This 2011 film by Dan Clark is follows six weeks of ocean canoeing between Valdez and Whittier in Alaska’s Prince William Sound, which provided adventures for their family of four. Full of beautiful landscapes, music and family fun.
Discover the Clark family’s 2012 adventure canoeing 100 days to the Arctic in the Late Summer 2013 issue of Canoeroots magazine here.
“We spent 3 Weeks in East Central Mexico kayaking the classics as well as some less known gems. Rivers we ran include the Alsaseca, Actopon, Rio Verde, Cascadas Micos, Santa Maria, Puente Pescados, Cascada San Pedro and the Misantla. We had a phenomenal time in a phenomenal place with wonderfully nice people helping us along the way.”
From Steep Water Studios.
Canoe: Icon of the North has kicked off its Indiegogo campaign. The documentary tells an inspiring story told by legends of North America’s paddling community, portraying the ways the canoe has and continues to shape our culture and heritage.
Watch the trailer, then support the film here: http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/canoe-icon-of-the-north.
So you have a solid roll and you know how to self-rescue after a swim? The next step is typically the time-consuming, tippy and treacherous process of pumping out your flooded cockpit. But there is another, faster way to a dry boat.
Practice the Dump to quickly empty water from your cockpit after a cowboy self-rescue (aka scramble—learn it here) or reenter and roll. Using the same principles as a standard T-rescue, the Dump empties water from the cockpit with the rescued paddler sitting inside his or her boat. According to Body Boat Blade International’s Leon Somme and Shawna Franklin, who shared this video of the technique, “The Dump is a fast, simple way to empty a boat for someone with a solid roll and a helpful friend.”
To see more kayak technique videos, visit Body Boat Blade’s YouTube channel here.
Claire O’Hara is a world freestyle champion and Payette River Games ambassador—here’s what she has to say about this year’s event:
“Where are you going to be on the 20th – 22nd June?
The 2014 Payette River Games (PRG) has exciting action and events that will be happening this year. This event is going to be even bigger and better than last year, and last year was pretty epic.
With over $100,000 up for grabs over the weekend this is lining up to be one of the biggest events of the year.
Kelly’s Whitewater Park is one of the leading freestyle kayaking venues out there. The waves and rapids have been built to be perfect for everyone to learn and develop their skills. The main freestyle feature (a hole with a perfect wave shoulder) has already proved itself as one of the best in the world. Allowing each and every move to be thrown it has already seen Stephen Wright throw down a massive 2,000+ point ride.
“This really is a great event on a fantastic feature, at an amazing venue,” says Wright, Winner of the Men’s Freestyle Kayak Event at the 2013 PRGs.
Come along, watch the action and even take part. Check out the website and see what’s on offer. It’s going to be non-stop weekend of action sports, activities and music with a lot of the top names in kayaking, stand up paddleboarding, river surfing and many other sports taking part.
If you’re coming to compete, enter online on March 15th. The number of events you can enter over the weekend is insane. It’s going to be non-stop fun. There’s the Boater X, Freestyle, 8 Ball, an expression sessions and kids events, with the junior and cadet class too. And there are prizes for them all. There are heaps of prizes for the kids in the junior and cadet tournaments and then a massive $50,000 prize purse for the kayaking events and another $50,000 up for grabs in stand up paddleboarding, making this the biggest prize money paddle sports event in history.
Win all the kayaking events and you could be walking away with a massive $6,750. Enter and win the SUP too and that could be $16,750. Insane! But don’t worry if you miss out on first place, as the organizers are paying out all the way down to tenth place for both men and women in the Freestyle, Boater X and SUP event and for the top three in the 8 Ball race. So there’s plenty of opportunity for you to get your hands on some money from the prize purse!
Plus there’s loads more on offer for the athletes than just competing and having fun. The guys and girls at Kelly’s are going to look after everyone with free camping, airport shuttles, t-shirts, live music, a Funday Sunday free beer from the Payette River Brewery and a free admission ticket to the Roxy movie theatre in town. Plus every athlete gets entered into a comp to win an iPad 4.
It fits in perfectly into the competition circuit as it’s the weekend after the North Fork Championships and Fibark Freestyle Event in the USA, which are just up the road. The event finishes just in time for everyone to head back to Europe and compete in the ICF Freestyle World Cup series as well.
The organizers really have thought of everything. Make sure you’re there the 20th-22nd June.”
Stay up to date on the Payette River Games website and Facebook page.
The event of the year for canoeists is here—Canoecopia, the largest consumer tradeshow for paddlers, kicks off Friday afternoon and Rapid Media will be there.
Look forward to 150 seminars, speakers and clinics over the weekend so you can get inspired and learn everything you need to know to select, purchase and use the perfect gear for your style of paddling. Plus, more than 200 manufacturers, outfitters and guides, schools and other paddling organizations will be exhibiting. If you want to see the latest buzz in the paddling world, you’ll find it at Canoecopia.
Highlights: Check out Kevin Callan’s presentation on his epic canoe journey this past summer, “Once Around Algonquin Park.” Dave and Amy Freeman will also share stories from their 11,700-mile journey across North America by canoe, kayak and dog sled. Cliff Jacobson will share this 40 favorite items he brings on every canoe trip and why you need them too. Rapid Media publisher, Scott MacGregor, will also present on “Trip Stories that Don’t Suck,” perfect for the aspiring adventure writer.
