Paddle California

Higher levels

2011-12-13T16:39:00.000-08:00

Leading the group in for a landing

I've said before that my favorite people to teach are other teachers. Some people like to teach beginners - it's hard to match the joy of introducing a new sport, one that can be life changing, to eager students. Some folks like to teach advanced courses - the chance to do some paddling that is truly fun and exciting while welcoming some new blood into the brotherhood. For me, instructor training is the highest level of coaching. It's more involved, more complicated, and more rewarding than any other class. At its best it delves into the minutia of how to transfer information from one person to another; it dissects the human psyche to develop systems and stratagems to help students learn as quickly and efficiently as possible. It's down right complicated and that's what makes it fun.

Apparently purple isn't visible enough

So this past weekend was a special treat as I assisted teaching an advanced open water ACA instructor certification course in Half Moon Bay. The advanced level cranks everything up a notch - the candidates are more experienced and motivated, the coaching is at a higher level, the conditions and locations are more challenging, overall it's just more fun! It was also a chance to work with Roger Schumann who I've known for years but never gotten to teach with before. And in addition, everyone in the class was a friend and paddling buddy. So it was really about workshopping with peers, where everyone is contributing ideas and sharing experiences.

Flat water fun

This being an advanced course we also got to go play in some fun conditions: a day of surfing 4-6' waves at Pillar Point; playing at Yellow Bluff and under the Golden Gate with4.5 knot currents; and a little rock gardening out at Pt. Diablo. The only disappointing thing about the weekend was the lack of wind - we needed at least 15 knots to create the proper conditions for the certification but in the three days of the course the wind never once reached that speed anywhere we could find. It's a sad day when December in San Francisco can't manage to stir up at least a little winter weather. But we made do with what we had and even at the end of a long weekend people were still playing around on the way back to CCK's classroom and the Princeton Boat Yard.

Pt. Bonita Rock Garden video

2011-12-02T10:31:00.000-08:00

Don't have a lot to say, it was just a nice day of paddling on the coast with friends. Waves were a little big, but I'll let the video do the talking on that.

New moves

2011-11-29T18:06:00.000-08:00

Sometimes it's interesting to look at the stats on this site. Occasionally I'll see that an old post is getting a lot of attention. Often I have no idea why but sometimes it makes sense. Lately I've gotten a number of hits on a post I did last year on off season training. Seeing as how we're back into the off season it's reasonable that people are looking for ideas to stay or get in shape. The article itself is still good but since I wrote it I have added a couple of exercises to my routine that I think have made a real difference so I thought I would share them. These are both particularly well suited to kayakers but are great core exercises for anyone that does anything.

1. Planks. No, it's not just lying still in strange locations. It involves using your core muscles to hold your body straight in alignment instead of crunching to compact them. The basic technique is to prop yourself on your forearms and toes and hold your body straight just off the ground. This better simulates how we use our core and works all the muscles in the region. The variation of a side plank where you use one forearm (or straight arm) to extend the body off the ground helps focus on the obliques.

2. Mountain Climbers. It doesn't actually involve climbing. You start in a pushup position with arms straight and you alternate bringing one knee at a time to your chest. Twisting the right knee towards your left elbow and vice versa is great for paddlers wanting to improve their torso rotation. You can add to the workout by throwing in a pushup in between reps with the legs.

What I like best about these exercises is that it doesn't take any equipment to do them. You can do them anywhere and they don't take much time. And they translate very directly for kayaking.

Here is a site with a little more description and you can do a google search if you want to see video.

Assessing Risk Assessment

2011-11-08T15:52:00.000-08:00

Risk assessment seems like the topic d'jour. Perhaps that's just my perception, but between the incident at Lumpy Waters, the record number of whitewater fatalities this year and the instructor training I've been doing, risk assessment and post-game dissection has been a recurrent theme in my world. Part of that is the growing trend in kayaking towards the extreme, part of it is a modern aesthetic of justification through analyses, and part of it is the nature of 'social' media and mass communication (all these damn blogs...). While there is lots of useful discussion, debating, debriefing, dialogue and deliberation, I would like to throw a little reality check into the mix.

First, all the Monday morning quarterbacking is just that - Monday morning. After the fact everything is different. Perceptions, recollections, and facts themselves change and distort over time and the complete reality of a situation is never the same. So we can learn general points, we can point out mistakes, we can say what we would have done, but in the end all we can do is move forward. Don't get tied up to the incident that happened and the people that were involved. That reality will never come again and the only wisdom of value is that which can be applied in the abstract.

Second, everything we learn will be forgotten. I say that as a teacher. All these valuable lessons we learn from analyzing mistakes made and planning for the future will be needed again when the same mistakes are made. It's human nature. We may take a different path to making the mistake and at the time it will look completely different (because each situation is unique); but it will be the same mistake. Some people will learn, some people will change, some mistakes will be avoided and our general knowledge will grow. We can develop systems and strategies and procedures to follow for safety; we can create a rubric to protect everyone. But it will fail, and here's why:

Kayaking is fun. People having fun will not follow a system or instructions or a checklist. It goes against our nature - we want to be free and we want to have fun without burden of restrictions or control. It's what draws us to this sport. (aside: it's been shown that surgeons following a simple checklist, even those with hundreds of similar operations under their belt, will have better results and make fewer mistakes. But surgeons don't want to follow a checklist.) So mistakes and tragedies will still happen, and here's why:

Kayaking is risky. So go ahead and conduct the postmortems; have an incident review; develop a system of safety. It will help. But in the end it comes down to something much more basic: human nature. Some will evaluate at a subconscious level and make the safe call; some will ignore their intuition and take that risk. Safety is ultimately an individual choice and responsibility. The only advice I can offer that might be truly be of use is to be aware of that simple fact. Be aware in general.

Awareness at its most basic level is what allows us to assess risk and properly manage it. Awareness is what allows us to recognize a situation and connect it to lesson learned from previous experience. Awareness is a conscious effort to separate the actor from the action. Awareness is going outside yourself and gaining perspective in the process. Awareness is a skill, an ability and a habit. Awareness can be learned and developed. Awareness is individual but can be shared. Awareness is what allows for the understanding of risk and the assessment in its undertaking. It's not a system or a chart, it's not a tool or a plan, it's not a template or document. Awareness is sum of who we are: our skills, knowledge, training, experience and thoughts. Let that be your guide and your beacon and you will make the right choice.

But you will make mistakes. And the same ones again. There will be danger and harm. There will be regret and recriminations. But we'll go kayaking and have some fun.

Sports Cars

2011-10-31T12:36:00.000-07:00

I recently tested out the new P&H Delphin 150. It's the smaller version of the Delphin 155 which has been one of the most popular boats this past year. And in looking around at some of the other 'hot' new boats out there you see a lot of exciting, playful designs. Boats like the Tiderace Xstreme, Sterling Reflection, etc. While it is cool that there are new designs coming out and boats that are really designed to perform in rough and challenging conditions, it's also a bit of overkill.

These boats are the equivalent of sports cars in the kayaking world. How many people really need to drive a sports car? Even if I owned a Porsche I wouldn't get to work any faster. And I certainly couldn't carry as much stuff with me. Even if you're a really good driver are you actually going to need the performance of a Porsche? How often do you need to get up to 60mpg in 4 seconds? Most of us drive sedans, SUV's and minivans for a reason. I take that same approach to kayaking - I want what is going to work for me in a practical way for how I paddle.

Don't get me wrong - I loved the Delphin 150. And these boats are great for the people who have the skills and opportunity to push them to their performance limits. Or for those who can afford multiple boats. But I see more folks with high performance kayaks than I see high performance kayakers. But I guess sea kayaking isn't about what's practical for most people. At the end of the day they are just toys, and I guess paddlers are like everyone else - we want the shiniest, sexiest toy we can afford. Having access to a fleet of kayaks through work maybe I'm not in a position to judge. But as to what I own I'll stick with my Ikkuma and my pickup truck.

Here's some video of both sizes of Delphins. Not even approaching their maximum performance...

Back to Basics

2011-10-18T14:59:00.000-07:00

I just got home from the Lumpy Waters Sea Kayak Symposium and there was a bit of a recurring theme to my thoughts during the weekend. The first was that it was great to get back to the simple stuff - what originally drew me into paddling. I started as a sea kayaker. Playing in the ocean with friends, just having fun. And then teaching - again, something just plain fun. This weekend felt the same - doing a little teaching, hanging out with old friends and new, and definitely playing a little on the ocean. Even the twelve hour ride up (and back) went smooth and passed quickly.

The other thing I noticed is that Lumpy and other similar symposiums (GGSKS) attract some good paddlers. They have experience, take classes and practice their skills, have nice kit and are great people to hang out with. The symposiums are set up for them with lots of advanced classes: rock garden safety, long boat surfing, combat rolling, etc. The students learn a lot and really enjoy the classes. But if truth be told, when I look around and think what should these people (and most paddlers) spend their time learning or working on? the answer comes back: the simple stuff. Forward stroke technique; T rescues, general seamanship and navigation. Those are the skills that are used all the time and make you a safe and effective paddler who can go explore and have fun. And far too many 'experienced' paddlers come up lacking in the basics when you really look at the details.

Symposiums are really cool and a tremendous learning environment. It's a great chance to push yourself beyond your normal comfort zone and get instruction in an environment that you might not get too very often. It's an opportunity to pick up wisdom from new people and to advance your knowledge base. But people too often move on to what's new without fully mastering the old. Just because you've had a class or worked on a skill in the past doesn't mean you are done. The great paddlers, the safe paddlers, are the ones who kept working on fundamentals until they were second nature. Rescues become quick and correct, knowing where to go is automatic, covering distance no problem. That is the result of working on the basics and those are the people who are a joy to paddle with. So the next time you are out for a paddle think about the things you learned when you first started and honestly evaluate yourself - if you really want to be a better kayaker you need to start at the beginning.

But speaking of people who are a joy to paddle with: once again several of the coaches went out to Three Arch Rocks for a little play session after the event. The surf was a little bigger this year and took some timing to make it out. Once out there we had some big action in the arches and a couple pour-overs. Then we headed to the point for a little surfing. Paul, Sean and Matt N. really got some great rides, easily 20 seconds on a wave. I had the distinction of the best wipeout on the way in when two waves merged just behind me and sent me ass over tea kettle - the feeling off weightlessness as you are spat out of a wave and then the unbelievable soft landing in the foam is amazing sensation.

I only took my new little waterproof camera and didn't shoot too much, but I think I got some really nice shots so please check out the slideshow below:

Girls in Bikinis!

2011-09-27T19:28:00.000-07:00

No, it's not just an attention grabbing title. But I'll get to the girls in a little bit.

I just returned home from a 3-day paddling trip to the Channel Islands. Sorry I didn't hit my SPOT when we got to the beach but I had packed it away in the wrong place and didn't want to dig it out of the bottom of the truck after getting packed for the long drive home. But the trip went well and mild weather made for some easy paddling. This was the classic Channel Islands - the perfect 3 day crossing trip. We launched from Oxnard; paddled over to Anacapa Island to explore and camp for the night; paddled on to Santa Cruz Island the next day and spent the night there; finally we paddled back to Oxnard. It's a great intro to kayak camping, open crossings and cave exploration all wrapped up into a long weekend.

View Anacapa-Santa Cruz in a larger map

Our crossing to Anacapa was under grey skies and calm winds. We headed straight for Frenchy's beach, the only place you are allowed to land, for a short break before working our way to the landing cove. The landing cove represents the biggest challenge of the trip - the dock is ten feet above the water. Hauling fully loaded boats up to 'land' is quite the feat. Pedro had devised a hoist system for a similar set up on Santa Barbara Island that would allow one person to do the task along - or at least that was the theory. This was our chance to test it out. But as we rounded the corner we were confronted with a group of bikini clad girls jumping off of said dock. Pedro now had plenty of hands to help haul up kayaks but for some reason chose to go it alone. The system was proven (it worked, but not pretty) with one boat but for the others I jumped up to give him a hand.

The next day the lowering of kayaks from the dock was much easier (maybe it was the help of gravity, maybe the lack of distractions). We paddled through the famous arch and around the south side of Anacapa where we ran into a curious pod of sea lions - check out the video below. Then we crossed over to Santa Cruz, a relatively short crossing at four miles but notorious for headwinds that funnel through the gap. But winds stayed light and we made it into Scorpion Cove before the sun broke through and winds picked up. Since we all have played in the caves around the landing sight numerous times before we decided to take a hike up the canyon to find the Island Ironwood - a small tree that only grows on the Channel Islands. I've been to the islands dozens of times but never heard of this particular tree before - it's cool when a familiar place still has something new to discover.

The third day we had another early launch. The forecast was for winds increasing and out of the NW. We were headed NE and figured a little action, hopefully at our sterns, would help the 20 mile crossing fly along. But the winds never came - even as we approached Oxnard and the sun came out it remained calm and warm. we landed early in the afternoon in time to grab a little sushi (the normal burger joint was closed) and head on home. Not a terrible way to end a simple little trip. More PICTURES HERE and a nice little clip of the sea lions checking us out below:

Astral Swim Contest - I need your vote!

2011-09-27T14:00:00.000-07:00

Help! I'm a finalist in Astral Buoyancy's 'Swim' story contest. It's my write up of my swim through an underwater cave on the lower Kern river a couple years ago. There are three finalists and Astral is letting votes on Facebook decide the winner. So take a quick moment and read the stories HERE and then go vote HERE.

The winner gets a new Astral PFD but since I have plenty of PFD's if I win I will raffle it off for a good cause: The Jason Craig Recovery Fund.

And here's the video from the swim, just in case you want to see what really happened:

And here's a different write-up I did for American Whitewater (they didn't use it but I think it's actually a better version - just didn't fit in the size constraint for the contest...)

Twenty seconds

Time passes differently on the river. The days are longer, filled with more than should fit into a twenty-four hour period. Each minute seems to have endless possibilities. Every second gets stretched out to a tangible period of time with multiple thoughts and actions. This slowing of the passage of time is often a pleasing aspect to river travel, but it takes on a more extreme character during a crisis.

We’ve all heard the stories: I was in that hole forever; I was under water for minutes; I thought I would never get unpinned. But usually these are exaggerations, the actual time spent under duress being far shorter than the true reality of the situation (or what our friends experienced while watching the action). But there is a difference between the time measured on a clock and what we experience on the river.

Twenty seconds. That’s how much time I spent underwater, mostly in a cave. The helmet cam video proves it, though it is black for a lot of that time. It felt longer to me. And to my friends watching from shore. But I still had plenty of air in my lungs when I emerged so it might actually have only been twenty seconds. But those twenty seconds were filled to the brim with thoughts and reflections.

At the top of the rapid I am focused as the rocks and holes fly by at high speed. Then the final hole spins me around before the big drop and everything switches to slow motion. Once backwards I have time to debate whether I should try to spin around or just go with it. In a fraction of a second I weigh the pros and cons: if I miss the spin I’ll go over sideways and get recirced – or maybe surfed towards the cave; if I go over backwards I could still stay in the current and go past the cave. I decide to stay backwards and backpaddle for as much speed as possible. It doesn’t work.

As I hit the bottom of the drop I feel my stern get turned sideways and the current grab my edge. I’m flipping with too much force to try to brace so I immediately go into a tuck, ready to roll before I’m upside down. In the white chaos I pause to see if I’m in the hole or flushing out. I feel the push of current that says I’m free and have time to note the power of that current as I begin my roll. Part way through I am stopped – I hit the rock on my way up and know that the rock is above me, holding me down. I am in the cave and the light quickly fades.

I pull my skirt as my boat comes to a rest pushed against the back wall of the underwater cave. I know exactly where I am and quickly exit the boat, choosing to release my paddle since it will be no use to me now. I quickly scan my environment – I can see the light coming from upstream but the flow of water pushing against me makes that route unattainable. I reach to the ceiling to try to get above the water – but there is no air pocket to be found. I start to feel around with my hands, looking for a passage out or anything that might prove useful. I notice that my boat is still right next to me and I wonder if it has an air pocket of its own. I leave that for later since I still have plenty of air at the moment.

As my search comes up empty part of my mind considers my situation in the abstract. I might actually die in here. There’s no flash of past memories, no thoughts of regret or curses for the cruelty of fate. There is acceptance, the understanding that this situation is simply a logical outcome of the choices and actions that led to it. This is what we choose to risk when we paddle at this level. I accept that risk but I am not ready to accept that final outcome so I focus back on the situation and how to change it.

I feel a tug on my feet, the current going down and pulling me with it. I remember the story of a past boater swimming down and out this very cave; I remember that he got stuck on a tree branch in the process. But I know that to stay is to die so I push myself down, further down into the dark, further from the air above.

Now the sensation of speed has momentarily returned. I feel the rush of the water and sense the walls flying past. But the darkness is complete and my fingers no longer reach the rock. I note that the tunnel seems long, that I’ve been moving fast for a long time now.

Then I am out. The current fades and openness returns. I orient myself and see light far above. As I slowly rise I know I am safe. I think back on my time in the cave and how my mortality was so starkly laid bare before me. I note how calm I stayed through it all and marvel at the clarity of my thoughts. As I am still rising towards the surface I realize that my friends are up there waiting and now I feel distress. What must they have been thinking during this long stretch of time? What horrors were their minds conjuring? What did I just put them through?

And then I break the surface. I grab a lungful of new air and time resumes its normal flow. I still have a sense of purpose in swimming to the shore and I note my friends waiting there with throwbags in hand. I reach the rock and climb up and out of the river. Now safe my thoughts become a tangled mess: I am happy to be alive; I feel awful for my friends; I am pissed at myself for my mistake in execution; I am totally uncertain if my decision to run the rapid was foolish, stupid, brave or all of the above. The clarity and calmness are gone. But I am glad to trade the cool, detached awareness of imminent danger for the chaos and hassle of a complicated boat recovery. As long as time continues to flow on I am content to move at its pace. But those twenty seconds now account for a large portion of my life, what I learned and experienced during that time will stay with me forever. Those twenty seconds were full.

Check-in/OK message from spotbryant SPOT Personal Tracker

2011-09-25T12:51:00.001-07:00

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2011-09-24T15:26:00.001-07:00

spotbryant
Latitude:34.01646
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GPS location Date/Time:09/24/2011 15:26:44 PDT

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boof rock

2011-09-20T15:37:00.000-07:00

Student #2 looks good (before the landing)

As instructors we all love the moments when our students have a breakthrough and feel that moment of success when understanding and accomplishment emerge from persistence and practice. But sometimes we also take a little glee in the those little failing that indicate the students are trying but haven't quite got it yet. Last week while teaching some whitewater students how to boof I went first and demonstrated on 'boof rock'. Then I set up in the eddy to take pictures as they came down. The first student caught the edge of the rock and flipped. I wasn't too worried - it's deep, flat water below and he knew how to roll. The next hit the boof but didn't stick the landing - over he went and without a roll he waved his hands for a rescue. As I put away the camera and came to his aid the next student hit the rock in the right spot but without momentum - over she went. As the one student grabbed my bow and started to right himself I realized I had three students upside down, all within a couple boat lengths. As my guy flipped himself up using my boat I saw the first student finally get his roll as the third was struggling with hers. I quickly handed my guy his paddle, gave him a shove into the eddy and got to my roller just as she decided it wasn't working for her and she grabbed my boat and came up. Three down, three up and no swims. They haven't mastered the boof but they all had smiles after the attempt - what more can you ask for. (for the record, student #4 bypassed the rock but student #5 nailed it perfectly)

Hold the phone - summer's not dead!

