The Paddler Issue 56 Autumn/Fall 2020

PADDLER The International magazine for recreational paddlers Issue 56 Autumn/Fall 2020

Interview with…

CORRAN ADDISON WW Tatshenshini2, Alaska

By Andy Hall WW Siberia - BUKE 2019

By Cara Lee and Jamie Peden SUPing Norway

By Elaine Farquharson Canoeing the Lower Zambezi

By Michael Henry Portaging Scotland

By Ray Goodwin Kayaking the Inside Passage

By Anna Grondin Water safety for beginners

By Richard Harpham

Autumn issue of

CANOE FOCUS #ShePaddles with sharks, Kit to keep you warm Seabins: fighting plastic pollution

ezine

Coaching on kayaking and canoeing from…

JAMIE GREENHALGH CHRIS BRAIN ADAM EVANS

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Fanny Ringrave interview

By SarahThornely

Ex-US Navy SEAL Interview by Stephen Weber Testing, testing and Sarah Thornely foreword

IN PARTNERSHIP WITH BRITISH CANOEING

CONTENTS

BUKE expedition, Sayan Mountains, Russia. Photos: Joe Fender and Harry Turner Editor

Advertising sales

Peter Tranter peter@thepaddlerezine.com Tel: (01480) 465081 Mob: 07411 005824 www.thepaddlerezine.com

Anne Egan Tel: (01480) 465081 advertising@thepaddlerezine.com

Design 2b Graphic Design Limited

Cover: Exploring the icebergs of Alsek Lake, Alaska. Photo: Karl Midlane Additional thanks to: Joe Fender, Harry Turner, Stuart Wagstaff.

Karl Midlane, Titus Kodzoman, Gutsygirls.co.uk, Michael W. Henry, Georgina Maxwell, Jeremy Nylander, Tom Merritt-Webster, RNLI, Woo, Luc Cividino and Alfie Marsh

Not all contributors are professional writers and photographers, so don’t be put off writing because you have no experience! The Paddler magazine is all about paddler to paddler dialogue: a paddler’s magazine written by paddlers. Next issue is Winter 2020, with a deadline of submissions on December 10th 2020. Technical Information: Contributions preferably as a Microsoft Word file with 1200-2000 words, emailed to submissions@thepaddler.ezine.com. Images should be hi-resolution and emailed with the Word file or if preferred, a Dropbox folder will be created for you. The Paddler ezine encourages contributions of any nature but reserves the right to edit to the space available. Opinions expressed in this magazine are not necessarily those of the publishing parent company, 2b Graphic Design Limited. The publishing of an advertisement in the Paddler ezine does not necessarily mean that the parent company, 2b Graphic Design Limited, endorse the company, item or service advertised. All material in the Paddler magazine is strictly copyright and all rights are reserved.

Reproduction without prior permission from the editor is forbidden.

Issue 56

Autumn/Fall 2020

Thanks to:

006 Foreword…

By Sarah Thornely (Supjunkie)

008 Testing, testing P&H Cetus, GoPro 9, Palm Bora plus more

018 Power of positive thinking

By Adam Evans

022 BUKE 2019

By Cara Lee and Jamie Peden

034 Interview with…

Corran Addison

044 WW Tatshenshini, Part two

By Andy Hall

050 SUPing Norway

By Elaine Farquharson

058 Canoeing the Lower Zambezi

By Michael Henry

064 Feedback on the river3

By Jamie Greenhalgh & Chris Brain

071 Canoe Focus British Canoeing’s 24-page magazine

096 Ray Goodwin’s Scottish canoeing adventure

tootega.com

104 The Inside Passage

By Anna Grondin

120 Water safety for beginners

By Richard Harpham

128 Solitude on the water

Ex-US Navy SEAL interview by Stephen Weber

134 Pirogue Pleasure

Fanny Ringrave interview by Sarah Thornely

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ThePADDLER 3

SARAH THORNELY

Foreword

‘The Wylie diary’

Photos: Alfie Marsh www.alfie marsh.com SarahThornely & PeterTranter

An update on The Great British Paddle Ever since we met Jordan Wylie, we at Supjunkie have well and truly been behind him, his story and his fundraising mission.This expedition was not to be underestimated, and many more experienced paddlers saw this as perhaps a mission too great – Jordan totally gets that. However, he’s still out there paddling and still raising money for his chosen charity, but it has not been without great difficulty, and that is where the MAN comes in. For someone to honestly believe that even if they do not feel motivated every day to paddle but to be disciplined about it, makes you understand how Jordan has got this far.

The latest stats are mind-bending – Jordan has just celebrated (although I’m not sure he’d use that word!) passing 100 days – as I write this, it’s 110. He has recently paddled into his FIFTH country, crossing the Irish Sea whilst toughing it out on a 77 km PB in a double-whammy paddle making the most of the rare favourable conditions. It also sees him halfway around Great Britain and back on the mainland!

To track Jordan’s SUP journey and support his cause, @ www.thegreat britishpaddle.com

Recently, it was doubtful he would reach Scotland as the Scottish Government were concerned due to the current climate. A Zoom meeting later and massive thanks to the UK Veterans Minister Johnny Mercer, confirmed that Jordan and the team were good to go, for now. The team have been very thorough and careful throughout this challenge – safety for Jordan, the crew and the general public has been vital.

Jordan is currently hugging the west coast of Scotland.

The team live and work from the yacht, which has been generously donated to them by the Royal Logistics Corps – Spirit of St. George II is the official sailing yacht of the RLC. All logistics are run from here with on-land support of Project Manager Alex Alley and Paula Reid, the adventure psychologist.

This trip is about teamwork from the many, many people following The Great British Paddle (TGBP).

Supjunkie have recently launched a fundraiser selling their t-shirt and clothing range. All profits during November and December will be split between two

great causes, one of which is Frontline Children, the chosen Charity of Jordan and TGBP. Check out www.supjunkie.co.uk for more info.

#POUNDAPADDLE Another initiative between Supjunkie and adventurer Samantha Rutt of Barefoot SUP is to raise awareness of Jordan’s fundraising project to the wider paddling community. #poundapaddle will encourage paddlers to donate just one pound per paddle, which can be a one-off donation or continuous contribution each time the paddler hits the water. If paddling if advised against in your location, you can join in with any exercise that motivates you so, #poundapooch, #poundaplod, #poundapeddle, #poundapilates – you get the idea.

From Sarah: “It seems that 2020 is the year of the child – they ask for nothing and this year, in particular, sees them possibly having nothing, be it school lunches or education. Imagine being a child on the frontline, war-torn, hungry and not a hope of education – let Jordan, Sam and I join the likes of good people like Marcus Rashford in bringing these children to the forefront of everybody’s mind and care wherever they are in the world. The challenges that these particular children face is unimaginable, and Jordan makes it his mission every day to thank each one of us in helping to raise money for the less fortunate. How can I not support him when he truly supports others? We are asking for a little, but collectively it will mean a lot to all those Frontline Children. Jordan is

having a very bumpy ride around Great Britain but nowhere near as bumpy as those children, so I really thank you for your support in this new initiative.”

From Sam: “I have been truly inspired by Jordan and his brutal challenge of paddling around the whole of our glorious UK. To take on such an immense challenge is mind-blowing in itself, but what has struck me most about this and why I want to stand up and support him, is the selfless act of kindness to help others less fortunate than we are. We take education for granted and yet we know, now we are adults, they are often the best times of our lives. To be able to give that opportunity to children already experiencing more than any child should, giving them a place to learn and thrive and getting this school built is such a great act of kindness how could you not be inspired by that. The world needs now more than ever acts of kindness, so for me, it’s easy to Stand Up for Jordan to help him, and Frontline Children get this school built. I hope you will stand up and show your support with us!”

From Jordan: “I would like to give a special thank you to Sarah, Samantha and everyone from the Paddling community who are helping me on my quest to inspire hope through education to children who really need our support on the other side of the world.Taking part in this excellent initiative from these awesome ladies is not only great for your physical health and mental well-being, but you will also be making a huge difference to children’s lives, thank you.”

So, Jordan now begins possibly the most dangerous part of his challenge – circumnavigating Scotland through the winter – this is a Guinness World Record attempt. Still, as far as Jordan is concerned, the most important part of this challenge is to complete the fundraising to enable that school to be built and for him to return home safely to see his daughter and family ultimately. The timeframe of this trip was never for Jordan to be paddling around Scotland in the winter, but here he is, forever determined to finish the job! We wish him continued success :-)

Samantha Rutt

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It all started in ancient Egypt, 6,000 years ago, with Horus walking on water in the netherworld.

After Horus, we have a whole parade of Gods: Persian Mithra, Etruscan Usil, even half-God, Orion, son of Poseidon who were able to perform this miracle. Then we have Jesus, and ninjas with their device called ‘mizugumo’.

In modern times we didn't create any new Gods.

Instead, magicians completely took over this idea.

I believe this surreal display of Gods and magicians may be the explanation to why we don't have walk-on-water devices. But sometimes all you need is a bit of time, with the very unusual year of 2020 being very helpful for Floatski, in its own way.

The device was deeply redesigned, based now on a three-dimensional structure made from carbon fibre, which replaced the traditional balsa wood stringer. The difference is not visible for users' eyes, but they will definitely appreciate the lighter, and faster final product.

Is Floatski really going to bring masses to water sport clubs? Well, we have three different sizes; kids (probably a No.1 hit in the future), females and males XL. It’s extremely easy to use, with most users needing just a single 30-minute session to feel comfortable and ready. And overall, Floatski provides a slightly eccentric workout, and looks great on pictures (this is what we call Instagram friendly). The next generation of running on water is already on its way!

The main mechanism has already been tested and it won’t be long until we take it from a working concept to a ready-to-use product! I don't want to irritate anyone here with this statement, but all the sports available on the market, based on paddling: e.g kayaking, canoeing, SUP, rowing - we love them (and have loved them since the ancient times of 10,000 BC), but there is definitely room for a completely new product.

For business enquiries please visit:

www.floatski.com

ThePADDLER 8

Testing, P&H Cetus (MV) www.phseakayaks.com Dimitri Vandepoele NORTHSEAKAYAK

This review is based on long term testing and the latest renewal in constructions. I have paddled two different boats for this review. First, I have paddled my Cetus MV Expedition KevlarCarbon for precisely four years (and a bit more than 5,000 km under the hull). For the people who are following us on social media; this is the black and orange Cetus I paddled with.

I recently switched to a Cetus MV in Expedition Kevlar-Carbon, but this time to the brand-new Infusion version, which I am eager to talk about!

This one is the black and green one I currently paddle with.

I paddled the Cetus in conditions from flat calm up to Force 7, and corresponding sea state. I’m using it as a coaching platform, for day trips, offshore trips, surfing, downwinders and rescue training. The thing I’m most proud of is that the Cetus accompanied me during my second North Sea crossing in 2018.

So that’s the ship we are going to talk about!

SOME HISTORY Most of us know that the Cetus is a design that has set the standard for expedition sea kayaks during the last decade. P&H developed this boat, and prototypes were shown to the public at Trade Shows in 2006. The first Cetus deliveries to customers started in February 2007. At the beginning there was just a Cetus MV (a rather big MV), the updates followed soon afterwards to the complete gamma as we now know it, having three sizes that will fit any individual (HV, MV & LV).

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testin The Cetus is way too agile not to play in waves coming from the rear. So, during downwinders (even mild ones with only small waves) the Cetus will put a smile on your face. When one is new to sea kayaking, and you are not used to picking up locks like that, you can drop the skeg a bit, and the Cetus will track in a straight line, taking you anywhere you want! That is one of the cool aspects of this boat. It will please both the novice paddler, as it will the wintered coach or expedition sea kayaker.

dd lers - email us: review s@thep addle rez ine

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It is also a very stable boat, which is the reason why you can keep your focus on forward paddling instead of keeping yourself upright in rough seas. Stability is for every single sea kayaker slightly different, but I must say that I’m very comfortable in it during filming with my camera in those mentioned conditions. I rarely make use of the skeg; the Cetus tracks very well. Only on longer trips and when exposed to a stronger wind coming from the side, or a bit more from the back, I will drop the skeg a wee. When the wind and waves are coming from the back, I never use the skeg.

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This is extraordinary for an 18ft sea kayak! Also, one of the reasons why I can use this boat for almost anything. No hard chines on this boat, so it is very forgiving and can be steered around while putting it on edge with some knee pressure. This is one of the faster sea kayaks, not to be mistaken for a type 'fast sea kayak'. Whether you paddle the Cetus on flat calm water or in more advanced conditions, speed can be maintained.

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With the Cetus, P&H took sea kayak design away from the earlier deeper V-designs, that only worked when fully loaded and were not playful at all. This boat has a low profile and slightly fuller ends. As a result, the Cetus can be leaned, so the ends disengage from the water. That way, it becomes like a ballet star as it plays around rocks, obstacles, or a rugged coastline.

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PERFORMANCE/BEHAVIOUR

ou want yo ion. If y u stat rp st r

Most names of P&H boats are from constellations, same counts for the Cetus (no plural, there is only one). Cetus is the Constellation of the Sea Monster or Whale (check Wikipedia for more information). The Cetus is the most successful production model in P&H’s history.

The Paddle r ez ine te

It is very difficult to come up with numbers and exact speeds as we move on waters that are affected by tides and waves. I can only say (compared to paddlers with the same abilities and strength) that the Cetus does not keep up with other similar boats; it will lead the way! Also, one of the reasons why this boat is so popular with such a broad audience.

Now, a little about manoeuvrability. I’m using the Cetus also as a coaching platform for a few specific reasons. It is fast so that I can move from the back of the group to the front rather speedily. But and this is equally important, I can

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ThePADDLER 10 SPECIFICATIONS: CETUS MV l l l l

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Length: 541cm Width: 54,5cm Volume: 332 litres Weight: (from lightweight to heavy depending on construction/lay-up): between 20 & 28 kgs Four hatches: (front, rear, day & mini) Maximum paddler weight: 115 kgs

move around very quickly between places or paddlers. I can turn the Cetus on a dime, making my way back to a capsized teammate and saving essential time. The secondary stability gives a lot of trust, making you lean or edging the boat to the fullest. When that happens, you are no longer 'just paddling'; you become a ballet dancer! Man, this boat is agile for its length!

COMPASS RECESS

EQUIPMENT/OUTFITTING

I can be very brief but thorough about the cockpit!

This is P&H at its best! I’ve been using the Connect seat for years now – it is like putting a sofa in a jet fighter! The seat, thigh braces, hip pads are connecting the paddler to the boat, period. Same counts for the Twist-Lock footrests. These are adjustable whilst sat in the cockpit. P&H boats are now delivered with some extra adhesive knee pads.

You can stick those at the right place yourself, where your knees are touching the deck, very convenient.

The Cetus is expedition ready. That is a mouthful since only a small percentage of paddlers is effectively using their sea kayak for expedition use. It will swallow all your kit and take you to the end of the world in comfort. However, this doesn’t do this boat much honour – there is more to it than 'just expedition ready'.

The Cetus is a complete boat (which I like way more than expedition ready). Let’s start with the deck itself. It comes with four hatches as standard, where the oval rear hatch can take the larger stuff, not just tent poles; I was instead thinking about a larger kayak cart and my emergency shelter. Same for bow hatch. Equally important are the mini hatch (right in front of the cockpit) and the day-hatch (right behind the cockpit). Those two compartments are well in reach of you whilst on the water.

That means you can put a complete safety kit in it; the space in the day-hatch is rather generous. The mini-hatch is ideal for smaller equipment, a snack, GPS, cell-phone…. All hatches are waterproof; I had no leakage during all those years. Don’t forget to lubricate (silicone-based sprays work best) the edges so that the hatches open and close easily.

Deck lines and elastics are well placed, perfect for performing deep water rescues, also, in an excellent position to put your spare paddle or other safety equipment underneath. There are enough attachments, so no loose hanging lines all around.

One of those details that I find essential is the compass recess. You don’t see this on all high-end boats. On an expedition boat, this is a must-have, and it should be standard like it is on the Cetus. The compass is installed on the bow, giving you the option to keep one eye on the course and the other on where you are going.

BUILD QUALITY/CONSTRUCTION The build quality is excellent, no question about it.

You cannot find sharp edges; there is detail in this hand-built boat. When checking the inside, the seams, the hatch rims are all well placed without a single remark. Composite is for the lover of craftmanship. There are a few choices to consider when it comes to construction options. There is a choice between performance Kevlar-diolen and expedition diolen. You can even customise further, letting P&H make reinforced areas on your boat or mix things up to your wishes.

