What’s the most memorable paddling trip you’ve ever taken?
This photo was taken on Georgian Bay and is courtesy Ontario Tourism. Want to see your photo here? Send to [email protected] with subject line Daily Photo.
Winnipeg, Manitoba: Kayak The City’s Seine And Red Rivers
A few kilometers from the longitudinal centre of Canada, Winnipeg may be far from the sea, but it has some surprisingly good kayaking. Two major rivers, the Red and the Assiniboine, meander through Winnipeg’s residential and business districts past great views of majestic skyline and stately houses that blend in with the shoreline foliage. There are over 100 kilometres of navigable waterway within the city limits.
Winnipeg, Manitoba: Kayak the city’s Seine and Red rivers
For a great full-day paddle through the heart of historic Winnipeg, you can put in on the smaller Seine River, follow its curves and riverbank forests to the confluence with the Red River, then paddle up the Red to the junction with the Assiniboine and back again. This route is a leisurely 12-kilometre roundtrip that can be paddled in a day with ample time to explore the many historic sites along the way.
To begin the route, drive to the intersection of Provencher and Des Meurons in St. Boniface, Winnipeg’s French Quarter. Park and launch from the Seine River Parkway, then paddle beneath Provencher Boulevard and a pedestrian walking bridge and discover the beauty of Lagimodiere–Gaboury Park.
Lagimodiere was a Hudson’s Bay Company employee who was born in Lower Canada in 1778 and came west in 1800 as a voyageur. His wife, Marie-Anne Gaboury, was the first white woman to settle permanently in the West and was the grandmother of Louis Riel. You will see their homestead area on the left before you arrive at the Red and head upriver.
Paddle past the ruins of the St. Boniface Cathedral, Louis Riel’s final resting place, and on to the junction of the Red and Assiniboine rivers. The land at the confluence, called The Forks, is the city’s past and present-day gathering place. It is where aboriginal ancestors camped, hunted and fished for centuries and where the rival fur trade companies, the Hudson’s Bay Company and North West Company, later built forts.
The Forks today is Winnipeg’s tourist hub. It’s a great place to take out after the first few hours of paddling for a light lunch or to stretch your legs while visiting the Travel Manitoba Explore Centre.
As you retrace your paddle strokes back to the put-in, watch for a glimpse of Fort Gibraltar in Whittier Park on the right bank of the Red River. This is a re-creation of the original North West Company fort built at The Forks in 1810. Fort Gibraltar had a colourful history including its destruction in 1816 by the Hudson’s Bay Company, its rebuilding in 1817, its name change to Fort Garry in 1822 and its ultimate demise by flood in 1826.
In 1978, Fort Gibraltar was re-created on its new site for the Festival du Voyageur, Winnipeg’s annual winter festival. Today, it too is recognized as a National Historic Site and a welcome stop for those interested in lunch or exploring the interpretive trails along the river.
4 things you didn’t know about Winnipeg
- “Winnipeg” is derived from a Cree term meaning “muddy water,” which aptly describes the water at the confluence of the two rivers.
- The Wilderness Supply Company is the largest retailer of kayaks between Lake Superior in Ontario and B.C.’s Okanagan.
- Winnipeg enjoys over 2,300 hours of sunshine per year, more than any other Canadian city.
- Winnipeg is the Slurpee capital of world. Slurpee retailer 7-Eleven reports their highest Slurpee sales here. Locals assure us that this is what the cup holders in touring kayaks are really for.
Other paddling opportunities near Winnipeg
Other great places to paddle in the Winnipeg area include the Assiniboine River and the LaSalle River, the Fort Whyte Centre and the spectacular tunnel system of the Caddy Lake/South Cross Lake Route in Whiteshell Provincial Park, 1.5 hours from Winnipeg.
Winnipeg kayaking outfitters and tours
Heartland Canoe & Kayak Rentals: (204) 661-5670, winnipegcanoerentals.com
Mountain Equipment Co-op: (204) 943-4202, mec.ca
Splash Dash Water Bus Service & Rentals: (204) 783-6633, splashdash.ca
Wilderness Supply Company: (204) 783-9555, wildernesssupply.ca
This article was first published in the Summer 2004 issue of Adventure Kayak Magazine. Kayak through meandering prairie rivers. | Feature photo: Courtesy paddlingmanitoba.com
Explore Lunenburg, Nova Scotia By Kayak
Settled in 1753 and declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1995, Old Town Lunenburg is an outstanding example of early British Colonial settlement in North America. For kayakers, the colourful seaside town has added significance as a gateway to some of the most picturesque and accessible sea kayaking in the Maritimes. It is the start/finish point of the new Nova Scotia Water Trail route to Halifax, and a convenient base for shorter forays.