2011-09-15T08:49:00.000-07:00

After all my talk of switching into sea kayak mode I got a late night call from Matt saying he was planning to run the N Stan, leaving early the next morning. Amazing that such a great stretch of river still has water (barely) in the middle of September. It's only a two hour drive and Matt was planning on doing a bike shuttle but wanted a third person for the trip (three is much safer than two). Lydia was the third and it was her first time on the N Stan and her first time really creeking. The weather was suppose to be perfect and I hadn't packed away my whitewater gear quite yet so I joined in on the fun.

And fun it was - a perfect day of carefree boating. The low water changed a lot of the rapids but for the most part they still help up. The first rapid of the day is the toughest and it had a fair amount of pin and piton potential. (The actual first rapid at the put in is a class V+ nightmare that we didn't even consider at these flows). Matt and I charged it and we both had smooth lines that made it feel like we had accomplished something and also helped us to relax the rest of the day. The river itself was clear and picturesque and it had the right combination of pools and easy rapids with a few more technical ones thrown in. Lydia was picking things up as the day went along and really got the hang of low water, rocky creek paddling.

The single biggest drop is actually the very last one, right below the bridge at the take out. Matt went first and briefly disappeared before popping up upright and giving the go ahead. I had the same basic ride but manage to keep my nose up enough to just get instantly surfed out the side of the hole. Lydia was dead on target but still subbed out and emerged upside down - but rolled to the cheers of the onlookers above. In fact a super kind older couple watching the action came over to show us the pictures they had taken and offered to email them to us. And after they asked how we planned to get back up to our car at the put in and we showed them the bike they offered to load all of us and our gear into their truck and drive us back up. Now that's the way you end the summer with style.

More PICTURES HERE

Summer's over - let the sea kayaking begin!

2011-09-13T13:23:00.000-07:00

Out of staters often complain that California doesn't have seasons - not like they do back east or in the midwest. We just have nice weather year round. It's not exactly true but even if it were it is a strange thing to complain about. Our seasons may not be as dramatic but there are some key signs that summer has ended: we had rain in the forecast (only got a sprinkle, but that doesn't happen in the summer); most everything in the Sierras on Dreamflows is in the yellow; and the raft traffic on the South Fork American is only mildly annoying when teaching a class. Personally, my seasons are broken down by activity as much as weather.

Spring and Summer are whitewater seasons - the rivers are flowing, the weather is warm and there are a ton of options. I might get out in my sea kayak for a trip or two, I may do some flatwater paddling on the lake, but primarily I'm in my creek boat. But by Fall most of the rivers are dry so I start to head off for more ocean paddling. The weather on the coast is at its best - light winds, less fog, warmer temps. This is the time to plan big trips or just head down to San Fran for the day.

While I don't have any big expeditions in the works for this season I am looking forward to a couple of great sea kayak trips. First, I'll be heading down to the Channel Islands in a couple of weeks. Just a quick three day trip out and back to a couple islands I've been to many times. But The Channel Islands is where I started my paddling career and it is always special to head out there for some kayak camping. Then next month I will be heading back up to Oregon to teach at the Lumpy Waters Symposium. Last year was my first and it was the funnest trip of the fall. With some more friends headed up there this year it should be amazing. I can't over-emphasize how fantastic this type of symposium is for all those involved: the instructors learn from each other as much as the students learn us and together we have such a great time on the water and off. Then it looks like I will be leading an ACA Coastal Instructor cert course or two this fall/winter and then it will be time for the Golden Gate Sea Kayak Symposium before you know it.

Here's the video from last year's Lumpy Waters to get everyone in the mood for fall ocean paddling:

Paddling vs. Kayaker

2011-08-30T10:39:00.000-07:00

There's a difference between someone who paddles and a kayaker. Someone who paddles rents a boat and goes out on the lake for a couple hours for fun. They buy a boat at Costco to take out when the grandkids visit. They use 'oars' to slowly float down the river. A kayaker is someone who is enthusiastic and dedicated to the sport.

Don't get me wrong - people who paddle are great. I love to see the family taking a canoe out for a day of fun; the vacationers trying out a pedal drive boat for a couple hours; even some kids riding rec boats in through the small surf on a nice sandy beach. But I'm in the business of creating kayakers. When I go paddling that's who I want to paddle with. I want to sit around the campfire and talk paddling with those who want to understand what it means to kayak. Kayakers are a separate group from the general population and we share a connection that you don't get from just going out for a paddle now and then.

So what exactly makes someone a kayaker? That can be hard to define but the other night I was working with some ladies on sea kayak rescues and was struck by the thought that rescue practice is a defining activity. Real kayakers, whether flat water or ocean, learn and practice their rescues. That shows an understanding and commitment to the sport. Without rescue skills you are either confined to benign environments or you are a risk to yourself and others. You don't have to know how to roll, you don't have to be able to do a paddle-float rescue in under 30 seconds. You just have to be aware enough to know that you need to learn some way to get back in your boat and you need to try to get better at doing so.

On the river it's a little different. Whitewater has a convenient rating system. But you don't need to paddle class III (or IV or V) to be a kayaker. And again you don't need to have any specific rescue skill (rolls are good but I don't think they define you). For me, what makes you a kayaker on the river is the ability to lead a rapid. To be out in front and find your own way down, whether an easy class II or challenging class IV. You don't have to lead every rapid - we all follow people at times. But to take the personal responsibility to scout and rapid and find your own line is what kayaking is about. Those who can only follow others down the river are really just out for a paddle.

The Hole story

2011-08-22T07:02:00.000-07:00

The latest issue of Rapid (click the link for the FREE online version) magazine has an article of mine on how to escape from holes. It's a short, 5 point summary of some methods to get out of a sticky hole. My original article was much longer but it didn't fit the magazine's format. At first the idea of cutting my article down so much seemed a little daunting and hard to take. But after seeing the final product I think the editor was on to something - it comes across well and I think it's just the right amount of information. But that being said, I still want to share the original article in all its unnecessary length and with a couple awesome illustrations by my friend Alex Horangic.

The Hole Story

Tips for getting out of those sticky situations

By Bryant Burkhardt

In whitewater kayaking you’re taught right at the start to avoid holes. “Just go around them”. Or if you can’t miss them, “just hit them head on and paddle through. If they flip you you’ll flush out.”

And that works for beginners - most of the time. But eventually you’re going to hit that big monster of a hole that you should have avoided, you won’t have time to square up to it and once it flips you you won’t flush out. To prepare for this eventuality you need to know some strategies to get yourself out.

Quick review: a hole is a hydraulic feature where the water on the surface is re-circulating upstream. It’s the re-circulating surface level water that pushes you and your boat upstream, essentially holding you in the hole. But underneath the upstream current the deeper water flows downstream – in large holes that downstream flow may be quite a ways below the surface.

Drawing by Alex Horangic

OK, you’re in a hole

Here’s the situation: you hit a hole, flip and stick. What do you do now? The first thing to do when stuck in a hole is to keep your wits about you - and stay in your boat. Swimming is an option but a safer and generally smarter strategy is to first try to get out of the hole while staying in the boat. The ability to think clearly and use specific techniques to escape the hole often makes the difference between a short surf and an epic swim. Begin your exit strategy by tucking tight with your paddle in a set up position for the roll – this will protect your shoulders. That re-circulating water we talked about earlier can be your friend – it’s circular, meaning that it will actually help roll your kayak back up if you go with the flow of the water. Don’t just throw out a roll attempt – work slowly and feel the direction the water wants to roll you and go with it using a small paddle motion and hip flick. This motion should bring you up sideways in the hole leading to a side surf. To stay upright in this side surf make sure you lean downstream as much as possible to keep the water that is pouring into the hole from catching you and flipping you again (and again and again – something referred to as window-shading).

Surf it sideways

From the side surf you can make your first and safest attempt at getting out by paddling or ‘surfing’ your kayak to the side of the hole and escaping. Holes are generally weakest on the side so if you can make your way over there you might just wash out. Use your brace (high or low depending on what you’re most comfortable with and what the environment is like) to move yourself forward or backward to get to the side. Make sure to try both sides – if you can’t get out forwards don’t forget to try going backwards. If you can get yourself to the side of the hole don’t be afraid to reach for the water flowing by with your paddle – it will help to pull you out. Side surfing takes some practice and the best place for that is the ocean surf. If you don’t live near an ocean find a small hole that you know will release you and practice with that.

Surf it straight up

If the side surf isn’t working – you can’t make it to the side or once there you can’t break out - then you have to be prepared to surf the hole straight up. Point your nose upstream into the hole and drive forward. This will take you into the current of water that pours into the hole and hopefully that water will drive you and your boat down deep and take you under the hole with the downstream current. Yes, this action will likely flip you - so get a big breath and hold it before you dive in.

Rodeo away

If you’ve tried to surf you way into the heart of the hole and it didn’t spit you out then you are most likely going to begin a rodeo session whether you like it or not. This is not necessarily a bad thing. Try to ‘throw down’: get the ends of your boat into the current as much as you can, potentially getting your boat into a vertical position. Often a vertical boat (especially a creek boat) will be sticking down into the water far enough to catch that downstream current. Many a boater has done a tail stand going through a hole and washed out the bottom still vertical. By rodeoing the hole the same motion can work to get you out after you’ve gotten stuck.

Go deep

This approach is generally a last resort since it puts your shoulders under strain. Since we know that the water underneath the hole is going downstream we can go down there and grab it. The first step is to flip upside down. Again, take that big breath before if you can. Once upside down start in a safe tucked position and slowly reach a paddle blade over your head (this means reaching towards the bottom of the river). Try to keep your elbows in as close to your body as possible but for really big holes you may have to extend your arms quite a ways. Once the downstream water grabs your blade you need to hang on and let it pull you and your boat downstream and out of the hole.

Drawing by Alex Horangic

Getting wet

Sometimes you just can’t reach that downstream water while you are in the boat. That boat, after all, is just a huge plastic balloon full of air that floats on the surface. So one final trick is to let the air out – go ahead of pull your skirt. The boat will flood and sink below the surface – if you manage to stay in the boat you can catch the downstream current and ride it out. Most boats have enough flotation to bring you back up to the surface once past the hole and you will then have the fun task of paddling a kayak full of water to the shore. Not easy or graceful but it helps keep you with your gear. Another advantage to this technique is that it is also the first step in the final option:

Swimming

During all these techniques you will be flipping and spinning and underwater at times. While it is generally good to stay in your boat sometimes it makes sense to wet exit while you still have some air in your lungs. The exact timing of when you decide to swim is a judgment call but the more you can mentally focus and remain calm the better your decisions will be. If you do exit your boat and find yourself still in the hole you will need to swim towards the downstream current once again. Most of the same techniques you tried in your boat can be tried without a boat. As you get pushed back upstream into the falling water tuck yourself into a ball and go as deep as you can and let that water carry you under and out the hole.

Conclusion

With all these techniques you will most likely come out of the hole upside down. Don’t forget to roll up. I’ve seen many folks fight a hole and make it out but then pull their skirt because they weren’t aware they had escaped. It all comes back to keeping your wits about you. One of the best ways to work on your mental control is to do some playboating – working on your physical control. Practice in friendly situations so you will be prepared for the less friendly ones. Remember: knowing is half the battle.

Back in the saddle

2011-08-15T08:58:00.000-07:00

I officially retired from playing kayak polo after the world championships back in '06. Since then I have played occasionally - random tournaments or visits back down to LA where my old club still plays. But those occasions have been getting less frequent and I honestly don't remember the last time I played hard polo with a group of experienced players. But yesterday the guys in the San Francisco club were having a one-day training camp to get ready for Nationals next month. They needed some extra bodies to scrimmage against and they asked me to drive down for the day to play with them. While not my club, there is no other club that I have spent more time with in the polo world - from playing against them for years in local comps or playing with most of them on the national team. So I rinsed the cobwebs out of my boat, patched up one of my broken paddles and headed out for a long day of polo in the sun.

The good news is that I can still play. I wasn't as sharp as I used to be - my aim was a little off, my reactions a little slow - but I felt like I kept up with the guys just fine. The not so good news is that fitness is a very specific thing. I've mostly been paddling rivers lately, with the one exception being my Lost Coast trip, and I've been biking and working out. So I feel quite strong. But polo is a different beast - it involves lots of quick sprints, constant maneuvering and fighting hard for position. During the warm up I hurt my elbow blocking a shot on goal - just a super stiff paddle transferring the shock of impact to my joint. Before long my forearms were pumped from gripping the paddle so hard (a light, easy grip doesn't work in this sport). By the end of the day most of my body was sore and I barely stayed awake for the lat night drive home.

But the day was really fun. I do miss the camaraderie of playing on a team. With the SF guys it's like an old family out there - everyone knows each other a little too well; there's lots of jokes at each others' expense and there's some bickering and complaining, but mostly we just get on with it. Kayaking is largely an indiviualistic sport even if you don't normally do it alone. But when you're part of a team it completely changes the dynamic of you and your boat. It's something more paddlers should experience.

No pictures or video from the day - we didn't have any extra bodies to shoot it. But here's a clip the Nationals a couple years back for those who don't know what the heck I'm talking about:

Mind over matters

2011-08-09T09:20:00.000-07:00

A couple of days ago I got the news that a paddler I know died on Upper Cherry Creek. His name was Allen Satcher and I only got to paddle with him a few times. Like most paddlers he was very open and friendly on the river; he also seemed to be a very thoughtful person who willfully chose to be a positive force beyond the paddling world. He kept inviting me to go paddling even though my work schedule and personal lack of motivation to paddle hard stuff made me turn him down. He was out there paddling the rivers that I should have been paddling this season, with Upper Cherry being the number one run on my list for the past several years. I'm confident that if I had expressed interest in running it this year Allen would have been the first to invite me along. But mentally and physically I was not ready for the trip and didn't even try to go.

Paddling class V whitewater is a tricky thing and many folks have written about why we do it and how we accept the risk and what it means for us. Personally I don't have any deep thoughts or profound wisdom at the moment, maybe that will come later. I just see the pain left behind by the early loss of a great person. I've been taking a break from paddling class V since my own beat down earlier this summer. That break will definitely continue until my head is in a space where I really want to get back out there. I'm sure that time will come but until then I will paddle easier waters, spend time with my friends and focus on life off the water. Focus on the things that truly matter to me.

Here is a short clip of Allen (green boat/helmet) from our run down Slab Creek earlier this summer. He will be missed.

Lost Coast - off the couch

2011-07-29T19:26:00.000-07:00

Sometimes you plan out your big trips: research the charts, search out local knowledge, follow the weather patterns, open the schedule to go when conditions permit, train your body and mind to be ready to handle the worst. And sometimes you pick a date, jump up off the couch and just go. And get lucky.

Four of us CCK instructors (Sean, Matt, Anders and myself) picked a date to paddle the Lost Coast and came up with a general plan. Sean instigated the trip and came up with the starting and finishing points (and the necessary back-country permit); Anders did the chart work and sent out emails to get any advice we could. I myself just looked over the route on Google Earth but didn't do much to physically prepare - I paid for that with some tendonitis issues but nothing terrible. The plan was to put in outside Ferndale, paddle 75 miles down a remote and exposed coastline, and get out back at Highway 1 just north of Ft. Bragg. We all took plastic boats ready to play in the rocks as time allowed. We knew we had some protected landing options but an exposed launch to start and possibly again at the end. We all had a four day window between wives and work to squeeze it in without running into major problems in our real lives. It seemed do-able but certainly not a given.

But it all turned out well. Small swells on the first day allowed an easy start. The winds were generally light or at our back. We found some rocks to play in and generally we had long days of paddling (8 hours/day) with sunny skies. We had some nice campsites, generally shared with hikers or surfers, some lonely lunch spots with stunning scenery, and lots of good times with good friends. The last day had some of the best caves and tunnels to play in, which kept us busy in the morning. The afternoon found strong headwinds and growing swells which led to a couple guys getting out a little earlier while the other two of us continued on to paddle down to the truck and then retrieve the others on our way back north to get my vehicle from the put in. The swells had grown but our takeout site, a random alternate from where we had originally planned, turned out to have more protection than expected and the landings went smooth.

All in all it was a great trip with very minor issues (a flooded hatch, a lost spare paddle, missing sunglasses). It is a beautiful stretch of coast that transitions from big off shore rocks (like Trinidad) to a maze of tunnels and slots (like Mendocino). Sean's much more complete writeup is HERE. Anders is working on putting together the video that we all shot so hopefully that will have some good stuff - but it may take a while. A quick edit of my video is below. And here's a link to the rest of my pictures from the trip.

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2011-07-27T16:02:00.001-07:00

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2011-07-26T17:49:00.001-07:00

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2011-07-25T17:37:00.001-07:00

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2011-07-24T18:47:00.001-07:00

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Preparations

2011-07-22T09:36:00.000-07:00

It's kind of interesting how folks get ready for a trip. Is it a big trip or little trip? New area or familiar ground? Have you been paddling a lot or not at all? Using your regular gear or need something new? Are you too busy to prep or do you have some free time? How do you like to eat/pack on trips in general? The same trip can lead to lots of different preparation strategies.

In a couple days I'm headed to the Lost Coast - a stretch of northern California where the land is too rugged for the Pacific Coast Highway to actually follow the coast. It's a short but possibly intense trip - 75 miles of rugged, exposed coastline that none of us have done before. I'm excited for the trip but I've been busy at work, recovering from a sore shoulder and a couple rough whitewater trips and in general have other things on my mind. So my preparations have been rather minimal - a little virtual scouting on Google Earth, rustling up camping food from the kitchen cupboard, grabbing my standard gear. I'm sure I'll be fine, but hardly my normal thorough preparation.

View Lost Coast in a larger map

Luckily some of the other folks are doing the heavy lifting on this one - figuring out put in and take out locations, getting permits, beta from those who know and making sure the group has the requisite camping/eating/repair/safety equipment. And to a large extent they will enjoy the trip more because of this prep - which itself is fun to do for many of us. But I'm looking forward to getting out there and leaving everything else behind - the best part of a paddling trip is that once you've launched the preparation is over and you just do with what you've got.

I'll be using my SPOT to post our nightly location. Anders has the full tracking feature on his SPOT so you can follow our progress real time HERE.

Second walk off in a week

2011-07-05T09:56:00.000-07:00

For the second time in less than a week I ended up walking off a whitewater run. The first was the Rubicon epic detailed in my last post. This time it was not epic. In fact it was quite mundane and rather easy.

After the trials of the Rubicon mission I had a weekend free for boating but no motivation to do anything strenuous. So I met up with a couple friends from Southern California at the N Yuba. The plan was to do Pauley and Lavezzola creeks and some section of the N Yuba itself. All class IV runs that I've done before and knew should be relaxing and fun.