A while ago, P&H came up with a new advanced layup process called 'lightweight infusion system constructions'. This process takes more time, an exact amount of resin is infused into the Kevlar/carbon weave excluding air pockets or other inconsistencies from the hull and deck structure.

Now, this is where things come interesting.

Mostly, the tougher the boat, the more the weight increases. In my case, the weight of my Expedition Kevlar/carbon Cetus is exactly 30 kgs. When I ordered a new Cetus in the Expedition Kevlar/carbon infusion lay-up I was a bit reserved; would it just make a few kilograms, and will it be as stiff?

Upon receiving this Infusion layed-up Cetus, I immediately checked the weight; a little less than 25 kgs! This is a lot of weight-saving on such a boat. Still, I wanted to field test this kayak before starting to cheer. I did a few coaching sessions with it, I went surfing (force 5-6 and an average wave height of 1.5 metres), and I did some distance. After that, I felt it was time to sum it all up – and to cheer – a lot!

Compared to my first Cetus, the ‘infusion Cetus’ has the same stiffness, the same strength in construction but with the loss of more than 5 kgs. It gives a tiny bit of better acceleration, and it is super convenient when loading it to the roof rack of the car.This new infusion lay-up is built to quality, not as most do, to a price.

IS IT WORTH IT? My answer if you are not on a budget; definitely! As for options – I would advise you NOT to look on the P&H website! Please don’t do it, I mean it! There is a so-called 'kayak customiser' that will keep you shackled to it until you finally composed the boat of your dreams! I have been busy for hours and days on that, looking at options, changing colours and making comparisons. There are a lot of things you can change or add to the Cetus!

CONCLUSION The Cetus ticks all the boxes, making this a very versatile platform for expedition use, coaching, weekend, or day trips and even surfing. When spending your hard-earned money, rest assured that you will become more prosperous. Richer with memorable trips, fantastic views, and exciting experiences.

You will travel in a high end, hand-built boat that takes you anywhere. Options will become standard for he/she who is paddling the Cetus.

This boat is eye candy and performs at the same time, and you can customise the Cetus to all your wishes.

P&H WEBSITE Have a look at the P&H website for more details @ https://www.phseakayaks.com/row/k ayaks.php?model=cetus-mv

WANT TO SEE THE BOAT IN ACTION? We have a video on our NORTHSEAKAYAK YouTube channel @https://www.youtube.com/watch? v=sqmhrAWidt8

It is manoeuvrable when put on edge, fast when paddling straight. It will please the novice paddler and tease the more experienced kayaker to move boundaries. With the new Infusion lay-up, P&H has advanced the standard even higher. This boat has proven itself during the years, earning its place at the top of highend sea kayaks.

Even better, try this boat out yourself! Have fun and take care of each other on the water!

After picking your lay-up, you can start thinking on seams, keel strips, cockpit rims and the constructions and colours of that all. You’re not finished by then!

Choices to make on the outfitting, seat, bulkheads, footrests, rudder or skeg (no, we’re not going to start this debate). Do you want a built-in pump, compass, or another deck outfitting? Think about it!

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The GoPro Hero 9 https://gopro.com Darren Farrar @StandUpPaddleUK

conditions, the footage will rival that of a DSLR camera, no, not a joke. The images are more detailed as you’d expect and preserve well when cropped in the GoPro app.

Every year for us adventurers we consider selling our old GoPro to upgrade to the newest model, this year is no different.

The Hero 9’s new HyperSmooth 3.0 boost is something close to incredible – a gimbal killer. I climbed Helvellyn Mountain and ran up and down several peaks, the footage was Seamless and Smooth AF – see my Instagram for this video!

This camera is the most powerful offering GoPro have ever done. Overall the camera isn’t a massive upgrade from the Hero 8 Black, and I do think some will stick with it as GoPro did iron out a lot of the kinks with that camera.

GoPro as ever retains all the modes from the Hero 8, whilst adding more: Video, Photo (inc Night Mode), Timelapse (inc Timewarp, Nightlapse) – mainstays of the GoPro camera range. SuperPhoto is back.

I’ve opted for the upgrade to the new Hero 9 for a couple of reasons: l 5K video: (which looks unbelievable by the way) l Hugely improved battery: (I’d say you’re probably getting about 20-25% more battery) l The front display: I’m a massive fan of this l New modes and software upgrades: (HyperSmooth 3.0 stability and Hindsight mode) A few things I’m not so pleased about before the praise starts: l The camera gets quite hot during heavy use and data transfer. l The touchscreen can be a bit unresponsive. l Not a full compliment of Video mode settings. l SuperPhoto mode needs improving.

Now, let’s talk specifics and good stuff. It’s so bloody versatile it is unreal – but all GoPro cameras are. The sensor upgrade to a 23.6MP shoots immense 5K video and is definitely an upgrade. In the right

Timewarp has been improved with a x30 mode and feels smoother on playback. Hindsight mode is a cool feature when in Burst mode – which captures shots before and after you hit shoot! I won’t go too indepth with the Video modes as they are pretty much similar to the Hero 8, barring the 5k video.

The camera can get very hot, which seems to be when trying to process large data, i.e. recording 5K and when transferring data on the app to my phone.

It’s overheating more than the Hero 8 was, but again that was a fix they provided. While this isn’t a considerable worry personally, I can see users thinking the camera is faulty or defective because of the heat! I believe a firmware fix will solve this.

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THINGS TO BE EXCITED ABOUT

PRICING

Having the ability to remove the lens to install the New Max Mod looks quite exciting (due October/ November), and it also means the ability to have Lens Filters is back, i.e. Polar Pro.

Hero 9 is RRP £429.99 outside of GoPro.com. Via GoPro and their subscription, you’ll get a significant discount. The Sub is great – auto uploads content to the GoPro server, protection of your cameras, which means you get a replacement if your camera is damaged – two per year – the cost £5 per month. Opting for this you’ll get a Hero 9 for £329.99.

This ultrawide lens will bring Max HyperSmooth (seen on GoPro Max) and have the ability to lock horizon even if it’s rotated. I’ve got a GoPro Max, and it is the smoothest and best stabilised video I’ve ever seen – so this to gain that feat is immense.

This camera is the most significant redesign GoPro have done, the camera is bigger than the Hero 8 and has a larger 2.27-inch rear touchscreen. It’s definitely better in feel – I think it will take more of a beating on the mountain. Only time will tell!

The 1.4-inch colour front display is handy if you’re a vlogger – you can frame up easily, although it lacks the high-end quality of the image.

The battery has been increased, and the overall battery size is 40% larger. On testing, I would say my batteries are lasting 20-25% longer.

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The touchscreen – it currently isn't good enough for responsiveness. I am told by GoPro that there is a firmware fix coming in November, not ideal.

The camera gets quite hot, as explained.

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No 4K/120p – why, oh why GoPro? SuperPhoto needs improving via an update (as the Hero 8 was).

Having to do firmware fixes on a camera so new, not great.

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It’s the best GoPro yet by far.

Simplified Hero 8 Settings and menus are retained – a good shout for those newer users.

Longer lasting battery by about 20-25%.

New sensor – 23.6MP. 5k Video is dreamy, and HyperSmooth 3.0 is brilliant.

Webcam mode is quite useful – this is no longer ‘just an action camera’.

Those happy using the current Hero 8 settings do not need to upgrade.

Fixes needed to several ‘Gripes’ with the camera.

Hero 9 comes in a nice packaged case, a cool change from the old plastic box – kudos on that one GoPro.

Overall, I’m quite happy with the upgrade.

Find me over on Instagram and see more of the same @darrens_visuals

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Palm Bora drysuit https://palmequipmenteurope.com Dale Mears @StandUpPaddleUK Drysuits are a big purchase and one to enable you to paddle throughout winter unless you are one of those hardy folk who sticks with split kit or a cag deck all winter.Which I guess is sufficient for shirt sessions on the water.

However, big river trips, long sessions on the water and any risk of taking a dip could be a good reason to want to stay warmer and play it safe with a drysuit.

A drysuit without a doubt is one of the biggest luxuries to a kayaker, SUP boarder or canoeists, with the ability to throw on a drysuit over your clothes or layer up underneath in some nice fluffy thermals.

Anyway, this is not about selling you a drysuit. If you know, you know! This is about informing you about Palm Equipments top of the range suit the Bora immersion suit.

The Bora is pitched at a touring market, therefore will not be to everyone’s needs. If you’re a freestyle or river paddler, this may not be for you which I’ll come to later. However, if you are a canoeist, touring kayaker, instructor, sup tourer or recreational paddler, this may do just what you want with some nice bells and whistles to top it off.

The Bora is designed on two different models a male and female version. At first look, both appear the same – some slight colour difference on the zips orange in the male and blue in the female. The differences are mostly on the cut and shape of the suit with the female taking a different shape on specific areas. The other difference is the facility to visit the toilet. The male suit has the usual front zip

for you to take a tinkle, the female suit a newer designed back zip which can be undone to do your business. It’s lovely to see both options rather than a one suit fits all style seen by some brands.

AESTHETICS Visually the suits are the same, coming in a bright yellow top aesthetically designed to help with visibility, grey bottoms intended to take the brunt of the dirt and wear. In winter you will know dry trousers can get very dirty. I also own some palm atom bibbed dry trousers and bought them in yellow, I’d say they are now a brownish colour after maybe six years of wear and tear.

The suit comes with a neoprene neck, not a latex neck which can often cause rubbing and a lot of discomfort when wearing for a long time. Admittedly these do not hold the water quite so well as a latex neck but a great compromise if wearing a lot for comfort. The Bora comes with a hood which folds out of the neck in a similar way to most waterproof jackets. This can feel a little bit stiff packed into the neck at first, but you get used to it pretty quickly, and it does soften over time. The hood itself is an excellent feature for this suit. It has excellent adjustability, both at the back to tighten and around the neck to get a secure fit it in heavy rain or winds.

As mentioned earlier, this may not be a feature required for those more dynamic styles of kayaking such as freestyle or river paddling. The hood also has a zip-up neck which covers the lower chin and partially covers the mouth to prevent wind chill yet still allowing breathability. This outer neck has a fleece lining too, which is super toastie!

As for the suit itself, the Bora is very similar to the Atom regarding design and materials. The main differences being the hood, the wrist cuffs are a little larger on the Bora than the atom wrist cuffs, rather than a single chest pocket on the Atom. The Bora

has a double pocket which is fleece-lined for warmth and like that of a hoody pocket you can put both hands on together and warm them up. This is an excellent feature for those cold sessions! The Atom has the latex inner neck seal whereas the Bora uses an ultra-stretch neoprene. However, the material is the same on both suits and makes use of Palm’s four-layer 320D fabric reinforced in critical areas of wear.

Access is via the back of the suit using a YKK aquaseal. Over the shoulders zip is not always the easiest to do up and open if paddling solo, however, I’ve been managing fine, you need to get the knack. Once on the zip does not get in the way, nor does it feel restricting.

As both a paddler and sup paddler I’ve been mostly wearing this on a SUP board. Although aimed as a kayaking and canoeing drysuit, it does not feel cumbersome on a SUP even with unnecessary features such as the waist rim used to put your spraydeck in and seal against the suit. So if you are a multi paddlesport coach/wanting a suit for a bit of everything, the Bora is worth considering.

In true drysuit style, however, the feet are massive! I’m yet to find one that’s not! But you have to consider the sizing range if shoe size were added into the mix there would be so many sizing considerations it just wouldn’t work.

Having worn this suit on a warm autumnal day it was forgiving, and I wasn’t overheating in a short sleeve base layer and trousers, also worn on a couple of very wet and cold days with more layers and it was toastie warm. This will definitely be my go-to suit their winter on the SUP. During a swim test the suit held water off well, there was no water ingress, and the water was beading off the suit after approx five minutes in the water. The air held in the suite offers a bit of extra swim floatation too.

CONCLUSION All in all, I think this is an excellent drysuit for those real explorers, whether ocean, river, lake, canal, sup, coaching any of these disciplines would compliment this suit it is a quality piece of kit. It is a higher price at £770 however you are getting premium features and something that if looked after will last you many seasons.

New online product customiser Peak UK have been specialising in custom printed paddling gear for a decade, leading the way in truly unique paddling equipment – not only for Olympic and highperformance teams and athletes, but also for outdoors centres, paddle clubs, activity providers and individuals.

On their new, online product customiser you can now select an item from their custom range and choose from 10 colours for both the fabric and logos. That’s a possible 90 different variations! You’ll be able to see a visual of your chosen garment and colour choices. If you want to go for a full bespoke design you can now order this online too, with all costs visible upfront. The Peak UK design team will contact you to discuss your design once the order is received. Visit peakuk.com/productcustomiser to get started!

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ADAM EVANS

Everything we do, we do

twice

Photos: Adam Evans Where was I? Oh, yes, imagination.

We all have one.Yes all of us, even those of us who think or believe they don’t have a creative side or imaginative side, have an imagination.

The funny thing about our imagination is it clicks on automatically and creates a preconceived idea of what might or might not happen, and how we preconceive something will affect our belief and likelihood of it happening.

As Emile Coué said in 1922, “Every thought entirely filling our mind becomes true for us and tends to transform itself into action.”

The trouble is that the automatic nature of our imagination happens so quickly it’s beyond our conscious awareness; we don’t even know we are doing it. Often that automatic quality has been Adam is a professional mental game performance coach, a British Canoeing Guide Scheme Assessor, Advanced Canoe Leader and Canoe Coach and also is kindly supported by Hou Canoes and Palm Equipment. www.mentalgame.co.uk

trained through life experiences, to envisage things in a way that can seriously limit our paddling ability, or if we are the lucky ones seriously improve our performance.

But, did you pick up the operative word there?

Trained!

Our imagination has been trained to do it. Now that’s excellent news because it means it can be retrained or even enhanced. Trained in such a way, it becomes an even more useful mental skill. And we know how to develop a skill, don’t we? Practice, or should I say purposeful practice.

How do things feel in it, both inside your body, perhaps emotionally, and outside your body in the environment that you are imagining? How do things sound too? Maybe you might have tastes and smells involved as well. I don’t know; it's your imagination, not mine.

SO WHAT EXACTLY ARE WE GOING TO PRACTICE?

Take note of the qualities of how you imagine, then use these qualities and information to empower your visualisations for your paddling.

As paddlers and paddle coaches, we often hear the word visualise, sometimes wrapped up in the unfortunate phrase ‘Just visualise it’.Which is a bit like saying to someone needing technical input on their paddling approach ‘Just paddle it’. Gee thanks for the tip!

The very way we visualise, or a more accurate description would be to imagine, has an enormous impact on our arousal level, our tactical decisions, our self-efficacy and even our physiology.Yep seriously, what you think and what you imagine and how you do that, will affect your performance by changing your emotional arousal level, your cognitive ability and your physiology. So says the science, but I’m not here for the science I’m here for the art.

SO HOW DO WE VISUALISE OR IMAGINE THINGS MORE EFFECTIVELY? This little article doesn’t have the space inside it to cover the prolific variety of ways and nuances in how we imagine things, but let me give you these golden nuggets, from which you can extrapolate a whole array of improvements in your mental game for paddling.

When you’re ‘Imagining’ yourself paddling at your best, employ these qualities into your preconceived experience. See it, feel it, hear it, and maybe smell and taste it in the same way when you daydream at your best. Make it how you want it, really imagine it, imagine it until you can almost know its happening and it feels very compelling.

Then rehearse that, again and again, until it becomes a skill and it happens easily and feels good. Rehearse it until ‘you can’t not do it’.

Some might call this visualisation; some might call this meditation, or hypnosis, or symbolic learning; I call it a mental skill.

As Grete Waitz said, “Spend at least some of your training time, and other parts of your day, concentrating on what you are doing in training and visualising your success.”

Being realistically optimistic as we said will have a positive impact on your performance; however, being overly or unrealistically positive and ignoring factors that need consideration can be quite dangerous or foolhardy.

Let’s take a moment to consider those times when our imagination is operating significantly. It’s always running in the background; however, when we are dreaming at night and daydreaming during the day, it’s most active and creative.

We can have good dreams and bad dreams, we have good daydreams and bad daydreams. Good daydreams where we smile wistfully to ourselves as we stare into the distance, and good dreams where we wake up with a smile on our face, of course, we also have dreams and daydreams where a less enjoyable experience is also envisaged.

Within these two positive and negative imaginings lie some beneficial information for us. Compare the way you imagine things positively and negatively.You can do this in a paddling context or any other part of life. I don’t mean consider what you imagine, I mean consider the qualities of how you’ve imagined it.You might notice a pattern in how you imagine things negatively, and alternatively a pattern and how you imagine things positively. Compare for a moment, the differences between a great, enjoyable daydream and an unpleasant nightmare. Pay attention not to what you see, but the qualities of how you see it. Not what is it, but how is it?

