Untamed New England

Recently I had the pleasure of working with Peter Sawtell of Seven Rivers Paddling to manage risk and safety on the paddling sections of Untamed New England, an iconic adventure race that took place on the New Hampshire Seacoast this year.

Untamed New England describes themselves as a non-stop race across 250+ miles of New England's wilderness and I can assure you, it's just that.  Teams have no idea where they're racing until they show up.  Teams have 4 days to complete the rugged courses, which changes each year.  Historically, only about 20% of teams actually complete the full course.

This year, teams did some canoeing in the upper stretches of the race.  Then, by the time they reached the Seacoast, they had two more major paddling sections, in kayaks on tidal waters.  Our team used vehicles, kayaks, paddleboards and power boats to keep track of paddlers on the water 24/7 as well as give assistance in particularly 'tricky' areas due to currents.  As hard as the course was, mother nature increased the difficulty level with thunder storms all weekend.  Each night as we camped on islands in Great Bay, we could track teams at all hours of the evening while being barraged with rain and winds ourselves.

For those of you that know me, I work on events like this all the time and absolutely love it!  Long hours, tricky logistics and good people keep it fun and rewarding.  Check out the pics for some highlights!

we provided all the equipment for racers..

tracking teams on Great Bay

tracking teams online

moving up river

waiting for teams to cross Great Bay.  This skiff was our home for three days.

Baja Sea Kayaking Vacation

At the end of October, Trish & I took some time off to paddle with Sea Kayak Baja Mexico on a 6-day relaxing tour of the Loreto Islands & Coast.  Ramon & Daniel guided our group of 8 from Loreto out to Danzante then down the coast a bit.  If you ever get a chance to paddle the Sea of Cortez, connect with SKBM for guide services or equipment rental.  You won't find better trained, more professional guides with any other company and you definitely won't find better equipment.  We toured with top of the line P&H & Sea Kayaking UK sea kayaks, Werner carbon paddles, Kokatat pfd's and MSR camping equipment.

For me, this was just a chance to relax with Trish, spend some time in the desert and reset myself after a long summer.

working on our relaxation techniques

early morning on the Loreto waterfront

Loreto harbor before sunrise

Trish makes a friend

first night camp on Danzante Island

yup

1st tarantula of the trip

awesome group of people from Baja, Canada, Washington, Wisconsin, Maine

Baja is so beautiful

hiking to see cave paintings

Ramon, our guide

Just the ladies.. Polly, Leanne, Sydney, Kathy, Margaret, Trish

Tomales Bay Sea Kayak

We had 26 teenagers out on Tomales Bay this week and were treated to four days of awesome weather with sun, warm temps and favorable tides.  This was a really fun trip stacked with three other incredible guides and rounded out with four adult chaperones from the school we were guiding.  For three nights and four days we explored the waters and trails around Point Reyes and Tomales Bay.   We saw wildlife, we hiked, we paddled, we visited Clayton Lewis, we swung from trees and we ate local oysters.  The kids learned about nature & Tomales Bay, they learned paddling skills, camping skills, camp kitchen skills and a ton more.  This was easily one of the best trips I've had with children or adults and it came at the perfect time.  Fall in Northern California is like summer everywhere else.

Full Teenager Immersion

12 kids aged 12-15 for 5 days of kayaking and camping on Tomales Bay.  Yes, I have some funny memories of the week.  That's what you get with full teenager immersion.  I got a healthy dose of what it's like to be a kid these days and enjoyed almost every minute of it.  Almost.  

We discussed literature - have you read the new book by Flip Dover titled The Beginners Guide to Sea Kayaking?  I believe it's from the Lost Works collection.  How about The Complete Guide to Table Tennis by Ping Pong?  

We told jokes.  What did the hamburger name his daughter?  Patty.  What did he name is son?  Scott. Don't try to get it - there's nothing to get.  

We talked shit.  Teenagers know how to talk shit, even if they have nothing to talk shit about. Awesome ends with "M" "E" but ugly starts with "U".