The first day two of us did Lavezzola while the third member was still on the road. The flows were good and a little higher than the last time I did it. We took our time and had a nice little run. We had planned to do Pauley afterward - the runs are only 4 miles each - but we were feeling lazy and just went for a little hike instead. Our third arrived for burgers and beers in Downieville and we planned to hit the Sierra City run on the N Yuba the next day.

We slept in since we wanted to wait for the flows to drop in a little from the diurnal high overnight. We drove up the river and left vehicles at the bottom and middle of the run so we had takeout options. We put on and the action on the run begins immediately. While Sierra City is not as hard as the Rubicon it actually has the same gradient - there are really no pools at all for the first five miles. After the first big rapid of punching a couple holes I pulled into an eddy and noticed my shoulder was sore. I had hurt it a month ago but thought it was all healed up. We pressed on and the more I paddled the more it hurt. So when we saw the road dip down close to the river I just climbed out and called it a day. Instead of hiking up 2,000 vertical ft. I only had to go up 50 ft. Then an easy two mile jaunt back to my truck. Not a bad hike out at all.

But I think I need to take the point and rest myself up for a little bit. Just some teaching and easy paddling for a while. At least until my mini expedition on the coast in three weeks...

I had camera problems so no pics or vid. But here's an old vid of Lavezzola:

The Rubicon = Epic

2011-07-01T11:23:00.000-07:00

The Rubicon always seemed like a legendary river to me. Just the name itself summons up a sense of mystery and adventure. Kind of like Big Foot - everyone's heard about it but descriptions are vague and no one has seen it in person. But even after hearing stories about this great river whose waters have been so dammed and diverted that it runs maybe once a decade, I still didn't really know where it was or what it was like. But the takeout is only about 50 miles from my house. And with our great snowpack in California it's finally got water in it - lots of water. The legend started becoming a reality.

A little background on The Rubicon. It is a tributary of the Middle Fork of the American River. It lies between Tahoe and Sacramento. It spill out of Hell Hole Reservoir but does so rarely - the water is usually diverted for power generation. In fact, it's more famous for the jeep trail that crosses its dry river bed than the whitewater kayaking that the flowing river can offer. There is an upper and a lower run. The upper is 8 miles and a 'day' run, though there is little beta to be found on it. The famous run is the lower; it's 20 miles of continuous rapids normally done in two days. It's rated class V but some say it's an easy V and some say otherwise. It's hard to get precise information but the general consensus is that it is one of the best rivers in California and you should never miss an opportunity to get on it. The trick is having water and knowing how much water is there.

But thanks to Hilde's daily updates on boof.com we had flow reports. Word also came back that a group went in early with flows of 2000 cfs and found it too high and walked out after a couple scary miles. Without regular water to run through the river bed the willows have grown thick in the shallows and there are few eddies and even when you can find a place to stop you can't see anything.So the flows kept rising and I looked at my calendar and figured I would have time to research it and decide if I wanted to do it before the flows came into runnable levels. But then the flow dropped in half unexpectedly and it looked like there might be just one chance to do it - the flow was around 1,000 cfs which was the recommended optimal. I told work I wouldn't be coming in and emailed some folks to find out who wanted to tackle the myth.

After the normal flurry of texts and random phone calls we ended up with a crew of seven but a late rallying time to accommodate busy schedules and long drives. We set shuttle with my truck at the bottom (we were only expecting five people at the time) and after rounding everyone up and getting to the put in it was 4 o'clock by the time we started paddling. But OH! what paddling it was. One rapid right after another, class IV/V, no eddies to stop in, no time for scouting, just charge it an go. We took our time as much as possible and relied upon a couple of brave probes to find the way. I took a swim early on after following the probes around a blind corner and into a terminal pocket hole. After a wild rodeo ride the swim was short and unremarkable and we continued on our way. But darkness was coming and we found a great sandy beach by a cliff wall to set up the perfect evening of camping along the river. We went to sleep well satisfied but a little leery of the long day we had ahead if we were to escape the gorge by the following evening as planned.

Day two started fine with the water a little higher just due to the diurnal cycle. It was still rapid stacked upon rapid with some bigger ones thrown in for most of our group to portage. We moved at a deliberate rate - as fast as seemed prudent but not as fast as we needed. We had a couple more swims - nothing too serious but always a time killer. We had a couple of hard portages that involved climbing and ropes. Dinner time came and went as we pressed on. With no markers we didn't really know how far we had left - we only knew we hadn't crossed Pilot Creek which was about five miles from the takeout. The skies got darker, the rain started falling and several in our group were losing energy and out of fun tickets. After another swim and a check of the time we knew we were not going to escape that night so we sought out the best option for camping in the rain without any tents - we found a cave.

The cave itself was a morale saver. The bonfire in the cave was a life saver. We weren't quite dry and warm but we were close enough to make it work. Everyone had brought some extra food and a communal dinner of beans and fig newtons and chicken Alfredo kept us nourished. We planned and early start and figured we could still make it out in time to salvage some of the following day. But the unexpected third day on the river was to be the worst.

After a morning with little breakfast and no coffee we were paddling by 7:30. The river seemed big and pushy and a little more brown than blue - but we didn't think too much about it, we were focused on getting out. But the river was even more continuous now. Not as many big rapids but each one went on for hundreds of yards. Most of us were just as tired starting this day as we had been ending the last. I was flipping in places that shouldn't have bothered me and my roll was getting weaker each time. Eventually it failed in the middle of one of the endless rapids and I had a quarter mile swim that allowed me to appreciate how flush drownings really work. My team was there to help me but with sheer cliff walls and no eddies there wasn't much they could do. But as we passed one wall I saw a handhold and clung to it with all my might. I even found an under water step to get myself out of the water and time to breathe some solid air again. But to be reunited with my boat I had to climb the thirty foot cliff and traverse downstream a couple hundred yards. Only to get there in time to hear the decision on the rapid below - time to portage and break out the ropes.

The fun part of the paddling was clearly over and we were into survival mode. We had another swim and several close calls. We had passed Pilot creek early on and knew the takeout was almost within sight. We saw Long Canyon coming in from the right and one of our members had done that trip earlier in the spring and had paddled the Rubicon out from there at much lower flows. But he did remember a big rapid right after Long and we stopped to scout at the first major horizon line. Sure enough, there was a big hole at the bottom. Big. Hole. River wide. While our probes had bombed into and through it the rest of us started climbing up and around. From our higher vantage point it was clear the river was now flooding - our conservative estimate was 3,000 cfs (we later learned it peaked at 5,500 that day). It was time to get off the ride.

Conveniently we also found a jeep trail as we were were scouting. One that led from right where we were up and out of the canyon. So the decision was made to leave the boats for another day and hike out to the truck. We knew it was only a couple miles down the river but we also knew the road would be a much further and steeper route. We climbed up and up and after a couple hours of hiking hit the main road. While a couple of us took a well earned nap two brave volunteers started walking back down into the canyon towards the take out. This is where the story takes a turn back towards the happy.

A kindly stranger picked them up after ten minutes and drove them to the takeout. There they found the two members of the party that kept paddling - not only alive a well but returned from town with cold beer and hot chicken. They all piled in and found us nappers along the road. Since we had some daylight left and a four wheel drive we drove down the jeep trail to retrieve our boats - turns out it's five miles and 2000 feet of elevation. We loaded seven boats and bodies, picked up the vehicles left at put in, made it to a mexican restaurant on the way home just before it closed, and I was in bed sleeping just after midnight.

So the river that was a legend is now a river that will be legendary. We'll be telling stories about the night in the cave for years to come. About the time Alex told me ever so politely that I couldn't be in that eddy with her as we got spun around like rubber duckies in a toilet. Or when Taylor calmly cartwheeled his loaded creek boat to escape the unsightly death hole. How Wolf was always there with a rope for a swimmer or climber. Scott always calm with advice, encouragement or perfect lines to follow. Thomas giving the group pep talks and then charging it just like he told us to do it. And Matt always cheerful and positive even while scared and exhausted like the rest of us. It's the ultimate brilliance of whitewater kayaking that brings out the best feelings in us while buried in some of the worst circumstances. It's an experience that sounds awful but will long be remembered by those that were there as the trip of a lifetime.That's what makes an epic.

Not a lot of river pictures since we were trying to move fast - but definitely some good lifestyle shots. And the video suffered from the same time constraints but it still shares a taste of the action:

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2011-06-29T15:52:00.001-07:00

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2011-06-29T12:22:00.001-07:00

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2011-06-28T21:38:00.001-07:00

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2011-06-27T22:25:00.001-07:00

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GPS location Date/Time:06/27/2011 22:26:11 PDT

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Summer has begun

2011-06-22T18:36:00.000-07:00

The other day was the Summer Solstice - the official start of summer and the longest day (daylight) of the year. By shear coincidence I took advantage of that fact by getting in two laps on Slab Creek. The run itself is quite quick - a little over an hour - but what makes the long day relevant is that the gate to the put in automatically locks at sunset. So if you haven't gotten of the river and driven shuttle in time your vehicle gets locked in overnight. And for my second lap of the day my friend was flying in for business and meeting me at the takeout late in the afternoon. We ended up with a small window to squeeze the paddle in and get out in time.

I haven't been paddling a lot lately and the rust showed on the very first rapid of the day. To be fair, it is one the the trickier ones with some juicy holes and F-U rocks. I was on line but angled off and got flipped in the main drop, rolled up in time to back surf the next hole and get flushed out upside down before rolling up at the bottom. A good wake up that kept me upright for the rest of the run - until the very end. After running the tough final rapid you need to catch the eddy on the left at the bottom in the runout. I was a little tired by this time and started cutting left too hard - only to get flipped and then rolling and dropping down through the rest of the run out. No real problem, but I created a much longer hike back up the canyon to climb up to the bridge.

My second lap went much smoother - at least for me. The water level had dropped from 1300 to about a 1000. And honestly it seemed to make things a little harder - more rocks popped up and lines became finer. For this lap there were just two of us - I was showing a buddy down for his first time. Due to the time constraint we just kept paddling and he relied on my quick beta and following my lines. I think my lines were fine but maybe not the easiest to follow - he had a couple swims and I had the joy of trying to wrangle a large boat full of water into a small eddy between big drops. It was all good with no permanent damage to boat or boater.

Here's video of the first two rapids on my first lap. Luckily I'm a quick learner...

Picture Time: sea caves

2011-06-20T11:54:00.000-07:00

My friend Cate was talking about getting good pictures of sea caves on her blog - Liquid Fusion Kayaking. So this one is for her.

Taking pictures on the water is always difficult. Sure, you can pull out that point and shoot waterproof camera and take a quick shot. And chances are you'll be able to get a picture showing the general scene. But getting a good picture, one that captures the spirit of what is happening, the dynamic physical location you are in, and one that is in focus, properly exposed, without water drops on the lens - those are hard to come by. One of the most difficult things to capture on the ocean are sea caves. They tend to be dark (except where the blinding light comes in); they tend to be wet with water dripping and splashing; and they are often involve a lot of movement of both camera and subject. But here are some things I've learned to try to get a better picture out of bad a (from the camera's perspective) situation.

Cheat. Use and arch or tunnel instead of a cave. Cave's technically go in and end - that's going to be dark. Getting a picture, especially with a point and shoot, requires a good bit of light. Tunnel's and arches have light at both ends and allow you to get a shot that looks like a cave. And really, out on the water tunnels are just as fun to explore as caves.

Shoot out. Getting to the back of the cave and shooting out into the light can get a good picture. But it's very tricky to get the right exposure. You can't let the camera focus on the dark or the light of the outside will wash out. So try to get something that is out in the light - like a waiting kayaker - and focus on that. It will help the automatic exposure cameras get a clear shot while creating a sharp silhouette of what is inside the cave. It doesn't necessarily show the real dimensions of the cave but it gets the feeling across pretty well.

Shoot in. Sometimes you don't need to actually get the inside of the cave to get the feel of the location. Get a picture of the kayakers lined up on the outside ready to go in. If the viewer can see that people are disappearing into the rock they understand it's a cave. And a little mystery is sometimes better than a full exposition.

Use a better camera. I think every photographer out there, whatever camera they are using, knows deep down in their soul that they could get a better shot if they had more expensive gear. But even if you could afford the really good stuff the size and logistics of carrying it and using it on the water make it impractical for everyday use. But getting something that allows more control of shutter speed and exposure makes a huge difference - automatic setting just get confused by the mix of dark and light in and around sea caves. I use a Panasonic Lumix FZ28. It's not waterproof but it's small enough to fit in a little Pelican case and cheap enough that losing it to the ocean would not devastate me.

Those are a few of my thoughts and a good excuse to put up some nice pictures. All the picture above are from Mendocino - where Cate and Jeff operate Liquid Fusion Kayaking and possibly the best coastline to paddle in the state (or the world for that matter). Every sea kayaker should make the pilgrimage there at least once in their life and Jeff and Cate are the best local guides you will ever find.

The joy of teaching

2011-06-14T12:26:00.000-07:00

Teaching kayaking is a job. It's a fun job, but it's still work. Especially on the river. You have to constantly be looking after your students. You are always on and paying attention to a million things that most people would never notice - where you position yourself on the water, where the hazards are, what are the students' energy levels, how long will it take to get to the park if no-one swims, if one person swims, if there are multiple swims? And many more. It's quite a different mindset from simply paddling.

A lot of instructors will tell you that the fun part of teaching is the students - seeing them progress and learn; seeing them have fun and discover this wonderful sport. And while that is true it's also fairly consistent. Teach long enough and you will see every different type of student. They become a constant in the equation. While some may be more fun, some more challenging, and we might really connect and keep in touch with a few, we do our best for every single one regardless.

But when you get to work with other instructors it changes things immensely. When you get to work with good friends who are gifted and capable teachers it eases your burden and opens the path for more fun. After all, students come and go (rather quickly for the most part) but your co-instructors and friends are with you a season, a year, a lifetime. That relationship is a far deeper thing that has more personal meaning than the student-teacher dynamic. I mostly teach alone and I do enjoy it. But working with my friends brings a joy to teaching that can't be found alone. My funnest days at work are dictated by those I get to work with and on that score I am indeed a lucky man.

Bling

2011-05-28T21:58:00.000-07:00

For a while now I've needed a new helmet - one to use for teaching on the river or in rough water rescue practice on the ocean. Something for those situations where my full face helmet is just overkill. I've been use a plastic Shred Ready that has worked well but it's reaching the end of its useful life. I noticed that Shred Ready is now doing custom art on their helmets - you design it and they slap it on. So I ordered a glass helmet with my very own logo. Yes, it's flashy and self aggrandizing. But I'm worth it, right?

Dangers are everywhere!

2011-05-16T09:39:00.000-07:00

It's often said (by kayakers) that it's much more dangerous driving to the water than it is paddling. This may not statistically be true (depending on how exactly you calculate risk vs. time spent) but the point is that dangers are everywhere and paddling itself is not always where the greatest dangers lie. I have often said that I have hurt myself many more times when moving boats around than when I'm in them. And I can chalk up another tally to that list. This time with the boat had an accomplice - my water bottle. After an late day paddle on the river in which I barely even got my head wet I was loading my boat on the truck in near darkness when my water bottle fell out and konked me right on the head. My helmet, instead of helping to protect me, followed my bottle out of the boat and also bounced off my skull.

pre-existing dents

The resulting gash was rather deep - the bottle is aluminum and was full of water. But it was a clean cut and after a good cleaning and a couple butterfly bandages I felt OK about skipping the stitches. I took a few days off paddling to keep it clean and dry and spent a fair bit of time working on stories to explain the scar that will sound a little more heroic than the truth. But in the end the truth is the best story - the paddle on the river that night was fun and harmless.

Drifter vs. Driver

2011-04-29T11:00:00.000-07:00

There are lots of different ways to categorize kayakers. When it comes to river running, I think you can divide everyone into one of two camps: Drifters or Drivers. Some folks like to drift down the rapids, making corrections when needed but not moving with a lot of speed. These are typically the playboaters - they are used to moving slowly and using the river features to push them where they want to go. When I first started kayakers one of my mentors who I followed down many a river was a drifter - normally in his playboat regardless of how hard the run was. Following behind him I would struggle to be as patient and not run him over in my creek boat.

I recently was following him down a river he first led me on years ago and once again realized that without a thought I was charging past him. But this time I didn't try to slow down and imitate his line - I am a driver and that is how I enjoy paddling and what works best for me. Drivers don't constantly charge all out but they keep moving actively with a blade in the water, keeping the boat on line instead of having to make adjustments. It's just a different style, no better or worse, but a good thing to know about yourself.

I've seen many people try to copy other boaters, those they perceive as better. I've done it myself. But at some point you need to be your own paddler and understand how you should do things for yourself. It's fine to learn from others but make it many others - try to watch a lot of different good boaters and see what makes them good. Go ahead and try both styles and see what feels right and what gives you better results. Don't be afraid to mix it up when you can but when you get into serious water (whatever that is for you) then you are better off playing your best card and using your strongest style.

Villain on the left; Hero right

Another good reason to know if you are a Drifter or a Driver is to get the boat that complements your style. Planing hulls are generally slower downriver but can carve and steer easier; displacement hulls require more constant paddling to stay online and more work to correct but reward you with more speed and better tracking. Of course most creek boats are a blend of the two concepts but will lean more towards one than the other. I recently took a short break from my Villain (semi-displacement) to try out the new Hero (planing). While I was quite impressed with the Hero and paddled it fine - it just wasn't as natural for me (full review). I'm much more comfortable in my faster, rounder boat. And that comfort and naturalness translates to better paddling whatever your style.

You always remember your first

2011-04-19T14:47:00.000-07:00

I learned to whitewater kayak on the Kern river and it definitely holds a special place in my heart. So the annual Kern River Festival is an event that I will not miss - even if I have to drive six hours just to get down there. I made it down in time for a couple practice laps on Brush Creek Friday afternoon and the flow was perfect - a medium level that padded it out but still fairly non-consequential. On Saturday I did the Brush Creek race but skipped out on the slalom portion in order to get some pictures and video. The weather was perfect the whole weekend - warm enough to make the river rise 50% in two days. The extra flow made the slalom in the park challenging for those involved but it made the spectators quite comfortable.

One of the interesting things at the festival was the mix of people. Since I moved away from SoCal the visiting the Kern is always like a homecoming - a chance to see old friends and catch up on what's happened since last season. Though this year it seemed like fewer of the old guard were around - the people I started my career with being pulled away by other parts of their lives. But there were new friends around, SoCal boaters who are now the locals while I am a visitor. It's nice knowing that even as the players change the sense of family on the Kern remains. And while most paddling communities have their own sense of family the first family you are a part of is the one that shapes you most and the one where you always know you can return.

Patience pays off with perfect paddling on the Piru

2011-04-09T22:03:00.000-07:00

Middle Piru Waterfall

When I first started creeking it was a rainy winter in Los Angeles. First up was the Arroyo Seco in Pasadena. That took an extra weekend to finish up (story for some other time, perhaps). After that we decided on the Piru which has a middle section and an upper section. The upper was harder and a little low so we decided the middle was a better choice all around. And it was. The paddling wasn't too hard but enough to make me nervous now and then; the scenery was incredible; and the company was outstanding. It always remained one of my favorite river trips in spite of the log jammed shallow scraping for the last several miles followed by a bitter lake crossing into fierce headwinds. And since that time six years ago I have longed to get on the upper sections - supposedly the same great scenery and better whitewater and still less than an hour from downtown Los Angeles. But the Piru is fickle and often only runs for a day (or less) after big rain storms. So the timing never worked out.