Which brings me to my next point, when we daydream and when we dream we don’t just see things a.k.a. visualise, we also hear, feel, smell and taste.

Now think of your favourite daydream, how do you see it? What are the qualities in the way you see it?

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https://mental-game.co.uk

That’s why when someone asks the, “yes, but what if…?” question when thinking about their upcoming performance, it pays great dividends to instead of skirting over or ignoring the question, to dig in and help them come up with their answers.

The, “Yes, but what if…?” question is something I hear a lot, “Yes, but what if what if I can’t make the eddy?”

“Yes but what if the wind picks up?” “Yes, but what if I fall out my boat?”

It usually and understandably comes from a place of anxiety and worry. Sometimes the trap we fall into as people and as coaches is to calm, reassure and placate by giving them the answers and saying something like “Don’t worry it's going to be ok.”

A great way to help people is to bounce the question back at them, “Ok, what will you do if that happens?”

SUCCESSFUL RESPONSES This is an opportunity for them to clarify their tactics, responses and skills as they respond. Anyone who creates their successful responses will feel far more capable and resourceful than someone who has had the answers given to them.

But here’s the catch, when people are feeling anxious or worried about the quality of their thinking drops significantly. Simply put, when emotions are high thinking is low. So if thought is a skill, then it pays to practise the skill before you need it, so when you need the skill, you can do it quickly.

A simple analogy for paddlers would be, “When do you want to learn to roll? Before you need it, or when you need it?” Or “When do you want to learn to use a throw line for your buddy? As they need it, or before they need it?” You get my point.

So if you’re feeling, or someone else is feeling anxious and worried about what to do if things don’t quite go to plan, a great way to deal with this is to write down your plan. Why do you want to write it down?

Because writing takes time, and time and reflection are what you need to focus, be creative and be resourceful. As I said, when we are anxious and worried we tend to think poorly and too quickly, we

jump to ill-considered and preconceived solutions a.k.a. heuristics.

The very physical act of writing things down on paper encourages us to be slower and more diligent, and imagine things in a more measured and helpful way. We are slowing the thinking down, leading to more resourceful imaginings.

Generally speaking, this is what high performers do when dealing with those ‘what if?’ scenarios.

Astronauts do not sit inside rocket ships with crossed fingers saying ,“I hope nothing goes wrong,” they’re saying instead, “I know what to do,” they know what to do because these experts had to write the book on ‘what if…?’ scenarios.

This mental outlook about having some semblance of control and influence in situations, by our response to them is robust. Welcome to self-efficacy.

With this mental skill, we become more at the cause of the situation rather than the effect of the situation; we are becoming a focus of control.

We can boil this whole article to a straightforward concept.

“Everything we do, we do twice, once in our minds and once with our bodies.”

So the qualities of how we imagine it in our minds will have a significant influence on our bodies. This isn’t new-age mystical woo woo; this is measurable peer-reviewed science.

So as I like to say, “We are the personal owners of a very powerful and individual imagination, and it would pay us well to learn how to use it.”

With that in mind, please take a moment now, to imagine you are paddling at your best. Imagine it, create that experience as entirely as you can inside your mind, imagine it happening, then imagine you do not imagine it, and it’s simply happening anyway.

Imagine that!

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BUKE 2 0 1 9

In June 2019 seven university kayakers set off to explore the rivers of far east Russia, amongst the wilderness of the Sayan Mountains and areas around Lake Baikal.

The team: Jamie Peden, Joe Fender, Harry Turner, Adam Francis, Duncan Stewart, Cara Lee, Elliot Goddard.

Words: Cara Lee and Jamie Peden Photos: Joe Fender and Harry Turner WHAT IS BUKE?

The British Universities Kayaking Expeditions have been running every other year since 2005. University kayakers from across the UK send in applications; a successful 20 paddlers are invited to a selection weekend in north Wales the December before the trip. Throughout the weekend (rain-dependent) multiple rivers are paddled, and potential destinations for trips are discussed before a team of seven are selected by the group.

The selected team are responsible for researching their chosen destination looking into costs, logistics, river difficulty and access. Previous trips have included locations such as the Philippines,Venezuela and Madagascar.

For 2019 we decided to go somewhere equally as remote and adventurous: far east Russia.

PLANNING The original destination set out was the Sikhote-Alin Mountains - as far east you can get in Russia, however, after some local knowledge we realised the scope for paddling that far east wasn’t entirely worth an expedition. We decided to visit our second intended location – Lake Baikal and the surrounding mountains, a slightly more explored area, with the security of classic sections accessible to paddle if things didn’t go to plan. Despite trips being run in the area, there was still plenty of scope for exploration and possible first descents given the right conditions. We went in early season (trips usually run in August) to make use of the high water to explore smaller rivers and tributaries. Over the seven weeks, we completed four multi-days ranging from three days to 11 days.

For efficient planning, we split the team into two: the Scottish boys on logistics (transport, accommodation, language and river scouting), and the rest of the team on grants, support and sponsors.

Somebody put us in contact with a Russian guide named Evgeny who had limited kayaking knowledge. He agreed to help us with local logistics, such as a variety of complex permits. He gave us information on the widely available transport both around the city and the alternative modes required to get to rivers including trucks, aero boats and tanks.

We flew with S7 airlines; there were limited options directly from the UK with boats, so we went via either Dublin or Dusseldorf. Some team members obtained 90-day ‘business’ visas, whilst a few opted for 30-day tourist visas due to other commitments meaning booked flights on various dates.

Palm Equipment provided us out with the best gear to get us through the expedition, Dewerstone supplied us with trip t-shirts and Life Shorts 2.0 to keep cool while looking cool on those long hike ins or portages and Radical Rider/ Waka Kayaks sorted the team out with new boats. River Legacy kindly gives us the use of three Delorme inReach GPS Devices which were invaluable during remote multi-day trips away from any phone reception. It allowed us to keep in contact with drivers and the outside world and receive weather updates to aid our decision making when the thunderstorms hit.

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River Selenginka Four days, 12km and many lessons learned…

The first part of the team, consisting of Adam, Joe, Harry and Jamie, arrived in Irkutsk by various routes, staggered over two days and were collected from the airport by Evgeny, our Russian contact. In a haze of city heat and jet-lag, we rapidly ran numerous errands including last bits of kit and Russian sim cards on a variety of networks for maximum coverage. Having easy and cheap access to mobile internet proved invaluable throughout the trip. During this time, Evgeny very kindly allowed us to stay in his apartment and helped us with many of the things we needed for the expedition. After a few days in the city, the transport was organised to the first river, the Selenginka, a tributary of the Snezhnaya flowing down from the mountains on the south end of Lake Baikal.

This involved a truck in taking us around the south end of the lake to the river one way, with the primary plan for return to the city, which did contain some uncertainty, being via the local train service on the trans-Siberian railway.

Following an early start, we were dropped on a riverside track at a ram-shackled but guarded checkpoint upstream of the town of Vydrino. Ahead was 7km of walking to get to the confluence and the bottom of the white-water section with the most direct route being through the checkpoint. However, after some essential hand sign communications, it transpired the guard would require payment for us to pass the checkpoint on the track. Instead, we opted to cross the river and meet the trekking trail on the other side.

TAIGA FOREST We had planned to walk to the confluence that day and spend the following day lapping the white-water section. Siberia had other ideas. Even with the best portage pack setup carrying a loaded boat is gruelling even on easy ground, and taiga forest is by no means easy ground. Between the constant steep climbs and descents, the baking heat, fallen logs and low hanging

trees (which are quite a severe obstacle with a boat on your back) we progressed at around 1kmh. With frequent stops to rest and modify our variety of pack setups by evening, we had made it to 2.5km short of the confluence and resigned ourselves to stay the night on a beach between stunning forested peaks.

The following morning, we left most of our kit at camp and set off carrying somewhat lighter boats along the path, and by mid-morning, we had reached the confluence. At the confluence, lay a collection of small buildings by the river, as we paused there, we were hailed by a Russian family on the opposite bank.

After paddling over and a disjointed attempt at conversation, we established that they were trying to cross the vast river and wanted us to ferry their packs initially and then their children across. After some thought we obliged, precariously balancing bags and small children on our decks across the flow, then staying close at hand while the parents waded through the waist-deep current. That afternoon we wrestled our way up the final 4 km of steep trail contending with dense woodland and old landslides on the path before finally stumbling exhausted to the glassy, picturesque lake which was the put in for the section.

HARD-EARNED Although we were tired, nobody was keen to wait too long before jumping on our first, hard-earned, whitewater of the trip. From here followed a few extraordinary kilometres of boulder-strewn rapids and small clean drops which did much to raise our spirits.

We returned to camp as the sun was setting for another night. The following morning, we floated and paddled down out of the mountains back towards the road. As we came into the town, we were flagged down by some locals fishing on the bank who despite understanding nothing we said, spoke excitedly at us in Russian and provided us with tea, bread and the inevitable (and excellent) vodka. As we had a day to spare, we paddled down to the mouth and paddled

An old Soviet truck that would drive us further into the Siberian wilderness

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out on to the lake. It was stunning, calm as a mirror, with terns overhead and the occasional Lake Baikal seal popping up to investigate us. We camped that night on a picturesque beach at the river mouth with stunning views out over the lake and back up into the mountains, and the following day we paddled through an abandoned timber port and walked back through the town to the train station.

After much Google translate to acquire the correct tickets and a long wait on the platform, as enormous freight trains thunder past, the local train finally arrived, and we bundled ourselves and boats aboard while a somewhat bemused looking conductor talked at us rapidly in Russian. That day we failed to make it back to Irkutsk and ended up spending a very damp half a night on the outskirts of the town of Sludyanka, crammed between the lake and the railway embankment, to then get an early train to the city the next morning.

We moved into a hostel in the city to prepare for the rest of the team arriving the following days.

During this time, somebody put us in contact with a local kayaker named Vladimir, who gave us a massive amount of valuable information which was incredibly helpful throughout the expedition. Cara arrived a couple of days before we were due to leave for the next river and the stoke was high however this did not last long when she came with the conspicuous absence of most of her equipment. Fortunately, this only delayed us by a day and after some struggle, her bags finally arrived in the Irkutsk.

River Kitoy 11 days, three rivers, 1,300m descent over 270km In the East Sayan Mountain range, a seven-hour drive outside our base city Irkutsk, we arrived at the geton and filled our boats with gear and food before being left alone in the wilderness. Somebody had warned us about the high water levels of the Kitoy, and with rain thundering down during the drive, we naturally felt nervous. Jaw-dropping views soon eased our worries as we started to paddle down a bank full Kitoy. Two hours later we found a camp spot next to a track leading down to the river (used to drive to the other side in low levels).

Despite this feeling of isolation from the real world, we heard a rumble in the distance. We knew that it wasn’t uncommon for bears to be intrigued by the smells of food and humans in these mountains, but luckily this wasn’t a bear. To our disbelief on the other side of the river a giant tank suddenly appeared, paused at the riverbank before ploughing across the river towards us. We stood stunned as four excited Russians jumped out. After some interesting translating, they invited us for a ride, and

of course, we said yes. We rode on top of the tank through the river, down the track and back to camp.

Afterwards, we shared drinks and stories (despite a significant language barrier) and realised that all of them, including the driver, were very drunk!

START OF THE FIRST GORGE The following day we paddled into the ever steepening mountains, and as the river steadily ramped up in gradient, we reached the significant horizon line of Scots Drop, signalling the start of the first gorge. This entailed big water and big portages; we carried kit and boats separately as they were too heavy for one trip on the steep ground. The gorge contained several mighty rapids, which were far higher than any pictures we had seen previously.

Cara and Elliot opted to portage the gorge in its entirety while Joe, Adam, Harry and Jamie proceeded tentatively, and ran all but the first fall.

Heavy thunderstorms led to river levels rising rapidly on several occasions.We made use of this rain to check out a tributary of the Kitoy- the Ara-Oshi and one of its tributaries the Ara-Khabuty, leaving most of our kit at a base camp by the confluence.We suspected the Ara-Khabuty, a scrape on normal river levels, was a first descent.We hiked up to scout the river, on return to the confluence we found that the Ara-Oshi had risen a good foot, and was still rising.

We paddled a very fast and brown tributary before quickly returning to base camp.

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RELENTLESS RAIN After a night of relentless rain, we decided it would be unwise to attempt the harder lower canyon at these levels and paddled down the flat section to check out another tributary, the Gorlyk Gol.The ‘flat’ section itself provided some big volume wave trains and one surprisingly huge river-wide hole that gobbled up some of the group and spat them back out! After a long and sweaty walk, we found a beautiful canyon, with plenty of gradients that surely would be a classic, if it were only slightly more runnable! Most of the rapids were continuous and bouldery with plenty of ugly siphons and undercuts, making a decent by kayak an unattractive proposition.

It took another day for the Kitoy to drop back to a reasonable level. A well-rested team set off downstream in search of a large rock before the mandatory portage of the Grade 5+ rapid 47. We found the rock however it was now ¾ submerged and forming a siphon, confirming the river was still very high.

Next up was the Biluti tributary. After stashing away kit safely taking enough for three days we set off on the gruelling hike up, a whole day of walking later we arrived at the ravine where we set up a Tyrolean Traverse to get the boats across to our camp for the night. Harry and Jamie made quick work of the ropes, and we passed boats across whilst the team abseiled down.

With little information on the whereabouts of the get-in for the Biluti, we headed off to try and find it.

After four hours of walking, we came to the visible end of the path and headed down to the river, but we couldn’t see the drop in the picture. We were all tired, Cara decided to stay and relax by the river whilst the boys hiked up further to try and find the get-in. After another hour and a half and still no sign apart from boulder gardens the boys called it quits and paddled back to meet Cara. With the group back together, we set off down into an incredibly steep, tight and committing gorge. The final drop of the day was a 12m waterfall, an impressive must ‘plug’ fall that would take extra care to get the line right. Harry, Jamie, Adam, Duncan and Cara all decided that they were too tired after a monumental day of walking and paddling. Joe and Elliot ran the fall with good lines.

To our dismay, it rained all night, and we woke to a raging Biluti,

Harry and Jamie set off to scout the whole of the lower canyon, which was boxed in until the end by 50m high walls. Meanwhile, the rest of the team searched for a new access point to abseil into the gorge as large boils pushed the water into undercuts below the 12-metre waterfall. Luckily the canyon was good to go; it entailed sweet ledge drops and boulder garden rapids in an incredible location.

FUELLED UP ON PORRIDGE We arrived back at the Kitoy (Biluti Base Camp) all somewhat depleted.The Kitoy had risen two metres, and we were keen to get on and paddle some huge Grade 3 water in the sunset, dodging bus-sized holes and riding well overhead height wave trains.

Somebody told us to stop at some huts and banyas downstream before the 110km paddle out; however, on arrival at 21.00, we found it deserted.To paddle through the night had been considered due to the clear night and fast-flowing river.We fuelled up on porridge with plenty of melted snickers and coffee!

Once the stars came out, we floated laid-back on our boats stargazing.With an incredible sunrise urging us to keep going, we arrived at 06.00 cold, sleepy and aching.The GPS stats read a total distance of 115km, an average speed of 14.3kph and a top speed of 27kph, taking eight hours to complete the paddle out. A shattered group tucked up into our sleeping bags for some well-earned rest before being woken up by blistering heat from the sun.

On return to the city, we found that Evgeny and our driver Ivan had been somewhat concerned for our welfare, we had discovered that the Kitoy had gone in too far higher than typical flood with many local villages underwater. It was forecast to continue to rain. In hindsight we had been lucky to make it to below the lower gorge before the levels rose again; otherwise, we would have had a long wait on the bank or an arduous portage as it would likely have become un-runnable.

At this point, we moved into a new, more extensive and very reasonably priced hostel. The very friendly and enthusiastic (to have us wash) wardens kindly allowed us to store our boats in a spare room during our stay which made it a good base for planning our next river.

We had hoped to attempt a less run river, the Onot, however some difficulties with acquiring the correct permits as well as the likely-hood of the recent rain making the access tracks impassable rendered this option not possible. We decided to head to the river Zhombolok (Jhom-bo-lok). Somebody told us that this river was fun, easy to access and Siberian paddlers set up camp for a few days to lap the 4km section of Class 4 white water.

River Zhombolok three days Ivan brought us to a small village called Orlik where we loaded up an old Soviet truck that would drive us further into the Siberian wilderness. We drove up the valley, twisting through tight trees and charging through deep mud, at one point we were driving through the lake!

