Day 1 At Deep Creek 2014

Photo: Courtesy Adventure Sports Center International — Day 1 At Deep Creek 2014

The top of a mountain is not the place you’d expect to find a world-class whitewater facility, but in the Appalachian Mountains of Northwest Maryland, the country’s second artificial whitewater park was built in 2006. Why here, when some of the country’s best natural runs are nearby? Within an hour’s drive there’s the Upper and Lower Youghiogheny, the Cheat and my favourite, the Savage River. It is the latter that planted the seed for “ASCI,” Adventure Sports Center International’s artificial venue on top of the WISP Ski Resort on Deep Creek Lake to take form. Regular releases for Savage River paddling were becoming increasingly scarce even with the immense promotion and infrastructure outlay of Garret County for the 1989 World Wildwater & Slalom championships; only the second time the World Championships were held outside of Europe (first were in 1979, Jonquiere, Quebec).

Using the momentum of the ’89 World’s, the idea of an artificial course was hatched. The Atlanta Olympic Course designers of the Ocoee River venue were called upon to utilize the existing water already pumped up the mountain for snow making. Alongside the whitewater park, mountain biking was facilitated and real-estate rose in value for the struggling resort. Today, there are as many condos on the top of the mountain, as below.

25 years later, the worlds return to Garret County, MD. Opening Ceremonies for the four days of competition occurred on Wednesday evening with 45 Nations walking from Garret College to McHendry, Maryland. This is ‘cottage country’ for Washington, DC and Pittsburgh with summer residents excited to cheer on their country’s men and women as they take on the World on home turf. Fireworks launched the event.

Home course advantage in Canoe Slalom is huge. Not only is water time expensive, it’s not always running – unless you live here.

Competition favourites:

C-1 Men: David Florence, GBR; Michal Martikan, SVK; Matej Benus, SVK; Denis Gardaud, FRA; Wildcard: Ander Elosegi, ESP

C-1 Women: Jessica Fox, AUS; Mallory Franklin, GBR; Rosalyn Lawrence, AUS; Wildcard: Haley Daniels, CAN

K-1 Men: Jiri Prskavec, CZE; Vit Prindis, CZE; Sebastian Schubert, GER; Michal Smolen, USA; Boris Neveu, FRA; Wildcard: Ben Hayward, CAN

K-1Women: Corinna Kuhnle, AUT; Emilie Fer, FR; Stepanke Hilgertova, CZE; Ricarda Funk, GER; Wildcard: Nouria Newman, FRA

C-2 Men: Skantor/Skantor, SK; K. Gauthier/M Peche, FRA; D Florence/R Hounslow,GBR Wildcard: C Eichfeld/D McEwen, USA

Watch results live on Canoe ICF.

Claudia Kerckhoff-van Wijk is a ten time Canadian Slalom champion, 5^th 1979 Worlds in Jonquiere, Bronze medallist in Slalom, and owner of Madawaska Kanu Centre and OWL Rafting.

Werner Paddles Demshitz Limited Edition Paddles

Photo: Courtesy Werner Paddles — Werner Paddles Demshitz Limited Edition Paddles

The following is a press release from Werner Paddles, September 17, 2014.

In the late ‘50s Martha and Werner Sr. took their family paddling and a love affair was born. More than just the time on the water, it was the travel to exciting places, the camping, the time around the fire. Family and friends, new and old. Adventures were had, new ond were hashed out and memories that would last a lifetime were made. Through it all, Werner Paddles was born.

Today we still live this lifestyle. We live it through our own adventures, and through those that work for and with us. We live it through our team members, and with our paddles that travel to the world’s rivers in the hands of stoked boaters. So help us celebrate that lifestyle with our Demshitz limited edition. Who embodies the river lifestyle better?  

Available in Demshitz-trusted and approved Powerhouse and Sherpa models, in all shaft options, this limited edition color and graphics package hits stores 9/18/14 and lives on until Demshitz decides.

The story behind Demshitz:

“What are them shits up to now?” “Where them shits get off to this time?” These were the words that started it all, a disgruntled Jay Seiler and “Big Dave” Fusilli yelling out from a campfire wondering where their boys had gotten off to—a long day on the river wasn’t enough to tire their rambunctious energy. It all started with family, Jay Seiler and his two boys Jared and Graham, and “Big Dave” and Dave Fusilli. The river lifestyle was THE lifestyle. As the boys turned to men, their passion for pushing the limits of their paddling—and maybe the partying too, at times—drew attention. More and more people wanted to be part of that energy, Demshitz was born, and more friends joined their extended family. Where Demshitz headed now? Well, they continue to push the limits, showing their talents on the river with a wry smile. Never forgetting the time their dads spent with them, they’re giving that gift back to others who want to laugh, learn, follow a line or share a beer. When it comes down to it, we’re all Demshitz, so let’s go celebrate the river lifestyle.