Upper Piru Put In

Now I live several hundred miles north of L.A but I still keep my eye on the flow of the Piru. With our recent flurry of winter storms leaving snow even in the south there has been snow melt feeding the Piru. And it gave the creek a more predictable flow window that lined up with one of my days off from work. So with an all too easy convincing of my buddy Alex to ditch his job for a day I prepared for the twelve hour round trip drive to get on a fifteen mile class IV/V wilderness run within shouting distance of ten million people.

Upper Piru Hard Luck Gorge

So what was the end result? Yet another river experience that I expect will stay with me for a long time and one that has made me more excited than ever for the upcoming season of exploring seldom run rivers with good friends. The truth is that the whitewater wasn't as good as I was expecting. Perhaps that's because I had built up all too high expectations, or perhaps because of the long sections of willow dodging and manky rapids. But there were definitely some fund drops in there. And the scenery wasn't quite as good as the middle section - though still quite impressive given its location. No, what really made it great was the return to that spirit of adventure, that sense of exploration and of being out there with a good friend. That is the essence of why I kayak the river and that is what I plan to focus on this season.

Here are some more pictures and below is the video - which probably makes it look even better since I cut out the bad bits.

UPDATE: I just ran into a friend from San Diego who had paddled the upper Piru a week before we got on it. They had significantly higher flows. Here's a link to his vid

Sometimes a lake isn't a lake.

2011-03-27T07:13:00.000-07:00

Lake Natoma is my local lake, just a few miles from my place. It's where I go for my morning workout paddles. It's where we teach our flat-water courses. It's where we do social and moonlight paddles. It's a nice little lake in the middle of the city that still has a quiet and peaceful feel. Technically, it is not a lake but an intermediary reservoir. Its purpose is to regulate the flow and temperature of water that comes out of the much larger Folsom lake above it before heading into the American River below it.

But with the crazy amounts of rain/snow we've been having here in California (should be close to 200% of normal this season) they have been releases high amounts of water - 25,000 cfs instead of the typical 1,000-5,000 cfs. This has turned the nice little lake into a significant river with twice the typical flow in the grand canyon. There isn't any crazy whitewater but the fact that there is whitewater at all is quite unusual. And the park service has actually closed the lake to recreational boating (which seems overly dramatic given the fact that the current only lasts for half of the lake and there is still about three miles of flat water before the lower dam).

This probably won't be very exciting or meaningful to those who don't regularly paddle on Lake Natoma, but here is a little video of what it looks like in the upper section at the moment:

Movin' on up

2011-03-21T07:52:00.000-07:00

So with the whitewater season kicking off, and kicking off in a big way, one question that often comes up is 'how do I know when I'm ready to step it up?'. And that goes along with the specific 'am I ready to run river X at flow Y?'. Neither has a real easy answer but the general rule of thumb is based on what rivers you have done in the past compared to what you are looking at now. 'If you've done river Q at flow R then you're ready for river G at flow H'. These river lists are always arbitrary and often create heated debate that is quite meaningless unless everyone involved has paddled the same rivers. So I'll avoid that altogether. (but if you're interested in such a list for Cali then it's already been compiled and explained quite nicely by Darin McQuoid )

I will step back a level and address an often unasked question: 'why do you want to step it up'. I think that the motivation often determines the readiness. If you want to tackle harder runs because you enjoy the challenge, you have learned as much as you can on the runs you do, and you're comfortable accepting more risk, then go for it. If you're trying to keep up with someone else, if you think that difficulty is what paddling is about, if you want to be able to boast about what runs you have done, then you're much safer staying put. Basically if the motivation is intrinsic then most things will take care of themselves - you'll know when you're ready, you'll be excited to try a new river, you won't need to be talked into or reassured you are ready for the next step. But if the driving force is external, that is where people get themselves into trouble. And yes, even if it is external forces driving you forward it is only you that is to blame for being beyond your skill level - that's called personal responsibility.

On a less philosophical level, the age old adage is that you first step up your level on a river at a lower level. You make class III moves on a class II rapid, you boof the ledge hole on the class IV instead of avoiding it. You increase the difficulty while maintaining the (hopefully lesser) consequences. You are ready to move up not when you can just survive a run, but when you can style it. And if you can't figure out how to make a run a class more difficult than it is normally rated then you are definitely NOT ready to move up.

Some people boat for the sheer adrenaline rush and want the element of danger. That aggressiveness will eventually catch up with them and put them (and their buddies) in a bad spot. But that is not what kayaking is really about. There are many ways to do foolish and dangerous things - just check out YouTube - so the means of accomplishing stupidity is irrelevant. For true paddlers there is a beauty to the sport that is unique to boating - the great places we get to go, the feel of properly executing technique to carry ourselves down the river with grace, a connection to the water - not a battle against it. Let your river sense be your guide and only step it up when you know you want to.

Self Promotion

2011-03-02T09:07:00.000-08:00

I was reading a paddling forum the other day and saw a typical post about how someone met some 'famous' paddler and was surprised at how nice and approachable they were. The assumption being that anyone who promotes themselves as a professional paddler is probably an arrogant ass who lives to feed their ego. I've seen enough posts and had enough discussions to know that this is a common (though not universal) assumption. But in my experience it is completely the opposite - those who promote themselves tend to be some of the friendliest, most helpful and down to earth paddlers you can find. And here's some thoughts as to what that's all about.

The people who promote themselves are doing it for one main reason - to paddle more. They are generally trying to make a living through paddling - and isn't that the American dream? to make a career out of something you love? But the simple truth is that if you just paddle, never talk about it, never share your adventures, then no one will ever pay you for it. If you can afford to do that then great, but most of us need to work for a living. Eric Jackson sells himself and in the process created a company that provides jobs for hundreds of folks and great equipment for us to use. Thank you EJ. Darin McQuoid takes great pictures and writes up his trips, sharing experiences that are beyond most of us. Thanks Darin. The Hurricane Riders share videos of wild and beautiful locations that inspire us to get out there as well. Good going boys. And there are many more. It's not about ego, it's about using their skills and experience to generate revenue and opportunities to allow them to paddle more. I feel confident in saying that most of those folks would be happy to just paddle, but they are selling themselves and their experiences in order to finance their dream. That kind of dedication to the sport is exemplary and that is why when you meet them you should not be surprised that they are some of the best ambassadors for paddling you could hope to find.

I promote myself: I have a blog (you're reading it right now); a website (www.bryantburkhardtkayaking.com); I post videos of my paddling (http://www.youtube.com/user/aquaaevum); post pictures (https://picasaweb.google.com/bryant.burkhardt); write articles (California Kayaker); and generally throw my name out there whenever I can. As a professional instructor my reputation affects my bank account - I get more invitations to teach, attract more students, get paid for writing, get sponsorship for trips, all from getting better known as an individual. I could keep all this information to myself and just enjoy my paddling as it happens. But I would have missed out on many great experiences, skipped many great trips and never met so many great people. So if a little self aggrandizement is the price for such adventures then I'm willing to pay it.

And perhaps naively, I do believe some folks out there enjoy sharing in my adventures - even if I'm not the best, wildest, most super-awesome paddler on the planet...

Golden Gate Symposium

2011-02-23T20:01:00.000-08:00

Once again GGSKS kicked off the year with a weekend that's not likely to be equaled. Three days of teaching on the coast with world-famous instructors, skilled and eager students, incredible location, great party and presentations. Topped off with a couple days of paddling with friends that simply could not have been any better. The weather started cold, got rainy but then improved significantly - finishing up with some sunny weather and smaller swells that made everyone forget the slow start.

What makes symposiums so great is the spirit of the event. As opposed to a single class, symposiums are about a mingling: different instructors from all over the world working together, sharing information; different participants with vastly different backgrounds and skills levels, each pushing themselves to get better. The learning during each day is only a part of the experience - everyone walks away with different perspectives, new tidbits gleaned over a beer at the hostel, an excitement to paddle a new location seen in pictures, and an overall appreciation for the true community that the kayaking world is. My personal highlights were: meeting Reg Lake (super nice guy!); hanging out with old friends (some older than others...); hanging out with new friends; lots of swimming (and learning) in the rock garden rescue class; taking a group around Pt. Bonita (for their first time); general chillin' in the hostel the whole weekend.

And then of course comes the best part of any symposium - paddling with friends/coaches afterward. Don't get me wrong - teaching is fun. But nothing beats paddling with highly skilled friends without any stress or responsibilities. So seven of us went out the day after the event when the swells had dropped even more and played at Pt. Bonita. A beautiful day with lots of exploration and a chance to get in to all the nooks and crannies that our local easy access rock garden provides.

Then some of us headed up to Ft. Bragg - Dave, Paul and Matt on their way back north - where we headed out with Jeff and Cate of Liquid Fusion Kayaking to see what their back yard has to offer. While the Bay area has some nice features the Mendocino coast is mind boggling in its density and variety of play spots. We spent a morning playing our way down the coast and then surfing on a wave breaking off a series of rocks. Once again everyone was smiling ear to ear as we pulled off the water in sheer bliss.

Lots of rain followed by technical problems limited my photos but what I have is up here. UPDATE: Video is now here:

The little things

2011-02-13T20:08:00.000-08:00

The old saying goes, 'don't sweat the little stuff''. But they also say the devil is in the details. What I find interesting is that the little things that I do sweat over are often quite different from the average paddler. For instance, I've been working on putting together my own short tow line for sea kayaking. As an instructor and someone who plays in rough water a tow system is quite important to me and I use it rather frequently. So I've looked an most every system out there and couldn't find exactly what I wanted. I was looking to have something about 12' long, quick access (ideally using my integral rescue belt), easy to stow, and not too expensive. Stohlquist had something close but there's is a long bungie attached to short webbing while I wanted long webbing attached to a short bungie. So I stole an idea from Jeff Allen and built my own using a spare stainless steel carabiner, a 6' spectra loop cut in half, an old stuff sack and a cowtail that was river booty from years ago. I think it all came together pretty well and I expect I'll have a chance to use it teaching at the Golden Gate Symposium next week.

On the other hand, I'm not too particular about the boat I paddle (most of the time). I don't care what it has for a backrest or footpegs, rudder or skeg, 15' or 19'. Don't get me wrong, I love my Ikkuma, but most of the time I just grab whatever is handy and go. But many people obsess over the littlest things in the boat they are using for even the simplest outing. They want to know the length of the boat down to the millimeter, its weight to the ounce. Is it a shallow V or deep V hull? how hard is the chine? Is it easy to roll? And I do understand that when making a purchase you want to get exactly what you want. But when it comes to paddling, pretty much anything can be made to work. It's OK to appreciate the perfect boat and gear but it's also OK to enjoy a paddle in a rental sit-on-top and aluminum paddle if that's what it takes to get on the water.

Instructor Training?

2011-01-30T20:13:00.000-08:00

Just got back from a day on SF Bay with the CCK crew. This was our annual instructor 'meeting' where we talk a little business and review some on the water techniques, but generally play around and have fun. This time we met at Horseshoe Cove to spend some time in the tidal race around the corner at Yellow Bluff. Max ebb was 4.6 knots at 1:30pm so we played around until about 1pm when it started dying (it is best an hour before max, after that the tide is too low and the waves shrink). So we decided to head back in with a little swing by Lime Point (the last point just before the Golden Gate Bridge).

There was a big swell outside and just inside the Point the incoming swells would push against the out-flowing current and spill over a submerged rock, creating a wave/hole to surf that often crashed in upon itself before disappearing. Several of the group smartly turned back into Horseshoe Cove before reaching the Point (which was kind of the point of no return). Several of us headed on to try out the wave. Sean Morley was the first to get to the wave and I moved in to try to get some video (sorry - battery glitch and nothing came out). A few others got in there and soon everyone realized it was a one boat wave and there was no real eddy. So one after another people started getting swept around the point - which luckily did have a nice eddy behind it where you could stop to rest and try to figure out how to get back into the bay.

Did I mention that once in the eddy I looked at my watch and it was 1:30pm exactly. Max ebb. 4.6 knots. Probably accelerated a little bit by the point. The plan was fairly simple: paddle really, really hard. Success was more subtle but we were all making it work except that one of the guys is recovering from a shoulder injury and was already tired from earlier antics. He had made it around the point but couldn't quite get past the current. He was on the treadmill. I was in front but generously drifted back to hook a line up to give him a boost, thinking I could be the hero. But together we still weren't going anywhere. So I gave Sean a nod and he came in to hook up to me - now we were playing with power and I was confident Sean could tow us both in. But just then I hear the call from behind, "the line is off!". Don't know exactly how it happened but my carabiner had unclipped itself from his boat. First time I've ever had that happen. Brand new stainless steel wiregate carabiner that was in perfect working condition. Go figure.

So as Sean and I are messing with ropes the current pushes us back to the wave/hole. And we're both on the wave and still tied together. Disaster seemed imminent and I braced for impact. But Sean had smartly dropped his tow belt so we both just got a ride for a couple seconds. We fell back into the eddy behind the point to untangle. Meanwhile Kenny had come back to tow the tired paddler, and eventually Bill jumped in as well to get the job done. Sean and I got sorted and paddled up to join the rest. Quite the workout for the end of the day and good lessons in planning for current, knowing your limits, having proper gear, and working in a group. Of course there was no real danger - we could have just waited a little while and had an easy paddle in. But where's the fun in that.

More PICTURES from the day.

Paddle Project

2011-01-26T22:13:00.000-08:00

Photo by Mark Sanders

Kayaking seems to be a very trendy thing. And by that I don't mean that kayaking itself is cool and trendy. I mean that there exist subcultures within the sport that seem to rise and fall in popularity. There's always a 'latest' fad that people flock to. Sometimes for good reason but like any trend there is often no good reason - people just follow others. Everyone like to be in the popular group. This happens with kayak brands, instructional techniques and paddling disciplines. One such trend at the moment seems to be Greenland paddling. Everyone seems to be discovering Greenland paddles and Greenland rolling. Ironic that it is the 'new' trend since it is really where kayaking got its start.

I'm a purpose driven guy and I don't take to something just because it is new (or old). Personally, I understand Greenland paddling, I appreciate its history and culture, but I don't see any benefit in using a Greenland stick for the paddling I do. Same for the myriad of rolling techniques - I have never needed to roll with a stone in my hand or paddle behind my back. Nor do I plan to hunt any whales from my kayak in the near future... But there are good reasons to use the skinny sticks and learn various rolls and I have several friends who are Greenland paddlers - and still my friends. It's just not for me. Though as trends go it's probably a good one.

That all being said, I have started to build a Greenland paddle. To be honest, it's the woodworking project part that appealsd to me. It's been a long time since I've actually made something myself (that wasn't made out of PVC). So I've downloaded the directions, bought myself a beautiful piece of red cedar, a bunch of woodworking tools (all hand tools - no power for me), and I've even assembled a cadre of like minded souls to share the experience and hopefully some wisdom. It's a good winter project and if nothing else I should end up with something pretty to hang over the mantle place.

Of course, I would never let building a paddle get in the way of actually paddling so I'm only working on my paddle one night a week after work. The first week was just figuring out the measurements, the second assembling my work bench and drawing the lines to guide my cuts. I've only completed the first cut now but the paddle has emerged from the 2x4 it was hiding in. I'm not going to keep a meticulous photo record of the project since that kind of thing has been done by others, but I will throw up some pics now and then on my photo page and I'll report on the outcome when the thing is actually finished. But it may take a while at my current rate.

CCK Sac Takes Tahoe

2011-01-19T09:38:00.000-08:00

One of the downsides to working in a kayak shop is that you generally work weekends. Every weekend. So it can be hard to get together with friends to go paddling. Solution: go with friends from work! With a forecast for 50 deg and sunny for Lake Tahoe, a Tuesday with the shop closed, and a determination to not talk about work - a group of seven CCK staff and instructors (plus one significant other) headed up to paddle Lake Tahoe. This has become somewhat of a yearly tradition - Tahoe in the winter - though the people involved always changes.

We drive up in the morning along the beautiful American River (a little too low to be runnable right now), have a nice breakfast in the Camp Richardson store before launching off their snow covered beach, paddle over to Emerald Bay (avoiding getting run over by the paddle boat), stop for lunch at Vikingsholm, then back to Camp Richardson and dinner nearby before the drive back down the hill. It's only about 10 miles of paddling and on glassy smooth water. But the point is not to challenge ourselves. We are not trying to push our limits or develop skills or even get a great workout. The goal of the trip is sheer enjoyment: to be surrounded by beauty in many forms, to have great conversation with friends; and to eat too much good food.

The highlights of this trip include glassy water the whole day, the first time paddling Tahoe for one person, visiting the Tea House on Fannette Island, Lisa's gingerbread for breakfast (and lunch), finding the ice sheet at the end of Emerald Bay, and lots of great pictures. And in spite of the snow and ice (and an overnight low temp of 14 deg) most of us were actually too hot while paddling. Never listen to anyone who says that kayaking is a seasonal sport - at least not in California!

More Pictures HERE.

The rest of the Feather

2011-01-11T11:15:00.000-08:00

One of the great things about rivers is that they keep flowing until they either hit the ocean or we use up all their water (the second happening more frequently than desirable...). In so doing they can pass through very different geologies and geographies and can have many different natures. The Feather river starts high up in California's Sierra Nevada and contains some of the best whitewater to be found on the planet. The Middle Fork in particular has over 35 miles of class IV/V undisturbed by roads or man, cutting through the granite goodness of California's young mountains. Ultimately it escapes the mountains and lands in Oroville Lake, a man made reservoir created to help water our crops and control flooding. Below the dam the river becomes a mellow float with the occasional class I riffle before joining the smooth flowing Sacramento River on its way to San Francisco Bay. This section starts in the town of Oroville and is currently on track to become California's first truly man made whitewater park.

As you follow the river and head out of town you enter the Oroville Wildlife Management Area. And this is exactly the path we took over the weekend. The sun finally broke through after weeks of clouds and valley fog and blessed our merry little band with clear skies but chilly air (California chilly = 45F). We put in at a beautiful riverside park in town and floated (paddled, really, since there wasn't a lot of current) through the wildlife area, taking out just before it ended and the farmlands began. While some of the bird life was undoubtedly scared off by the duck hunters (we were a little afraid ourselves after seeing the poor aim and control of a pair shooting from a canoe) there were still several of the largest white egrets I have ever seen to mark our progress.

It was a great mix of people, from those who had never kayaked on a river (some who had barely kayaked at all), to those had years of rough water ocean paddling experience. Some nervous about the rapids, some disappointed there weren't more. Everyone was in sea kayaks (except for the couple in the open canoe) and the long boats helped make the miles go by a little quicker. It was interesting for me to be sea kayaking flat water on the same river that remains one of the best whitewater multi-day trips I have ever done. That particular trip has become legendary for being such a large group and making it to the takeout just as darkness fell (and other adventures). But the common theme that ultimately made both trips so enjoyable was the people to share it with. That's the true beauty of kayaking - who it brings together, not where you happen to be. More PICTURES HERE.