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Adam had scouted the Upper part of the Zhombolok on Fat Maps looking for some adventure and suffering, and he had seen potential rapids that we hadn’t heard of people paddling.

The next day we hiked further upstream, we found the river along with multiple fallen trees and sieves, cautiously we paddled down a few beautiful sections of water. After a few mini portages to get to the main flow of the river, we found the first sight of white water – a small and technical river with clean boofs and fun surf waves. The following day we ran multiple laps of the 4km ‘Park and Huck’ section, it had big boofs, endless surf waves, technical ferry glides and eddy manoeuvres.

We planned to head straight to the next river however a ride in the back of a truck in the rain and hail left us cold and miserable, and our driver offered us a night in a guest house which we gladly accepted. We enjoyed an evening exploring the local village, playing football with their family, eating Yak Dumplings and drinking some fine Russian Vodka, a great way to experience the real Siberian culture.

River Urik eight days We arrived at the Urik after a bumpy ride on the back of another soviet truck and jumped off before the road ran out. Whilst having lunch, we saw a small vehicle pass and were not surprised to see it get stuck in the mud beyond the road. It turns out they were the local park rangers; however, they had no clue how to get out of the mud - BUKE team to the rescue. We helped set wood under the tyres and tell the drivers which way to steer and drive, after a lot of pushing and mud splattering everywhere the vehicle made it out, only to

continue further down the field. We decided to get to the river asap before they got stuck again.

After dragging heavy boats through a field to the high water get on, we set off on the beautiful but shallow Urik. Once we reached the main flow we started to feel the true remoteness of the river; we struggled to decide on a spot to camp as the forests that lined the river were dense and looked like the perfect home for bears. Eventually, as the team grew tired, we agreed on a slightly more open spot and made sure to tie our food high in the trees well away from camp. The first gorge consisted of a gentle warm-up with plenty of eddy hopping down to a large drop with a tree across almost the whole river, only Jamie decided to run this rapid and got through by sneaking down the right. After that, the big rapids and stoppers continued until reaching a boxed in canyon which we scouted from above.

We took more time to relax and appreciate our surroundings on this river- reading, fishing and doing some yoga.

MULTIPLE RUNS DOWN THE WATERFALL We hiked up another tributary to find a waterfall, however as the river below was too rocky to paddle we decided to only take two boats between us to lighten the load (a perk of everyone in the team paddling one of the same two boats). Multiple runs down the waterfall left us happy but exhausted as we returned to camp, picking up more wild rhubarb for dessert (making up for our poor attempt at fishing).

Another warm-up section led us to the second gorge, steeper and more continuous than the first. A long flat paddle followed this before we saw the whole river drop off. Somebody told us of a portage around a 20+foot waterfall which we all secretly hoped would be clean and runnable. However, on

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hadn’t come across a single bear during our trip (we were then grateful to be carrying big bright boats on our backs and taking care to store our food away from camp).

THE ‘WORK CAMP’ They recommended a walkers hut 10km downstream, which had a banya. This camp became known as the ‘work camp’ as some of the team decided to retrieve fallen trees from the forest and use the saws and axes provided at the hut to chop the trees into firewood.

arriving, we immediately realised it was un-runnable with the left landing onto rocks and the right onto the wall before being piled back onto the left. We swam across below the waterfall to get a good look at what was behind before setting up camp nearby.

On our paddle out we met a couple of Russian hikers who provided us with fish bigger than we could ever imagine catching, bread and fresh salad (a luxury).

They told us about the events of their morning, crossing paths with a bear and killing it - initially, we thought this was some mistranslation, but they showed us a photo. They were shocked that we

SPECIAL THANKS Special thanks to Palm Equipment, Radical Rider, Dewerstone, SystemX, Benrhos Ltd, Bala Rotary Club, TJ composites, Redpoint Climbing Centre Worcester, Queen’s University Belfast, Bangor University, University of Worcester and Queens Collage Taunton.

We stayed here to recuperate, relax (and ‘work’) as well as give fishing another attempt before the final flat water 97km paddle out. We had pinpointed our get out which would involve a hike through a forest to the nearest village. When we arrived at the forest but it looked too dense to find a path, so we continued down to the closest point to the road and got out next to a Romany camp before meeting up with our driver and returning to the city.

To end our trip we spent a few days travelling without our kayaks returning to Lake Baikal, exploring beautiful temples and hiking up mountains.

Check out the videos from our trip on our Facebook: British Universities Kayak Expedition 2019 @ https://www.facebook.com/uniyaker/

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Interview: PeterTranter Photos: Corran Addison Love him or loathe him but you cannot ignore Corran Addison, who has made more impact in the world of kayaking and latterly the SUP discipline than anyone alive. He has been an Olympian, multiple world champion, innovative designer of kayaks and SUP boards for over two decades and now the owner of Soul Waterman. He’s also the first paddler we have interviewed twice but so much has happened since 2013, we couldn’t resist.

An interview with…

CORRAN ADDISON

WHERE AND WHAT WAS YOUR FIRST PADDLE? I started kayaking in South Africa in 1975 with my father. The very first time was on a dam called Settlers Dam in Grahamstown in what was then the Cape Province. Later that same year we ran the Fish River and the following year, the Orange River in the Orange Free State. I was hooked from the very beginning.

When all my friends in boarding school were playing cricket and rugby, I just wanted to paddle. I brought an old Treska to the school and would paddle every day in the putrid pond behind the dorms. Every waking moment even at that age was about kayaking.

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I stayed on top for a decade – winning and losing, but always with the knowledge that I had a psychological edge over the other competitors because I won far more often than I lost. At the very end of my career, one of the last events I competed in, after ’officially retiring’ I finished 12th in the men’s pro category. Tyler Curtis, who finished 11th came up to me and said, “I don’t care if I’m 11th, I just wanted to beat you once!”

Even though that was the end of my competitive career, it was a cool way to go out.

Preparing for big competitions is a challenging task. How did you prepare for competitions – mentally and technically?

I was always very busy. Except for the 1993 season, every other year I was running a kayak company and paddling, so I didn’t have a lot of time. I’d fly into events the evening before the competition, get a practice in for a few hours at a spot where everyone else had been practising for days, and then drive to the event on the weekend. Luckily my equipment was generally much better than everyone else’s so this gave me an advantage and compensated for lack of practice time.

Probably the only two years other than 1993 where I got to paddle as much as everyone else at the events was the ’98-’99 season where I did a three-monthlong ’rodeo tour’ with Riot paddlers.

The day of I was always supremely confident I had it in the bag I was usually quite relaxed. Winning was still relatively easy, so there wasn’t a lot of pressure.

You’ve been a multiple champion in freestyle, what two or three things would you like to evolve with this discipline?

What were your competition highlights?

1992 Barcelona Olympic team trials and the subsequent Games are definitely at the very top.

Obviously my three World Championship medals in freestyle, though they were all mired in controversy, as I was battling with judges over accepting and scoring moves I was doing that no one else could and thus were not judged. The 1993 USA team trials won with a significant margin stands out and then the Canadian trials, which I won with more than twice the next paddler’s score.

But one that stands out was at the end of my most successful season where I won 11 of the 14 events I competed in and took second in two others (ending in the Worlds where I was sixth, again with controversy). One of the events where I came second at the end of the year resulted in Eric Jackson and I being the last ones standing, where eventually he edged me out for the win. At the prize ceremony, the event organizer said, “And in second place, the man who I thought couldn’t be beaten: Corran Addison.” I thought that was cool.

Well, I retired when I saw the sport going in a direction that didn’t interest me: Flippity floppity stuff in small holes with increasingly shorter boats. The specific moment was 2002 at the pre worlds in Gratz.

I stood there with Arnd Schaeftlein and Ben Brown looking at people paddling into the hole and flopping about and realized I was done. It just didn’t interest me. The three of us all ’retired’ from world level competition right there on the spot that day, and drove away.

I miss seeing the grace and speed of the longer boats doing tricks. Of course, like surfing, you can’t pull the sorts of moves in a longboat that you can in a little spud, but it neither looks as impressive nor feels as good. I’ve gotten so into paddling my 10’ playboat that I’ve been talking about organizing a ‘longboat’ world championships at the Lachines. We were going to do it for 2020, but with Covid, we bailed on it. Hopefully, we can put it together for 2021.

The focus is going to be on using multiple waves in the same ride, using the entire wave, and linking it all together into one long fluid ride that’s like a dance.

No noticeable downtime or set up between moves, a focus where the overall impression of the ride is perhaps worth as much as the sum total of its moves.

Many older generation paddlers I’ve talked to are excited about participating, and even some of the young guns too. So will be cool if we pull it off.

Wow, that’s almost an impossible question to answer. I mean walking into the Olympic stadium, as ’Addison’ from ’Afrique do Sud’ – I was the first athlete into the stadium. That’s hard to beat. Winning 1992 team trials by 27 seconds with a touch.

Being 1,000km into the Kalahari Desert with my father as a teenager, paddling through the vast expanse, are some fondest paddling memories. It’s a time I long for – the simplicity of just being outside and paddling down a river, discovering ourselves and our sport.

There are of course some adrenaline highs from having run hard or scary rapids In Alaska, Russia, Japan, across North America and Africa and Europe.

I’ve been a lot of places and gotten scared a lot of times. Hard to forget those.

Strangely, on a par with these is teaching my son to paddle as my father taught me. He started when he was just 18 months old, but in the last season (he’s six now) we’ve started to paddle together beyond my just dragging him down some big stuff in a Terrible Two, or holding his hand through class 1.

These are memories we’re forging together that hopefully, neither one of us will forget.

www.soulwaterman.com

If you could capture just one ’feel good’ moment in your kayaking expeditions/ competitions – which would it be and why?

Which do you prefer, the cut and thrust of business or competitive sport?

I don’t like the business end of what I do. I love doing R&D. I love designing and inventing. Once I’ve gotten the design to where I’ve built the first perfect one, the second one is a bore. You need it, and the 1,000 others that follow to pay for that R&D, but it doesn’t excite me. Neither does money. As long as I have a roof and food, and I can do the things I want to do, I don’t care much about it.

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ThePADDLER 38 People know you for having been the brainchild behind Riot, but there is over a decade between the time you left Riot and your latest kayak venture Soul Waterman.What did you do in that time?

I left Riot in 2004 and was approached by an Italian company Rainbow Kayaks about working with them. I didn’t feel ’Rainbow’ was a place I wanted to be as it sort of had a ’low end’ connotation to the brand, so we brainstormed and came up with Dragorossi. I worked for them as the designer from 2005 to 2014.

It was also cool for me because I’m a bit of an Italophile and I’d always wanted to learn to speak Italian.

During that time it also seems you took off surfing Yeah in 2005 I also started Imagine Eco. I was teaching surfing on the St Laurence River, and making surfboards for people locally. In 2008 I developed a take apart surfboard for air travel and won ISPO’s coveted best ’Brand New’ award for it. Then in 2010, an investment firm from California approached me to buy Imagine, which they eventually bought for $2 million. I moved there to help run the company from its new base in Southern California.

Two years later they sold Imagine to the Pryde Group (famous for windsurfing) at which point I left, and started Corran Sup.This grew pretty quickly as we had a lot of really innovative boards and designs, and then in 2014, I was approached by Kayak Distribution (who now owned Riot) to buy Corran SUP and when they bought that I found myself in a bit of a no-mans-land with no clue what to do. By then, I’d spent over a decade in the kayak industry and another decade in the surf industry. I wasn’t burned out, but I felt like I’d been there, done that. I wanted to do something new and fresh.

So you went motorcycle racing?

I was already racing back in the Imagine days in California, but getting into the motorcycle industry was definitely on my radar. I had several good ideas for things that I felt could be industrychanging, and even worked with a company to develop a bike. I was on the cusp of launching a new company, called Centaro (the Italian word for a motorcycle pilot that comes from the Greek legend of the centaur) when the magnitude of what I was about to get into hit me. Six months of dealing with red-tape to get the bike legalized for road use in the USA left a bad taste in my mouth, and I walked away from it.

By then, my son was born, and the political climate was changing in the USA. We decided it was time to move back to Montreal, which we felt would be a better place to raise our son.

Is that when you started Soul, and where does the name originate?

Soul wasn’t on my radar yet. I went to South Africa to SUP race the Dusi marathon, and while there hung out with Celliers Kruger (from Fluid). He was in the process of extracting himself from Fluid, and we started to talk about starting a new company together and running it out of South Africa, with him doing production and I making international sales, with the two of us designing together. I was pretty excited about the idea as he’s a really smart guy and great to be around.

While we were bouncing around ideas for a name he asked me now that I’d sold my name (Corran SUP), what did I have left to sell? I said “my soul!”

Unfortunately, Celliers was tied down with a non-compete with Fluid and was determined to honour it, and so he was not able to do anything kayak related for a few years. But I liked the idea of the new kayak company as we’d been discussing it, and what the focus would be, so on returning to Montreal I set about getting it off the ground. By the fall of 2015, I had four designs ready to go, which I started to sell in October of that year.

“my soul!”

What projects are you currently undertaking?

I’ve just finished the new Glide, and we're starting the mould as we discuss this.The original was a game-changing boat in 1997 that was so far ahead of the competition, that it forced a rule change at the world championships to 'level the playing field'.The challenge has been, in honour of using that name, to create a boat that's as groundbreaking – even if not in the same way. I feel like I've pulled that off.

The last three years have been a real challenge as well to design a new paddle. I used the Seven2 paddles for two decades and loved them. But they closed their doors in 2007, and the paddles, while fantastic feeling, had some engineering and production issues. The goal was to not so much “recreate” the feel of the Seven2, but rather to modernize its design, and then resolve the production issues. It hasn’t been easy, and that’s why it’s taken so long. We finally just started production on this.

I've also been working on a game-changing snowboard binding for the last three years, and it's now ready for production. I'm in the pre-production stages of figuring out exactly how I'm going to build it now that the design itself is finished. The quantity of scale has its challenges here.

www.soulwaterman.com

While we were bouncing around ideas for a name he asked me now that I’d sold my name (Corran SUP), what did I have left to sell? I said

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Is there anyone in particular in the sporting world that has influenced you?

Richard Fox, the multiple World Slalom Champion. Norbert Sattler (1972 Olympic silver medalist and 1973 gold medalist) and Jerome Truran (1981 silver medalist in downriver), all excellent white water kayakers and all of whom coached and influenced me significantly. Mary Lou Retton, the 1982 Olympic gold medalist gymnast, and Daley Thompson, the Decathlon Olympic gold medalist were both the reason why I wanted to go to the Olympics and were people who I looked at as an example of what an athlete should be.

Which do you consider is your best kayak design?

Best or most innovative is two different things. The Fury was probably the most innovative because it was the most ’uncertain’. I was shooting in the dark and trying to do a lot of things at once – cut two feet or more length off the established norms, develop the planing hull and the techniques needed to paddle such a short boat AND a planing hulled boat all at once. The boat itself wasn’t a commercial success for several reasons, but as an innovative design, it stands out as a landmark.

The Glide and Disco are two boats that I’m really proud of. Both were groundbreaking and commercial successes. The Riot days were my most productive from a design perspective, and my R+D budget was almost unlimited (arguably too large given the companies revenues). The Glide went through 13 prototypes in two years and was Riot ’s first super success story. Today all freestyle kayaks are essentially an evolution of the Disco.

More recently, the 303 is a boat I’m proud of. I went on a paddling trip with my father three years ago back to the Kalahari and paddled a Savage Scorpion. It was so fun to be in a long fast boat that moved about the river properly. But I missed the advantages that planning hulls have brought to kayaking, and the ergonomics of the Scorpion compared to modern kayaks is horrible. So when I got back, I started to work on a new boat that would bring back those paddling sensations of a long kayak, and combine it with modern skills and styles. It’s the boat that I paddle the most.

groundbreaking and commercial successes

www.soulwaterman.com

The Glide and Disco are two boats that I’m really proud of. Both were

Your best SUP design?

My most successful was the Rapidfire. It was groundbreaking at the time. But the Firestorm is a far better board for running challenging whitewater. My Mach1 surf shape was a massive success when I was living and designing in California, and got rave reviews from magazines, and surfers alike.

My most innovative, however, was the Infiltrator. One of the problems with surfing is the spots get crowded. And if you want to go to an uncrowded spot, you need a boat, or to paddle a longboard to get there. Then once you’re there, you have this huge flapping board. So I created this two in one board where a small high-performance board fit into the deck of a longer faster board that was race-inspired, so you could cover long distances, and then still have the board you needed when you got to the surf spot. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pscGBSLo3-c&t=69s

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What is the most significant accomplishment in your career?

