Morning rush hour sucks. Morning rush hour on the river, not so much. Twenty rafts moored at one spot means boatloads fo paddling buddies. Moor fun!
This photo was taken by Flickr user Big Dubya and is licensed under Creative Commons.
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This gear review of the Best Made Co. Hudson Bay Axe originally appeared in Canoeroots and Family Camping magazine.
As American as apple pie and baseball, Best Made Co. is a back-to-basics, mom and pop outfit from New York. Their vision is to create tools to be passed down for generations, empowering people to work with their hands. A big axe at 21 inches long, the Hudson Bay provides confidence in control and swings effortlessly. An ideal pick for those looking to chop larger wood and work for longer, its last cut is just as deep as its first.
$135 | www.bestmadeco.com
This article appeared in Canoeroots & Family Camping, Spring 2013.
The Rapid Media TV crew chats with Michelle from the Voyageur Wilderness Programme booth at Canoecopia 2013. Find out all about what they do and how they can help you plan your next trip eco-trip.
A review of the Outdoor Research Sensor Command deck bag from Adventure Kayak magazine.
For those who can’t leave shore without their tablets, this deck bag features a dry compartment with a touch-screen compatible clear window. It’s equally suited to displaying maps (you know, those paper thingies the old-timers used), and can be used independently if you don’t need the bag’s two additional compartments for extra storage.
www.outdoorresearch.com | $159
This article originally appeared in Adventure Kayak, Spring 2013. Download our free iPad/iPhone/iPod Touch App or Android App or read it here.
Recovery—trickier than it looks. Especially on the Monday after St. Patrick’s Day.
This photo was taken by Flickr user abkfenris and is licensed under Creative Commons.
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This kayak trip destination is excerpted from “The East Coast’s Best 5 Places to Paddle” in Adventure Kayak magazine.
Downeast Maine
Love ‘em or hate ‘em, you can’t get away from lobsters in Maine. From Bar Harbor north to the New Brunswick border, the region known locally as Downeast Maine has more flavor than a butter-rich lobster. The island of Petite Manan outside of Jonesport is home to the only puffin colony in the Lower 48 and the camping and touring options along the coast are as pristine and primitive as the East Coast has to offer. Walk into just about any restaurant or store and you are bound to catch the twang of the local tongue. They will help you locate the best places along the coast assuming you have a good nautical “chauurt.”
Outfitting: Sea Cliff Kayakers, www.seacliffkayakers.com
This article originally appeared in Adventure Kayak, Early Summer 2009. Download our free iPad/iPhone/iPod Touch App or Android App or read it here.
Located halfway between Tampa and Naples on the Southwest Florida Gulf coast, Charlotte Harbor & the Gulf Islands is a cluster of nine coastal communities surrounding the state’s second largest harbor. Recognizing the potential of this year-round eco-tourism destination, the Charlotte Harbor Visitor Bureau has worked with the county to create nearly 200 miles of kayak- and canoe-friendly Blueway Trails. Escape the early spring slush season and explore backwater fishing, plentiful birdwatching, dolphin and manatee sightings, and mangrove tunnels on 53 easily accessible canoe and kayak trails. Via Charlotte Harbor Visitor & Convention Bureau
As if you needed another reason to pass your aging paddling gear along to a friend rather than send it to the landfill… A new study highlights how plastic debris is introducing toxic chemicals of three sources into the ocean food web. The first source is monomers, the building blocks of plastic polymers, which can migrate into whatever the plastic comes into contact wtih, like the guts of a sea creature. Some monomers are known toxins, like the carcinogen vinyl chloride that makes up polyvinyl chloride (PVC) plastics, or the endocrine disruptor bisphenol-A (BPA) that makes up polycarbonate plastics (remember that whole Nalgene scare?). The second source is the brew of additives that manufacturers mix in to impart plastics with desired properties.
The third source of toxic chemicals is external. The new study from the University of San Diego addresses these oily pollutants commonly found in seawater that glom onto the surface of plastic debris. A disturbing implication is that plastic debris can become progressively more chemically hazardous as weathering increases the surface area available for gathering pollutants. The findings also draw fire to the notion that developing marine biodegradable plastics will automatically eliminate chemical threats stemming from conventional plastics. The sole standard established for biodegradation of plastics in the marine environment allows that, at six months, plastic fragments up to two mm can remain and 30% of the original material needs have undergone biodegradation. Via E-The Envirionmental Magazine.
Watch for Adventure Kayak’s profile of paddling plastic fighters, Out of Sight, Out of Mind, in the May issue.
Bluebird sky and a legend in the paddling, somewhere off the coast of British Columbia. Photo courtesy Seaward Kayaks.
“The mark of a successful man is one that has spent an entire day on the bank of a river without feeling guilty about it.” –Chinese Proverb
This photo was an entry in the 2011 Experience Canadian Heritage Rivers Photo Contest, taken by Colin Leake. Learn more about heritage rivers here.
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Heroic rescue efforts from fellow open boaters saw 65-year-old Dr. Steve Senior pulled from The Sinks section of the Lower Little River in Tennessee on Monday afternoon, according to local news services. The group was a part of Ain’t Louie Fest, the annual flocking of open boaters to rivers around Lenoir, Tennessee.
The Bridgenorth, Ontario, native apparently came out of his boat after going over a ledge and failed to resurface when rescuers sprung into action. Senior was allegedly underwater for approximately 30 minutes when paddlers plucked him from the water and commenced CPR. They were able to restore a spontaneous heartbeat, however Senior died Monday night in hospital.
Park Rangers, local sheriffs, paramedics and fire and rescue personnel also responded, arriving after the rescue efforts were already underway.
Local authorities applauded the paddlers’ rescue efforts.
“It was a large group of whitewater canoeists,” said Townsend fire chief Don Stallions, according to Blunt County’s Daily Times. “They have a strong skill set. They were in the middle of rescuing him when we got there. Not five minutes later, they got him freed and up out of the water.”
Unofficial reports suggest water levels were high due to runoff, but that the boaters were paddling within their ability levels. Details of the tragedy continue to emerge.
The following is a news report from Knoxville NBC news affiliate, WBIR.
Ain’t Louie Fest will continue through March 17th as planned.
For local news reports, read the Daily Times and WBIR news releases.