What’s In the Canadian Canoe Museum

“It’s astonishing just how sophisticated these kayak designs are,” says Canadian Canoe Museum curator Jeremy Ward, gesturing to a wall of elegant Greenland kayaks. “If you look at the influences of these very traditional forms on contemporary touring kayaks, you can see all of the design hallmarks.” The narrow beam, low volume and hard chines that today allow efficient touring and rolling, were originally designed to make the Greenland kayak the ultimate hunting craft. “If you’re hunting narwhal, beluga or seal with a harpoon, to get close enough you need a long, narrow, fast kayak, which is inherently unstable,” explains Ward. “One hand throws the harpoon while the other holds the paddle out to the side to stabilize the kayak.”

Across the room, a display of baidarka from the Western Arctic and Aleutian Islands further illustrates how hunting habits influence kayak design. “Baidarka is not an Aleutian word, it’s Russian,” says Ward. “During the Russian fur trading period, baidarka were used to access the kelp beds and hunt sea otter. This is a very rare three-person baidarka from the late 19th century that may have had a Russian agent overseeing the hunt in the middle cockpit with a paddler at either end.”

The gunwale of this circa 1930s East Hudson Bay kayak frame is composed of several pieces of smaller wood joined together, illustrating the resourcefulness
of early builders and their clever use of available materials. “Working above the treeline, assembling pieces of driftwood into a kayak frame is a tough job,” explains Ward. “You’d be accumulating wood over a long time to get enough to put together a framework.”

[ View the largest selection of boats and gear in the Paddling Buyer’s Guide ]

The skins of ringed seals, like this one, were preferred for covering the kayak frame. The cleaned skins were stitched together along waterproof, overlapping seams using braided sinew or, in more recent times, scavenged materials such as dental floss or sewing thread. Once the skins were joined into a sheet, it was stretched tightly around the kayak and sewn along the top.

“We had an Inuk visitor from Greenland who was an avid competitive kayaker, and he said ‘You need to take the skins off of these boats,’” Ward recalls. “When you look at the frame stringers, you can actually see the hull is being compressed by the shrinking of the skin over time. From a traditional user’s point of view, the skin was something that would get worn out or rot, and you would just remove and replace it. But for us to remove the skin is to take away the female contribution to the hull. Typically the framework was made by men, and the skins were sewn together in a stitching party by women. It’s a real community effort to make one boat.”

Along with ever-changing displays, the museum offers hands-on programming for visitors. This model kayak frame is one of five kits created by museum staff for school programs. “We based the design on a Copper Inuit kayak and used mortise and tenon joints and artificial sinew lashing so the kit can be assembled and taken apart many times,” explains Ward.

This article first appeared in the Summer 2014 issue of Adventure Kayak Magazine. Subscribe to Paddling Magazine and get 25 years of digital magazine archives including our legacy titles: Rapid, Adventure Kayak and Canoeroots.

Deep Creek 2014 ICF Canoe Slalom World Championships

Photo: Screen capture We Are Here Are You + Opening Ceremony and World Championship Kick-Off — Deep Creek 2014 ICF Canoe Slalom World Championships

The Deep Creek 2014 ICF Canoe Slalom World Championships start tomorrow at The Adventure Sport Center International in Garrett County, Maryland. Stay tuned to Rapid magazine for coverage of the event when the competition heats begin on Thursday, September 18.

Avalon Peninsula: Exploring Newfoundland’s Eastern Eden

Lee Gilbert escaped a landlocked life in the city to return to his birthplace on Newfoundland’s Avalon Peninsula, where he now pursues a quieter pace and his passion for paddling, writing and photography.

THE ROCK. Home to the most easterly shore in North America, isolated from the rest of the continent by frigid seas and a quirky, half-hour-ahead time zone all its own. Newfoundland is a place where one never knows what secrets the next cove holds, and a bastion for the childlike wonder those discoveries instill.

The waters around the Avalon are nearly 20 degrees Fahrenheit colder than the same latitudes in the Pacific. The culprit is the Labrador Current, described by Newfoundland artist Christopher Pratt as “a relentless flood of molten ice, the bloodstream of our near sub-Arctic climate.” I’ve learned to embrace the unsettled weather. Briny bays where the sea has humbled me with four-meter waves and howling gales; tranquil open ocean and brilliant sunshine; the quiet of solo paddling in a thick fog.