Dogma - it's not just a movie

2011-01-02T20:37:00.000-08:00

So there's a right way and a wrong way to do most anything. Actually, there is normally more than one right way (and more than one wrong way for that matter). Too many times I hear people talking in absolutes - "my way is the one true way". And not just in politics - it happens in kayaking too. While there are points in technique, group management, etc. that are universally agreed upon there are also some points that are open for debate. The key thing for most people to understand is that many things are situational and the more 'right' ways you know how to do something the better off you will be. Don't just learn one thing because your friend does it that way or some supposedly famous kayaker does it that way. Learn to think and evaluate for yourself.

One particular area this comes up is in regards to sea kayak rescues. The T rescue in particular has lots of little details in its execution that are open to interpretation. So when teaching the T rescue I focus on the things that are necessary and then get people to understand their options, each of which has advantages and disadvantages. Some would say that it is best to just teach one specific variation to keep it simple for students. The problem is that there are too many details - I've seen too many real life rescues that where people have enough trouble remembering the big points so trying to get them to memorize the little ones is unrealistic. It's only us instructors that really sweat the details - most folks just want to get back in the boat.

So here are the big points (and the little ones) to the T rescue:
1. After the wet exit the swimmer needs to hold onto their boat and gear.
(flipping the boat over makes it easier for the rescuer to grab but more susceptible to the wind)
2. The rescuer needs to get to the bow of the empty boat and hold on with both hand.
(the swimmer can hold onto their own boat - simplest - or they can transfer to the rescuers where it is easier to keep track of them - but takes more time and movement)
3. The empty boat needs to be drug up the rescuer's boat to drain any water.
(an upright boat is easier to drag up your own but then must be flipped to drain; an upside down boat will drain automatically as it is brought up)
4. The boats should end up bow to stern and the rescuer must lean onto the empty boat to stabilize it.
(the rescuer can grab the coaming - it's always there - or the deck lines - if they exist - which are more out of the way during the re-entry)
5. The swimmer needs to get onto the back deck of their boat, belly down, facing the stern.
(the swimmer can give their paddle to the rescuer, making it easier to get up, or they can hold onto it to make sure they do not lose it)

(they can 'climb' up - simpler - or they can use the heel hook which is easier for most swimmers but puts more torque on the rescuer)
6. The swimmer slides their feet and legs into the cockpit then rotates towards their rescuer into an upright, seated position.

During one rough water rescue class I saw two students practicing their T rescue. The swimmer flipped his boat over and lost his grip on it (another disadvantage). But luckily the wave action took him right to the stern of his boat. At the same time the rescuer moved in and a surge put the bow of the empty boat right in his lap. They were in perfect position to proceed to drain the boat. But because they had been taught (by a world famous instructor) to transfer the swimmer to the bow of the rescuer's boat they took considerable time to rotate the boats together, have the swimmer move around to make the transfer and then return to their T position. It was a complete waste of time and made things much more difficult than necessary. They were following dogma. They should have been thinking.

When it rains...

2010-12-22T20:51:00.000-08:00

the river levels rise! Unfortunately we've had a little too much rain recently and most of the rivers are a little too high. And with only a couple days off this week with a bunch of other stuff to take care off I wasn't interested in doing a full day of big water paddling and lots of driving. So I rounded up a couple other locals and we headed to the lower American river right here in town. It's dam controlled but they've been releasing huge amounts to make room in the lakes above for the huge amounts of rain water coming in to them. Normally the lower runs between 1,000 and 5,000 cfs throughout the year. Today it was at 21,000 cfs (we just missed 31,000 by a couple days...).

We took our sea kayaks since this isn't really a whitewater river. Normally it's fairly flat with a couple class I rapids. Today there were several nice class II waves and lots of swirly water. The only problem is that with the water moving so swiftly there was little opportunity to get back to any of the fun waves once you washed off. But it still made for a fun and quick trip and it's always interesting to see rivers at different levels. Here are a few more pictures from the day.

Off-Season Training

2010-12-18T21:05:00.000-08:00

OK, in California there is no real off season. We can (and do) paddle year round. But the pace does slow down in the winter and is more dependent upon the storms that come through. Early Fall is great weather on the coast and early Spring is when the rivers start running so I paddle the least November through January. I like to take that time to get some rest and recover from the previous year's adventures and to do some training to help prepare for the following year's opportunities. So I thought I would share a little of my training philosophy on what it takes to be 'in shape' for paddling.

The first thing you need in any training program is a goal. It doesn't have to be very specific but you need to know what you are trying to accomplish. Are you trying to get faster? go further? recover from an injury? Are you preparing for an expedition? long hikes in? a local race? Or do you just want to be able to paddle more often without getting tired or injured? With a goal in mind you can customize your training to achieve that goal most efficiently. Fitness is different than strength, endurance different than power, injury prevention different than health.

Personally, I do a wide variety of paddling and need a bit of everything. But I tend to focus my off season training on building strength (mainly endurance) and fitness (cardio). Strength training can be done with weights in the gym or with simple exercises and equipment at home. For kayaking there are some obvious areas to work on: shoulders, core, back - and some not so obvious: chest and legs. It's very important to strengthen the muscles you don't use when paddling. This prevents your body from getting unbalanced - the muscles you build up when paddling will be much stronger than others and this will ultimately lead more stress on the weaker muscles. I also focus on endurance training vs. power lifting: I go with high reps and push muscles to exhaustion. Unless you are a sprint paddler you don't really need to bulk up - it's more about making the muscle mass you have more durable.

And while strength training does help with injury prevention (or recovery) I think the best thing for that is stretching. Flexibility is key to allowing your body to use proper technique and to absorb forces when out of position. During the paddling season I don't have the energy to do separate strength training so I focus mostly on stretching - yoga is probably the best thing you can do to stay healthy and paddling. The older you get the more important this becomes.

The other training I do is cardio. I have bad knees so I don't run; I hate biking in the cold and rain; so my cardio is generally done in a boat. Anything that gets your heart rate up for a steady period of time will work. And if the focus is endurance you need at least 30 minutes of hard paddling to get any benefit. An hour or two is even better. Works great for both whitewater and sea kayaking. But I will also get in my polo kayak and do some sprinting and interval training. I find this really helps for situations where I have to push all out for a matter of seconds - must make ferries or fighting a tide race.

And the overall key to any training program: consistency. Your body improves when it is subject to repetitive stresses with time in between to recover. If you have too much time between the stress sessions then your body reverts back to what it was. It needs routine workouts and each time you need to push a little harder - an extra rep, a slightly longer distance or shorter time - to make your body improve. Even small efforts of 30 minutes twice a week will show improvements, but if you skip a week or ten days then you will lose the gains you have just made.

So if you can't get out there and paddle at least get ready for when you can. If you are out there paddling, use the opportunity to prepare for even more paddling when the weather turns and the options abound.

How important is boat fit?

2010-12-11T11:18:00.000-08:00

We met under the north tower of the Golden Gate Bridge to do some playing amongst the rocks around the Marin headlands. There were four of us and four different boats with a plan to switch throughout the day to see who liked what the best. There was a steady rain but little wind and even though our timing was a little off from the current we had no problem getting out the Gate. And immediately we were met with surge- even inside the protection of Pt. Bonita the forecasted 10 ft., 13 second swells were creating some fun action. We played our way out to Pt. Diablo and landed on a steep little beach for the first boat swap.

The swap put me into the new P&H Delphin - a boat I'd been wanting to try for a while. It was the longest boat we had with us at 15'5" and was designed with rock gardens in mind. My skirt was rather large for the boat and I mentioned to Sean I would just have to avoid getting dumped on by a wave (see the 2:35 mark in the video to see how I jinxed myself). Sean ended up in a boat that didn't fit so well and as we pulled away from the beach he mentioned that he didn't think he would be able to stay in it if a wave took him for a ride.

In no time we rounded Pt. Bonita and I followed Sean in amongst the rocks, close to the point, and faster than you can say double jinx a big set came in and washed over our protective rocks. Sean and I both turned into the broken wave and drove forward. My long boat with a pointy and buoyant bow pierced the wave and I rode over the top. I looked to my right and saw a complete lack of Sean and his rounded bow little boat. I looked back and saw the wave wildly throwing the boat around and Sean popping up next to it - he had been sucked out of the boat. I looked back outside in time to see an even bigger wave coming in and charged forward yet again - this time launching my boat completely into the air as I topped the wave.

I paddled towards Sean who was swimming away from the rocks (and his boat) and he told me to get clear - even while swimming he was looking out for my welfare. He swam around the point into calmer waters and the rest of us met him there. He climbed onto my back deck and with a little help from Bill and Tony we headed to the nearest beach. Once there Sean climbed ashore while we went back to see if we could salvage the boat. But the boat was nowhere in site - either trapped in the rocks or at the bottom somewhere. Without a boat Sean walked the three miles back to the vehicles while we paddled. He beat us back and we were all in relatively good spirits (Sean just felt terrible about losing someone else's boat).

While losing a boat is never fun it was also never too scary. Sean was comfortable with the swim and was not in much danger. If he had been in a boat that had a proper cockpit that was outfitted for him he would have been able to stay in the boat, roll up after the wave passed and paddled out of the impact zone. With just three paddlers at this point we chose to stick together getting the swimmer safely to shore. If we left someone to watch the boat it would have left one boater alone somewhere. It was easy enough to get him to shore and he had quick access to the road which lead back to our launch site. The boat had float bags backing up the bulkheads and hatches so we were expecting it would still be floating when we got back to it. So I think our response was correct and losing a boat isn't such a bad thing in the realm of possible outcomes. Prevention was the key and proper boat fit was the lacking element. Lesson learned.

Sean's recounting of events is on the California Canoe & Kayak staff blog.

Video below - you definitely want to watch this in full screen HD.

Paddling in the margins

2010-11-29T14:36:00.000-08:00

There's nothing worse than when you are scheduled for a great weekend out on the water and you have to watch the weather forecast as the conditions keep bouncing back and forth over the margin of go/no go. I was suppose to help teach an open coast class on Saturday and lead a Tomales Bay trip on Sunday. There was a storm due to hit on Saturday but it was a small one and an open coast class can handle a little rough weather. The trip on Sunday was for less experienced folks and definitely needed some better weather for paddling. The forecast stayed right on the margin and on Friday the decision was made to cancel the open coast class. It was absolutely the right call - it's impossible for students to learn when the conditions require all their attention just to paddle.

But on we didn't cancel the Sunday trip - the storm had moved through the the winds were dying down. The forecast was for 10mph when I checked on Saturday night. It seemed like we'd be OK. On Sunday morning the forecasts has been revised to 15mph in the afternoon. And in truth the winds ended up being a little stronger than that. But luckily we had a good group of participants and I had three co-leaders who were most capable so we went for it. We got out before the wind was too strong and fought our way up into the wind, stopping for an important lunch break to get energy levels back up for more fighting. Then we were able to turn and run with the wind back home - it made for some fun surfing and interesting control issues. So everything worked out - we had a beautiful day of paddling on the Bay, saw lots of birds and seals and even a few otters, and everyone made it back without nary a swim. But the whole time we were right on that edge; the difference between a great day and an epic disaster being a fine line determined by which margin the weather falls into.

More pictures HERE.

When you want it rough

2010-11-20T19:35:00.000-08:00

My friend Helen is working on an article on rescues and wanted to get some pictures in rough water. Seems simple enough. She lives in Arcata and Trinidad is just a short jaunt up the coast - it has a protected harbor for launch and you can paddle around to the famous 'smack wall' for more exposure and reflected waves. With a forecast of 5-6' swells and 10-20 kt winds it sounded like the perfect conditions to get some choppy water but still be able to get pictures. But of course every time you want the bad weather it completely fails to materialize. We had some swell - 4' @16 sec - but without any significant wind the ocean just looked flat. We got nice shots of flat water rescues but the rough stuff was harder to capture. Even with the occasional 10' swell the next day it still didn't look impressive through the camera lens.

But it wasn't a total waste on the photography front. Aside from the rescue shots we did manage to get a little paddling in and we had a beautiful sunset one night as well. I've been talking a lot of photography lately - from bugging some professionals for tips to being asked for advice (which is weird because I know so little...). I finally feel like I'm getting a grip on what it's all about and hopefully it pays off in my work. It seems the ratio of quality to crap is definitely improving. But thank god for digital since it still takes dozens of shots for one good one.

More of my pictures from the trip can be found on my Picasa Page.

A little rolling

2010-11-15T14:39:00.000-08:00

Here's a little clip of some rolling in the pool. Really just wanted to see how the camera angles came out so it's not the best footage or most descriptive. But I'm working on an article on rolling and wanted to get some shots to see what I might be able to put together for it. Mostly concentrating on the basics and differences between the modified sweep roll and the C to C. The photo sequences came out fairly well and can be seen HERE.

Angel Island

2010-11-09T09:31:00.000-08:00

It seems to be the quintessential SF Bay paddle - launch from somewhere in Marin, paddle around Angel Island, play in the tidal current and head back home. I don't know how many times I've done the trip but it always a good one. Like most things it depends on who you're with. Last week I headed down midweek with some friends - one of the benefits of a crappy economy is that folks without jobs can go paddling on a Wednesday. It was a fine fall day and we caught the ebb at both Pt. Stewart and Yellow Bluff. Yellow bluff is the most popular tidal race play spot because it is convenient and the largest but I think Pt. Stewart is a much nicer spot. The video shows both but probably not a fair comparison since we started at Stewart and didn't get to Yellow Bluff until past max ebb and it was dying down. Pictures HERE.

Sea Kayaking the River

2010-11-05T07:38:00.000-07:00

The other day the big boss came to town (Keith Miller, owner and president of CCK) for an evening meeting and invited any and all comers for an afternoon paddle on the river. The river being the lower American River that runs through Sacramento. And in spite of its class II rapids the plan was to use sea kayaks. It's something that doesn't work everywhere and can be just plain silly, but some rivers are perfect for getting in a little long boat paddling and even some surfing. The American is such a river and being smack in the middle of a large city doesn't stop it from being a beautiful and scenic paddle.

I took the chance to try out Jackson Kayak's touring boat the 'Journey'. At 14' it's a short sea kayak, basically the high end of their rec boat line. With Jackson's great whitewater boats lots of folks saw the pictures of the Journey and thought it might make a good rock garden boat. But things in real life are never as good as you imagine them to be. When I got into the boat it had a good, near-whitewater fit and it had incredible secondary stability. But once I tried to turn it I realized that the integral keel which helps it track so well keeps the boat from spinning. Even up on its edge it is a bit of a struggle to swing it around - one of the most important things in a good ocean play boat. It's lack of rocker also limited its surfing potential. It seems a little wrong to be disappointed that a boat does exactly what it is suppose to (paddle flat water straight, solid and efficiently) but we always hope to find that magic boat that does everything. Oh well, still a fun day.

Giant's Win! Giants Win!

2010-10-28T12:07:00.000-07:00

OK, they haven't won the World Series yet. But the first game was a great start and I'm taking all the credit for it. Truthfully, I'm not really much of a Giants fan (or even a baseball fan anymore). But you gotta love the scrappiness of this team. And when they made the World Series and I got an email from Neil asking if I'd be interested in going down to game one and paddling to McCovey Cove. It was actually his wife's idea - she's the real Giants fan. So we checked around to find out where to launch (Pier 52) and see about parking (everyone laughed us when we asked). Our plan was to head down early to figure it all out and then spend the night in the cove 'watching' the game.

Neil and I decided to go with whitewater boats - the paddle to the cove was only a about a mile and we figured it was going to be crowded in there. And it was. We were able to get a couple of orange and black Jackson Villians so we were in Giants' colors. I added 'GIANTS' to the bottom of my boat with Gorilla tape and planned on rolling for every Giants' score. But I have to admit I gave up after they scored six runs in the fifth inning. The blow out victory made for a very relaxed scene - most people were just there to enjoy some camaraderie and have a little party. We didn't actually see much of the action (occasioinal glimpse of the jumbotron or big screen TV on the back of a yacht) but sure had a good time. If the series goes to a game six next Wednesday we might just head back down.

More pictures HERE.

Lumpy Waters and Sunny Skies

2010-10-20T19:11:00.000-07:00

This past weekend was the Lumpy Waters Symposium put on by Alder Creek Kayak & Canoe. Held in Pacific City, OR it was a weekend of instruction and playing on the Oregon coast with California-like weather. It was my first year teaching at the symposium and first time paddling that area. But I am definitely going back. The home base for the weekend was an RV park just across the road from the pub which was right on a perfect surf beach. A short drive south led to the Salmon river for some surfing and caving; a short drive north led to Oceanside for some surfing and rock gardening. With nice cabins with hot showers for the coaches it made for an incredibly easy and fun weekend.

But while location is key, the real fun at these events is the people. The students are eager and ready for advanced courses; you get to teach with a variety of awesome instructors; and if you're really lucky you get to stay an extra day and paddle with your buddies. I rode up to the event with Sean (much nicer than driving solo) and was looking forward to seeing Dave and Paul from Alder Creek and Matt from the San Juans and Chris from Nova Scotia. It is this variety of folks from across the country that makes the weekend seem more like a paddling party than work. And getting in a half day of surfing and rock gardening before heading home was one of the best days of paddling I've had on the ocean.

Pictures HERE and video below. It's hard to get good pictures or video while teaching but I got some good shots this time. But the stuff from our paddle the day after is much better - check out the last half of the video to see for yourself.

Feathering

2010-10-13T08:24:00.000-07:00

Seems like I've been getting asked a lot about paddle feathering lately. People want to know what feather they should get on their paddle. The questions indicate that most people aren't really sure what it's all about - why are paddles feathered? I realize that as an instructor I'm guilty of glossing over the issue to beginners (and I don't think I'm alone there) because the answer is a little more complicated and a little more vague than you really want to get into the first time someone picks up a paddle. So here's a little primer on feather angle that may be a little different from what you've been told before (or maybe it's just old news to you...).

Feathering refers to the offset of the blades on a paddle - holding the paddle horizontally one blade will be vertical while the other will be tilted at an angle. On an right hand control paddle (more explanation shortly) when the right blade is vertical the left blade will be tilted forward and the degree of tilting (the amount of offset) is referred to as the feather angle. For a left hand control paddle it's the opposite. For an unfeathered paddle there is no offset - both blades will be vertical at the same time and their is no control hand. Right hand control means that for proper technique the right hand grip stays constant on the paddle shaft while the left hand needs to allow the paddle to rotate within your hand (left control is the opposite). It doesn't really matter if you're right or left handed but it's often more natural to let your dominant hand be the control hand. Though left hand control paddles are much harder to find so you lefties might just want to go with the right hand control to make your life easier in the long run.