Kayaking the historic boundary of Lunenburg’s harbour is a grand way to combine heritage, adventure and nature observation in a short trip. For a full-day trip, you can put in at the public access at the east end of the Fisheries Museum parking lot. Use caution as you depart, as this is a working port with fishing and sailing vessels of all types on the move. The law of gross tonnage applies here and sea kayaks are low on the food chain.
Paddling southeast out of the harbour, you will pass the boatyards where many of the famed sailing schooners were built, not the least of which were the Bluenose and the Bluenose II.
Rounding Battery Point you head into the outer harbour. A four-kilometre paddle along the shore past landmarks such as Front Rum Point, Meisners Reef and Red Head takes you to the scenic community of Blue Rocks. This is one of the few remaining villages in Nova Scotia that retains the individual fishermen’s wharves, which were widely replaced by communal government wharves in the late 1940s and ‘50s.
Plenty of lunch spots and exploring possibilities are available in this area. Birdwatchers will find many species to keep them entertained. You’re also likely to spot seals and harbour porpoises.
Your return trip can take a couple of different routes. Retracing your morning paddle brings you back into the Inner Harbour via Battery Point for a spectacular view of the town. A more adventurous option if the weather remains favourable would be to cross the bay and head west-southwest to the opposite shore. The return paddle here takes you along the western shore, past Masons Point, Puffycup Cove and around Kaulback Point. You can wind your way deep into the Inner Harbour amongst the myriad of sailboats at anchor and return to the slipway at your leisure.
The entire loop is about 20 kilometres, depending at what angle you cross the bay. An abbreviated half-day version would see you proceeding to Battery Point, crossing to Masons Point (watch for boat traffic) and returning along the western shore. This is just one of the innumerable paddling options in this scenic area.
Off the water, be sure to sample the host of après paddle options. A cruise, a carriage tour, a visit to the museum or a chat with the friendly locals before or after you paddle will surely teach you more about what you see from the seat of your kayak. And by the time you’re done, you should have worked up an appetite for a big lobster feast.
How to get there
Take the Lighthouse Route, Highway 103, into Lunenburg and follow signs for the Fisheries Museum. The public access slipway is at the east end of the parking lot behind the Star Charters reservations building.
This article originally appeared in Adventure Kayak, Early Summer 2004. Download our free iPad/iPhone/iPod Touch App or Android App or read it here.
Daily Photo: Fireworks
The best way to watch fireworks—get a front row seat!
This photo was taken at Fontana Lake in the Smoky Mountains by Nashville Motion. Want to see your photo here? Send to [email protected] with subject line Daily Photo.
For The Love Of Canoes
Canoe aficionados from across Canada and the United States gathered earlier this month at Paul Smith’s College in Paul Smith’s, New York to admire a vast collection of canoes, take part in workshops, and most importantly, discuss all things canoeing.
The Wooden Canoe Assembly is an annual event, hosted by the Wooden Canoe Heritage Association (WHCA), a non-profit organization, whose focus is – you guessed it – wooden and bark canoes. The event celebrated its 34th year, and folks travelled from as far away as Texas to come admire the several hundred vintage canoes that were on display throughout the five day event.
“This year, 365 members and friends attended,” says coordinator Rob Stevens, “there were about 50 first time Assembly attendees and several drop-ins from the local area.”
A smattering of boats were spread out on the college green, including those from Chestnut, Robertson, Old Town, Gerrish and the Thompson Brothers Canoe Company, to name a few, which kept attendees buzzing.
“There were newer -modern and vintage wooden canoes,” say Stevens, “they ranged from Indian built, to the whole gamut of wood-canvas, all wood and cedar strip construction.”
Beautifully restored wooden canoes aren’t the only draw to the assembly, several workshops and activities took place throughout the week. Participants can pre-register for a variety of workshops, including paddle making, digital photography workshops or even quilting.
