myanmar’s Irawaddy River down to its coastal flats was to be a different sort of journey of a lifetime for whitewater dream team Ben Stookesberry and Chris Korbulic. Instead, Stookesberry’s trip report on the failed expedition is a meditation on the extreme challenges that sunk the trip. After frustrating delays and a 10-day portage, the twosome finally put their boats on water three weeks into their month-long journey. Just 200 miles later, they were forced to pull off the river or risk being shot. While formulating a Plan B, their boats went missing. Frustrated yet undeterred, the duo known for their successful descents of unrunnable whitewater bought a local, leaky canoe. With just 75 miles behind them they were then stopped by secret police and detained for a week. So, what went wrong?
When did things start to go awry?
As soon as we got to Yagong in Myanmar our idealized plan started to unravel. The domestic flight was not going to put our boats on the plane. The country’s mentality is very strict. We paid $3,000 and had to wait a week for our boats to be transported to us. Tourist permits are very controlled and our time was running out.
What attracted you to the Irrawaddy?
It’s so remote. There’s world-class whitewater, but also this sense of a journey, traversing so many different climates and cultures, alpine to tropics. This is one of the last undammed, truly free-flowing rivers in Asia. Knowing that the government is actively pursuing large-scale dams, this was an opportunity to see it before it’s changed forever.
What firsts did you experience on the trip?
We wanted to explore more than just the so- called class VI sections of a river and I think that’ll remain part of our motivation in the future. It was the longest hike with a kayak we’ve ever done. Eighty-five miles to the put-in carrying well over 130 pounds each. It was a 10-day hike with supplies for a full month up a 4,000-foot pass. It was miserable.
How does this compare to other trips?
The difficulty with logistics was unprecedented. We knew that Myanmar has the longest running civil conflict and a military beholden to none, financed by the jade and heroin trade. The logistics didn’t seem to us to be too big of a step from boating in other places with their own unpleasant situations but this became the crux. It ended our trip.
Who killed the Mission?
After our kayaks disappeared [and Plan B with them] we bought a local boat. Covered in sun gear, we felt invisible in our 16-foot leaky canoe. For 24 hours and 75 miles it was like a boyhood dream. Then a big boat rammed us. It was military, immigration and special police. They said we didn’t have proper permits and we were put under hotel arrest.
What happens next?
This trip might have only been the first chapter. The best expeditions don’t necessarily happen right off the bat. It’s a special place. I could see world class kayaking and eco tourism creating an economy that would stand opposed to a dam or diverting the river. But for us to go back the political situation will need to change.
This article originally appeared in the Rapid Summer/Fall 2016 issue.
Subscribe to Paddling Magazine and get 25 years of digital magazine archives including our legacy titles: Rapid, Adventure Kayak and Canoeroots.
MALCOLM MACGREGOR,
1943-2016. | PHOTO: SCOTT MACGREGOR
The most common way youth are introduced to whitewater is by their families, usually their parents. Which makes sense, right? Mom and Dad love rivers and they wish to share that passion with their children. It seems only natural. Obvious. Indisputable.
Malcolm MacGregor didn’t paddle. He didn’t even swim. I don’t remember my dad ever sleeping in a tent. Instead, as a boy he was drawn to the bush with a .22-caliber lever-action Remington and a beagle named Suzie. In high school my dad won blue ribbons show jumping horses. He later rode the rails moving boxcars of cattle from Canada to Mexico. Around the time I was born he was breeding state champion bluetick coonhound hunting dogs. When a car accident in the late ‘70s left his leg a mess and his ankle fused solid, his buddies got him into bow hunting. Dad bounced his ATV close enough to the deer stand so he could crutch the rest of the way to the tree. He was not a paddler but he had the adventurous stubborn spirit of a voyageur.
During the proofing of this issue of Rapid my dad had a stroke. The week I’m usually a world away from him in my riverside office correcting spelling and writing pithy cover lines, I spent in the Hamilton General Hospital at his bedside watching his body slowly shut itself down.
On the monitors above, my dad’s heart rate trickled across the screens like standing waves in a slowly dying river. The crests and valleys became more shallow and closer together until finally their energies cancelled out for the last time. The river lay flat and motionless. I doubt my dad had any regrets. He was too pragmatic. As far as I know he’d never taken the time to think about things he couldn’t fix.
MALCOLM MACGREGOR, 1943-2016. | PHOTO: SCOTT MACGREGOR
I have regrets. I regret not taking him down a river. I regret not insisting that we spend more time together. I regret never sharing with him what was so important to me and what sucked me away from my family, away from his trucking company and away from a wonderful home.