So that's the standard info on what feathering is but the real question is WHY are paddles feathered. The old answer is that when one blade is in the water the other can slice through the air more efficiently. That's basically bunk - only true if the paddle is feathered at 90 deg and if the wind is at just the right direction. The real reason is that using proper modern paddling technique there is a natural angle difference between your two wrists and if the feather angle matches that angle it will allow your wrists to stay in a neutral position which is better for your joints. Try a little 'paddling' on land and take the time to watch your wrists and note the amount the paddle shaft rotates. This rotation depends upon your technique - if you are paddling with a low angle stroke (or just using your arms instead of torso rotation) then the angle is generally small (or non existent). And using a higher angle stroke generally requires a higher feather angle.

In whitewater kayaking there has been a trend to smaller feather angles - or even completely unfeathered paddles. A lot of this has to do with playboating where unfeathered blades work well in certain tricks. This type of paddling is very different from your basic forward stroke so it has different requirements. But the low angles have spread to the rest of the whitewater community, often for no good reason. Though it is also true that lower angles will work for folks with poor technique, an unfortunately large segment of the population. Higher angles work best for forward paddling but can make some other techniques a little trickier so most folks cap out around the 45 deg. mark.

Low Angle Sea Kayaking

High Angle Sea Kayaking

In sea kayaking there are actually two opposing trends: more high angle technique using Euro blades (which is often best served with an angle around 60 deg); but also more folks are switching to Greenland paddles which are unfeathered and use a different paddling technique all together. Many people believe that unfeathered paddles are best for those who are experiencing pain in their wrists or hands but that is not NECESSARILY true - again it comes down to different things work for different people.

The key take away is to think about what type of paddling you do, what type of technique do you use (or aspire to use) and make sure your feathering matches up with that. Don't just go with whatever paddle you happened to buy before you knew any better. Don't just copy the fastest guy in your paddling club. Don't just listen to some random guy spouting off on his blog. Actually analyze your stroke and wrist position and maybe try some different feather angles and see what works for you - which means is easiest on your joints. That's the ultimate purpose of a feathered paddle: to allow you to paddle without pain. As long as you can do that you are good to go.

Who's in charge here?

2010-09-29T09:06:00.000-07:00

Some thoughts on leading kayak trips
By Bryant Burkhardt

Having belonged to several paddling clubs over the years and paddled with many more, one issue that continually recurs is the reluctance of most paddlers to ‘lead’ a paddle. Plenty of people want to go on paddle outings that someone else initiates but the thought of taking on that responsibility themselves sends many competent kayakers running for the hills. And not just for club paddles – I’ve seen many groups of friends out for an afternoon paddle break down into disorganization, quarrels and worse. The role of a leader is often a necessary one but most people don’t realize how easy it can be and how little work it actually requires.

Let me draw a distinction here between leading a trip for a club or group versus leading people in a professional capacity. If you’re getting paid to lead a trip you have additional responsibilities, both technical and legal. And you will need advanced training (first aid, group management, etc.) to properly carry out your duties. But while a club paddle may have a ‘leader’ (or ‘host’ or ‘initiator’ or other similar term) who organizes the paddle it is still considered a joint adventure – everyone ultimately shares the responsibility on the trip. And it is important that everyone understands that so if you are the organizer make sure people are aware of their responsibilities as well as your own.

Leadership in organizing

Quite often the most important thing for a trip leader to do is to schedule a paddle. Pick a date, set a location and meeting time and let people know that it’s happening. After that many things often take care of themselves – people show up, they get themselves ready to paddle, they get themselves organized and they go. But sometimes people need a little help – they need directions, some info on how challenging the paddle will be, what gear will be necessary, what experience they should have, etc. The more info the trip leader provides up front the easier it will be for people to decide if the trip is for them and what they will need to bring. As a leader, spell out what you will be providing and what you will NOT be providing – will you keep the group together, will everyone paddle at their own pace, will people be responsible for their own navigation, do they need to RSVP, etc. Don’t be afraid to let people know you do not plan on holding their hand as they paddle across the channel – most paddlers are fine with that. As in so many other areas in life the key to a successful relationship between trip leader and trip participant is communication.

One question that often arises is whether or not a particular person is qualified for a particular outing. The best way to deal with the question is to allow each person to make their own choice – spell out what the possible conditions will be and what type of skills and experience you feel is necessary for the paddle and then remind them that they are responsible for themselves. If you feel someone is not ready for a trip you need to let them know. On any paddle you certainly have the right to decide who does and who does not get to paddle with you. If the paddle is an advanced one you should be strict on who you allow but if the paddle is in relatively protected waters with many bail out options then there isn’t a need to be that strict. The more inclusive you are the more successful the trip leading will be.

Leadership before launching

After everyone has arrived at the launch site it makes a huge difference if the entire group is brought together and five minutes are spent explaining the plan for the day and reinforcing the ground rules laid out when the trip was scheduled. Review basic safety procedures (and do a quick check to see who has brought what for safety gear); remind people of destinations (for breaks, lunch, takeout, etc); and let them know what your role will be as leader on the water (everyone follows you or everyone’s on their own). It’s also a good idea to do a quick review of communication on the water: paddle signals, radio channels, whatever you will be using. Getting everyone on the same page before you launch is easy and makes the day go much smoother.

Leadership on the water

Once the group is on the water you need to live up to your advanced billing. If you have said that everyone is on their own and you are just going to paddle to your destination then that is fine. But if you have said you will lead people and keep the group together then that is what you need to do. It doesn’t take much work to look after folks but it does take more awareness – you need to actually pay attention to where people are and how they are doing. Is someone lagging behind? Having trouble with the paddling conditions? Are there hazards that you are aware of but someone new to the location might not notice? The easiest way to handle this is to have a friendly conversation with folks and use that time to check in on their status and listen to what they have to say. But realize people often do not ask for help even when they need it – you need to observe as much as listen.

Rescue/Safety Scenarios

One common misperception of leadership is that the leader has to personally handle every situation that comes up themselves. That is simply not true and often not good leadership. A good leader delegates tasks to those who are most capable of performing them – this allows the leader to keep an eye on the big picture and the group as a whole. If someone needs rescuing there are probably several folks who can help out and whoever is closest is probably the best choice. If someone is tired (or sick or injured) and needs a tow then any strong paddler will do. If a paddler has the skill and interest to do a given trip then most likely (though not always) they will have the skills to help others on that trip when something goes wrong. So don’t feel you need to jump in and save the day – let someone else play hero while you sit back and make sure that everyone else is safe and sound.

Most serious rescue situations start as minor situations that are not dealt with in a timely manner. To avoid the major incident focus on correcting the minor ones right away. This is where leadership is key – if no one in the group feels responsible then little things get overlooked. If someone drops behind make sure they are OK. If someone looks unstable check in to see if there is an issue – new boat? feeling seasick? overly tense? If it’s a cold day see if people are feeling the effects – anyone shivering? Losing focus? Paddling slower than usual? Many problems can be solved quickly and easily at the start if at least one person in the group is looking out for them.

Final thoughts

So the next time you’re sitting at home wishing there was a paddling trip scheduled figure out where you would like to go and schedule it yourself. Step up to the task and put the information out to the group and be clear on your role. You will find that it is relatively painless and not only allows you to go paddling but will create many friends thankful for the opportunity to join you.

Quest Unfulfilled

2010-09-21T07:27:00.000-07:00

A recap of the situation. Sean, Pedro and myself set out to paddle to all eight of the Channel Islands off the southern California coast. After doing the first three in three days (and covering over 100 miles) Pedro and I decided that the longer open crossings we had coming up wouldn't be wise. So we went to one more island (Anacapa) on our way back to the mainland. Sean went on to Santa Barbara Island but the winds were not favorable and without the time to wait he headed to Catalina and then the mainland. On his way he had a not so pleasant encounter with a Blue shark (no attack but plenty of circling and harassment for several minutes) and a more pleasant encounter with a megapod of Blue whales. Read Sean's blog HERE. So the goal of paddling to both San Nicolas and San Clemente is yet to be achieved - but it definitely still on the to do list.

I'm afraid I was interrupted from my Channel Islands video editing by having to teach a whitewater class. But class is over and the editing is done - video is below. For some reason my editing program (Sony Vegas) kept crashing when I tried to render a High Def version but eventually I got it to work. I have to say it might have been a good thing we quit when we did - after doing just four of the eight islands I had hours of video to edit and a really tough time getting it cut down to ten minutes.

Video below and Pictures HERE

And then there was one

2010-09-14T21:21:00.000-07:00

UPDATE: Sean just txted us from Catalina - too windy out there so he's headed back to the mainland tomorrow. DARN IT!

When I first put together the Channel Islands Expedition I rounded up a team of five paddlers. In the planning stages two of the members dropped out for various reasons. So three of us launched from Gaviota last week on the attempt. After three days of paddling it became clear that two of us would not be making the record attempts on San Nicolas or San Clemente Islands so we headed back to the mainland while it was nearby. So now it is just Sean Morley out there on the water attempting to complete a circumnavigation of all eight Channel Islands solo. You can follow his progress on his SPOT page.

Personally, while I am disappointed not to complete the trip I feel that it was the smart decision to bail out when we did. Our pace was slower than planned over the first few days and the distances were only getting longer. Pedro was having some trouble with his back and that could have turned into a real nightmare on the big crossings if the weather were to deteriorate and force several hours of hard paddling. And while I felt that I was physically strong enough to make the attempt I was not going to be able to keep up with Sean's pace and if he had to slow down for me it would have been a grueling trip for him - it is essential on such long paddles that each paddler be able to go at their fastest comfortable pace. So I returned home with Pedro having gotten in four days of paddling in a beautiful setting, seeing islands that I hadn't visited in years. And I'm certain I'll be back out there paddling some more and quite possibly make an attempt on visiting all eight islands sometime in the future. But for now join me in wishing Sean all the best of luck - fair weather and fast paddling.

I'll have more pictures and video to add in a day or two...

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2010-09-14T15:20:00.001-07:00

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2010-09-13T18:02:00.001-07:00

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2010-09-12T18:53:00.001-07:00

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2010-09-11T17:34:00.001-07:00

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2010-09-10T16:21:00.001-07:00

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Off to the Islands!

2010-09-09T14:08:00.000-07:00

I drove down to San Diego yesterday and picked up my boat for the Channel Islands Expedition. Seda is giving me a Glider for the trip and she's a beauty: nineteen feet of speed and storage. I love my Ikkuma as an overall boat but it gets a little tight when packing for two weeks. And I'm also expecting rather mellow seas but long distances to cover - so every tenth of a knot of additional speed makes a difference. I've spent today outfitting the boat so I haven't even had the chance to take it for a test spin. But I have faith that it will float.

The last minute shopping is done and my new friend Eric Bloom is shuttling us to Gaviota tonight (a huge favor that is much appreciated). We launch tomorrow morning (unless the forecast changes for the worse) and should be back in 11 days. Wish us luck and keep checking the blog for updates from my SPOT.

Expedition training - sort of

2010-09-07T12:18:00.000-07:00

With my Channel Islands expedition coming up shortly it seemed like a good idea to do some more training. But instead of heading out to the ocean in a long boat I figured trying to make a really short boat go long distances on flat water would make good training as well. So I went down to the Tuolumne river outside Yosemite for the holiday weekend and spent three days on the river getting in some good training. Paddling a six foot boat instead of the nineteen foot speedster I'll be picking up for the expedition was sure to give me a good work out.

Truthfully, the weekend wasn't meant to be training but rather a great river trip to get in some whitewater kayaking with lots of old friends from southern California. The main group (fourteen folks total) did two back to back one day trips down the main 'T': eighteen miles of class IV whitewater with plenty of slow stretches and a couple miles of paddling on the reservoir to finish off each day. Many people take two (or three) days to run the river but by doing the whole rive each day we didn't have to carry any gear and we could take play boats instead of creek boats, making the river more fun and challenging. But the trip was much more than just paddling - it was a chance to hang out with good friends in a low stress environment, enjoying not only the water but the scenery, the camping, the dinner in town and the experience as a whole. It was pure fun.

The day before the masses arrived some of us decided to run the upper Tuolumne run (known commonly as Cherry Creek since that is where the run starts). This is a class V affair and one of the most consistent and beautiful runs in the state, exceptional in that it has summer releases scheduled so it is still flowing in September when everything else is dried up. Me and Alex had both down the river a couple times but not for years. We lead a group of four first timers stepping up to their first real class V run. It had the potential for epic disaster but everything went quite smoothly. I had to scout more than expected since all the rapids had blurred together in my memory and I got beat down once when probing a hole, but otherwise it was an uneventful day in the best kind of way. Going slow we ended up getting behind the release of water by the time we portaged around the last two big rapids but it didn't really bother us at that point. But it would be nice to get back to Cherry a little more often so I could remember the lines and just have fun bombing the entire run.

Pictures HERE and video below:

Chasing Sean Morley

2010-08-27T16:59:00.000-07:00

With my Channel Islands Expedition approaching I went down to the coast for a couple days of training paddles. Day one was a solo trip From Bodega Bay up to Jenner to get some distance in (around 30 miles). Conditions were very mellow so a good representation of what we expect in Southern California.
The paddle went well and in addition to the nice scenery of coastline I passed a couple whales playing just outside the breakers on Bodega Head on my way out. They were still there when I returned and had attracted a large crowd on the cliffs above. There seemed to be three or four of them playing just outside the waves - closer in than I wanted to go. But they ended up working their way out and actually came close enough to get a few good pictures.

The next day I went out for a shorter paddle with Sean Morley who will be joining me on the expedition. Sean claimed that he hasn't been getting enough paddling in so was a little worried about his fitness. We set off from Horseshoe Cove and crossed over to San Fran under the golden Gate Bridge - ferrying across the ~2 knot flood. Then we headed out along the coast with Sean hugging the shore and playing in the rocks while I chased behind trying to keep up while taking a more direct route. It was still a big effort just to stay close enough to get a few shots of his rock gardening. Of course, as soon as I pulled the camera out I would be losing precious ground so I didn't take as many pictures as I would have liked. I don't think Sean has to worry about his fitness as much and Pedro and I need to worry about keeping up. But then Sean is planning to circumnavigate the islands we are simply visiting so he has further to paddle.

I was also testing out my new video camera mount in different position. I ended up getting some interesting footage with the camera facing back at me. It's a pretty standard shot you see a lot in kayak videos that is suppose to show what the paddler is doing and what the conditions are like. It's fairly easy to do since you don't have to try to hold a camera and aim. I've always thought it was a bit of an ego shot - a close up focus on the paddler instead of the paddling. But I have to say after looking at the footage that it actually works pretty well - let me know if you think otherwise. Though I would much rather the camera were pointed at someone else instead of myself.

Channel Islands Expedition training

2010-08-18T18:54:00.000-07:00

I mentioned in my post a couple weeks ago that our unsuccessful attempt to get to San Nicholas Island in the Channel Islands was chalked up to training for the next time. Well, that next time is coming up fairly soon. I've put together a team to make an attempt to be the first (that we know of) to kayak to all eight of the Channel Islands off southern California. Five of the islands are a National Park, Catalina is another, and the final two - San Nicholas and San Clemente - are owned by the military and you are not allowed to land. I've paddled to six of the islands, my friend Duane Strosaker has paddled to seven - he did a out and back trip to San Clemente Islands solo - but I don't think anyone has made it out to San Nicholas.

The team for the trip includes myself and my buddy Pedro, Sean Morley and Helen Wilson; a stellar team of a Californian paddlers. Duane was suppose to join us but he's decided to focus on his training for the upcoming Greenland competition in Washington. Our route will start on the mainland outside Santa Barbara and cross over to the islands of the park. We will make our way back out to Santa Barbara Island and from there make a 60 mile and and back trip to San Nicholas. Then from Catalina make and out and back trip to San Clemente. The whole trip should take about 11 days and average over 30 miles a day (with several over 40). I'll be sending in my location to this blog through my SPOT but you can also check out the expedition website. The trip is set to start on Sep. 10.

To get ready for this I've been switching from whitewater to ocean paddling. I went down to the San Francisco Bay yesterday for a little training and since the swells were so small I got the chance to get in close to Pt. Bonita for some easy rock gardening. I've been around the point quite often but never seen it with such small swell (though it was fairly windy). Paddling alone I took it easy and left a couple tunnels and caves unexplored but I still was able to check out quite a number of cool little locations around to Rodeo Beach. Here's a little video of the rocks:

Certifiable

2010-08-16T11:56:00.000-07:00

I taught an ACA Certification course on the local lake over the weekend. It was actually a Coastal cert course and we were able to simulate ocean conditions with Folsom Lake and lots of boat wake from the unknowingly obliging wave-skiers. This was a special class for me in that the four participants were all friends of mine who I not only paddle with regularly but also folks that I've helped to train and mentor in one way or another since moving up to the area three years ago. It's such a rewarding thing to see paddlers develop over time and become accomplished instructors worthy of becoming Certified.

And that is what the four of them did - get certified. It's unusual to have a whole class pass the class - the standards are high and I couldn't just lower them for my friends. But everyone involved put in a lot of prep work - getting together to practice strokes, writing up lesson plans and giving mock presentations, even recruiting some local paddlers to be students for their practice teaching. That kind of effort put forth by students makes teaching a joy and it also paid off in the final results. So congratulations Neil, Gary, Jeff and Terri!

Perfect Paddling Weather

2010-08-08T10:57:00.000-07:00

The wind was calm. The whole time. It did briefly manage to stir in the late afternoons but it was with all the energy of uncle Bob rousing from a tryptophan stupor after Thanksgiving dinner to change the channel to the other football game before falling back into the La-Z-Boy. Perfect weather for a paddle. Unfortunately we were hoping to sail. Pedro and I set out in his Feathercraft tandem with a plan to sail out to the Channel Islands and ultimately San Nicholas - an island never visited by kayak as far as we know. We were rigged with a stepped mast, main and jib, and a couple inflatable outriggers to keep us upright. But without wind we ended up paddling, often using only half the paddle as a canoe blade to avoid the sail rig. It made for slow paddling and ultimately changed our plans.

Our planned route was to launch in Ventura and head to Santa Cruz Island. Then on to Santa Barbara Island for a night before heading to San Nicholas. Since it is owned by the military (part of the Pacific Missile Test Range) you are not allowed to land so we would just get as close as allowed and then turn and paddle back to SB Island for the night. Then maybe we would swing by Catalina before heading back to the mainland. We made it to Santa Cruz without problem - we were expecting to have to paddle that leg into the wind anyway. And the forecast when we set out for SB Island was promising - 10kt to 20kt from the NW - but the wind never really materialized. So after fifteen hours of paddling we crossed the 46 miles and arrived in the dark. In the dark at a 20' high dock with a ladder to exit on. While unloading the boat for the big hoist to the top we managed to flood the boat, leading to a marathon pumping session and the loss of a few unimportant items to the dark sea. Getting to sleep around 1am with a similar pattern of wind expected the next day we abandoned our plan for a 55 mile round trip paddle to San Nicholas and settled on a day of rest before heading directly back to the mainland.

The paddle back to Marina del Rey went much more smoothly. We took down the sail rig and just planned to paddle the whole way. This allowed us to make better time and mentally we were fine with the effort. When the winds finally came up around 5pm we took the time to set up the sail and cruise the rest of the way into port (though with the still light winds we didn't actually get there any faster than we would have paddling). So while we didn't quite make our goal we had a good trip and chalked it up to a training paddle for the next attempt at San Nicholas (more on that shortly).