There are of course, paddling clinics as well, with instruction ranging from beginner tandem, to more focused clinics such as the traditional Northwoods style paddling strokes. Highlights this year included a presentation on boat building, and observing some sailing canoes.
“There were several sailing canoes which enjoyed Lower St. Regis Lake when the wind was up,” Stevens says, “we also had a presentation on traditional construction of Adirondack guideboats.”
Over 12 vendors attended the event this year, ranging from booksellers to canoe builders. Several displays were also set up by organizations such as the Canadian Canoe Museum, which is based out of Peterborough, Ontario. The Adirondack Museum of Blue Mountain, New York, also offered a guided tour of some of their warehoused canoes at the site of the assembly. Attendees also had the opportunity to hike nearby Mount St. Regis, or take part in a guided tour of the Paul Smith College Visitor Interpretive Centre.
Next year marks the 35th anniversary of the event, which promises to be another enjoyable experience as they celebrate WHCA members who build and paddle their own vessels, and in turn, are keeping wooden canoe building alive.
For more information visit http://www.wcha.org/annual-assembly/
Daily Photo: Gone Fishing
Is fishing a part of every canoe trip? What’s your favourite catch of the day?
This photo was taken in Woodland Caribou Provincial Park and is courtesy Ontario Tourism. Want to see your photo here? Send to [email protected] with subject line Daily Photo.
Daily Photo: Setting Out
Where will you next paddling trip take you?
This photo was taken at Fontana Lake in the Smoky Mountains by Nashville Motion. Want to see your photo here? Send to [email protected] with subject line Daily Photo.
Basecamp: Back in the Saddle
“How are you today, Charlie?” asks my six-year-old daughter Kate as she bounces through the open door of our shed. except out here, she’s not my daughter and i’m not her dad and this isn’t our shed. last fall i became Charlie, the owner of Charlie’s bicycle Shop. in our game, Charlie has a daughter about Kate’s age, but it’s not Kate. they always seem to miss one another when Kate drops by the shop. She stops by quite frequently, sometimes like today for tune-ups and to drink tea—apple cider served in petite flowered pink china.
I pulled our eldest around for a summer in a Chariot bike trailer, but with two babies it somehow became just too much, not too much to pull but just too much to pull together. My tired, almost vintage Gary Fisher mountain bike lay mothballed with a half restored cedar canvas canoe in my neighbor’s barn.
“Whose old bike is that?” Kate asked one day when we were rooting around the barn for spare paddles.
“It’s mine,” i said.
“Why don’t you ride it?
“I don’t know,” I admitted.
“Why don’t you ride your bike?”
“I don’t know how.”
That night i booked us for a weekend at Lake of Two Rivers campground in Algonquin Park. We weren’t taking canoes…
This article appeared in Canoeroots & Family Camping, Spring 2013. Download our free iPad/iPhone/iPod Touch App or Android App or read the rest here.
Keep Your Raft Cooler Cold
KTFLC is the ultimate rule of Raft Cooler Management (RCM). RCM is an obscure yet evolved science, and the rule stands for Keep The F’ing Lid Closed, often yelled loudly from camp kitchen to beer-getter. Here is a summary of the science to date: air and water = melting, so eliminate both from the cooler.
Line the bottom with block ice—it stays frozen longer than cubes (although you’ll need some of those for mixed drinks). Drain the coolers when the ice starts to melt. Freeze food in advance and pack the coolers tightly. Duct tape an inventory to the lid so items are easy to find (remember KTFLC), and pack smart so coolers are emptied top-down, one at a time.
Keep the lids strapped down at all times, and lay a wet wool blanket or reflective sheet on top during day hikes so they don’t heat up in the sun. Leave a cheap thermometer inside each cooler to ensure it stays below 7°C/45°F. If it gets warmer than this, redistribute the important items to other coolers and scarf the rest. A bout of food poisoning swiftly dampens the communal enjoyment of rafting. Certificates and diplomas are available in RCM. Contact your local degree-granting institution for details.
This article originally appeared in Rapid, Summer/Fall 2011. Download our free iPad/iPhone/iPod Touch App or Android App or read it here.