I’ve come to expect the sublime: close encounters with icebergs and whales, hidden caves tucked behind waterfalls, bedding down in the same forgotten coves as two-millennia-old Paleo-Eskimo peoples. Between the quaint coastal villages lie some of the last vestiges of true freedom in a prodigiously encroaching civilized world.

TRIPS

If you have a half-day enjoy the sea stacks, arches and pristine pebble beaches of sheltered Aquaforte Harbour, paddling east from the community wharf in Aquaforte to where Spout River Falls tumbles into the ocean.

If you have a day and the forecast is calm, launch from Winterton and head 10 kilometers north to Hant’s Harbour along the uninhabited outer coast of Trinity Bay, gaping up at 460-foot cliffs.

If you have a weekend tour historic Conception Bay from the shipwrecks of Avondale to the archaeology site at Cupids. En route, explore towering lighthouses, dramatic headlands, quiet coves and a 19th-century copper mine.

If you have a week paddle from Hopeall to Sunnyside in Trinity Bay. Untouched coastline and wild beauty mingle with resettled towns and colorful fishing communities with equally colorful names, like Dildo and Spread Eagle.

Avalon Peninsula- Exploring Newfoundland’s Eastern Eden| PHOTO: LEE GILBERT

STATS

POPULATION DENSITY

17 per square mile (outside St. John’s)

AVERAGE SUMMER HIGH

66°F (August)

WILDLIFE

Whale, porpoise, sea otter, seal, moose, caribou, fox, coyote, bald eagle, puffin and other seabirds.

CAMPSITES

Cobblestone, grass meadow, free-camping on any flat spot along the shore.

EXPOSURE

Easterlies draw 2,000 miles of fetch from Ireland. Also watch for gusting offshore katabatic winds.

DIVERSION

Build a traditional Newfoundland punt or dory at Winterton’s Wooden Boat Museum.

BEST EATS

Mussels, uni, sea trout, seasonal codfish caught at camp.

OUTFITTERS

The Outfitters—rentals and sales in St. John’s; day trips, multi-day tours, instruction in Bay Bulls; www.theoutfitters.nf.ca.

MUST-HAVE

Drysuit and good judgment

This article first appeared in the Summer 2014 issue of Adventure Kayak Magazine. Subscribe to Paddling Magazine and get 25 years of digital magazine archives including our legacy titles: Rapid, Adventure Kayak and Canoeroots.

Profile: Canoe Builder Will Meadows

Stories

Photo: Courtesy Will Meadows — Profile: Canoe Builder Will Meadows

Twelve months, a dozen countries and a nearly lost art learned in each. It was a dream come true for Cincinnati-native WILL MEADOWS. Last year, 23-year-old Meadows finished a yearlong quest to visit indigenous master builders around the world and learn their traditional canoe making techniques.

“Canoes are found across the world. They lie at the intersection of human creativity and place,” he says. “They are vessels for exploration, artistic expression and sustenance.”

Meadows spent this past winter at the end of the world in Tierra del Fuego. There the Yaghan culture has lived for 6000 years, utilizing the bark of beech to craft canoes to hunt seals. Meadows lived with Martin Gonzalez, an elder of the Yaghan and the only man alive with knowledge of how to construct these canoes, for two months.

“I had read that the culture of the Yaghan had gone completely extinct,” says Meadows. “Many Argentinians and Chileans talk as if this people no longer exists. My original intent was to resurrect this canoe but when I got to Chile, I met living descendants of the culture who took me in as family and showed me their passion to regain lost knowledge and rebuild traditions. The Yaghan taught me how resilient traditions are, beyond catastrophes both environmental and social. They showed me as long as there is a person with a bent to learn, there is hope to pass on cultural heritage and sense of place.” Follow his journey at www.humanitysvessel.com…

Discover 49 more of the coolest people, gear and innovations in canoeing this year in the digital edition of Canoeroots and Family Camping, Summer/Fall 2014, on our free iPad/iPhone/iPod Touch App or Android App or read it on your desktop here.

VIDEO: California’s Channel Islands

In this segment from the Facing Waves TV series, Paddle TV goes kayaking around the Channel Islands, near Ventura, California. Watch it now!

Plan your own trip to Ventura here.

World’s Biggest Paddle

Stories

Photo: Dave Quinn — World's Biggest Paddle

Living on a quiet British Columbia highway, 25 kilometers south of Golden, Columbia Wetlands Adventures owner Mark Teasedale wanted to do something unique to help advertise his business, and draw attention to the wetlands he loves. He does not recall exactly when the idea of building the WORLD’S BIGGEST PADDLE took root, but once Teasedale gets an idea, it usually takes off in a big way.

“I started wondering how big the world’s biggest canoe paddle was,” he explains, “so I started doing some research. I found nothing, so I decided to set the bar pretty high and try to build it as big as possible.”