Other highlights include Julie Buckles on her year-long canoe honeymoon, traveling the Voyageur Highway—1,700 miles from Lake Superior to Wollaston Lake where she and husband Charly stayed for the winter. And for those looking to get their dogs into paddling, head to
Preston Ciere’s Dog Story presentation about training your canine canoe companion. Get the scoop on more presentations with the show guide here.
Don’t forget to drop by the Rapid Media booth and meet Canoeroots editor Kaydi Pyette and Rapid editor Emma Drudge.
Get more information at www.canoecopia.com.
Where:
Alliant Energy Center
1919 Alliant Energy Way
Madison, Wisconsin
Show Hours:
Friday 4:00 to 9:00 PM
Saturday 9:00 to 6:00
Sunday 10:00 to 5:00
Ticket Prices:
$15.00 for a day pass
$25.00 for a weekend pass.
Note: Ages 17 and under: free.
“This is basically a new run that was recently found, cleaned out and paddled by Shane Groves and John Moore. There are mainly slides on this run with one tricky little 8 footer. It gave myself and Josh a little trouble. It’s a really good run the bummer of the whole deal is that the water is really dirty. It is literally feed from parking lots up in Beckley and at least two water treatment plants run into the Cranberry. Wear plugs!! The Cranberry then feeds into the PIney river. This is pretty good class 3 with a maybe 3 bigger drops. Piney then feeds into the New where we took out.”
From David Fusilli.
Perfect for jet-setting recreational kayakers, the Axis 230 by Advanced Elements is a fiberglass four-piece paddle that breaks down to just 27.5 inches long for easy packing in your luggage or on your SOT. Long, narrower blades are optimized for a low-angle touring stroke. The no-frills ferrule permits three blade angle settings. Length: 230 cm.
$140 | www.advancedelements.com
This gear preview appears in Adventure Kayak, Spring 2014. To read about more hot new gear and watch exclusive video reviews, download our free iPad/iPhone/iPod Touch App or Android App or read it here.
Surf’s Up opened for business in Nashua, New Hampshire, last December, and is now the world’s largest indoor surf machine.
Rapid caught up with Jeff Fluet, owner of the nearby New Hampshire Kayak Center who recently rode the wave in a Jackson Rockstar, to see how the fabricated flow compares to real river waves.
“You can front surf, side surf, spin and roll,” he says. “It’s fantastic.”
Fluet says the water starts about a foot deep but when the four pumps—each about eight feet long—are switched on to full speed, the pool will pump 240,000 gallons a minute.
The pool has been most popular with surfers on boards so far, and has been met with some skepticism, Surf’s Up owner Rob Greer said in an interview with the New Hampshire Chronicle. But, he says, everyone who’s tried it has left impressed by the wave’s natural feel.
Rapid’s written about the evolution of artificial flow for years. In 2010 publisher Scott MacGregor mused that “for real adventures you need real rivers,” but more recently wrote about how the trend of grab-and-go boating is truly what gets people out on the water more often. While whitewater purists are sure to have their doubts, it’s hard to argue with a freestyle or surf session that’s as easy as a trip to the gym.
Taking man-made whitewater venues to the next level, the pool’s already been featured on ESPN and a variety of New Hampshire news outlets.
Catch video of a kayak on the Surf’s Up swell as Fluet shreds a Jackson Rockstar in this report.
Rio Palguin River, Chile
Fly to Temuco Airport (ZCL) then drive 80 minutes to Pucon
Pucón Kayak Hostel (PKH) offers daily shuttles, equipment rentals, kayak welding, gear lockers, communal kitchen, beds and meals all designed for kayakers. It’s the spot for boaters to gather and share shuttles. PKH offers a variety of prices for beds with hosteria, dormitory, domes, Gypsy Wagons and camping options.
You can buy kayaks through local retailer Rivers, Lakes and Oceans or Pucón Kayak Hostel has over 50 of the latest creek boat designs for rent.
Creek boat
Upper, Middle and Lower sections all have access along the Palguin Road.
Drive to the put-ins and you can walk the shuttles. For an Upper and Middle Palguin combo you’ll want a shuttle plan.
The Upper Palguin lies just below the 90-foot Salto Palguin. Only the best of the best take their shots at Salto Palguin. The most popular Upper Palguin has approximately six clean cascades great for first time creekers and pros seeking to hone their skills. The Middle Palguin is a big step up for solid class V boaters. Even the best in the world consistently botch lines like Portage. Try your luck on the Middle Palguin 70-footer. If you like that you might try Stout 10, a solid 10-footer immediately above the 70. The least run Lower Palguin has another half dozen excellent drops but unlike the cleaner safer Upper there are serious consequences. A worthwhile quick run with proper safety and river knowledge.
The Palguin is South America’s most run creek for good reason. It’s always running and it offers something exciting for kayakers ranging from intermediates to pros catching publishable footage. Paddlers wanting a safe run can experience exciting cascades on the Upper Palguin’s half dozen waterfalls and easily walk back up to lap the run. Class V huckers wanting to notch big or challenging drops take their shots at the Middle Palguin section or the 70-footer or Salto Palguin’s 90-footer. Kayakers come to the area for the variety of the world’s best creek boating. You’ll always have a river to run with peak creek season being in October and November.
Your GoPro, throw rope, elbow pads, and a good boof.
The crack on the Upper likes to break boats. There are caves on the Lower. Turbino and Portage rapids on the Middle are a roll of the dice even for the best paddlers in the world.
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