How To Do An Eddy Turn
Eddy turns are the foundation for paddling in current, enabling you to enter and exit river and tidal currents safely. Unlike rivers, tidal rapids change speed constantly and change direction every six hours or so. But tidal currents have the same features and require the same paddling skills as rivers. The eddy turn combines the stability of the trusted low-brace sweep turn with the three basics of controlling your boat in current— angle, speed and tilt—allowing you to go from paddling downstream in the current to facing upstream in an eddy or vice versa. When you get it right, the opposing currents of the eddy line do most of the turning work, resulting in effortless, exhilarating and snappy eddy turns.
Reading the Water
Tidal rapids are caused by constrictions or obstructions in the path of rising or falling tides. As the main current flows past obstructions such as rocks, islands or points, sheltered areas known as eddies are formed. In French, eddies are called contrecourants, which is exactly what they are—counter to the main current. Water flows upstream behind an obstruction to fill in an area that the main current is passing by. The dividing line between the main current and the eddy’s more subtle upstream flow is an area of turbulence called an eddy line. To paddle safely and smoothly into the main current from the shelter of an eddy, or leave the main current and enter an eddy, we must cross the eddy line using an eddy turn.
Getting Ready
The eddy turn is basically a low-brace lean turn performed as you cross the eddy line. Begin by learning and practising the low-brace turn in flatwater until you get the timing and feel comfortable tilting the kayak. (See Adventure Kayak V3 I2 online for a description of this technique.) Then choose an area with mild currents, say one or two knots, and ensure that the area downstream is clear of obstructions and hazards in case you happen to swim. Designate a rescuer to wait at the downstream end of the eddy to help swimmers get back into the eddy. Wearing a helmet protects your head if you flip in shallow water.
Eddy Turns—Angle, Speed, Tilt
To “peel out” of an eddy into the current, position yourself at least a few paddle strokes back from the top (upstream end) of the eddy, with your bow at an angle of about 45 degrees to the eddy line. This is called “setting your angle,” and the amount of angle depends on the speed of the current—faster current, less angle; slower current, more angle. If you cross the eddy line with not enough angle, you can end up stalled on the eddy line, or out in the current facing upstream. If you leave the eddy with too much angle, say 90 degrees to the eddy line, you will most likely be spun around on the eddy line instead of turning out into the main current.
Next comes speed. You’ll want to cross the eddy line with speed to minimize the time spent exposed to both currents. Entering into stronger currents usually requires more speed. With your angle set, paddle aggressively toward the eddy line and just as your bow crosses into the main current, do a sweep stroke to give a final burst of speed and initiate the turn.
As you cross the eddy line, you’ll need to tilt downstream. Just like riding a bike and just like practicing your low-brace lean turn, you must tilt your kayak into the turn. Shift your weight to your inside butt cheek while simultaneously lifting your outside knee. To add stability in your eddy turns, place a low brace behind you with the paddle shaft at a 45-degree angle to your kayak.
Tilting does two things: it improves the shape of your boat in the water for turning; and it lifts the upstream edge of your kayak away from the oncoming current. If you don’t lean enough, the main flow piles up against the upstream side of your kayak and tries to flip you over. The faster the current, the more aggressive your inside tilt and the sharper and quicker the turn. Get into the habit of always tilting as much as you can.
Re-entering an eddy, or “peeling in,” is the exact same manoeuvre. Approaching the eddy from upstream, set up your angle at 45 degrees or so to the eddy line. Paddle toward the eddy. As you cross the eddy line, sweep on the outside of the turn and tilt to the inside. You always tilt “downstream” relative to the current you are entering. The current in the eddy is moving against the main current, so this means leaning into the turn again, even though this time you’ll be leaning upstream relative to the main flow.
The rush of the opposing current grabbing your bow and pulling it around is highly addictive. Like a kid, you will find yourself heading back to the top of the eddy for another eddy turn. Once you’re comfortable crossing eddy lines and controlling your angle relative to the current, you’ll be ready to master other exciting manoeuvres like ferry glides and surfing. Understanding angle, speed and tilt, you’ll begin to view idal rapids not as hazards to be avoided, but as playspots to be sought out.
This article originally appeared in Adventure Kayak magazine, Summer 2003. Download our freeiPad/iPhone/iPod Touch App or Android App or read it here.
