Eastern Paddles

With any luck at all, I'll finally head down the road on Monday towing my micro-teardrop style trailer. I'll be heading east into the map area above, arriving eventually in Nova Scotia, sampling paddle opportunities here and there along the way. So if you live in Maine, New Brunswick or Nova Scotia and think I ought to be paddling where you do, leave a note in the comment section below and I'll try to hook up with you. My email address can be found on my profile if that works better for you.

I'll be out there for a few weeks, so posts for the next little while will be sporadic at best...

Cheers!

Look Ma, No Pictures!

I spent the weekend on - or near - Seneca Lake in New York State. The purpose of paddling over there was to take in a Greenland style paddling clinic given by Turner Wilson and Cheri Perry. I've joined their classes on several previous occasions and without fail I've come away a better paddler. This past weekend was no exception, especially in the stroke department.

I've paddled for years with a Greenland style paddle and really thought I knew most of what there was to know. Wrong! Turner had more to offer me. Cheri did as well in the rolling and bracing department. Unfortunately for me, the heat had got to me and I didn't do as well as I had hoped. I'm an old arctic hand, as they say, and really like to have a bit of ice in the water or in a nearby glass, at least, to get the most out a paddling experience!

All to say, if you have the chance to take a clinic with either of these two people, don't hesitate. Great instruction given by two very generous and knowledgeable people!

Oh, and the fact I don't have a picture of all this fun is mostly due to the fact I was too busy enjoying the day to bother taking pictures...

Wine on the Go!

There's nothing like a small glass of wine with dinner after a long day's paddle! The problem has been not the wine, but the container it comes it. Glass has a nasty tendency to turn into shards for some reason, especially when dropped. I've used bagged wine which is sold is a box on several trips, but have never been overly pleased with the quality of the vintage. For some reason, the product tends to be a cheaper blend of so-so wines. Not what I have in mind at the end of a tiring day on the water.

On the other hand, this little box, pictured here about to be recycled, is yet another way wine is being delivered these days. Much like a sturdy milk carton with a screw top, these new packs bring with them a much improved, high quality product. This particular wine, a Shiraz from South Africa, was excellent. Even better, it comes from a grower who raises his grapes organically and produces a wine with minimal additives. I like that! I'll be stocking my kayak with more of these containers...

Lowering the Bar

In spite of careful measuring and a host of other precautions, the rim of my re-constructed skin-on-frame qajaq sits too high off the hull and thus manages to gouge a groove out of my back whenever I try to lay back on the rear deck. This past weekend, I decided to see what I could do to change this annoyance.

I began by gluing a new flange to the rim just underneath the present one. Once it was set, I cut off the old flange. In the photo above, you can see I've got about half the flange cut off. I actually left the forward part of the old flange on the rim to make the skirt easier to pull on or off and also provide slightly more chance for water coming over the deck to be deflected off should I happen to paddle skirtless. This lowered the rim about half an inch. Once that was done, I 'sculpted' the top of the flange itself making the rear section slope gently into the cockpit, giving it a wider, gentler surface area, which will hopefully make it more comfortable when I lay back for a snooze - or a roll! I'd already provided for the rear of the rim to 'float' by lowering the cross-piece at that point, so I have great hopes...

I'll have the boat out for a tryout tomorrow once everything dries out a bit...

In case you're wondering what the 'hull liner' is in the picture, it's a Krazy-Karpet' left over from winter sliding fun. It makes a perfect slip in - slip out, with a whole lot less wiggling and reverse knee bending!

Greenland's Gift

It's no longer much of a secret that Greenland style kayaking - or perhaps I should say qajaqquni - is taking the world by storm. Almost anywhere one goes these days to meet up with fellow paddlers, one sees Greenland "skinny stick" paddles and even a few home-built 'skin-on-frame' kayaks. There is a reason for this recent diaspora of Greenland qajaq culture and much of the reason can be seen and heard in Dubside's latest video: Modern Greenland Kayaking.

This is the latest product coming out of the collaboration of Tom Sharp and Dubside. I was lucky enough to wrangle a copy out of Dubside's hands when we were both in Toronto last month. It should be available now through his web site and I can highly recommend adding it to your collection. The DVD takes the viewer through the re-birth and transformation of Greenland's qajaq culture as it moved from a hunting implement to a national sport. Well documented are all the varied aspects of the sport from the qajait themselves, to the rope gymnastics, the rolling and the racing. From there the video moves to the United States where a number of early pioneers like Cindy Cole and John Heath brought the rich and varied qajaq culture home to people in North America and now it's busy spreading around the world.

So get out there and buy this video! Then get involved in one of the most fascinating parts of the kayaking world, one that goes directly to the heart and spirit of its beginnings - and future.

Canada Day in Hatley Village

If you live in North America, then you know your country's birthday celebrations take place in early July. In Canada, it's July 1st. All over the country, villages, towns and cities put on some kind of special event. In Hatley Village this year they put on their 100th consecutive parade and fireworks display. Literally the money that is collected from those who donate to see the morning parade, is all blown up later that night on a big noise and light show in the skies. Dogs, babies and grannies for miles around cower under their beds until the racket settles down and another year of bucolic peace takes over.

Golden Summer Days

There is something special about paddling the boat you built, with the paddle you carved, on a lake you love. They all came together for me yesterday on a golden summer day.