I survived 20 years of running some of the most extreme rivers and rapids in the world, including several records that stood for over a decade. I walked away almost unscathed – only the one serious incident when I broke my back running the 78-foot Looking Glass Falls.

I also had a successful competitive career that lasted two decades, and at the same time had a career in kayak and surfboard design that was as successful as my extreme and competitive ones. Not too bad, I think. Most people get one or the other, who gets to be one of the best in the world at all three?

Is there anywhere in the world that’s got you hooked? Somewhere you want to keep going back to again and again?

Montreal is one. I moved here after paddling here.

Even after being all over the world, living in California, I still keep coming back to Montreal. But the Orange river in the Kalahari is hard to beat. It’s one of my favourite places in the world.

Kayaking or SUP and why?

Do I have to choose? Both are great fun for different reasons. I’m kayaking more now because of my son who kayaks – it’s a lot harder to teach WW SUP. But I love both, and thankfully I don’t have to choose.

An interesting side note. I was never much of a swimmer. Last time I swam out of a kayak was in 2002 before that was 1997, and before that was in the mid1980s. So my ’swimming’ technique in whitewater sucked. Despite having surfed North Shore, Hawaii in massive surf, it’s not the same. The few times I did swim, I was all panicked because it was so foreign to me. Whitewater SUP you spend half your day

swimming, and so it was perfect for me. I got comfortable getting bounced down rapids on my ass, and am better off for it now.

What’s the one river you haven’t paddled that would be on your bucket list?

That WAS the Grand Canyon, but it’s finally off my list.

I did it two years ago with this Italian group and a professional cook. We ate well! Maybe the Stikine – just never got up there.

What one piece of advice do you give to young paddlers just starting?

That’s pretty hard – everyone paddles for their reasons.

The ’just keep it fun’ is the right advice for some, but not for all. My father once asked me (casually like it was a passing thought)’ “What are your plans? Are you just going to be a kayaking bum or the best in the world?” I’d never thought about it, and my knee jerk reaction was “the best in the world.” I thrived on being better than anyone (or at least trying to be – whether I was is a matter of opinion). It was most certainly not just about having fun for me. I wanted to be the best, and I worked at that.

But other people might just want to enjoy themselves. I guess it would be “find out what motivates you to paddle, and excel at that.” If it’s just about fun, then excelling at having fun is as grand a goal as any other.

What effect has Covid-19 had on you?

It’s been great for business. Not that I’m celebrating it of course. It’s been terrible, and people’s lives have been devastated. But people have not been travelling, not been going to bars or eating out. So they’ve spent their money on toys, and I’ve been on the benefitting end of that. The flip side is that I pulled my kid out of school early, so he was home with me for four months.

Made working pretty tough him being an only kid – he’s six and wants to play.

www.soulwaterman.com

Quickies…

Which famous person would you most like to see play you in a film?

Johnny Depp or Tim Roth

Do you believe in love at first sight?

Love no. Lust yes. Love comes after the lust is satisfied and you still want to be there.

Pick two celebrities to be your parents.

Hunter Thompson and Angellica Houston.

Or… Steve Erwin and Margo Oberg

Favourite freestyle move?

Carving blunt. High speed, sweeping, and precise.

Are you a bathroom/shower singer and if so, what do you sing?

Hell no. But I sing when I shape boards. David Bowie.

Queen. Zeppelin. ACDC. Name one film star you would love to get naughty with?

Monica Belushi. Marilyn Monroe. Can I have both?

If we came to your house for dinner, what would you prepare for us?

Ah… first rum. On the rocks. No effing soda in it.

Cheese Fondue in winter. Tacos in summer.

What’s in your fridge right now?

Milk. More milk. Yoghurt. Tofu. Cheese. More milk.

Avocado. Eggs. Apples.

What was the last gift you gave someone?

My Wife. A new surf ski.

Who are your kayaking/SUP buddies?

Yannick Larouche. Chuck Nomad. Kailix. Patrick Gagne and his kids. Julie Dion and her kid.

What’s the most boring question you are often asked?

The list above is pretty good ;-)

No, seriously I think it’s not so much a question rather than being told I’m someone's hero. I don't handle compliments well – not sure what to do with my hands and feet, so I sort of stand there looking like an uncomfortable idiot as I shift back and forth looking for a way to change the subject.

A bit weird that since I know, I have a massive ego.

Not sure why the two don't thrive off each other.

Any final shout outs to friends, supporters and sponsors?

There are a handful of people who have been instrumental in keeping me excited about paddling over so much time. It's hard to pick anyone out as it's a long list. I guess my wife Christine, who puts up with me.

Many thanks, Corran for all of your help on this and for taking time out of your busy schedule - we appreciate it.

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Tatshenshini: one of the

WORLD’S…

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top ten white water trips (pt2) Words: Andy Hall Photos: Andy Hall, Stuart Wagstaff and Karl Midlane The Tat and the Alsek meet to make a travelling, brown, surging sea, where the size forced us to readjust our perception of what we were seeing. A ferry to river right which previously might have taken two minutes now took five, what looked like good campsites just weren’t. We checked one out and noticed a moving dot in the distance, possibly a kilometre away. “Maybe a fox,” we said to the others in the canoe 100 metres up the bank.

A minute later, Karl had his zoom lens to confirm what we already knew. This was a bear cantering very fast towards us, and not just any bear but a grizzly. Aware that they can swim fast, we let go of the bank, and our shouts to the others seemed to stop the bear, which stood up on its hind legs less than 100 metres from them. Fortunately, Alli had the presence to get the boat in the flow.

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ThePADDLER 46 An hour later we were swapping stories by a fire with our tents under the backdrop of glaciers and mountains. The ‘groover’ might get some use tonight! The groover was a metre-long ammo box which, when sat on like a toilet, would have left grooves in your backside (if it wasn’t for two pieces of specially designed wood protectors). A complicated protocol of hiding it but announcing your presence, depositing only solids, and having smart plastic bagging system had made it a very successful new addition on this expedition. The whole sanitary and camp experience was much more pleasant for the relative lack of bugs.

Karl exploring the ice on Alsek Lake

The next day was spent negotiating braids to access the channel river left to the lake below the Walker Glacier, so named because this rapidly-retreating glacier, which had once stretched into the river, was now a trip highlight for ‘walkers’ from every raft group on the river.

ALASKA Now in Alaska, our first night was an endurance test of high winds which covered everything in our tents in sand. Next day we took much-needed time apart, photographing, painting, walking to the lake and glacier, and later chilling together over food. Here autumn colours were turning the trees, with the realisation that the trip was nearly ended, giving a melancholy feel.

Our next key involved entry into Alsek Lake, which, from our guidebook, had several glaciers calving ‘bergy bits’ into it. A strong wind against the current of a full Calling for a pick up having overshot the get out

Seals welcome us over the finish line at Dry Bay

river could cause capsizes, and an inspection was suggested. A downpour of sleety rain preceded our viewing. But though it appeared there were factorysized lumps of ice grounded in the river mouth we reckoned we could avoid them safely. Back on the river, the whole passage was a unique spectacle, with some of the bergy bits eroded into smooth, shiny overhangs above us.

The remainder of the day was spent trying to soak in the beauty of the place, knowing that soon we could be back in civilisation. The following day gave us more views to absorb as we floated to our last campsite, including unclouded sights of the 4671-metre Mount Fairweather.

On our last morning, I made breakfast very early in the dark to give manoeuvre time if there were hitches. A sensational sunrise hit us whilst we left our site. A short

The following day gave us more views to absorb as we floated to our last campsite, including unclouded sights of the 4671-metre

Mount Fairweather Loading the small plane that would extricate us from a rough airstrip at the finish in Dry Bay

Too big to fit on the plane without cutting it up our Wenonah canoe was donated to the local residents in exchange for a lift to the airstrip

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The raft exploring the ice bergs of Alsek Lake

time later, we spotted the buoy marking the egress channel. The only trouble was, it was on a pole in the middle of a dry river channel! The National Park had warned that there was an alternative channel to reach the runway coming in from the ocean side. We did seem to be travelling too fast in the direction away from the runway, and we passed sandbanks of sea birds and seals signalling proximity to the ocean. At the last minute, a rise in the land on the south side of the delta appeared with a channel going inland.

Soon it ran out, and we were unloading our kit and deflating the raft. I had managed to raise a local

Both Karl and Andy are Freelance Mountain and Canoe coaches.

Thanks to Wenonah for assistance with canoes and TJ composites with paddles and Palm, Peak and Kokatat for dry suits and other gear.

person on my marine radio who had then contacted the Brabazon haulage crew. It turned out to be a mum and two kids on a quad bike with two trailers! A deal was struck whereby she took our canoe in return for our carriage to the runway. We didn’t have to cut our canoe in half after all! Everyone was pleased.

STUNNING FINALE Yakutat Air added to the tension by being three hours late, but the flight to Haines over ice sheets and between icy crags was a stunning finale to the best trip ever!

ATOM Bright and strong – the Atom suit has YKK AquaSeal zips. Each zip is individually pressure tested by YKK. And every drysuit is tested before it leaves the Palm factory.

A strong look with real strength behind it.

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T H E W O N D R O U S T O P O G R A P H Y O F

NORWAY Words: Elaine Farquharson – Dorset SUP Coaching and Guiding Photos: Titus Kodzoman – SUPNorway, Gutsygirls.co.uk & Elaine Farquharson The ultimate paddling experience is to escape the rat race and get back to mother nature on a self-supported expedition into the wilderness.When you get away from the pollution, and the orange glows of the city you will finally see the universe and the stars in all their magical glory.

The air will be fresh and clean, and the water and scenery are unspoilt. There’s nothing more special than seeing animals free in their natural habitat and living uninhibited. It’s a chance for you to feel the same and the peace and tranquillity is unexplainable as you immerse yourself into the wonders of mother nature around you.

Norway has some of the most extreme and wondrous topography in the world. The flooded U-shaped valleys create dramatic scenery with towering sheer cliffs that surround the water on three sides before opening the land to allow a connection to the sea. The ocean means the water is subject to the tide. Wind effects are consistent with alpine environments, and lakes in the upper fjord reaches or coastal conditions at the mouth of the fjords. It can be very sheltered or exposed depending upon the wind direction.

Between the sides, Nærøyfjord has sections only 250 metres wide with mountains towering up to 1,761 metres high. That narrowness means water energy travelling up the fjords has nowhere to go, and it does create some reflection of water and clapotis however in the summer months this effect is negligible unless a cruise ship passes by.

Elaine Farquharson

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THE WILDLIFE IS DISCRETE On the journey, there are limited places to get off the water and rest, so you are committed to sections of paddling before there is a small hanging valley or shore to land on. The ground is rocky, but luscious vegetation hangs on the mountains with plenty of waterfalls and streams to gain fresh water for wild camping. It’s tranquil and wild however the wildlife is discrete, and the only pests are the occasional horse fly, I didn’t experience many midges or mosquitoes whilst I was there, but it’s wise to prepare. There are also some tiny hamlets with amenities at ferry ports, but I wouldn’t rely on these, so we carried all our food on the trip and restocked at Undredel.

Weather is fun; you will experience four seasons in one day. It's not cold, but it can be wet, and temperatures can fluctuate making layering the best way to travel.

Visibility can vary; however, mostly the clouds drizzle over the mountains creating a dramatic effect. Still, it never lasts for more than a day or two as the sun in the summer months shines hot so you will get the occasional bikini or board short day. Cooling off is easy as you are spoilt with the jade-like fjord land waters or the crystal cool plunge pools of the waterfalls from the snowmelt of the glaciers.This reminds you that you are on par with similar latitudes of Alaska; however, Norway is warmer due to the gulf stream.

Coaching is a fun experience in the fjords. I was working with SUP Norway as an assistant guide. Titus is the director who has set up a fantastic expedition centre on the shores of Gudvangen. He has a wealth of experience and knowledge in cold water exposure, expediting SUP and camp craft as well as his head guide Courtney Sinclair who is a Canadian SUP expedition and endurance race paddler.

On my trip the group had come from all over the world; inland Brits, Californian surf chicks, Reunion Island Lagoon paddlers and Canadian long-distance SUP adventurers. It was a fantastic experience to meet and learn about other cultures and people, and even pick up my French along the way. As a coach, it did make for an interesting learning journey.

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Titus Kodzoman

As a Brit we don’t think about sharks, Norway has them but not the great whites of the warmer waters. Coaching and leading involves a lot of psychology. I have never had to appreciate before how deep waters signify danger to those who live in waters, which are home to many sharks. Helping my client overcome their fears was truly rewarding and a privilege to assist in their personal growth.

Norway has a lot of deep dark waters, but it certainly isn’t somewhere to be terrified of the animals that live within it. There’s a chance of seeing some seals and the odd friendly dolphin but to be honest, the wildlife is very aloof except for the mountain goats.

It does help to have some paddle experience and fitness on these sort of trips because carrying kit creates more instability and even short distances can be tiring for some. After a day of paddling the work doesn’t stop there as camp needs to be made and there’s still some work to be done cooking and setting up a shelter.

GENTLE DISTANCES So with SUP Norway, they plan gentle distances.

They also make no expenses spared on the kit, with fantastic higher-end boards and paddles, great tents, self-inflating camping mats, dry bags and sleeping bags. Plus the food is wonderful, fresh seafood and salad platters initially progressing to dehydrated survival food into the trip but these taste nice not like the old army ration packs and the terrifying biscuits brown.

The trip itself starts at Gudvangen, which is a small village at the start of the Nærøyfjord. We travel the 17 km over a three-day period which allows the group to find their feet, be coached on their skills and gain confidence in wild camping.

After a few days, we journey onto the Sognefjord, which is much more exposed and has characteristics more like the sea. Here the wind is more apparent, and the water is open.

This is the longest and most tiring part of the journey; however, the group are rewarded with some luxury camping and facilities at the beautiful village of Undredel. As you arrive, it seems familiar almost magical – the star spangled ceiling of the church was the inspiration for the Disney film Frozen, and then it makes sense as you remember the scenery from Arendel and the home of Elsa and Arna.

LOCAL COMMUNITY Here the group can relax, shower and indulge on traditional restaurant food and the best pizza after roughing it in mother nature for several days.

There are some tours laid on for us up to a cute little church on the hill with traditional music and entertainment from the local community who are proud of their ancestry, traditions and religions.

Most of the group have had no experience with wild camping, camp craft and expedition paddling, so the guides are excellent at coaching and teaching the group in these skills. It helps to have

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spent time in a tent and learning how to pack your bags before the trip. There’s nothing more annoying than packing your suncream at the bottom of your dry bag as you certainly don’t want to be offloading your sleeping bag whilst floating on the water.

PACKING LIGHT It’s definitely a good idea to make a grab bag of these types of essentials. Also, some snacks like trail mix, nuts and raisins and lightweight water pouches, are much kinder than taking heavy bottles and lots of packaging which you will have to carry in and out with you.

Practice also packing as light as you can, take less, for example, take a small towel or even better an expedition towel as large towels take up room and soak up too much water, you won’t dry things quickly in the fjords.

Also, be eco-friendly by only using toiletries that are healthy for wildlife and don’t dump chemicals in the freshwater areas. As for toileting, bury it or use one of the compost loos. Be kind to the wildlife.

So there is something for everyone in the fjords whether you are new to SUP or a seasoned expedition coach. It is truly worth spending some time there and soaking in the extreme scenery and calm.

You’ll make some fabulous new friends and gain so many new skills plus a sense of pride that you have taken on an adventure and journeyed on one of the most beautiful places in the world. A UNESCO recognised jewel; it’s definitely a bucket list must.

LET'S TALK ABOUT SUSTAINABILITY WE CAN'T FIX EVERYTHING, BUT WE CAN: - Make gear that lasts for years The longer it lasts, the less the waste - Plant trees and rewild the Scottish Highlands To offset some of the carbon (and guilt) - Work with instructors and charities to connect more people with the water environment The more people who care, the more who will value it, and want to protect it - Use organic, fearwear and recycled wherever possible From our rashvests made from reclaimed ocean waste, to our dry bags made from waste PVC

To find out why, and how McConks are different, visit www.mcconks.com

When an inflatable paddleboard dies, it cannot be recycled

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A M O N G

GIANTS A lazy, terrifying ride down the Lower Zambezi

Words: Michael Henry Photos: Michael W. Henry Grievous arranges three sticks in a straight line at his feet.

“We travel like this, in a straight line.” He looks us each in the eyes, gauging whether we’re bold and dumb enough to ignore his advice. As a canoe guide on the Lower Zambezi, he’s dealt with plenty of overly confident tourists. He then spreads the sticks out next to each other.

“If we go like this, side-by-side, we cut off the hippos’ way around us.They get scared. And that’s when they can come up and get us.”