Pictures Here and Route Here.

Leaders in Training

2010-08-02T14:21:00.000-07:00

In the very large city of Los Angeles there are precious few kayakers and a lack of a robust kayak community. When I was living there years ago a group of us formed a Yahoo! group called Bruinwhitewater (most of us were affiliated with UCLA at the time). It was never a formal club but just a way to try to get together with other paddlers. We would run beginner trips every year to try to increase the number of local kayakers with the more experienced paddlers helping to train the newbies. These trips were quite popular and successful and over the years the 'group' has grown and has turned a little more formal as the Los Angeles Kayak Club. No longer an Angelino I still feel I have a vested interest in helping the club grow and I was happy they invited down south to help run a leader training course to get more of the members up to speed on how to train new paddlers and help guide them safely down the river. I drove down to the Kern straight from a week teaching on the Trinity - 12 hours later got me into camp at 4am and ready to go by 9am.

The club has some very experienced paddlers and skilled instructors (they are the people who trained me when I started) but they wanted me to bring in my perspective as a working instructor and ACA Instructor Trainer. So we set up a weekend to train six new leaders - people who knew how to paddle but needed to learn how to look after beginners on the water. We started with a review of basic rescue techniques and common teaching methods so everyone would be on the same page. And then the fun began with lots of scenarios, planned and unplanned swims and good debriefs to consolidate the lessons learned. It was a lot of fun and I think the club has a bright future with several new leaders set to introduce a whole new batch of beginners to the sport. Maybe, just maybe, Los Angeles will turn into a boater town yet.

After teaching eleven days in a row I have earned a little vacation and will be kayak sailing the Channel Islands for the next week. Pics and trip report upon my return...

Whitewater Lessons for Sea Kayakers

2010-07-20T09:33:00.000-07:00

Here's some more learnin' for y'all. This is the first in a series of articles I'm working on trying to elucidate how my experiences in one aspect of this sport translate and benefit the other aspects. Again, pictures aren't complete yet but I think you can get the idea.

Part 1 – Lazy Days

A question I often get asked is which do I prefer – whitewater kayaking or sea kayaking? To me that question is irrelevant, I just like kayaking. The more important question is: what is the difference between them - something that most people do not really understand. I feel that pursuing both types of paddling (and others) provides great benefits in each discipline. In particular my whitewater paddling has expanded my skill set on the ocean as well as my comfort level. And even if you choose to never set your boat on a river there are many lessons that ocean paddlers can learn and adapt from their freshwater brethren.

The first lesson, one that I try to pound home in my whitewater students, is that whitewater kayakers are lazy. This, after all, is the great distinction between the sports: sea kayakers have to paddle to get from point A to B whereas river paddlers can do nothing and let the current take them to their destination. In practice it may not work out quite so simply but the mentality will take you far (with little effort). Whitewater kayakers use the minimum amount of work to accomplish their goal. If they can float then they don’t paddle. If there is an obstacle you only need to barely avoid it. If you do need to move your boat, try to use the power of the water and catch a free ride. Let’s take a look at how this can be applied to paddling sea kayaks where there is no current present.

Without current you will have to do some paddling to move your boat. But there are still other factors that can assist you unless you are on perfectly flat water with absolutely no wind. Let’s start with some wave action. Whether you are on ocean swells or a choppy lake waves are simply energy traveling through the water. If you learn to use that energy, or at least to stop fighting it, your effort will be less and your progress easier. While paddling at a steady pace works well for calm waters it is not the most efficient technique for waves. You need to adjust your timing and output to match what the water is giving you: when your stern is lifted by a wave take a quick stroke or two with a little extra power and you will tap into the wave’s energy and get a much greater return on your investment. If the waves are sizable enough they may carry you right along with little or no work on your part – this allows you to use rudder strokes to keep your line instead of forward strokes to propel you.

To accomplish this may require some stroke technique that is not commonplace to many sea kayakers. So once again let us look to the whitewater kayaker to pick up some effective technique that uses the water’s energy instead of our own. Rudder strokes are a key to paddling downwind/downwave and most kayakers misunderstand this stroke on a conceptual level. Watch a good river paddler surf a wave back and forth and you will see what the rudder is supposed to accomplish: it changes the angle of the bow without slowing the forward speed of the boat. To accomplish this the blade must be parallel to the boat – not out at an angle acting as a brake. The key to the technique is to rotate the torso as far as possible to the side the blade is in the water and keeping the upper hand out over the water. The rear hand can push out (stern pry) to turn the bow towards that side or pull in (stern draw) to turn the bow away. This method of steering your kayak uses minimal energy while letting the energy of the waves propel you forward.

But on the other hand, when your bow is lifted by a wave then you are paddling uphill. Any effort you put in at that moment will give you only marginal gain in forward speed. Save your strength and relax and shortly the wave will pass and you can resume your paddling. This is true regardless of wave direction: following seas or head on. Let yourself feel the energy of the ocean and the rise and fall of your boat - try to avoid fighting it but instead tap into it. This means varying both the rate of your stroke and the effort you put forth with each stroke - something that takes practice since most of us develop a steady rate as we first learn to paddle in relatively calm, flat waters. This is why many people feel they can cover less distance on the open ocean than they can in protected waters. But experienced coastal paddlers will often feel the opposite: by following the ocean’s rhythm we can get much farther much faster than we ever could go on our own power alone. As an old sailor once told me: ‘when you dance with the ocean you let her lead’.

Now let’s look a little more at paddling in the wind. The obvious advantage is to paddle downwind. You can help this to happen by choosing your course – maybe paddle from point B to point A. Winds typically rise during the day so if you are going out and back then start by paddling into the wind and the stronger winds on your return will outweigh the early headwinds you faced (not to mention it’s nice to have the tailwind at the end of the day when your strength may be lagging). If your course is set and the wind is not conveniently at your tail you can still minimize its effects. I always avoid paddling straight into strong headwinds. Tacking slightly like a sailboat left then right not only minimizes the resistance you face but will ease the motion of the boat through the water. Trying to plow directly up and over wind waves creates a lot of up and down motion of your boat which wastes a lot of your paddling energy. A slight angle will allow to boat to roll a little more gently with the swells and transfer more of your paddling energy into forward progress.

When facing a crosswind things can get a little trickier. Depending on any additional swell direction it is often easiest to zig-zag once again instead of paddling straight across the wind. Most boats weathercock into the wind and instead of fighting this allow your boat to turn up wind without wasting a lot of energy on sweep strokes to steer. This will result in paddling upwind but don’t take it so far that you are facing a headwind. Before that happens turn your boat downwind and enjoy a ride from both wind and waves. This upwind and downwind combination allows you to focus on forward strokes when paddling upwind and steering strokes when headed downwind with a resulting steady forward progress. Of course for this to be practical you cannot be navigating by compass – you will need visual references (ranges) to make sure you are ultimately heading to the desired location.

Be it wind or waves, Nature provides us with a lot of energy. If we learn to use that energy we will be able to paddle further, faster and with less effort. But like many aspects of kayaking this does not always come intuitively. It takes mental effort to figure out how to minimize physical effort. So go ahead and work your gray cells a little and learn how to be lazy like the folks in the little boats on the river – your body will thank you.

Fordyce is fun!

2010-07-16T22:34:00.000-07:00

It's 10pm on a Friday night and I just go back from a long day on Fordyce creek. It was a great day with lots of fun rapids and a fair amount of good luck - most especially the opportune free shuttle we got when we pulled up to the put in and found a group of boy scouts getting off the lake after a three day backpack/canoe trip. One of their leaders was only too happy to drive my truck out so they could have a little extra room in their one vehicle for all twelve people. And he decided to drive it all the way to the take out (we only asked if he could get it back to the freeway) and he refused to take any money for it (we offered cash first thing). The shuttle road is steep 4-wheel drive only and since our shuttle vehicle was a Jetta we had planned on doing a combo car/bike shuttle which would have been a killer workout on top of a long day of paddling.

This was my first time down Fordyce and it was a great run. There are some really nice slides and drops, some big falls and a fair bit of mank at this low water level. But even better than the paddling was the scenery - smooth granite everywhere you looked. Huge walls of the stuff that you only get in the High Sierra. It was just Matt and I and he was leading the whole day since he's done the run a few times. When he fired off Fordyce Falls (pictured left) I just had to follow him. When he ran Split Falls I wasn't as sure but I still followed and all went well. And when we made it to the paddle across the lake at the end of the day we only had a nice cool breeze and a setting sun instead of the usual killer headwind and struggle to finish before dark.

I'll get to editing the video next week - teaching again this weekend. Hopefully the big drops came out well...
UPDATE: video is here:

They're classics for a reason

2010-07-05T20:46:00.000-07:00

There are a few rivers out there that have a special reputation. They really bring together all the elements that draw us to whitewater kayaking: challenging drops, beautiful scenery, little grunt work and non-stop fun. Runs like Cherry Creek (on the Tuolumne), Forks of the Kern, Middle Feather and my current favorite: 49 to Bridgeport on the South Yuba. They aren't necessarily the hardest whitewater out there, but that is part of their appeal - they are accessible to ordinary paddlers; they challenge without terrifying; they delight without damaging. That's what makes these rivers classic and the ones we return to paddle again and again.

This past weekend my friend Alex drove up from LA for a weekend of boating. Our plans kept changing throughout the week as river flows kept dropping (the snow's finally running out). We had talked about getting in to do Giant Gap at a reasonable flow to make up for the epic Alex had in there at high flows. But it dropped too low. We were looking at maybe repeating our Middle Feather trip from last year. But it dropped too low. South Silver was on the list but word was it was still too high (turns out it had dropped to a nice low level). The one run we really wanted to get in was 49 to Bridgeport. It is an absolutely classic run that unfortunately doesn't get water that often since most of it is taken out by the maze of dams and diversions up stream. But it was holding on for the weekend and we got on it just before it dropped out. The flow was low but it made a perfect level for Alex's first time down. And getting to paddle it in the warm summer sun was a special treat for me - my introduction to the run came during a winter rain storm.

The next day we grabbed our friend Emily and headed down to the Mokelumne to do the Devil's Nose. We did the run but flows had dropped out - below the levels that the utilities reported they would provide for the weekend. So while it was still a good day paddling with friends we had to portage a few rocky rapids and the day went slow with the lower flows. More than once Alex pointed out how it is runs like this that really make you appreciate the classics. So true.

Here's some video of 49 to Bridgeport:

We walked it

2010-07-03T07:19:00.000-07:00

Sometimes you see a rapid and think "I can do that but I don't want to". It's not always about the difficulty but more about the consequences. My buddy Matt and I went up to paddle the Silver Fork (South Fork American tributary) the other day. At the put in the very first thing was an incredibly ugly rock sieve - huge boulders blocking the river with water flowing under and through them with no possible way to fit anything the size of a kayak (or person) through. The walls of the little gorge were also undercut. We could easily put in below that but we decided to hike down a little ways and try to get the character of the river. It turns out it was more of the same - lots of sieves and undercuts, lots of boulder jumble rapids with rocks sticking up in bad places.

So we decided to walk. Not just that first rapid but the whole river. We had already set shuttle and the stretch was only four miles long so we decided we would leave the boats on the car and just hike it. There was a trail at first but it wasn't long before we were bushwacking along the river, trying to stay at river level as much as possible so we could see what was going on in there. It took a few hours but it was a great hike - an absolutely beautiful river through crumbly granite rock. But filled the whole way with undercuts and messy drops. You could definitely kayak it (it's been done many times) but I didn't really see why I would want to. We got to enjoy the beauty of the river and never felt like our lives were in extreme danger. Sometimes it's better to just walk it.

More PICTURES.

non-stop paddling

2010-06-26T21:17:00.000-07:00

Last week I taught a five day whitewater immersion course on the Trinity river. It was so nice to have the same group of students for an extended period of time while staying on the river - they learned a lot more, the group bonded together and it was like a vacation every night in camp. And with the full moon and beautiful scenery it gave me a chance to get some great PICTURES. I love my Lumix camera but it doesn't have the full SLR range and versatility so getting good moonlight pictures takes a lot of work. It ends up being a lot of guess work on how things will turn out and a lot of unfocused pictures. But when it works it's pretty cool.

After the Trinity trip we drove straight back to Coloma to start a two day Whitewater 201 class. It's not quite the same but it's fun to be teaching back 'at home' where the flows are down to their normal perfect (for teaching) summer levels. Then I get to go paddling for a few days (trying to put together a multi-day trip somewhere in the sierras). Then hopefully some more teaching and some more paddling. I'm going to see if I can get two solid weeks in a row with being on the river every day.

UPDATE: video is uploaded:

Vacation?!!??

2010-06-16T09:59:00.000-07:00

Last week a friend from SoCal headed north and we met up for several days of whitewater kayaking. He has a real job and was taking a week's vacation. And while kayaking is my job, I also was looking forward to the chance to spend a week boating for fun and hanging out with my friend - a vacation of sorts. The main goal was to relax; get away from the stresses that go with any job and just enjoy the river. We planned to start paddling near Yosemite and head north depending on what rivers had the best flows.

We started on the South Fork of the Tuolumne a little ways outside Groveland. We had never done the run but a new gauge has been installed and was reporting an optimal flow. After setting shuttle at the take out my friend suggested we drive a little further past the normal put in and float an additional couple of miles - he used to work at a summer camp in the area and was sure it would just be a simple float through mellow water that would only add an hour or less to the day. Sure. No problem.

And the river started out exactly as described. We had to avoid several fallen trees but the river was slow and gentle so it wasn't too bad. After about a mile we came to a little slide; and then to a bigger slide entering a granite lined gorge. We got out to scout and I decided to scout a little further to see what the gorge had to offer. After the initial slide there were a couple small drops before the river crashed down a 30' waterfall slamming into a wall. OK, we could walk around that. But below it were more big drops, most of which had rocks in all the wrong places. Eventually we found an even larger waterfall that crashed into several boulders. In the end we ended up just portaging the boats around every drop in the gorge for almost a mile. A mile of scrambling along smooth granite slabs and crashing through poison oak, roping the boats around cliffs and sweating fiercely in the summer heat. It took over three hours to complete the portaging and we got to what was supposed to be our starting point just before dark. After hitching/hiking to retrieve our vehicles we made it to town just in time to order a pizza from the only place that was open before heading back to crash at camp.

The next day we decided to just do the normal run. But after getting my boat pinned early on in a shallow channel I tweaked my knee climbing out. From then on the river was my nemesis: rocks in bad places, wood blocking good channels, trees blocking visibility and a reluctance to run anything risky. So a second slow day brought us to the take out near dusk and settling for pizza at the end of another exhausting day. So far there was little rest and relaxation happening on this vacation.

So we decided to move up to a different river - the North Fork Stanislaus. This was a much friendlier river and a perfect day on the water. So feeling a little encouraged we decided to try to get up to do Mill Creek, a two day trip coming off of Mt. Lassen that I had done last year. After a fair bit of time on the road (and a night crashing at my place in Folsom) we made it to the takeout and hooked up with the local shuttle service to drive us up to the put in. We got a late start but cruised down the river to make camp by 5pm. We finally got a chance to sit and relax in nature and enjoy a warm California evening under the trees. It finally felt like a vacation.

After finishing up Mill early in the afternoon we had the choice of trying to squeeze in one more river the next day. But my friend had a long drive to get back to LA and quite frankly we had had enough. We got in some tough paddling, some fun paddling, and a little relaxation. It was time to call it a vacation and get some rest before heading back to work.

Here's the video from the NF Stanislaus and SF Tuolumne:

Who wants to learn something?

2010-06-13T09:41:00.000-07:00

I just got back from several days of river paddling and I'm working on editing the video. I am also working on an article I'm writing for California Kayaker Magazine. It's about paddling with current, be it in the river or ocean. I have a draft completed and was thinking that this would be a great audience to get some feedback from. It's missing some photos and diagrams that I am still working on but I think you can get the idea. Please let me know what you think and if you like it I can post some more technique articles I'm working on.

Get Into the Flow
How to effectively paddle with moving water
By Bryant Burkhardt
Moving water comes in many shapes and sizes and learning to paddle with current can open up more options for paddlers in any boat. Whether you are on a river or tidal flow, in a long boat or short, there are some simple principles to understand and basic techniques that will allow you to negotiate the moving water safely and efficiently.

I began my kayak career on the ocean so when I got around to paddling on the river I already had some basic skills – I could paddle in a straight line, edge my boat a little and even pull off a combat roll. But my lack of understanding of currents meant I used that roll a lot, constantly being flipped by water for no apparent reason. This was because I did not understand the fundamental nature of how moving water interacts with a kayak. Understanding some basic hydrodynamics will go a long way to allowing you to avoid the upside down learning process.

The first thing to understand is that moving water is only important in a relative context – if a boat is moving the same speed as the current then the interaction between boat and water is exactly the same as if both are stationary. It is when there is a difference in speed or direction between the boat and water that the dynamic interaction of the two comes into play. This occurs when a boater is moving from calm water (eddy) into current or vice versa. That transition is the critical moment and we will look in depth at how to handle it.

But first let us look at what happens when moving water hits a stationary boat (which is the same as when a moving boat hits stationary water). If the water hits the boat head on then nothing much is going to happen. The bow (and generally the stern) of a boat is designed to split the water. So the water will be smoothly separated and flow around the boat causing the paddler no concern. But when the water hits the side of the boat it cannot simply go around – the obstacle is too large. In this case the water will pile up on the upstream side of the boat, and this resulting pile of water will catch and push down on that side of the boat causing a twisting force that wants to flip your kayak upstream. This is the cause of the majority of flips when learning to paddle in current.

Now let us look at that same situation with current hitting the boat – but instead of a flat boat let’s see what happens when the boat is edged downstream (you can also think of this as lifting the upstream edge). To be clear: I’m talking about changing the angle of the boat on the water, not leaning your body - just the boat. Now the moving water does not run into the side of the boat first, it actually hits the bottom of the boat. Instead of piling up on the side of the boat the water is pushed under the boat. This action will actually push up on the downstream edge of the boat in an attempt to flatten the boat out. This righting force from the water is easily countered by the boat lean that created it and when the two forces are in balance the boat and paddler are quite stable. So understanding how and when to edge the kayak when entering or leaving currents is the key to dealing with moving water.

Eddy Turns
Now that we know that edging is the key and the transition between currents is the critical moment we shall look in detail at how to accomplish this action. The technique is called an Eddy Turn and it is used to go from an eddy into current or from current into an eddy. And to be clear: when I say an eddy I simply mean water that is moving at a different speed from the main current. And the division between the eddy and the current will be referred to as the eddy line. Often eddies appears to be totally calm water but many times the eddy will have a current that is opposite in direction to the main current. Again, the important thing is always relative motion and this technique applies to any transition from water moving at one speed to water moving at a different speed.

We will start with the most common situation and then see how that can be generalized. We will begin in an eddy next to shore with calm water and our goal will be to get our kayak out into the moving water that is going by (be it a river or tidal current). Once we are out in the current and moving at the same speed as the water then it is just the same as paddling on flat water. Only when we look to exit the current and stop in an eddy do we have to again pay attention to current specific techniques.