We paddled, we hiked, we lit campfires, played games, ate delicious meals.  We saw wildlife.  Seals, sea lions, crabs, jellyfish, fox, raccoon, coyote, elk, gulls and more.  

And of course, every time I said 'no' to something I got backtalk.  "Every party needs a pooper, that's why we invited you...."    

ACA Kayaking Level 2 ICW - Redding, CA

Last weekend I assisted an ACA Kayaking Instructor workshop in Redding, CA hosted by Headwaters Adventure Company.  Joe & Terri opened Headwaters 4 years ago and have helped foster a wonderful community of paddlers in the area.  Most participants in the course had really solid foundation skills to work from and were able to progress significantly in a short time.  Most are on track to becoming great paddlers and instructors and will pass-on their love of the sport to others.  Next time I'm in Redding, I look forward to exploring more of the area on the water and on the trail.

Whiskeytown Lake is beautiful

Joe & Alan practicing rescues in the pool on day two

Joe & Terri Arbuckle in a Valley Etain and Sterling Reflection

The crew... Bryant, Alan, Donna, Terri, Shawn, Mary, Joe, Jeff, Tiffany, Jim, Marilyn

GGSKS 2014

I measure the success of GGSKS by the amount of fun I have and I had a ton of fun this year.  So I guess that makes the 2014 event very successful.  At least by my standards.

GGSKS is a subset of the sea paddling community and a damn fine one.  Sean Morley and I receive lots of feedback (positive and negative) and probably way too much praise.  But, here's the reality.  If you enjoy the event, you can't blame us.  Blame the community.  All we do is lay the foundation for GGSKS and everyone else adds to it until something beautiful has been formed.  We're just facilitators.

The value of this event goes well beyond any hard skills you'll learn.  It's also about connecting with other people that paddle.  It's about having a good time, laughing, smiling, cheering each other on.  There's a positive energy in the air and all you need to do is embrace it to become a better paddler.  I think that great paddlers must first be great people and I met lots of great people this year.  I made some lasting connections and I can't wait to see how it will impact my life.

This year we had 190 people attend the event as students, coaches, staff, media & volunteers.  We came from California, Florida, Washington, Alaska, Oregon, New York, Montana, Illinois, Michigan, Maryland, South Carolina, Minnesota, Nevada, Virginia, mainland Mexico, Baja California, Scotland, Quebec, Ontario and Nova Scotia.  14 states and 4 countries.  That's pretty rad.

Don't listen to me describe what it was like, just watch the film by Marty Perry.

Never drive away from good surf

Sunshine and warm weather can sure help you have fun.  I spent the weekend in Cape Kiwanda on the Oregon Coast for the 5th annual Lumpy Waters Symposium hosted by Alder Creek Kayak & Canoe.  That crew operates as a true team and does a fantastic job delivering a fun & safe event for all.  On top of all their planning, the weather came together perfectly with abundant sunshine, warm air temps and fantastic surf building from 2ft on Friday to 10ft by Monday afternoon.  Couldn't have asked for more.

It was really fun spending more time in a sea kayak and seeing some friends I only see once or twice a year.  The students did a great job assessing their skills properly and were seriously going for it in our long boat surfing course on day one.  The ideal conditions gave people a reason to go hard and make the most of their weekend.  Sea kayaking felt young this weekend!

Monday is traditionally the coaches play day and this year there were about 15 people ready to charge.  A wise man from Portland told me 'never drive away from good surf' so I didn't.  I opted out of the coach paddle to three arch rocks and opted in to surfing the huge waves at Cape Kiwanda.  It was pretty intimidating paddling out into those monsters, but after riding the rip to the outside and getting a drop or two out of the way, I started to relax and focus.

By the end of the session, I was dropping in on 10 foot faces without hesitation and making them.  A couple got really hollow, a few beat me down, but overall I had an incredible session with only 5 guys in the lineup.  I feel like it was definitely a progression session for me and I'm pumped to get out on more big clean waves...

The view of the sea all weekend!  Haystack rock at Cape Kiwanda

Waves built to 6-10ft on Monday