I could have taken him, of course. Over the years I’ve guided hundreds of non-swimming fathers down rivers. I even own my own raft.
I’d think of it from time to time and call him from airport terminals after red-eye flights to somewhere. We’d make half-assed plans to get together soon. Then there were always reasons to postpone the trip until another time. Bullshit reasons like deadlines, water levels and brake jobs.
Everything in the past 25 years of my adult life has been about moving water. My children learned to swim in rapids. My dad died having never seen me paddle.
Scott MacGregor is the founder and publisher of Rapid. Telling his dad how much he loved him isthe hardest thing he never did.
This article originally appeared in the Rapid Summer/Fall 2016 issue.
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Heading to your favorite surf wave with your friends for a playboating session is a great way to enjoy a dynamic river feature. Park and play kayaking is different than river running in many ways but just as addictive. Read on to find out the seven essentials to bring to the river for your next sun-filled afternoon of carving, blunts and loops.
1. The perfect playboat
Always been a creeker? Running big rapids in a high-volume creek boat is a great way to explore new rivers, and the stability in these kayaks feels great. Playboats are a whole different animal, and once you catch your first wave in one you will be hooked. With their short length, small and square sterns and sharp edges, playboats are the ideal kayak for learning to surf. Kayaking in both a creek boat and a playboat will make you a more versatile and skilled paddler.
2. A quick and responsive paddle
There are a lot of different elements at play when surfing in your kayak and pulling off awesome freestyle moves, and the way you maneuver your paddle is a key one. Playboating requires quick and agile paddle movements, and you will want a paddle designed to help you with these techniques.
3. A well-fitted PFD
Wearing a PFD on the water in any activity is an obvious necessity. In whitewater kayaking where you can be at the mercy of river features, it is crucial you are wearing a reliable and perfectly fitting PFD. If you are a river rat who has had the same PFD for years, check the buoyancy by hopping into the water and ensuring it still keeps your head floating above the water. Any rot or degradation of the material may warrant a replacement.
4. Dry wear
Some of the best days on the river are bluebird, sunny days surfing waves with your paddling friends. Even on these summer days it can be nice to have a lightweight dry top or paddling top to keep you a bit dryer and warmer, especially if your surf sessions stretch into the evenings when temperatures dip. If you like to catch burly spring waves, a dry suit is a great investment that can make your park and play days a year round activity.
5. River booties and shoes
Having great footwear for the river will make your park and play days much more comfortable. From long walks through the forest to find that elusive wave you’ve been dreaming about all winter to climbing over rocks after a big swim, solid footwear will keep your feet safe and healthy. Some paddlers prefer neoprene booties while others are partial to shoes with a more solid sole.
6. A dry bag
A dry bag is essential for bringing important items with you at your park and play. Even if your car is just steps away from the surf, it’s nice to have a bag packed with river snacks and a first aid kit, or even your favorite DSLR in a camera-specific bag to make sure you capture great shots of your friends nailing new tricks. Explore dry bags here.
7. Gloves and mitts
If dialing down the number of surf sessions in the colder months of the year is not an option for you, invest in a quality pair of gloves and mitts. Fingers are one of the first body parts to go numb in cold water, and when you are trying to articulate a new paddle movement on a wave, dexterity is important.
Far too many trippers have awoken on otherwise fine mornings to find a bear has stolen their food pack. | Feature photo: Dave Quinn
Thriving on backcountry canoe trips relies on having a solid skill set and a willingness to adapt to always changing conditions and circumstances. Many skills are acquired through trial and error and learning from mistakes, and others can be honed before heading into the wilderness. Here are the skills seven Canoeroots staff think are essential for your wilderness canoe trip success.
7 most important skills for wilderness paddlers
Building a tarp shelter. | Photo: Dave Quinn
1 Build the perfect tarp shelter
Tarps are easy to pack and allow you to have a versatile shelter from the rain and wind. The most secure and stable tarp setups have a ridge forming the highest part of the tarp. The ideal way to support the ridge is to have a string or independent line between two trees or poles. Bungalow style roofs are awesome if the conditions of your campsite are appropriate, but often creativity is required in shelter construction.
Encountering canoe damage can be a serious impediment to your trip livelihood whether you are in the backcountry for two days or two weeks. Keep panic at bay with a canoe repair kit and the know-how to use it. A good canoe repair kit will include heavy-duty duct tape, stainless steel wire, a nail kit, ABS plumbing pipe and more.
