In July, grandmother and expedition paddler Dr. Deb Walters will begin kayaking over 2,500 miles from Maine to Guatemala to raise awareness for Safe Passage. Walters hopes to tell the story of the children and mothers living in the Guatemala City garbage dump and raise funds for additional grades for a community school.

Walters expects her journey, starting July 2014, to take about a year.

 

Walters will stay close to shore from Yarmouth, Maine, to mid New Jersey and then follow the Intracoastal Waterway to Florida. To avoid the possibility of armed attacks on small craft in Mexico, Deb will travel from Florida to Belize aboard the sailing vessel Polaris. For the final stretch she will kayak along a barrier reef and open coast to Rio Dulce in Guatemala.

Dr. Deb Walters is a grandmother from Maine, retired scientist and university leader, Safe Passage Board Member, and kayaking adventurer. Her previous solo kayaking expeditions were in the Arctic, along the Atlantic coasts in the Northeast and the Maritimes, and through tropical waters in Mexico.

Walters will be carrying her food, water and gear for camping, but would welcome offers of a bed along the way.  To host Deb, or help out in other ways, click here. You can also sponsor per mile, follow the blog and read articles and stories.

The Payette River Games, the biggest money event in whitewater history, is being hosted this weekend in the small town of Cascade, Idaho. The venue, Kelly’s Whitewater Park has become an epicenter for river lovers and outdoor folk from a variety of backgrounds. Not only does this highly regarded event invite some of the world’s best kayakers, it also attracts SUP athletes, surfers, rafters, and volleyball players—the event has almost every summer activity you can imagine.

The crowds came in waves on Saturday and at the hottest point in the day, the crowd was bustling—the weather was perfect to watch preliminary events in men’s and women’s SUP-cross races, freestyle kayaking, and river surfing.

Occasionally a massive SUP carrying six people made the attempts at paddling whitewater to entertain the crowd. During the middle of the day the surfers took the stage, and one in particular was inspiring to watch. Derek Rabelo, a blind surfer from Brazil, made the crowd go wild as he stood up and surfed the main feature in the Men’s Surf Open event.

A dip in the warm waters of the North Fork of the Payette River, running through Kelly’s Whitewater Park, is cooling for both the athletes competing and the spectators filling the amphitheater-style riverside seating.

What makes the Payette River Games so special is how many different people from different backgrounds assemble in Cascade to celebrate their sports, and multiple countries and states are represented. Competitive and recreational athletes with different backgrounds are introduced to new ways to enjoy the river—SUP paddlers gathered to watch play-boaters in their heats and vice-versa.

Today (Sunday) the finals of each event will highlight the top athletes in each niche. Competition aside, it’s a prime display of our sport at its best—the Payette River Games are a celebration of competition, diversity and inspiring athletes in the watersports world.

Watch a live stream of Sunday’s finals at www.payetterivergames.com. 

John Webster is a professional adventure photographer based in Boise, Idaho. He has a degree in Communication with an emphasis on video from Boise State University. Passionate about the outdoors, John shares his experiences through the medium of digital photography. You can check out his work atwww.webstermediahouse.com or at Webster Media House on Facebook.

If you’re in the Ottawa Valley this weekend, head to OWL Rafting for a gear swap and evening of whitewater films.

There will be vendors including Kokatat, Werner, Esquif, Pelican, Level Six, Sweet Protection, MKC and TiTs DEEP, and anyone is welcome to open the back of their own van to sell items of their own.

Katrina Van Wijk will MC an evening of whitewater films and Whitewater Brewing Company will be serving samples of their local brews.

See below for more details and click for more information on OWL Rafting’s Facebook page. 

The first ever straight-line journey from Land’s End to John O’Groats was completed June 19 when the Beeline Britain team, including a Paralympian and double amputee veteran, arrived at the UK mainland’s most northerly point after an epic voyage across the country.

The Beeline Britain team have covered over 1,100 kms from Land’s End since their departure on May 17^th. They have kayaked, cycled, mountain biked and hiked their way across the UK, completing two record breaking sea crossings on route, including the longest open sea kayak crossing in the UK—34 hours of non-stop kayaking.

The record breaking team of four include Paralympian and double amputee Army veteran Nick Beighton; Tori James the first Welsh woman to summit Mount Everest; Ian O’Grady, RAF helicopter crewman and founder of the Beeline Britain Concept; and Adam Harmer, outdoor instructor and lecturer at Liverpool John Moores University.

Ian O’Grady, who devised the Beeline Britain concept was hugely proud to cross the finish line. He said, “Three years ago this was just a crazy idea I had to raise awareness of how inspirational our injured veterans are.”

The Beeline Britain team started their ambitious challenge with a grueling first leg, setting a new UK sea kayaking record by paddling for over 34 hours and 200 km from Land’s End to Pembrokeshire. Beeline Britain then took them on a 150 km kayak to Anglesey and then on to the Isle of Man where they had to cycle across the island before kayaking to Scotland.

The four adventurers then cycled across Scotland before mountain biking and hiking across the Cairngorm Mountains. The beginning of this week saw the team cycle to the edge of the Moray Firth before a final 10 hour kayak across the Scottish waters and a last cycle into John O’Groats this morning.

Nick Beighton, a Paralympian, double amputee and Afghanistan veteran who lost both legs in an IED explosion, told reporters, “This has been a tough challenge, my body has been blown up and bolted back together again and I know Beeline Britain would test it to its limits. For me I wanted to show how life changing injuries don’t limit your ability to tackle epic challenges and I wanted to raise funds for BLESMA who make a hugely positive impact on injured veterans; I feel we’ve achieved all of those aims.”

Adam Harmer, an experienced kayaker and Outdoor Education senior lecturer at Liverpool John Moores University told us just how ambitious Beeline Britain is, “No one has ever attempted the distances that we have kayaked on this journey. At the beginning we weren’t even sure that it would be possible to kayak for such long distances, through some of the world’s highest tidal ranges.”

Tori James is the first Welsh woman, and was the youngest British female, to summit Mount Everest. She has also raced to the North Pole and cycled the length of New Zealand but for her a UK journey was just too enticing. “When I realised that a straight line passed through my home country of Pembrokeshire and that it would challenge me to take on a new sport, sea kayaking, I couldn’t say no.”

All four have tackled the UK’s toughest terrain to raise money for BLESMA; the limbless veterans charity. To donate to BLESMA go to www.justgiving.com/beelinebritain. For more information go to www.beelinebritain.com.