We all nod, doing our best to act nonchalant. But it strikes me that a life of canoeing in North America has not prepared me to paddle down a river full of animals that can crunch a boat in a single bite. It also occurs to me that, after living in Zambia for a year, I could have found a gentler activity to introduce my family to the country on the second day of their visit.The boats are already in the water, the paddles in our hands, and there’s no turning back now. I turn to my mom, and dad, and brother, and reassure them.

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FLIPPED BY A HIPPO “People do this all the time. It’s going to be fine.” Grievous smiles and agrees with me, and follows up with a quick story about a recent trip where two tourists got flipped by a hippo and had to swim to shore through the crocs. Perfect.

We’re on the banks of the Lower Zambezi River, southern Africa’s mightiest watercourse. Further upstream, the mile-wide river plunges over a sheer cliff at Victoria Falls, which in the rainy season forms both the world’s largest single sheet of falling water and one of its best whitewater rivers. In Zambia, the falls are often called by their Lozi name, Mosi-oa-

Tunya, the Smoke that Thunders. Down here in the Lower Zambezi, the river takes a calmer form, flowing clean and broad through a valley of indescribable beauty. The green hills of Zambia rise to the north; the further-off escarpment equals them on the Zimbabwe side to the south. Countless tributaries run down the hills and add to the river’s might, with small family compounds dotted among them, visible from the small river-irrigated banana that encircle them.

We get into the boats and set off. It’s one of the easiest and yet most thrillingly nerve-wracking paddles I’ve taken. No whitewater, no portages, and a strong current is pushing us forward.This is a good life, but I can’t relax.

I’m working hard to stay precisely on Grievous’s tail, and spot the bends in the river where the hippo pods might be waiting.

Every bit of floating log looks like a hippo’s head, and every far-off bubble seems like it must be their breath.

Eventually, as we get into a paddling rhythm and the nervousness wears off, we start soaking in the unbelievable nature around us. A pair of majestic African Fish-Eagles stares at us indignantly from a treetop. A family of Impalas, the fast-food of the Zambian bush, nervously drinks from the river. A sunning croc watches them from a log.

Kingfishers and Rollers show off their iridescent plumages as they swoop over the water.

THE POWER OF ELEPHANTS We forget everything else, though, when we come around a corner and see a group of more than 20 elephants hauling themselves out of the river, walking back into the forest. The power of elephants to hypnotize the human mind is hard to describe. All I can say is that we didn’t worry about hippos as we inched as close as we could to the Ellies, each metre closer revealing a new wrinkle around the matriarch’s eyes, or a new clumsy baby peeking out from behind a mother’s leg. We sit and watch as they play with water and mud and stroke each other, showing their massive intelligence. We leave only once a young bull makes it clear that we’re no longer welcome. The canoe safari provides a unique glimpse into their lives because it is not possible to come this close to elephants when on land unless you’re confined in a car.

As the sun is setting behind the hills, we pull up to a sand island to make camp. In classic Zambian form, we have brought charcoal and copious meat and beer, and we go to bed full and happy. In the night I go behind the tents to lose some of the beer and make out a hulking, shiny form 50 metres away in the middle of the island. The hippos have come out to feed, revealing both their immense bulk and their utter goofiness. It looks my way, and the green eyeshine sends me back to the tent, quick.

As I lie awake wondering how life has brought me from the lakes of Ontario to this wild place full of powers beyond my comprehension, an unearthly yodelling washes over our camp. My sleep-fogged mind interprets the sounds as the voice of the river; telling us that while we have so far been given safe passage, we are not in charge here. In the morning, Grievous asked me if I heard the hyenas last night.

The second day on the river is an opportunity to learn a bit more about its people. We frequently pass riverside communities of just a few families, set back in the reeds and banana trees, with one or two people coming and going in small homemade canoes. It’s easy to romanticize rural life in this beautiful land, but in this land, opportunities are few and agricultural work never ends. Some of the few jobs are at the rich white-owned fishing camps on the river, which do not distribute money back to the communities.

At the same time, the people of the river are incredibly resilient, and nothing is simple here. The diversity and complexity of Zambia are humbling to us foreigners, who

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tend to categorize the rest of the world in broad strokes. Zambia disproves that simple categorization commonly said to have 72 languages among its 17 million people. We stop by Grievous’s extended family’s compound, and he laughingly splashes water on a gaggle of his nieces and nephews who come to greet him.

COUNTLESS OTHER CHALLENGES He tells me they are speaking the Chikunda language, meaning that to reap the benefits of the global economy, these kids will have to learn Tonga and English well enough to get through secondary school.

Then they’ll pick up Nyanja and Bemba as well as perfect English to succeed at university in the capital, Lusaka, only to face a difficult job market and countless other challenges. Yet it can be done, and people do it. And the land, the river, still provides the basics needed for life, as a result of vital conservation and a sparse population. It must stay that way.

Our sunset paddle, the final stretch of the trip, is a moment of absolute perfection. We pass incredibly close to several hippo pods and see one rear up and stretch its jaws impossibly wide, outlined by the golden light. The water is cold, and we glide with the current of this great river that drains a vast land of unsurpassed beauty and variety. As with any canoe trip, this has been time very well spent; but it’s also been unlike any other canoe trip, and we couldn’t be more grateful for that.

PRACTICAL INFORMATION ON MAKING THIS TRIP Sourcing boats and guide: Get in touch with one of the several lodges near Lower Zambezi National Park, which can connect you to a guide and provide boats and other amenities like food. Going with a guide is both required and very important for safety.You do not need to stay overnight at the lodges to make a canoe trip.We went through Gwabi River Lodge, which was excellent and came highly recommended.

Getting there: Fly into Lusaka. The easiest way is to rent/borrow a car and drive from Lusaka on the T2 highway through Chirundu to your lodge of choice. Please do not take the RD491 marked on Google Maps; it barely exists in the hills (a story for another time). Alternatively, you can take public transport from Lusaka’s central bus terminal to Chirundu, and then coordinate with a lodge for a pickup to bring you the rest of the way.

Timing: The weather in Zambia is ideal from March through September, with warm days, crisp nights, and clear skies. Other months are scorching during the days in the low-lying Zambezi Valley, and rain frequently.

Visas: Available on arrival for many nationalities for $50. It’s often possible to pay by card, but good to bring crisp new cash just in case.

Vaccinations and health: Good to check that all routine vaccinations are up to date. Malaria medication is an excellent idea. Sunscreen, medicine and other necessities should be bought in Lusaka as they will be hard to find outside. Check the CDC guidelines for other vaccine recommendations.

Costs: Excluding transport to and from the lodge, but including everything else (guide salary, food, drinks, tips, boats, equipment, and other support) we paid about $700 for four people for a two-night trip.

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Finding feedback on the

RIVER

3

The friend

Words and photos: Jamie Greenhalgh & Chris Brain Special thanks to Georgina Maxwell for additional photos

Maybe you're dreaming of a river that you'd love to one-day paddle. Perhaps you're working towards success in a competitive discipline like slalom, sprint or freestyle. Maybe you want to paddle with a group of paddlers who are better than you, and you want to feel like a valuable team member, not a burden to be carried. This article aims to point out the places that someone who is driven to improve can turn to in order to get the inspiration, practice and feedback they need.

A paddler can develop faster and more effectively if they can tune in to the feedback they're offered from a range of sources, some of this feedback can come from traditional sources such as a professional coach or someone else observing your paddling. However, some of the feedback may be found internally, from the personal reflections we can make about our paddling, allowing us to coach ourselves effectively. Of course, we can also gain feedback from the environment we paddle in and understand how to respond to the messages it is giving us frequently during our time on the water.

In our two previous chapters, we have looked at how you can coach yourself and how the river can give you feedback to help you develop (https://paddlerezine.com/finding-feedback-onthe-river/ and https://paddlerezine.com/finding-feedback-on-the-river-pt2/). Now we will focus on how you can use the observations and feedback from other paddlers to help you with your progression.

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The Friend Encourage creative play and watch others as you do this.

and so on. If we observe our peers effectively, we can pick up on their successes and failures, using that to influence how we choose to make the moves.

Gaining the feedback from their technical and tactical choices, the effort they put in and the difficulty (or ease) that they experience, is a great way to learn from others.

Creative play is at the heart of outdoor sports. The game that paddlers play with the river, bikers play with the trails, and surfers play with the waves, is not one with a rulebook. Unlike traditional sports, in the outdoors, we are often only bound by our own rules and typically are limited only by our imagination. Many pioneers of paddlesport have been people prepared to step outside of the norm and to try something different.

The ideal situation is that we would paddle with a group that we could be an effective member of on the water, but that the group would contain members that have a degree of experience or technical ability that either meets or exceeds our own. When we paddle in groups like these, we can often find ourselves quickly challenging our skills in creative ways and developing faster than we would have been if we remained in our comfort zone.

Sports such as skateboarding and BMX have utilised the power of creative play between peers from the very origins of the sport. The process of watching someone else make a move or trick and then trying to match (or beat) it is an incredible way to develop not only your physical ability but also your mental approach to what you might be capable of and what might be possible in the future.

You can gain so much from observing and paddling with skilled peers, consider incorporating the following challenges into your paddling. l Ask them to name a challenge for you (and then you can name a challenge for them!). l Follow someone matching them stroke for stroke down a rapid. l Get someone to follow you down a rapid matching you stroke for stroke. l See if you can observe specifics in peers paddling, looking at their boat/body/blade. l Observe their flow and style and try to emulate their character on the water when you paddle.

When we apply this to paddlesport and use this opportunity for friendly competition, we typically start to attempt moves that we might not usually go for, surfing waves to the left instead of the right, catching the eddy at the top instead of the bottom

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ASK OUR PEERS TO OBSERVE OUR PADDLING, BUT ASK THEM TO FOCUS ON SOMETHING SPECIFIC. When we are paddling in a group or with a friend, we can look to them to help us to develop our performance. Even if our peers have no coaching knowledge or experience, they can still give us useful information that we can use to help us become better paddlers. The process of observing each other’s paddling when we are on the water will be happening already, and the flow that we fall into when we move down the river or play on a feature will facilitate this.

These natural observations that we are continually making are a resource that we can tap into if we focus the observations effectively we can use them to great advantage to help us develop.

It is common to see paddlers using peer observation and feedback when they are out on the water, and I will often hear statements such as, “Watch me on this wave and tell me what I’m doing wrong,” or “Tell me if I’m breaking in/out the right way.” Whilst these requests for observations and information from our peers might seem initially useful, they are too vague, and we can struggle to make sense of and put into practice the information we receive. If we ask our peers to focus on something more specific, it can help to make the observations much more useful. For example, we can change.

“Watch me on this wave and tell me what I’m doing wrong” to “When I’m on the wave I keep flushing off, can you tell me where my boat is when this happens?”

And, “Tell me if I’m breaking in/out the right way” to “Can you tell me what my angle is when I am entering the flow?”

Just a simple change in our approach to the question can give us more information; this will be much more useful for our development.

As we develop this rapport with our peers, asking them to focus on specific parts of our paddling (and doing the same for them in return) we can also start to think about the way that we ask for and give feedback from these observations. Some of the most helpful information that we can receive about our paddling is factual information rather than your peer’s opinion of the observation. Whilst it can be argued that the ‘facts’ could still be subjective, gaining knowledge in this way encourages the paddler receiving it to interpret it and decide what it means. For example instead of saying “When you’re falling off the wave on the left, change your edge and push back the other way.”

Try, “You regularly fall off the wave on the left-hand side, what could you do next time to stay on?”

Whilst this, of course, starts to become a coaching situation, the focus here changes to the paddler deciding how to solve the problem rather than the observing peer telling the paddler what to do. There is, of course, plenty of room to give help and tips and suggestions to others, but structuring it like this encourages the paddler to develop self-coaching and problem-solving skills.

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ThePADDLER 70 USE THIS FEEDBACK TO DIRECT OUR PRACTICE

CHRIS BRAIN Chris has been paddling and coaching for over 20 years and runs his own business Chris Brain Coaching, delivering coaching, safety and rescue courses and REC First Aid training.

Chris would like to thank Pyranha kayaks, Palm Equipment, Red Paddle Co and Go Kayaking Northwest for making fantastic kit and their continued support. www.chrisbrain coaching.com

JAMIE GREENHALGH Jamie is a passionate river guide, kayaking coach and people person. He runs two kayaking businesses: Paddle365, for cutting edge white water skills coaching, and Dee River Kayaking, dedicated to giving the best possible introductions for regular people into the sport.

Jamie is lucky enough to be supported by Pyranha Kayaks and NRS Equipment, both of whom make brilliant gear to keep him and his customers looking and feeling cool. www.paddle365.co.uk www.deeriverkayaking.com

Now that we have some specific and factual observations from our peers, we need to decide what to do with this information. The feedback we have received should directly impact how we structure our practice. l Will we dive straight back in and have another go? l Will we change our approach? l Do we attempt to use a different technique?

Repeating the same type of attempt over and over again can become tiresome, so don't be afraid to vary it up a bit. Think of all the variables that could be changed and encourage yourself to be creative and ask your friend for suggestions too! Can we approach from different sides? Try a left stroke instead of a right stroke? Spin the other way?

Break out high, break out low? Paddle slowly or paddle quickly? Changing some of these variables will help to keep the challenge fresh and will help develop a broader range of skills.

Exploring the variables that we have available to us to achieve the task can be a great way to narrow down what we think works and doesn't work. Think of all of these options going down through a funnel until we have the two or three

options that we feel will work well and then focus our effort on these. As we do this, we should be continuing to bounce these ideas, opportunities and variables off our peers, utilising them throughout for advice, and asking them to point out when we don't give 100%.

WO R L D - C L AS S K AYAKS , C A N O E S A N D PAD D L I N G E Q U I P M E N T

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Ray Goodwin’s Scottish adventure – the worst

PORTAGE EVER? Well, not quite…

Words and photos: Ray Goodwin The route: start at Glenfinnan Memorial at the head of Loch Sheil, along the length and out to sea at Loch Moidart. From there an open crossing to Arisaig before running up the coast to Loch Morar. Head east on Morar until the portage up Gleann an Obain Bhig to cross the watershed into the top of the Glen Pean, Loch Arkaig and down into the Great Glen. A right turn and down the Lochy to Fort William.

Glenfinnan Monument at the head of Loch Shiel

DAY ONE: The forecast was beginning to crowd out our plan. Strong southerly winds and heavy rain were coming in 24 hours. With an exposed crossing from Moidart to Arisaig, we were now under pressure to get this done on the first day. We needed to paddle the length of Sheil and cross to Arisaig before the storm arrived. It was going to be a big day.

Alan and I trolleyed the canoe past the Glenfinnan Monument. This commemorated were Bonnie Prince Charlie had raised his standard in August 1745. Charles’s path would head south into England, as far as Derby, before ending in bloody ruin on Culloden Moor the following April. Hopefully, our very much minor venture would not end in ruin.

Boat loaded and with Al in the bow we headed into a slight headwind. With a long day ahead we paddled purposely along the spectacular loch. All the while we could see it stretching to the bends some 18 km further down: always a good idea to close the mind to a distant but seen objective. With the breeze against us, we needed to keep up a steady pace. This was the day that would make or break the trip.

A brief stop for lunch and we passed through the narrows. We stopped on Eilean (island) Fhianain. It has been a burial ground for centuries, and I wanted to have a quick look around this ancient site. But there was little time to savour before we were back in the canoe.

As we plodded to the end of the loch, the landscape opened out with marsh on either side and shallow water to contend with. Some 28 km from setting out, the loch narrowed and became the River Sheil. An ancient bridge and now we had the current with us. Fishing walks and platforms lined the sides of this prime sea trout river, but out of season, no fisher folk were out and about.

The river can have a little surprise for the unwary with a final drop to the tidal Loch Moidart. We knew this could be tricky or even ill-advised to run. Caution had us out for a quick inspection. The drop was there, it disappears on a big tide, but there was a line cutting through the edge of the main wave. Back to the boat, turning the brain from flatwater plod to a proper white water mode. A nod to each other and we broke back into the current and ran through. In reality, the line was straight forward but not a one to underestimate in different water levels.

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ThePADDLER 98 Loch Moidart is spectacular with Castel Tioram looming over our route. We waved at a pair of canoeist drawn up at its foot, but we needed to move on. 33 km done another 17 to go. We headed out of the multitude of rocks of the South Channel and could finally see the crossing to Arisaig. A slight swell was running, but the wind had dropped away.

Out to our left were the Small Isles, Rhum, Eigg and Muck. So many good memories of guiding sea kayak trips around those. To the north rugged Skye dominated the horizon.

We paralleled the shore to start with, but it soon started angling away, and we started the crossing.

Partway Al informed me this was the furthest from the land he had ever been in a canoe. I smiled and told him to keep paddling. Basking seals dotted the small islands on the route, the swell making us keep a slight distance from the shallows.

Reaching the peninsula, we still couldn’t rest. All the landing on the south side would be an impossible launch the next morning, so we paddled a few more kilometres to enter the channel to the north of the peninsula. Finally a landing in a narrow cove, a patch of grass for the tent, and a meal was soon cooking.

Some eleven hours and we had covered 50 km.

There was not a lot of chat.

The end of Loch Sheil Basking

seals dotted the small islands on the route

River Sheil

DAY TWO The wind was buffeting my tent, but the rain hadn’t started (yet). The wind was directly from the south so we could run up the inside of a chain of reefs and islands. Time for a bit of sailing. Al moved his position back in the canoe to give us a bow light trim.

Everything was now in our favour for the run-up to Loch Morar. With high tide early in the morning, we could cut through what otherwise would be big dry beaches connecting the islands. Outside of this chain, we could see white horses. The big first day was now paying off. Eventually, a turn took us into the stunning, but short, estuary of the River Morar. We even had to drop sail and paddle before hauling the canoe out and putting it back on its trolly. The River Morar, with its weir and falls, is far too steep to work a boat up. It is a short pull up a steep little road to get back to a launch and paddlable water.

The rain had started, and we had 3km of open loch before we could get into the shelter of the south shore. We were getting buffeted and had to pull hard on our paddles. Even with such a short fetch, waves were building, and we picked our way from island to island before a final kilometre of open water to the south shore of Loch Morar. With the loch running west to east, we were now, mostly, sheltered from the strong winds. We paddled away hugging the shore. All the time the spectacular scenery drew us eastward, all the time the rain fell.

OBAN BOTHY A motor launch passed us, waves were exchanged, and we plodded on. Finally, 18 km of the loch was coming to an end, and Oban Bothy came in sight as well as the bleak and rugged valley at its head, Gleann an Obain Bhig. Not a view for the faint-hearted to get a canoe up and over the heights of land.

Castel Tioram

Eilean Fhianain

At the small jetty, the launch was tied up. It was still early in the afternoon. There was time to get the canoe and some gear up to the pass. The boat passengers appeared from the bothy (hut). It was the laird, his gillie and a couple of other folks. They were chatty and soon wanted our plan explained. The laird and his gillie couldn’t contain their incredulity. I explained that we would follow the old stalking path.

The laird’s face broke into a broad grin, “Path? The path that disappeared years ago?” It was apparent they were amused by what we were about to face.

Crossing to Arisaig ThePADDLER 99

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Sailing up the coast from Arisaig Oban bothy was a welcome retreat. We could hang the

clothes, and kit up Al was also to be disappointed. He had fond thoughts of using the trolley. I had previous with this glen and knew it would be just another thing to carry. Ah yes, we now hit another problem, Al informed me that his shoulders couldn’t manage the canoe. I would have to carry it the whole way, some 2 km and gaining 140 metres in height. I was going to be a lot shorter at the end of that.

and there was even some firewood

The rain was now heavier, and the laird was right the path, so nicely marked on the map, no longer existed except on the steeper sections. All the flat land was saturated or bog, fortunately, we were still sheltered from the wind. Al didn’t escape the pain though; he had a traditional Canadian canvas portage pack loaded with paddling kit and anything else we wouldn’t need this night, along with the redundant canoe trolley hooked over his shoulders. As he walked, the canvas increased in weight as it soaked up the rain. He might not be carrying the canoe but was sharing in the brutality.

Finally, we reached the high point. Initially, we had intended to take the kit further, but the final stream was now an impassable torrent. Far too steep and powerful to attempt a crossing. We found a place amidst the boulders to tie the canoe down, left the kit under it and retreated down to the bothy, now wading what had been small streams. Up to my waist at one point, but it didn’t make any difference to my comfort, not a single stitch of clothing was dry anymore.

Oban bothy was a welcome retreat. We could hang the clothes, and kit up and there was even some firewood. At least the night would be dry and comfortable. (NOTE: Oban bothy is locked and shuttered in the main deer stalking season otherwise you are free to use it).

DAY THREE: Back up the hill, the loads were lighter, and the rain had stopped. The stream was now easily passable, but the ground was rough, and at one point we had to lower the canoe down a section. But it was short, and we were soon through to the very start of the River Pean. We were on our way downhill.

The worst portage ever? Well, not quite. Did I ever tell you…

The start is on a stream barely wider than the canoe, and we needed to wade and line. Soon we were in the boat but bouncing off the sides with shoves, shoulder barges off a high bank and the occasional

Launching day two Oban Bothy

stoke. Soon it widened, and we were weaving our way down Glen Pean. We did not know this river and took it as we saw it. It was a full-on adventure mode, and we were both enjoying it. We crossed a small lochan as the rain and clouds came back in. The views behind were stunning.

Kilometres passed, one portage around a gorge like section but my body now felt broken from the day before, and I struggled to carry the canoe down the muddy track. Back on the water, we weaved on until we finally reach Loch Arkaig. Now exposed to the wind again, we tried sailing, but the direction kept shifting, and it was barely worth the effort. Paddles out again and we plodded on another 15 km until a sheltered spot offered a decent campsite. Tents up, brew on, as the midges came out to torment us. Al was not feeling good and retreated to his tent. I took him a midge infested mug of tea, and he sipped away at that, but he couldn’t eat any food. He had picked up a stomach bug.

Looking back down the way to Loch Morar ThePADDLER 101

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DAY FOUR: Only 3km to the end of the loch and we paddled down into the River Arkaig. I was had paddled here before and was aware of a weir and a much harder rapid. As we swung around a corner there, in front of us, were warning signs and a vast construction site.

The weir was being replaced/repaired and a new hydro scheme as going in. The portage route was behind high fencing. We could only take to the road and trolley. I tried to find a way back to the river and even walked down to the posh estate house to get permission, but no one was answering the door. I didn’t fancy dragging the canoe across cut lawns so headed back down the road to drop onto the water further down.

A quick paddle around the shore of Loch Lochy, We were now in the Great Glen. A short paddle around the shore of Loch Lochy and we were at the locks of the Caledonian Canal. It is not possible or advisable to paddle out of Loch Lochy into the River Lochy. So again a little trolleying and we were on the broad sweeps of the river. Al was now visibly wilting, the stomach bug had knocked him for six, and his energy levels were low. He kept paddling.

“I don’t think we are in Shire anymore Mr Frodo.”

A quick scrape and drag to avoid the only harder rapid and we sped along and into Fort William. We were back on tidal waters. The original plan to close the circuit by paddling up Loch Eil was dropped. With Al poorly, it didn’t seem worth the effort.

I felt no disappointment. It was great to do the Morar to Glen Pean trip finally. We had dodged around the winds, and that felt good. Every bit of it was as spectacular as I expected, and my soul felt satisfied. It was time to finish.

Alan Pinnington runs www.mountainwater.co.uk Ray Goodwin’s website: www.RayGoodwin.com Ray’s YouTube Channel is: www.youtube.com/c/ RayGoodwinCanoe

Fort William

CANOE

FOCUS Kit to keep you warm Page 20

Royal Honours for Jim and Apple-Jane Page 13

Late Autumn 2020

Basking Sharks A #ShePaddles sea kayaing advernture Page 18

Contents

3

#SHEPADDLES

WELCOME Welcome note from Chair Professor John Coyne CBE

4

#ShePaddles Ambassador, Julie 14 Perren’s mentoring scheme for women

NEWS Catch up on the latest news from British Canoeing

5 COACHING & LEADERSHIP

Clear Access Clear Waters One year on

6

Clearing up our rivers and waterways this Autumn

8

Seabins: Fighting plastic pollution in our waters

9

Keeping your qualifications up to date and current

17

GO PADDLING #ShePaddles with sharks, A sea kayaking adventure

WELCOME

ACCESS & ENVIRONMENT

18

WINTER KIT

British Canoeing membership...

More than just a licence fee

11

Royal seal of approval for Jim and Apple-Jane

COACHING & LEADERSHIP Get ready for your Leadership Award

FEATURE 13

20

22

Canoe Focus Late Autumn 2020

Kit to keep you warm

MEMBERSHIP

4

Welcome Welcome to the Autumn edition of Canoe Focus.

I would like to extend a particular welcome to our 25,000 new members that have joined us since May. Our existing membership has shown great loyalty and it is now clear that the moment restrictions began to ease there was a surge of interest in people wanting to join us. Perhaps confinement has led us all to appreciate more fully the countryside and waterways that we have so often on our doorsteps. At the time of writing we have over 62,000 members and growing. To all our members I can assure you that the entire organisation is committed to ensuring that we serve your interests and reflect the views, interests and passion that you exhibit.

WELCOME

Being on the water just helps to place in perspective the daily worries that uncertain times bring. Recently I was on a flat river Derwent, less than a mile from the city centre of Derby yet totally embraced by vegetation, wildlife and nature. We need more opportunities for paddlers to access such environments.

www.britishcanoeing.org.uk

Our community has been massively engaged and busy in progressing these important access agendas. The ‘Clear Access Clear Waters’ campaign has a growing network of supporters, contacts and agencies now uniting to promote our cause and the health and wellbeing benefits that arise from being on the water.

Summing up in the House of Lords debate on the new Agriculture Bill, Lord Gardiner, for the government, gave assurances that “Our … scheme will reward land managers for the public goods that they deliver, which could include granting of public access to water.” This is real progress on our journey to deliver more places to paddle and better access.

There continues to be terrific work on river clean ups and the war on plastic. Some of the initiatives you will find more fully reported in this issue. We are also actively trying to reach out to encourage more people from more diverse backgrounds to enjoy paddling and just one

initiative, #ShePaddles, is featured in this edition.

It has been a most frustrating year for competitive paddlers but our committees have been using the time and space to reflect and plan for a return that will enhance opportunity and enjoyment. The sprint consultation and engagement is drawing up a twelve year plan that is already showing a community commitment to work together to deliver future success. The plan will be refined before Christmas. There is a willingness to work differently and extend opportunity.

For our Olympic athletes it has been more than frustrating but they have continued to work hard with their eyes firmly on Tokyo in 2021. Across all disciplines the return to paddling has helped keep the fun going and a space to refine skills.

This issue focuses on providing tips and insights to keep safe and enhance enjoyment. In the current context it is also important that we all follow the guidelines regarding the management of Covid-19. We are a community that is respectful of space, cares for the environment and already has routines such as ‘check-cleandry’ that lend themselves to easy adaptation to face up to the pandemic. We must not let our guard down and maintain our role as a responsible community. We shall continue to keep members up to date with guidance through our website. I would like to thank all our members, our staff, clubs and the entire paddling community for their work and support during these challenging times. I am confident that we shall all emerge stronger and be energised to ensure that we serve the paddling community well.

Professor John Coyne CBE

Chair British Canoeing

N E WS

Receive regular updates plus exclusive discounts for our partner products with a British Canoeing membership.

www.britishcanoeing.org.uk/membership/join-us-online-here www.britishcanoeing.org.uk/news

New appointments for World Class Slalom Programme 2020

https://www.britishcanoeing.org.uk/ news/2020/new-appointments-for-worldclass-slalom-programme

Nathalie Siegrist appointed as Slalom Lead Academy Coach The British Canoe Slalom programme is pleased to announce that Nathalie Siegrist has joined the coaching team as the Lead Academy Coach.

https://www.britishcanoeing.org.uk/ news/2020/nathalie-siegrist-appointed-asslalom-lead-academy-coach

Leading stand up paddlers to host webinar series The International Canoe Federation and Starboard have teamed up with some of the biggest names in stand up paddling for a series of free webinars offering participants a rare insight into what it takes to be the best in the world. https://www.britishcanoeing.org.uk/news/2020/leadingstand-up-paddlers-to-host-webinar-series

Congratulations to Craig Morris and Trevor Hunter, who have both been named as finalists for the UK Coaching Awards for 2020, alongside British Canoeing’s Coach SelfAnalysis Tool and Digital Library. https://www.britishcanoeing. org.uk/news/2020/three-namedas-finalists-for-uk-coachingawards-2020

British Canoeing appoints new Official Energy Partner British Canoeing is pleased to announce a new partnership with Igloo Energy as Official Energy Partner. Igloo Energy is on a mission to help its customers use less energy and provide them with cleaner and greener energy systems. Its dedication to this mission perfectly aligns with British Canoeing’s environmental values, making this the perfect partnership.

In the interests of openness and transparency, we can confirm that Igloo Energy is a paid partner of British Canoeing and that, at no additional cost to you, British Canoeing will receive a commission if you make a purchase following the affiliate links in this article.

Any funds received by British Canoeing will be reinvested directly back into paddling. https://www.britishcanoeing.org.uk/ news/2020/british-canoeing-partnerswith-igloo-energy

British Canoeing supports Save Outdoor Education campaign British Canoeing recognises the importance of residential outdoor education to the lives of millions of children and young people.

That’s why we’re supporting the ‘Save Outdoor Education’ campaign calling for the government to ensure there’s clear guidance in place so overnight school trips can go ahead again in 2021. www.britishcanoeingawarding. org.uk/resource/britishhttps://www.britishcanoeing.org. canoeing-coaching-podcast/ uk/news/2020/british-canoeingsupports-save-outdoor-educationcampaign

Canoe Focus Early Spring 2020 2020 Canoe Focus Late Autumn

Speaking of her appointment, Nathalie said: “After over 20 years working for a small federation, I am very excited to take on this new challenge. I am immensely grateful for the opportunity to work for British Canoeing, a federation with strong values and a clear vision for high performance.”

Three finalists announced for UK Coaching Awards 2020

NEWS

The British Canoe Slalom programme has announced two new coaching appointments as the team expands and takes shape for the Tokyo Games and Paris cycle.

Greg Hitchen will take up a brand new Podium Technical Coach role with Luke Smyth appointed to an Academy Technical Coach position, following a rigorous selection process for the two posts.

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6

Clear Access Clear Waters One year on

Access and protection of the special places we paddle is fundamental to our enjoyment of being on the water. Whether by kayak, canoe or SUP, we all want safe, clean and accessible places to go paddling.

The Clear Access Clear Waters Charter was developed by the paddlesport community and partners to make a clear case for fair, shared, sustainable open access on all our waters.

ACCESS & ENVIRONMENT

This year COVD-19 has turned all our lives upside down and the cessation in paddling activity had a huge impact on our organisation and the outdoor and sporting sector as a whole.

But the events of 2020 have helped to demonstrate our collective need for access to the countryside, with

health and wellbeing brought into sharp focus as more people than ever discover paddlesport.

This has strengthened our calls for more places to be active from our doorsteps with uncontested access to all navigable waterways in England and Wales.

Since Clear Access Clear Waters was launched in Parliament in November 2018, the Places to Paddle team have made huge strides. Here are just a few highlights from the past 12 months…

Championing the case for fair shared sustainable open access for all

We did: In a time when a General Election and Brexit was anticipated to be the all consuming political agenda, along came the Covid-19 curveball. Clearly, this had an impact on our plans and whilst it may have seemed like the pause button was pressed, political work continued behind the scenes drafting new legislation for a post Brexit period, under a re-elected Conservative government. As a team, we began building relationships with new MPs and understanding new legislation.

Alongside colleagues at the Ramblers, British Mountaineering Council and others in the outdoor industry, we undertook a huge amount of work on the Agriculture Bill.

www.britishcanoeing.org.uk

The Bill reshapes how landowners will be financially supported once the UK exits the European Union, essentially seeing payment for providing a public good, including greater access for the public to enjoy the countryside through the delivery mechanism of the Environment Land Management Scheme (ELMS).

This ultimately led to Lord Addington and Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson supporting 13 amendments to the Bill at the ‘Committee Stage’ which pleasingly led to two hours devoted entirely to addressing the access related amendments that had been prepared. A landmark for British Canoeing’s Clear Access Clear Waters Campaign.

We said: With a General Election just days away, building relationships with political leaders begins again. We have built momentum and profile, so in the New Year (2020) we must be on the front foot to reestablish ourselves with the new government and intake of new MPs.

As part of the test and trials phase of the ELMS; British Canoeing put forward a proposal to pilot a scheme to improve the provision of access infrastructure to navigations which continues to be explored.

British Canoeing is also working with partners on the Environment Bill supporting proposed amendments to improve access to the natural environment.

We are also standing by Surfers Against Sewage and the #EndSewagePollution Coalition calling on the UK Government to end sewage pollution in coastal and river waters and to ensure the Environment Bill exceeds existing EU water quality legislation.