Far too many trippers have awoken on otherwise fine mornings to find a bear has stolen their food pack. | Feature photo: Dave Quinn
3
Execute a proper bear hang
Leaving food improperly stored at your campsite can have a swath of negative consequences. A bear at your site can eat your carefully packed food, damage your boats and gear and can even lead to the bear being destroyed. Knowing how to execute a proper bear hang will help decrease the chances of encountering one of these impressive animals too close to your site for comfort.
How to use a map and compass. | Photo: Colin Zhu/Flickr
4 Know how to use a map and compass
Being well-packed with the best gear for your backcountry canoe adventure is great, but having the practical navigation skills to know where you are and where you are headed is key. Excellent navigation skills and the know-how to take advantage of a map and compass means you won’t spend an hour searching for the portage take-out or miss out on that amazing lookout point you’ve read all about. Learn how to use your map and compass to get a bearing, how to follow a visual compass bearing and how to compensate for declination.
A ditch kit is the part of your equipment checklist you should put lots of effort into but hope you never have to use. This collection of important and useful items constitutes the essentials for survival in a small, compact and easy to transport package that can help decrease the consequences of any misadventures. A great ditch kit will include high-density food sources, a fire starter, extra layers, a first aid kit and more.
It is a great idea to pack multiple sets of lighters or matches in different places and compartments on your canoe trips just in case. In the off chance you find yourself without a fire source, having the ability to start a no-match fire is an invaluable skill that will keep you warm, cooking hot food and enjoying coffee and tea in the mornings. Modern fire strikers are usually made from carbon steel and metal ferrocerium and can be found at outdoor stores. The back of your camp knife can also be used as a striker, or any other metal if it is as hard or harder than the ferro rod.
Know what to do when lightning strikes. | Photo: Raychel Sanner/Unsplash
7 Survive a lightning storm
Lying cozily in your bed at home and watching lightning flicker and illuminate your walls can be beautiful. On the other hand, finding yourself at your campsite in saturated raingear watching a lightning storm swirl overhead is often a butterfly-in-the-stomach inducing experience. We give you tips to make yourself less vulnerable in these situations, including getting off the water immediately and adopting the lightning position.
Is a down puffy overkill for après paddling? Heck no, but many paddlers shy away from feathers since damp down quickly loses its insulating loft. That’s why Outdoor Research’s Floodlight Jacket was love at first zip. This is an 800+ fill goose down puffy with an important difference—it’s also waterproof. OR uses Pertex Shield, a fusion of tough face fabrics with a waterproof-breathable polyurethane laminate, as well as taped seams and bonded (rather than stitched) baffles to shield the Floodlight’s responsibly sourced down from showers, sodden forests and soggy kayakers. Super soft lining, fleece-lined pockets and a roomy, wire-brimmed hood complete the cocoon. No more shivering through shoulder season shore lunches—the minute we’re out of our boats, we cuddle into this incredibly cozy puffy to ward off chills from sweat, wet and wind. | www.outdoorresearch.com
When your core is warm, it increases blood flow to your extremities. Cold hands and feet? Zip into a fleece vest like Patagonia’s Classic Retro-X Vest. The Retro-X outclasses other vests with hip throwback styling, and outperforms the competition thanks to a windproof-breathable barrier between its fuzzy fleece exterior and moisture-wicking mesh lining. Zippered chest and hand pockets and a stand-up collar add utility as well as panache. The vest’s high-pile polyester fleece warms our hearts—not just because it’s a great insulator, but also because it’s made from recycled soda bottles, manufacturing scraps and worn-out outdoor wardrobes.
Long before I could afford a drysuit, I saved up for a quality paddling jacket. Today, descendants of this jacket continue to be staples in my touring kit. Why? Because a versatile touring jacket like Level Six’s updated Chilko is often the best fit for all but the coldest weather and water, or heaviest conditions. To find a jacket that can go the distance, I look for a few key features. The material needs to be breathable for summer showers yet robust enough to handle spring deluges; a hood is a must, a removable and stowable hood is even better; and a double-tunnel design mates with my skirt tunnel for a drier seal around the waist.
The Chilko offers all these features and more. Level Six’s eXhaust 2.5-ply nylon fabric is waterproof, breathable and lightweight for an athletic fit without a lot of bulk. Reflective details throughout increase visibility in low-light conditions. Our testers loved the vented, generously sized hood, which zips cleanly away for days when we just needed wind or light rain protection. Adjustable neoprene closures at the wrists and neck aren’t as dry as latex gaskets, but they’re more comfortable and add versatility for off-water wear. The deep neck zipper allows venting in warm weather, while zipping up the high, microfleece-lined collar feels like snuggling into a protective scarf. | www.levelsix.com
The yellow rain slicker reimagined and re-engineered, the shiny rubbery face of Columbia Sportswear’s new OutDry Extreme Platinum Tech Shell hints at the downpour-proof dryness we enjoyed as puddle-jumping tykes. But while those rubber raincoats of old grew clammy the minute you started sweating, the OutDry Extreme has the light, well-ventilated comfort we’ve come to expect from modern waterproof-breathable rainwear.