To enter the current from an eddy one could theoretically just paddle straight into the current. The problem is that when your bow hits that current it will start to turn the boat and since the rest of your kayak is still in the eddy your boat will be spun around before you can cross the eddy line into the current. The solution to this is to start out pointed upstream into the current. While the current will still turn your bow downstream this initial angle will give you more time to cross over into the current and get up to speed while being less likely to spin around and end up where you started. This turning action leaves us pointed more or less downstream and is why we call it an eddy turn and not an eddy cross. But the current does the turning of the kayak – you don’t need to use any turning strokes to accomplish this.

Another important component to crossing the eddy line is speed. The eddy line itself is not always a thin, straight line. The area between the eddy and the current can be several feet wide and quite turbulent. We want to get through such an area as quickly as possible so we want to have as much forward speed as we can going into it. This speed will also give us more momentum which helps to stabilize the boat throughout the eddy turn.

Finally we get back to where we started: we need to edge our kayak as we cross the eddy line and enter the current. From our earlier discussion this edge will prevent the current from catching the upstream side of the boat and flipping it. So we need to edge downstream (lift the upstream edge) as we cross the eddy line and hold that edge throughout the turn. If you drop your edge too early the water will pile up and flip you, whereas if you hold the edge too long there is no penalty. So just keep that edge. It is important to note that this downstream edging throughout the turn is just like leaning into the turn on a bicycle (or skis or surfing or any other sport).

So we have completed our eddy turn and are now in the flow of the current. Once we decide to pull out into an eddy we will use the exact same technique. We just have to look at the relative water speed and adjust accordingly. When you are moving with the current the eddy’s calm water appears to be moving in the opposite direction. Now you need to angle down into the eddy, get up some speed and edge away from that eddy current (once again this is simply leaning into the turn).
These are the three keys to performing an eddy turn: Angle, Speed and Edge. You need all three to be present in order to make a stable transition from water moving at one speed to water moving at another. For faster, stronger currents you will need to increase all three of these: higher angle, more speed and more edge. Each situation has its own perfect combination but after a little practice it will happen naturally (just like riding that bike).

The melt has started

2010-06-07T21:59:00.000-07:00

After what seemed like an cold and snowy spring that would never end we have finally headed into summer. With temps up close to 90 the snow has started melting and the rivers are all raging. Teaching over the weekend on the SF American was a whole new challenge. Can we find some flatwater to practice in? Are there eddy lines that won't whiplash the students? If someone swims can we get them to shore (with their gear) before we end up in the lake? I'm happy to report that everything worked out and combining my two guys with Laura's two gals made for a fun time.

Now the reason that the South Fork was so high is because Slab Creek Reservoir is spilling. That means the Slab Creek run is in. Last year Slab Creek only ran for two days and I was lucky enough to get on it both times. Well, I missed the first day this year but got it the second (though it now sounds like it will be going for another week). It is such a fun run and has so many good things going for it: just outside Placerville, outstanding granite scenery, consistent class IV+, no portages and no big hazards. In the future we should get releases on Slab under the new re-licensing of the dam, but there are some hurdles before that happens. In the mean time we will have to be content with short windows during peak runoff or the random rain storm spill.

Here is a little video from the run:

new run, new toy, good times

2010-06-04T09:03:00.000-07:00

If I paddle for the rest of my life I may never get on all the runs I would like to do in the Sierras. But it's a fun goal to shoot for. The other day I completed a step on that Journey - after doing the North Fork Mokelumne I have done at least one run in every major drainage: Kern, Tule, Kaweah, San Joaquin, Merced, Tuolumne, Stanislaus, Mokelumne, Cosumnes, American, Bear, Yuba, Feather. One of the best parts of whitewater kayaking is exploring a new area - literally not knowing what is around the corner. The NF Mok (Devil's Nose) was a great day and afterward I drove up a little further to find that just upstream is where the incredibly scenery starts (and where the Fantasy Falls run ends). I had no idea it was quite so picturesque in this little drainage.

I was also trying out my new boat - I got my Jackson Villain S last week but was teaching over the weekend (works for that as well) so I was excited to get a better chance to really see how it handles. I've been paddling the Rocker for the past three years and while I love the boat for it's forgiveness and ability to shrug off most anything it definitely loses something on big water runs. The Villain paddle a lot like an improved Rocker - same general forgiveness but with some edge to steer better and a little faster. Before the Mok we hit Kyburz - both have a big water feel and the Villain really responded well. It will take a little more before I have it dialed in but I think I'm going to be really happy.

Here is a little video from both days:

The things we learn

2010-05-31T20:44:00.000-07:00

I spent the holiday weekend teaching on the river and several experiences made me reflect a little bit on the nature of whitewater kayaking. The simple truth is that it is not an easy sport. There is so much going against this sport that is it kind of surprising that anyone does it. You have all this gear to acquire, you lock yourself into a tiny boat which doesn't go where you want it to, you flip upside down in cold water, your natural instincts are almost always detrimental, you have to learn complicated body movements while balancing a boat and figuring out water dynamics all at the same time, and that is all before you even get to actual white water.

But once you get to that whitewater - that's what hooks people. The power of the river, the sense of controlling your destiny while being out of control, the shear exhilaration of it all, that is why people climb that steep learning curve. And maybe that is what connects us as paddlers. We have that shared struggle, that same past of facing the unknown and conquering ourselves in the process. We are eager to share with each other and eager to help others on their journey. Every special society has to have its initiation and whitewater kayaking has the same one for every wannabe member - the river itself.

new toy

2010-05-27T10:55:00.000-07:00

I got my new GoPro HD helmet cam over the weekend and got the chance to try it out paddling yesterday. It has a different mounting system where it sits up high above your head which makes you feel its weight more and definitely is more exposed if you flip (compared to my old Tachyon that mounts in the side). And since it is a normal camera inside a waterproof casing it gets more water drops on the lens and also some condensation on the inside. So why make the switch? High Definition, pure and simple. The video quality is outstanding. Here's a short clip of the paddling to prove my point. I'll just have to work with it a little more to overcome the shortcomings...

Long live the king

2010-05-16T08:23:00.000-07:00

I'm attending a wedding of a paddling buddy today. While I know from past experience that it means he won't be paddling as much anymore, I'm OK with that. My life may center around paddling but many times I think that it is probably not the best way for most people to live. We need folks doing real things to create the rest of the stuff I also enjoy in life. My buddy Rob, for instance, helps to make sure satellites stay in orbit which is important in some way I'm sure. I'm happy for him because he is happy with his choices and I don't resent the fact that I'll lose another paddling partner. Luckily there are always folks to go paddling with.

Of course I'm not going to pass up the chance to use Rob's wedding as an excuse to get some paddling in while down in SoCal. On Friday I went out kayak surfing in Palos Verdes with Rob and his best man Phil. Small waves but still a fun day. Yesterday I headed up to the Kern to get in a little whitewater. I got to take Giselle down Ant Canyon for the first time and it's always fun to see someone get smacked around by the big water feel of that stretch but to keep rolling up with a smile. I even talked her into running the sneak on Lower Salmon Falls which really turns the day into an adventure - and that is, after all, the best part about kayaking.

Reno River Festival

2010-05-10T08:22:00.000-07:00

The Reno River Festival is really like no other paddling festival. The truth is that it is a Reno Festival that happens at the river. While there are the usual river festival events - freestyle, downriver, boatercross - these events seem like mere entertainments to the thousands of passersby who wander through the park. Most visitors have never been kayaking, may not even know what kayaking is, but they enjoy the antics of the silly folks in the brightly colored boats. As such the atmosphere is a little different than say the Kern Festival. It seems to be more about selling things and less about hanging out with everyone. I helped to set up the CCK booth on Friday and we sold far more hats and Hawaiian shirts than PFD's or paddles. Our used boats got many curious lookieloos who have no intention of ever putting a blade into the water.

But the way to make it enjoyable is to hang out with the folks you do you and try to avoid the Reno madness (unless you're into that sort of thing in which case I know several folks who had a great time and late nights). I was teaching the free clinics over the weekend so spent my days with my fellow CCK instructors on and off the water. We did four 1.5 hour clinics each day and it made for a crazy frenzy of getting folks into boats and on the water with enough time left to fly through some instruction before getting back to get ready for the next class. We did a Freestyle clinic, beginner, intermediate and advanced. Luckily we had a rotation so some folks were teaching while the others were taking sign ups and sorting gear. It was all the usual controlled chaos but ended up quite well with many very happy students.

without the good stuff

2010-05-04T10:10:00.000-07:00

In the majors the difference between a good pitcher and a great pitcher is that the great ones win even when they don't have their best stuff. Some days the fast ball just doesn't have that pop to it or the curve just isn't cutting as sharply. When that happens it is the mental focus and perseverance that wins the game. That is how I feel about yesterday's 49 to Bridgeport run on the S Yuba. I wasn't paddling sharp - my timing was off on the boofs, my lines were not spot on - but I focused and made sure I was never far off line and avoided the bad spots. It was the first time I made it down that run without even flipping. Definitely a win.

The day before I drove right by the S Yuba with my buddy Matt on our way up to run Pauley and Lavazzola creeks by the N Yuba. We both were tired and feeling kind of lazy and as we went pass Matt said that as much fun as 49 to Bridgeport is you still need to show it respect. So we had a really fun day running the creeks instead. Lavezzola was just perfect low volume creeking: read and run the whole way with one bigger drop to spice things up. Pauley has more bigger/funner drops but more mank in between. Both were just fun and stress free at this level and it was the perfect call for the day. But Matt's words were echoing in my ears as I put on to 49 the next day and I gave it the respect it deserves and it paid me back with one of the funnest IV/V runs in the state.

Lavezzola helmet cam footage:

Paddling with the Jackson's

2010-05-02T08:12:00.000-07:00

CCK opened up its new demo center on the river in Coloma and as part of the Grand Opening festivities Team Jackson came to town for a paddle down the SF American Chili Bar run. They pulled up to the Sierra Nevada House in the Jackson RV and met with the eager folks looking to get out on the river with such an impressive family - all current or former world champions: EJ, Dane, Emily and Nick. Better yet, they are all super nice folks who are very approachable and helpful on the river, be it teaching/encouraging people on their first rolls or jumping into the water to get a stuck boat off a rock. We also had local team members Sage Donnelly (9 years old) and Hilde Schweitzer.

We had about 35 people join us for some stretch of the river. People were getting some surfing tips at Maya, a great playboating exhibition at First Threat, combat rolling tips from EJ, flatwater playboating tips from Nick and Emily, and overall a great day on the river with great people.

Personally, I finally got a chance to try the new Jackson Villain. EJ loaned me his personal boat - hopefully he won't notice the extra scratches I put into it seal launching at Maya. I've been paddling the Rocker for three years and love the boat on low volume steep stuff but it's round hull makes it kind of mushy and harder to control in big water or just cruising down class IV. The Villain seems to have kept the mostly round hull which allows for great stability and ease of paddling through stuff but it has added a little bit of rail to allow the boat to carve and correct easier. The Rocker is a great boat if you stay on top of it, the Villain is a great boat that doesn't need as much minding. And it's fast as hell and ferries like a champ. Definitely placing my order for one right away.

Click below for more pictures:

100501 Jackson SFA

Almost Big Sur

2010-04-26T13:30:00.000-07:00

The plan was to paddle the coast from Monterey down to San Simeon, taking in the spectacular Big Sur coast line along the way. The issue a solid stretch of 60+ miles without any protected landings and only a few unprotected ones with any kind of access. So when the forecast shaped up to swells of 7-9 ft. or more it seemed like too big of a risk to go for it. Especially since Jeff and Terri only had three days to paddle - I have a more flexible schedule but didn't feel like going solo in these conditions. So we decided to do some day paddles around the Monterey area.

The first day we went around the Monterey peninsula with some big swells but light winds. It was a pretty paddle dominated by scenic houses and beautiful golf courses - we landed at Pebble Beach. Day two we launched a little further south out of Point Lobos and had the same big swells and some wind to go with. Not wanting to battle the wind for too long we made it a shorter day just going down to Yankee Pt. and back. Wouldn't you know it: the wind died just as we got back to Whaler's Cove! The final day we were forced north by the Big Sur Marathon closing down PCH. So we hit up Santa Cruz where there was some protection from the swells and the wind was still down - reminded me of southern California paddling.

So the weekend wasn't the trip we had hoped for but it was definitely a good three days of paddling. It also yielded some nice photos and video.

Kern Festival never dissappoints

2010-04-20T16:42:00.000-07:00

Once again Kern River Festival was an incredibly fun weekend of hanging out with friends, paddling a little whitewater and crashing down Brush Creek. With beautiful sunny weather it was quite enjoyable to simply sit in the park and watch the flow of people on the shore and in the river. There was some downriver racing (class II and class IV), some slalom racing (class II and class IV), and lots of Kern River Brewery beer.

I definitely felt the effects of all my traveling and lack of boating and was rather slow and missed some gates. But at least I didn't provide any carnage video while paddling - there were several swims on Brush Creek this year. Though I did provide the crowd with some entertainment while hiking back up the creek after the downriver when I slipped while crossing from one side to the other and sent my boat down the final 10' waterfall on the course. But I don't count that as a swim since I didn't start in my boat.

I'm still on the road - doing a screening of the video tonight in San Diego - so it will be a little while until I can post some more pictures and video...

UPDATE: Photos are here, video below:

Helen's roll video off to the printers!

2010-04-14T12:15:00.000-07:00

For about the past month I've been working with Helen Wilson on her instructional rolling video. She wanted to have it ready for sale before she heads off to Europe for the summer (teaching clinics and touring for Tahe Kayaks). We had gotten most of the videoing done while I was visiting Arcata in March and then Helen was working on the voiceover, cover art and sending me notes to edit the project. I went back up to Arcata last weekend and three days of non-stop work (editing, re-shooting, mixing and watching it all over and over...) brought the project to its completion - at least our part. The disc is off to the printers and Helen should have boxes of picture perfect DVD's arriving by mid May.

Below is a trailer for the video - Helen did awesome job structuring the video and while it is fundamentally a Greenland rolling technique the information is applicable to anyone wanting to roll any type of kayak. You can pre-order your copy from her website: Greenland or Bust.

New waters

2010-04-13T06:34:00.000-07:00

After spending the weekend editing video for Helen in Arcata (more on this shortly) I finally got the chance to get out for a paddle on the beautiful Humboldt coast. With Helen having to work she set me up with her friend Michael who had the day off. We met at Trinidad Head for a short but sweet mid morning paddle. The weather was on again/off again showers (which seems to be the perpetual state of things on the northern California coast) but very light winds. And with relatively small swells Michael said it was the best conditions they have had for many months. I was happy I caught things right since this allowed us to stay in close and explore.

The rock garden up here is definitely something different. Instead of just having many small rocks and channels along the immediate coastline Trinidad steps it up a notch by having a ton of large rocks/mini islands scattered up to a mile off shore. And with all the obstacles the incoming swells pinball off and around to create a washing machine effect on a grand scale. On our day it just made it fun and interesting but I can only imagine the confusion and chaos when the big stuff comes in as it so often does.

It was also a great place to get some wildlife viewing in. Birds and pinnipeds abounded. Several of the islands were blanketed by huge colonies of nesting terns; common mures were all around and there was even quite a number of Canadian geese that Michael says had been relocated here from a golf course in Chico. And I was surprised to see a large number of the Stellar sea lions lying alongside their more common Californian brethren. I didn't think they were established this far south but Michael assures me they are quite common around these parts.

Can we just get to summer already!

2010-04-08T09:55:00.000-07:00

California is suppose to be warm and sunny. That's the whole point. And while I don't mind gearing up for winter storm missions I expect that when the teaching season comes around things will be a little nicer. But over the past weekend I taught two whitewater 101 classes and for both it was a freezing cold day one, luckily followed by a sunny (if not overly warm) day two.

The first class had a cold, rainy, windy day one that really tested everyone's spirit. The wet exits provided instant ice cream headaches and made me numb from the waist down as I stood in the water to assist. We had lunch sitting in the van with the heater on to thaw out and we didn't get a chance to run any stretch of river since I didn't want to risk any swims in the cold water. The next class had a similar forecast on the first day and I actually went to the full fleece layers under my drysuit - something I almost never have to do in this state. For the most part the rain and wind held off - instead we got the hail! It didn't last long - I heard that it was a solid twenty minutes of the white pellets coming down further upstream - but it again made everyone question their sanity for learning how to kayak in such weather.

But in both classes the relatively nicer second day smoothed things out. Everyone got to do some downriver paddling and get a taste for what the sport is really suppose to be like. Even though the river hadn't changed temperature and the air was only slightly warmer it is amazing what a little sun can do. I'm off for a couple weeks of traveling and hopefully by the time I get back for my next class on the river the sun will be taking its permanent position in the California sky for a summer of paddling perfection.

work can be good

2010-03-29T21:25:00.001-07:00

Did a private lesson on Lake Natoma on Friday - a couple of adventure racers getting some rescue practice in a tandem; a whitewater 101 over the weekend - a pair of brothers just looking to get into the sport; on Monday went out with a friend from Oregon on some class IV - he wants to work his way up to running some of the classic Cali granite runs this year. Some nice variety in venues, goals, skill sets, and personalities. Consistently cold water - especially when you stand waist deep helping with rolls (though I guess it's probably worse if you're actually upside down working on your roll).

My waterproof camera was fully charged but promptly died after one picture - it's last of three batteries I had for the camera. Time to decide on getting yet another battery or moving up to get a better waterproof. The more I use higher quality photo/video equipment the more I hate the crappy quality of the the waterproof cameras that exist (more megapixels does not make higher quality). But there are so many shots that I will only get with something that is in the pocket of my PFD...

Back behind the lens

2010-03-22T11:59:00.000-07:00

I spent the last weekend up in Arcata working with Helen Wilson on her upcoming Greenland rolling DVD. I'm doing the filming and editing for the project and it has definitely been a great experience being able to simply focus on the filming and not the paddling. I managed to stay dry to whole weekend without even getting my boat off the roof of my truck - while that may seem like a negative to some I feel I have plenty of paddling in my life and I try to enjoy the opportunity to do things outside a boat. When I'm filming my own paddling it creates a constant struggle between the paddling and video that ultimately is good but sometimes tiring. Being able to concentrate on just one of those often leads to more relaxation.

We plan to get Helen's video out by May so we have a lot to accomplish in a short time. We did the bulk of filming this weekend and sorted out the structure of the DVD. It is going to be a roll video for everyone - not just experienced Greenland paddlers - and we got lots of great footage to include. Helen has been teaching rolling clinics across the country (and the world) for a while now so she has the class structure down cold and we just had to translate that experience to the video. The main thing was to show clearly exactly what she does so people can use the video to teach themselves - it's often the difficulty of finding (or affording) a good instructor or rolling partner that keeps people from learning and mastering the art. This video should give folks a virtual partner that allows them to start from scratch and work their way up to some very cool advanced rolling.

I haven't had time to do any real editing yet but here's a taste of the good footage we got: