Rock the Boat: Confessions of a Cross-Paddler

Stories

Illustration: Lorenzo Del Bianco — Rock the Boat: Confessions of a Cross-Paddler

I am a man. But I have happily used a paddle with the super-girly name Athena. I have paddled a kayak called the Eliza that is allegedly designed specifically for women—although I happen to know firsthand that the Eliza’s male designers quite enjoyed her svelte lines and graceful handling.

I have worn a Lola: a PFD inspired by the bodice of a wedding dress. Alone at home, I have even tried on my wife’s Kokatat women’s Gore-Tex drysuit.

That’s right—I am a cross-paddler.

I rented the aforementioned Eliza from my local paddling shop. The young studly dude at the counter was concerned.

“You know this is a chick’s boat, right?” he asked.

I said I did. There was a prolonged uncomfortable pause. He shifted uneasily and eyed me suspiciously. A Village People song played on the radio. I’m sure you will find / Many ways to have a good time / It’s fun to stay at the Y.M.C.A. The hairy eyeball treatment was really getting to me.

So, with an easy smile, I lied that my wife was looking forward to trying it. The rental counter dude immediately relaxed. We chatted about hunting and hockey as he helped me load the Eliza on my Jetta.

At the beach, I quickly launched the Eliza before anyone else could witness my aberrant behavior. Frightened of being bullied by my male paddling buddies, I went alone. Scorned and misunderstood, the cross-paddler’s life is a lonely one.

What exactly is a woman’s kayak?

Why is it that we men are so hung up on avoiding anything that is marketed as women-specific? It’s just a kayak after all—we’re not talking about bras and tampons.

Try this: In a crowded outdoor store, offer a guy a fleece jacket to try on. It fits him perfectly and is both functional and handsome. He is pleased. Now casually mention that it is a woman’s jacket and watch as he rips it from his body before the vice squad can kick in the door and haul him away for gross indecency.

His reaction is the same as one might expect had he been caught wearing a silver lamé bustier, stiletto heels and heavy eye makeup.

What exactly is a woman’s kayak? What defines it and makes it women-specific? Is it pink and covered in bows? Must you lift its stern and peer under its keel to really be sure? Ridiculous, right?

Women are generally more than willing to try men’s gear. In the past, they had little choice because so few companies offered technical ap- parel and equipment cut for the female form.

So why are men so sensitive about using women’s gear?

I say there is no such thing as a gender-specific kayak or paddle. At least there ought not to be. There is only gear that may be better suited to smaller or larger paddlers, or folks with less or more upper body strength on tap. What paddler, male or female, doesn’t want a kayak or paddle that is light and appropriate for his or her size and paddling style?

Let’s be a little more accepting of those who enjoy cross-paddling. After all, every time you go sea kayaking, I bet you’re wearing a skirt.

Alex Matthews is dead butch. He lives and paddles in a manly way on southern Vancouver Island.

This article first appeared in the Early Summer 2011 issue of Adventure Kayak Magazine. For more great content, subscribe to Adventure Kayak’s print and digital editions here.

Do Sharks Attack Kayaks? Here Are The Facts & Precautions You Can Take

Skills

Shark swimming — It's rare for a shark to attack a kayak, but it's still a good idea to take precautions.

A handful of well-publicized shark encounters in the waters off some of our favorite coasts have left sea kayakers watching their dorsals. Headline stories like Great White Shark Menaces Kayakers suggest “a disturbing trend” of increasing attack frequency in paddling hotspots like Southern California and Australia’s Surf Coast.

Reality is a lot less sensational. According to statistics from a six-year period analyzed by the University of Florida’s International Shark Attack File, beach attendance and shark attacks increased in nearly exact parallel. The so-called trend likely reflects the increasing number of paddlers on the water rather than a rise in aggressive behavior among shark populations.

Still, there’s undeniable drama in such reports. Witness expedition paddler Sean Morley’s terrifying pursuit—“it was like a cat with a mouse”—by a suspected blue shark on his solo crossing in SoCal’s Channel Islands. Or the great white, also in California, that chomped local distance paddler Duane Strosaker’s wooden kayak and held it in its jaws for a few seconds before “gently letting go.”

[ Paddling Buyer’s Guide: Browse boats, PFDs, paddle, apparel & more ]

Encounters vs. attacks

Victoria Scott, a marine biologist, experienced shark diver and Director of Education with the Canadian Shark Conservation Society, says “shark encounter” is a more precise way to describe these marine muggings. “Sharks are incredibly effective hunters. If one was to attack a sea kayaker there is no doubt the shark would win every time,” she says.

The two most common culprits in shark attacks and encounters—great whites and tigers—hunt from below. To these sharks, a sea kayaker on the surface may look like a seal or sea lion. Scott says sharks will usually investigate before deciding to attack. This is where the bumping and sometimes nibbling come in. Sharks use their mouths to determine if something is potentially edible. Kayaks, and even humans, are usually discarded as not tasty.

Strosaker’s encounter was a classic example of this bite and test behavior. “There wasn’t a hard impact… its mouth wrapped halfway around the hull. It seemed relaxed,” Strosaker recalls.

Do sharks attack kayaks?

Though they are rare, true shark attacks on kayaks do happen. According to the Global Shark Attack File, 21 have been recorded since the early 1900s. The only fatalities in that period were Malibu, California, paddlers Tamara McAllister and Roy Stoddard, who may have paddled into an area where sharks were feeding and been confused with prey.

[ Also read: Wilderness Fears Debunked ]

How to avoid a shark encounters

Practice these precautions to stay shark-safe: Avoid blood in the water and slicks from fishing boats. Keep away from cloudy river mouths and suspect waters at dusk and dawn—prime hunting times. To avoid being mistaken for a meal, stay away from large groups of fish, seals or sea lions.

If you do see a shark, don’t try to paddle away. Your splashing paddle could make you look like an injured seal and attract more attention. If a shark is becoming aggressive, a sharp rap on the snout with your paddle may deter it.

“The very remote possibility of a shark encounter should not outweigh the adventure and beauty of paddling on the ocean,” Scott summarizes. “If you are investigated by one of these animals, paddle away with the knowledge that you have experienced something very special.”

Kayaking for the People

Stories

Boys paddling on Lake Malawi. Photo: flickr.com/fabulousfabs — Kayaking for the People

In this economically diverse world, paddling can possess a range of meanings for different people.

For westerners, kayaks are not vital. Despite being a passion or even a way of life, for us, paddling remains a recreational pursuit. On the other hand, for millions elsewhere in the world, human-powered watercraft serve as fundamental hunting or fishing tools, or as means of transportation critical to basic local economies.

Though our motivations to paddle may be worlds apart, the kayak shines as a starting point for us to reach out—common ground among different cultures. Traditional approaches to building a dugout pirogue, for example, take skills, tools and techniques passed on from generation to generation. Likewise, the craftsmanship of modern sea kayak builders is built on similar customs.

When we paddle at home, we often acknowledge our local waterways through conservation and management, protecting the places we love. However, when traveling to paddle in underdeveloped areas, we need to broaden our perspective on stewardship. The people should be of as much concern as the surrounding natural landscape. It seems deeply unfair to raise and spend thousands of dollars on an expedition and leave behind little positive impact on local communities.

By keeping informed of global issues, realizing our potential to make a difference and starting small within our kayaking clubs or weekend paddling groups, our awareness may inspire something more.

Distance and economic disparity can be overcome by celebrating a common denominator. Paddling is the perfect fit.

Lake Malawi, or Lake Nyassa as it is referred to locally, is the perfect proving ground for sea kayakers looking to accomplish more through their paddling. Straddling the borders of Malawi, Mozambique and Tanzania, Nyassa is the third largest lake in Africa, the eighth largest in the world. Its waters provide habitat for countless species of fish and its shorelines are home to hippos, monkeys, crocodiles and painted dogs. But in order to overcome the one-sided, consumptive nature of so many international trips, a truly successful expedition must focus on the people who inhabit the massive lake’s coastline.

The region could benefit greatly from navigation safety education to decrease a high annual drowning death toll. To bolster sustainable economic growth, area guides need training to establish a stable and reputable eco-tourism industry. These issues are important to boaters who value life on and around the water, be they western expedition paddlers who are passionate about their lifestyle or Africans who rely on the lake for sustenance.

Distance and economic disparity can be overcome by celebrating a common denominator. For the people of Lake Nyassa, the kayak is a perfect fit. Paddlers planning international expeditions have the potential to show solidarity in their endeavors. By doing so, they’ll give the world at large one more reason to get involved in kayaking—benevolence.

Joao Simoes is the leader of Kayaking for the People (KFTP), a Portuguese not-for-profit organization founded to tackle third world medical, agricultural and educational projects. For more info on the KFTP project visit kayakingforthepeople.org.

This article first appeared in the Early Summer 2011 issue of Adventure Kayak Magazine. For more great content, subscribe to Adventure Kayak’s print and digital editions here.

Editorial: Selfish Tripping – Enjoy Responsibly

Stories

Photo: Virginia Marshall — Editorial: Selfish Tripping - Enjoy Responsibly

When you hear about upcoming kayaking expeditions, the purpose of the trips as stated by those undertaking them—along with the standard entourage of bloggers and benefactors—typically fits into one of three universal motivations.

First up are the I’m-Doing-This-For-A-Good-Cause-People. IDTFAGCPs are paddling philanthropists, raising money, aware- ness or both in the name of making the world in which we paddle a better place. Causes that have benefited from the IDTFAGCP’s admirable activism have included children’s aid, the Red Cross, Arctic climate change and multifarious environmental, social, medical and educational organizations.

Those who fall into the next two categories are generally more self-serving. These are the I’m-Doing-This-To-Be-First-People and I’m-Doing-This-To-Be-Faster-Than-The-Last-Guy-People. Sometimes, however, IDTFAGCPs and IDTTBFPs or IDTTBFTTLGPs are found to be one in the same.

It shouldn’t be surprising that the lines defining expedition motives often blur together. After all, why can’t one be first or fast as well as philanthropic? I sincerely believe that most sea kayakers truly do want to make our watery world a better place. Besides, sponsors love first and fast and most causes require money as well as good intentions.

Every now and then, however, some paddlers will announce that their expedition to Shangri- La, Hades-on-Earth or a backyard coast is, well, for them. With frank sincerity, the I’m-Doing-This-Just-For-Me-People admit that the best reason they could come up with to go on trip is simply that they wanted to. I get where IDTJFMPs are coming from—I’ve been one myself.

“The I’m-Doing-This-Just-For-Me-People admit that the best reason they could come up with to go on trip is simply that they wanted to.”

Last summer, when I launched myself on a two-month, largely solo expedition through lakes Superior and Huron, it wasn’t to be first or fastest. The trip had been done many times before (ever heard of the voyageurs?) and I had no interest in being the fastest. Even if I shared their motivations, I could never match the IDTTBFTTLGP’s freakish appetites for masochistic training regimes and 50-mile days.

And it’s not that I don’t believe in helping out a good cause. I do, and I do. It’s just that I already had a good reason for going: I wanted to. Rather than writing appeals and bartering sponsorships for blog content, I called in favors from friends and saved paychecks. Outside obligation would only cramp my style: self-indulgent and carefree.

As we stroke into another tripping season, a slew of new expeditions are hitting the water. Most share the usual triad of motivations, but one stands out for its candid self-indulgence.

This summer, Leon Sommé and Shawna Franklin will depart on the “anti-expedition”— a laid-back, six-week paddle around Vancouver Island. Inspired to slow down by the increasingly speedy circumnavigations of the island (16 days, 12 hours at last count), Sommé jokes, “We want to set the record for slowest circumnavigation.” No o-blog-ations, no 50-mile days—unless they want to.

Now that’s something every IDTJFMP can celebrate.

This article first appeared in the Early Summer 2011 issue of Adventure Kayak Magazine. For more great content, subscribe to Adventure Kayak’s print and digital editions here.

WRSI Trident Review

Gear

There’s good reason why WRSI’s helmets are trusted on the river—they use multiple layers of hard plastic and shock-absorbing foam to reduce repeated impact forces better than other helmets. The Trident is WRSI’s first composite product and it easily lived up to our demands. It features the same ergonomics found in their other lids, including a harness system and form that fits just about anyone comfortably. Our favorite part? The flashy graphic options are sure to make you stand out on the wave.

wrsisafety.com | $180

This article originally appeared in Rapid magazine, Early Summer, 2011. Download our free iPad/iPhone/iPod Touch App or Android App or read it here.

Freestyle Move: McNasty

Skills

The venerable mcnasty has been around since 2002, when Eric Jackson invented the move—a bow pivot into a front loop—in his backyard rapids at Rock Island, Tennessee, and showcased it later that year at the IR Triple Crown.

For a long time, I studied footage of this move in awe, as the mechanics of it seemed way beyond me. I was finally able to demystify this trick by breaking it down into manageable parts.

1. Sidesurf in a hole with a foam pile. Rotate your body downstream to set up for a powerful reverse sweep.

2. Use the reverse sweep to push your bow into the foam pile so that your stern is upstream in a back blast. Your legs assist with the back blast: shift your weight slightly forward and push down on your heels, driving your feet under the foam pile. This will keep your stern from catching in the upstream flow.

3. It’s easiest to continue in the same direction started by your reverse sweep, using the spin momentum from that stroke. Look back upstream, rotate your torso and reach to your toes for a powerful forward sweep. This stroke pulls your bow deeper under the foam.

4. Drop your upstream edge slightly. This edge is going to catch, so there is a fine line between too much edge and just enough. The dropping of the edge allows you to pivot around your bow.

5. Hold the forward sweep as long as you can and keep pushing down on your heels.

6. When your boat pivots to where you are vertical and pointed upstream, jump forward to initiate a loop. If your loop lacks pop or your mcnastys are crooked, make sure you are facing all the way upstream before jumping.

This article originally appeared in Rapid, Early Summer 2011. Download our free iPad/iPhone/iPod Touch App or Android App or read it here.

Freestyle Move: Airscrew Clean Blunt

Skills

Photos: Patrick Camblin — Airscrew clean blunt

The wave won’t do you any favors on this trick. As with most combo wave moves, however, a well-defined shoulder helps, the steeper the better. Once you can do snappy hull-to-hull airscrews on small waves, you are ready to tackle this combo.

These steps outline a left airscrew to left clean blunt.

1. Get high on the wave.

2. Start down the wave, put in a paddle stroke and bounce. Tilt the boat with your hips to land on your right edge.

3. As you land, start rotating your shoulders to the left so your paddle is in line with your boat. Keep the boat on edge and look down at the water—this will start your rotation.

4. As your boat releases, keep looking down at the water between your arms. Fix your eyes on this spot until the moment just before you go upside down.

5. Okay, here’s the key to a snappy airscrew and landing flat and ready for the next trick: Right before you go inverted, look over your left shoulder and PUNCH out with your right hand.

6. Use your right paddle blade as a rudder to keep your boat straight for the landing.

7. Tighten up your right side abdominal muscles as if you’re trying to touch your left elbow to your right knee. Do that now. Feel that? This is what will finish your rotation and get you ready for the landing.

8. Touch down. Now, in one quick motion let go of the rudder, rotate  to the left and smoothly transfer your weight from your right edge to your left. Initiating this release is the hardest part because you won’t feel like you have a good enough bounce to throw a clean blunt.

9. Pop up and hit the water with your feet as you throw your arms away from your body. Be really aggressive—even if you have no bounce, throw your arms into the trick and look downstream. You may wipe out or just flat spin 180, or you might throw a stylin’ clean blunt.

This article originally appeared in Rapid, Early Summer 2011. Download our free iPad/iPhone/iPod Touch App or Android App or read it here.

North Water Regulation Micro Tow Review

Gear

Photo: North Water — Regulation Micro Tow

This gear review was originally published in Adventure Kayak magazine.

Half the size of north water’s steadfast and proven sea tec, the waist-worn Micro tow system allows for a pre-set, adjustable short or long tow. Unclip one of the two wide gate, stainless steel, keyhole-eye carabiners for a short tow or both for a long tow. This configuration also allows you to tow with a partner or tow two boats simultaneously should the need arise. Rope is 55 feet long, 5/32-inch floating polypropylene.

www.northwater.com » $70 US

This article originally appeared in Adventure Kayak, Early Summer 2011. Download our free iPad/iPhone/iPod Touch App or Android App or read it here.

MEC Fulcrum Tour PFD Review

Photo: Mountain Equipment Co-op — MEC Fulcrum Tour PFD Review

This gear review was originally published in Adventure Kayak magazine.

MeC’s new side-entry touring PFD fits a wide variety of body types. Women and barrel-chested men benefit from horizontally split, expandable front floatation panels and everyone can appreciate the high waist back that minimizes ride-up. Rescue belt ready, the vest also includes safety features like reflective piping, knife and strobe attachment points and a carabiner quick-release point. Three pockets, a key clip and plenty of adjustment points round out this well equipped, reasonably priced PFD.

www.mec.ca » $120 CDN

This article originally appeared in Adventure Kayak, Early Summer 2011. Download our free iPad/iPhone/iPod Touch App or Android App or read it here.

Sperry Top-Sider SON-R Ping Review

Gear

Photo: Sperry Top-Sider — Sperry Top-Sider SON-R Ping Review

This gear review was originally published in Adventure Kayak magazine.

Known for inventing the first boat shoe in 1935, sperry top-sider has released a new line of rugged, performance-oriented shoes that look great while protecting your feet. Available for both men and women, the SON-R Ping is flexible enough to fit comfortably in even the snuggest sea kayak. the quick-drying mesh upper allows for continuous drainage. outsoles are designed to provide excellent traction on slippery surfaces and reinforced toes and heels limit premature wear from rubbing inside the boat. One of our testers (we won’t say who) was especially pleased to find that the beefy strapping system kept the shoes secure even while swimming from his boat.

www.sperrytopsider.com » $90 US

This article originally appeared in Adventure Kayak, Early Summer 2011. Download our free iPad/iPhone/iPod Touch App or Android App or read it here.