Founded in the Pacific Northwest in 1938, Columbia knows a thing or two about rain gear—the brand was the first to integrate Gore-Tex in their parkas in 1975. Since then, Gore-Tex and similar microporous membranes have remained the standard in waterproof-breathables, by keeping water out while allowing vapor to escape. The formula is simple: sandwich the fragile waterproof membrane between a comfortable next-to-skin layer and an outer fabric treated with DWR (Durable Water Repellent). But DWR coating doesn’t last forever, and a soaked-through Gore- Tex jacket is every bit as soggy feeling as sweaty rubber.
OutDry Extreme does away with that problematic outer layer, placing a tough-yet-breathable polyurethane waterproof membrane on the outside of the jacket. The result is a shell that never wet out, no matter what we threw at it. A single ply of wicking fabric on the inside kept us feeling cool even in sticky summer heat. Plus, we love the unique look of Columbia’s bright colors and contrasting exterior-taped seams. If you want the tailored fit, premium features and breathability of a performance shell, combined with the no-fuss, permanent waterproofness of a rubber slicker, this is the jacket you’ve been waiting for. The OutDry Extreme line includes jackets and pants for men, women and kids. | www.columbia.com
JUST ADD WATER | Photo: Virginia Marshall
When it comes to insurance policies, preparing for inclement weather is a lot like safeguarding our homes and cars—we want something that’s economical and hassle-free, out of sight but always there when we need it. Enter the NRS High Tide splash jacket. The jacket has all the features needed for a changeable weather day on the water, at a price entry-level paddlers can afford. A peaked hood, adjustable cuffs and gripper shock-cord hem prevent ride-up and kept us covered. The High Tide’s relaxed fit and simple, quarter-zip anorak design means it’s equally suited for use in camp or even drizzly dog walks around town. NRS’s breathable HyproTex fabric has a supple feel that’s great for humid summer adventures. This lightweight shell had our back in rain, spray and wind, yet it’s also super packable. Reaching into your hatch for the High Tide can make good fortune shine on your next paddling adventure, even if the sun does not. | www.nrs.com
Expanding on their groundbreaking SwitchZip drysuit technology released last year, Kokatat debuted three new pieces for spring 2016, including a lightweight paddling suit, anorak and the expedition-ready Radius Drysuit. SwitchZip is a fully separating watertight zipper around the waist, allowing top and bottoms to be worn together as a full suit, or on their own as a paddling jacket and pants. The zipper’s location also eliminates the need for a dedicated relief zipper, reducing the weight of Kokatat’s Gore-Tex expedition suits.
I’ll admit, when I first fumbled with the unfamiliar waist zipper on our demo Radius, I was skeptical. Years of training had limbered my shoulders and strengthened my fingers for the more familiar over-the-shoulder drysuit tug-of-war. In contrast, donning the Radius top and bottom was like slipping into pajamas, but the SwitchZip mechanism took a bit more practice. Aside from an awkward struggle pulling my slim-fitting neoprene skirt over the lump of the SwitchZip closure, the fit in my kayak was exactly as promised. The zipper disappeared into the gap between seat and backband, and my torso felt wonderfully unrestricted. Even better, bathroom breaks were a breeze.
Kokatat makes top-quality paddling gear with all the bells and whistles, and the Radius is no exception. I never felt sticky inside the breathable Gore-Tex Pro suit, which is reinforced with tough Cordura fabric in high wear areas like seat and knees. The Gore-Tex socks and latex neck and wrist gaskets kept me bone-dry during rolling and surfing sessions. One of my favorite features was Kokatat’s new fleece-lined outer collar and removable storm hood. Buttoned up snugly, the hood fit over my face like a Bedouin head scarf, blocking stinging wind and salt spray. | www.kokatat.com
This article originally appeared in the Adventure Kayak Early Summer 2016 issue.
Subscribe to Paddling Magazine and get 25 years of digital magazine archives including our legacy titles: Rapid, Adventure Kayak and Canoeroots.
This article originally appeared in the Rapid Summer/Fall 2016 issue.
This article originally appeared in the Adventure Kayak Early Summer 2016 issue.