With a 60-foot cedar pole shaft and blade composed of over 800 laminated veneers, the nearly six-ton paddle prompted the Guinness Book of World Records to create a whole new category. Teasedale is waiting for final confirmation on the record, expected soon after Guinness staffers scour the globe for competition….

Discover 49 more of the coolest things in canoeing this year in the digital edition of Canoeroots and Family Camping, Summer/Fall 2014, on our free iPad/iPhone/iPod Touch App or Android App or read it on your desktop here.

Video: Touching The Ottawa

Videos

Photo: Screen capture Touching the Ottawa — Video: Touching The Ottawa

[iframe src=”//player.vimeo.com/video/105192974″ width=”500″ height=”281″ frameborder=”0″ webkitallowfullscreen mozallowfullscreen allowfullscreen ]

Touching the Ottawa from Summit Media Group on Vimeo.

“On September 7th, blind adventurers Erik Weihenmayer and Lonnie Bedwell embarked on their twenty-one day descent of the Grand Canyon. In final preparation, Erik and Lonnie visited the Ottawa River in Ontario, Canada to train with Joel Kowalski and Ryan Whetung of Wilderness Tours.

Filmed and Produced by: Summit Media Group [ summitmg.tv ]”

Across the Atlantic with Olek Doba

Young at heart. Photo: Nicola Muirhead — Young at heart.

Aleksander “Olek” Doba is enjoying a rather unusual retirement. The former mechanical engineer from Police, Poland, paddled from Africa to Brazil in 2011 and completed his second trans-Atlantic kayak crossing—7,716 miles from Portugal to Florida—earlier this year in his custom-built kayak, Olo. Even after 167 grueling days at sea, however, the cheerful Doba says he feels much younger than his 67 years. Since retiring, he says, “my big problem is not filling my free time, it’s choosing my next challenge.

Who paddles alone across the Atlantic?

Before my expeditions, I test-paddled with different kayakers. I set high standards. Unfortunately, I would usually end up being a babysitter and I wouldn’t have a partner. Partners support each other and that I didn’t find. I’m not a loner, but I had a choice: either go alone or not at all.

What do you say to people who claim Olo is not a “real” sea kayak?

I went to the shipyard in Szcezecin, Poland, with a sketch illustrating the special kayak I imagined would be suitable for crossing the Atlantic. We designed and built Olo to cross the ocean between continents, which no one had done before. Only three other kayakers in history have crossed the Atlantic, and they hopped from island to island. What is a ‘real’ sea kayak? The definition I know is a boat powered by a person in sitting position, facing the direction of movement, using a double-bladed paddle held freely in the hands. Olo meets all of these criteria.

When did you discover kayaking?

I caught the kayak touring bug on my first trip on the Drava River in 1980. When Poland lifted a ban on kayaking in the open sea, I became one of the country’s sea kayaking pioneers. I have more than 60,000 miles under my belt: 80 days around the Baltic Sea in 1999; 3,380 miles to the Arctic Circle from Poland in 2000; circumnavigating Lake Baikal in 2009. I do not paddle back and forth in a small body of water to collect miles. I am looking for new rivers, lakes and seas, so understandably that has meant going further and harder.

Where did you encounter your greatest challenges on the Atlantic?

On the first expedition, I faced more than 50 tropical storms, but otherwise it was pretty quiet. The second crossing was more than twice as long and much more difficult. I lost communication for 47 days. I was plagued by strong winds that trapped me for 40 nights in the Bermuda Triangle. A storm broke the kayak’s rudder and forced me to change course for Bermuda to make repairs. The saltwater, heat and humidity made my skin itchy and irritated my eyes. I wore as little clothing as possible to have less washing and drying, but I constantly felt that things were wet and unpleasant to the touch.

Why is retirement the perfect time for bold expeditions?

I worked nearly my entire professional life at the Police Chemical Plant. Due to the long period of work in harmful conditions, I could retire at the age of 60. I didn’t plan what I would do for my retirement. I never imagined I would be in the condition and good health to be able to implement such ambitious trips. Is there an optimal age for trans-Atlantic expeditions? I started paddling when I was 34. Could I have left for this expedition then, when I felt that I had enough experience? No, the father of young children going on risky expeditions – that is irresponsible and unfair. It’s still difficult for my wife and loved ones, but for me, now is the best time for such escapades.

Doba’s answers translated from Polish by Piotr Chmielinski.

This article first appeared in the Summer 2014 issue of Adventure Kayak Magazine. Subscribe to Paddling Magazine and get 25 years of digital magazine archives including our legacy titles: Rapid, Adventure Kayak and Canoeroots.