Preserving protecting and enhancing the health of our rivers

We did: Events have been limited this year which has impacted the scale of work with volunteers. British Canoeing continues to take a lead strategic role alongside key stakeholders such as the Angling Trust and Environment Agency to combat invasive species. This has led to the production of a national Floating Pennywort Strategy which will provide guidance to enable volunteers and organisations to develop Catchment Action Groups to combat invasive species.

To ‘test the strategy’ we are working on a pilot project on the Thames engaging canoe and angling clubs; along with other pilot projects led by volunteers on the River Stort, Kennet and Medway, all of whom play a key role in the surveillance and management of floating pennywort.

We will be supporting more Check Clean Dry events and lead efforts to tackle non-native species locally.

We will be inspiring and celebrating more of your river clean initiatives so we can really promote what paddlers do.

We have worked with the Medway Valley Countryside Partnership to produce a guidance document on the removal of floating pennywort and a joint publication on biosecurity at paddling events with Defra, Canoe Wales and the North Wales Wildlife Trust.

We celebrated the work of our Clear Access Clear Waters Community Champions for their outstanding commitment to raising the profile of paddlesport through their environmental work.

Despite the challenges of COVID-19 over 90 paddle clean ups have been registered this year and 10 canoe clubs have participated in the national Surfers Against Sewage Autumn Beach Clean: Summit to Sea campaign, joining thousands of other ocean activists protecting our seas and rivers from the wave of plastic pollution.

Inspiring more people to be active outdoors –

We said: With your help, we will grow and add to the content on PaddlePoints providing more rivers for you to discover.

7

reconnecting them with the environment

We did:

ACCESS & ENVIRONMENT

The strategy will deliver the recommendations following the Environmental Audit Committee’s findings in 2018 and is supported by Lord Gardiner of Kimble (Biosecurity Minister and Under Secretary of State for Defra).

We said:

We’ve enhanced the information shown on PaddlePoints, providing more information on access points and facilities. We also have a rivers page and information on licencing.

The Paddlecast podcast series were launched and hosted by Etienne Stott MBE. If you missed them the first time, they are all on the Paddler’s Portal on the British Canoeing website.

Over the next twelve months we will: • Continue to campaign for clarity in legislation, once our petition has reached 10,000, we’ll be delivering it to government • Promote a green recovery • Support you with paddle clean ups and champion the great work you are doing • Provide new support in the fight against invasive non-native species and promoting Check Clean and Dry, so you can help keep your waterways thriving for wildlife and enjoyment

How can you help us secure fair, shared, sustainable open access for all?

From paddlesports to swimming, rowing to angling, more people than ever before are wanting to enjoy our rivers for recreation. The health of our nation is inextricably linked to that of the environment around us.

It is absolutely vital we act now, as one, to secure fair shared sustainable open access on our waterways and actively protect our environment.

Take action to secure fair shared sustainable open access on water. Join us as a CACW Campaigner here: https://clearaccessclearwaters.org.uk/

Canoe Focus Late Autumn 2020

So where next?

8

Cleaning up our rivers and waterways this autumn Throughout September and October we asked you to roll up your sleeves and get cleaning. And you didn’t disappoint.

As Surfers Against Sewage held their longest campaign against plastic and sewage pollution to date, and Keep Britain Tidy launched their Great British September Clean, we asked you to take to the waters and help clean our waterways.

The Hunt Family

Location: River Nene between Denford and Thrapston

Sailing Club

t family paddling route. We used one Volunteer Jon Hunt said: “This is our regular shor cted one large bag of rubbish.” canoe and one kayak and together our group colle orant bottle and an empty gas cylinder.

Most interesting item found: Half an empty deod

ACCESS & ENVIRONMENT

Team Marpa

Location: River Soar Volunteer Phillipa Ward said: “We thought this stretch of water was fairly clean at the time, but during our paddle we pulled out the most gruesome things, including two illegal barbed hooked fishing lures and their lines which would have been lethal to ducks and other wildlife.”

Most interesting item found: Illegal barbed hooked fishing lures.

Derek Buck

Location: River Aire at Castleford Derek took on the River Aire and Calder Navigation and collected four bags full of litter from the waterway.

Most interesting item found: Half a raft!

PaddlePlus Leicester Location: River Soar, Leicester

Leicester’s PaddlePlus Canoe Club organised a whole week of postwork litter picks. During the week, six volunteers in three canoes collected 11 bags of rubbish.

Most interesting item found: A rusty motorbike.

www.britishcanoeing.org.uk

Medway clean up:

Location: East Farleigh and Allington Medway Valley Countryside Partnership volunteers and Maidstone Canoe Club igh joined forces to collect litter between East Farle untangled bags from rs ntee Volu way.

Med and Allington on the River . branches and fished out multiple discarded cans the higher reaches of the in With additional effort by Tonbridge Canoe Club group collected over 60 river and more volunteers taking part on foot, the bags of rubbish. piece of tubing.

Most interesting item found: A bike and a large

SBC Paddlers

Location: Normanton on Soar, Leicestershire - between Zouch and the Eleven Arch es

28 volunteers aged be tween 10 and 70 grabbed their litter pickers and jumped on to the water. Together they co vered 26km of the River Soar over two days and collected eig ht sacks of rubbish in total.

Most interesting item found: Bike frame, flipper and foot pump.

Seabins:

9 7

Fighting plastic pollution in our waters What do Sydney Harbour, Hawaii, Monaco, LA and...Leicester have in common? Yep, you guessed it, the Seabin!

Predictions suggest oceans could soon hold a kilogram of plastic for every three kilograms of fish.* With plastic swamping our waterways, there has never been a more pressing time to clean up our act, and the Seabin is proving a huge success in the fight against plastic in our waters.

Dreamt up by surf-loving environmentalists Andrew Turton and Pete Ceglinski, the Seabin is designed to filter water through a mesh net capturing pieces of plastic as small as two millimetres in length and width.

Everything from the usual bottle tops, fast food packaging and bits of polystyrene to the more unusual flip flop, shuttlecock and teddy bears, are finding their way into the water.

Centre manager for the LOPC, Stuart Fraser said; “I always knew that there was a lot of rubbish in our rivers, SEABIN but what you can’t see is the miniscule pieces of debris that have broken off larger items and this is where the Seabins are particularly effective. These tiny pieces float just beneath the water so aren’t visible to those doing litter picks and are frequently tangled up with wildlife.”

In just one week the centre collected over 150 bags of rubbish from the Seabin and canoe litter picks.

The Seabin requires frequent emptying, something that Stuart says the public have been fantastic in offering their help to do.

“The Seabin along with a recent paddle clean up effort, has contributed to an improvement in water quality around the centre,” he says. *Source: https://www.abc.net.au/ foreign/saving-the-big-blue/8452620 Photos: Andrew Price - Viewfinder Pictures

Funds for the centre’s Seabin were raised through crowdfunding and support from the local Co-op charity scheme. After an assessment of the area, they have identified another prime location for an additional Seabin to sit and hope to begin fundraising for it over the coming months.

To donate to their project you can email the LOPC at Seabin@lopc.co.uk To purchase a Seabin for your local club or centre, contact Seabin directly via their website seabinproject.com who will be able to put you in touch with the UK distributor.

Surprising statistics**: Total amount of waste captured by Seabins to date: 1,326,485 kg.

Amount captured each day: 3,612.8 kg Source: Seabinproject.com **Figures correct at the time of writing

Canoe Focus Late Autumn 2020

One thing Stuat Fraser says has been particularly eye opening to see is the individual plastic beads from a range of materials wash in amongst the autumn leaves - highlighting the real juxtaposition between nature and pollution.

Aside from the litter being collected by the Seabin, the centre has also seen a number of paint spray cans littering the river bank. Last year they dealt with the effects of oil being dumped in the water affecting local wildlife.

ACCESS & ENVIRONMENT

In September this year, the Leicester Outdoor Pursuit Centre (LOPC) installed a Seabin into the River Soar, one of just 60 in the UK. One month on, the results are both remarkable and shocking to see.

“As winter and wetter weather creeps in it will be interesting to see how much more rubbish we collect from debris being washed into and down the river,” Stuart said.

Become a Member

Help protect the

waterways we love...

Membership includes: - Waterways licence for over 4,500km of waterways - Public liability insurance for all your paddling - Discounted member rates on craft insurance - Latest paddler news and expert advice - Access to trails, courses and events - Exclusive member discounts and special offers

Join online www.britishcanoeing.org.uk/join Or call us on 0300 0119 500

British Canoeing membership…

11

More than just a licence fee British Canoeing continues to thrive thanks to our 60,000 members, volunteers, clubs, centres, coaches and providers. Our purpose has always been to create a thriving paddling community that inspires individuals to pursue a passion for all forms of paddling; for health, enjoyment, friendship, challenge and achievement. Here’s a flavour of some of the great areas of work and projects membership money contributes towards…

#ClearAccessClearWaters We’ve always prided ourselves on being able to offer the most extensive and affordable waterways licence, providing our members access to 4,500km of managed waterways across England and Wales. Plus, the money generated from licences enables waterway authorities to maintain and protect our beautiful waterways, ensuring they are kept clean and safe for us and future generations to enjoy!

The continued success of our Clear Access Clear Waters campaign is largely thanks to our members being responsible custodians for ensuring the paddling community is seen as a means to protecting these environments. British Canoeing is always on the lookout for ways to support vital conservation projects and pollution awareness campaigns along with helping members coordinate various waterway clean ups.

#ShePaddles With more and more females participating in paddlesport our #ShePaddles project has never been more important to us. #ShePaddles is all about creating a welcoming and supportive environment at every level within paddlesport, to ensure women and girls have the means and opportunities to get where they want to be in the sport.

Go Paddling’s interactive PaddlePoints mapping resource provides recreational paddlers with a quick and easy way to find paddling locations. PaddlePoints is a fantastic community resource giving paddlers the ability to plot and share information about a particular paddling route.

Go Paddling also provides information on an extensive array of rivers as well as canals, lakes and other waterways. There are more than 140 paddling trails for recreational paddlers to download on the Go Paddling website!

Discover your next adventure: www.gopaddling.info

Member Bonuses

MEMBERSHIP

However, we recognise this represents a fraction of the 70,671km of inland water resources and that is why we continue to spearhead a campaign for fair, shared and sustainable open access for all.

Go Paddling

With our community growing and being viewed as responsible custodians of the water, we’ve forged excellent relationships with various organisations to provide you with some fantastic member bonuses…

Plus many more!

So THANK YOU to our amazing community for making all this and much more possible! To be part of the paddling community visit www.britishcanoeing.org.uk today!

Canoe Focus Late Autumn 2020

• A Waterways licence – to paddle on over 4,500km of waterways in England and Wales • Public Liability Insurance - providing you with £10 million civil liability cover • 50% off British Canoeing Personal Performance Awards • Discounts and special offers on leading paddlesport and outdoor brands • 10% off dryrobe • 20% off print subscription to the Paddler magazine & 23% off SUP Mag UK

7152_ART_dryrobeCanoeMagazineFullPageAdART–A4.indd 1

14/01/2020 11:47

Royal seal of approval for

Jim and Apple-Jane

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British Canoeing has a proud history of members who have been recognised for their tireless contributions to the paddlesport community. And this year is no different. When the Queen’s Birthday Honours were announced in October, it came as a great surprise to both 69-year-old Jim Armstorng and 17-year-old Apple-Jane Hayward, both of whom were awarded the British Empire Medal.

Jim Armstrong set up Laburnum Boat Club as a charitable boating project in the 1980’s for what was supposed to be an 18-month long project. Yet 37 years later it is still going strong and now welcomes 400 young members annually.

Located along the banks of the Regents Canal, Laburnum Boat Club provides water-based activities for children around the local area. Many members progress to become canoe instructors, narrowboat skippers and rock climbing coaches. The club also works extensively with children and young people with disabilities, and has built relationships with surrounding schools who include kayaking within their PE curriculum.

Reminiscing on his time setting up and running the club he said: “The whole thing has been great fun! Paddlesports are just great for helping young people develop. It felt like we had set up the right facility in just the right place.

“Kayaking is a great activity for kids to engage with ... getting them off the streets, learning new skills, and expending energy. When they are in the boats they aren’t quite so cocky, and after a couple of hours they leave tired and wet and happy.”

MEMBERSHIP

Jim was marked out for special recognition of his long-standing service to children and young people from around Hackney.

At just 17-years-old, sea cadet and paddlesport instructor, Apple-Jane Hayward showed that age is no barrier when it comes to helping in the community.

During lockdown, she rolled up her sleeves to deliver hot meals to those in need around her local area of Brentwood, Essex and took time out to ring around her sea cadet group to check how they were coping.

An active member of the Sea Cadets, Apple-Jane also made time to ring isolated members of the Royal Naval Association.

“I enjoyed making friendly phone calls to some of the isolated members of the Royal Naval Association, as it really felt like I was making a difference and I know that if my grandad didn’t have us, it is something that would have cheered him up,” she continued.

British Canoeing extends a huge congratulations to both Jim and Apple-Jane and thank them for their continued commitment to the paddlesport community and beyond. #StrongerTogether

Canoe Focus Late Autumn 2020

Apple-Jane said “I found out about the Brentwood COVID-19 Mutual Aid Group from a leaflet that had been posted through my door. It offered help with collecting prescriptions, shopping, dog walking and friendly chats. We found that there were members of the community who really needed help and hadn’t had a hot meal in ages, so we started cooking and delivering hot meals too.”

14

#ShePaddles Ambassador, Julie Perren’s mentoring scheme for women Julie Perren is a moderate water sea kayak coach, chair of Totnes Canoe Club and co-organiser of the Women’s Sea Kayak Festival in Devon. This year Julie is also one of British Canoeing’s #ShePaddles Ambassadors.

In this article Julie tells us about the mentoring programme she has started to encourage more women onto the coaching pathway.

#SHEPADDLES

Passing on experience

A desire to help others progress

I began paddling aged 40 and have been continually inspired by amazing female role models over the last fifteen years as a kayaker. From gaining qualifications, to taking on the role of Club Chair at Totnes Canoe Club, there has never been a challenge I haven’t been able to overcome thanks to support from others.

However hard we try to improve on our own, the support of another is invaluable when striving towards our goals. Whether this allows us to achieve our first turning strokes, progress to the world of coaching or become a top athlete, a reassuring word from a friend, peer or coach can make all the difference!

Running the Women’s Sea Kayak Festival in South Devon I watched women’s skills and confidence grow in the nurturing environment we created.

Seeing women supporting other women encouraged me to formalise a mentoring project that can be replicated by others in any paddling discipline, at any level.

Before setting the scheme up I completed the British Canoeing mentoring e-learning, which helped clarify the lay out and ground rules of the project. It taught the importance of mentoring being a two way interaction and the elements to consider in order to ensure time spent is effective and successful.

During my year as a #ShePaddles Ambassador, I am mentoring five women, with the hope of building their confidence to achieve their paddling goals through a structured framework. I run sessions based on the skills they want to improve and give them challenges to work on between meetings. By maintaining an equal focus on short and long term goals, I hope the paddlers will continue to develop beyond the scheme.

Having asked some female paddlers if they would like to be involved I put together a questionnaire to discover their short/long term goals and rate how they felt about various skills. It was important to know which teaching styles worked for them to maximise learning opportunities. I also asked them about negative paddling experiences and how they had overcome them. It was unsurprising to find a common theme within the replies was a lack of confidence.

www.britishcanoeing.org.uk

In return, I asked that they help another kayaker, male or female, on their paddling journey. Once I’d reassured everyone that being a safe, empathetic and enthusiastic person was qualification enough to encourage another paddler, they made suggestions on ways they could help a friend of the same level take out beginners on sheltered water or gain coaching qualifications.

“The mentoring group gives me a safe place to push myself and improve my paddling. We are mixed ages and abilities but the atmosphere is non-competitive and all about mutual support.

Julie made it clear that she hopes the group will cascade outwards and that we in turn will help to get others onto the water.”

– Karen

“Being in a small group of amazing women, where we support each other and learn together has been great. From a starting point of a relative beginner, I’m now assessing the weather, planning a trip and getting out there. Outwardly I still look scared (that’s just my concentrating face) but inwardly I’ve got the biggest grin.”

– Kate

Putting it into practice We used our first paddling meet to get to know each other while revisiting a few basic skills which the ladies turned into a ‘time warp’ dance, edging and zombie armed forward paddling. We also exchanged ideas on how to help each other.

It was a more enjoyable evening than I could have hoped for!

Between meets, I’ve encouraged everyone to join other paddling trips and lead their own. During lockdown I also ran an online sea kayaking course, working on beginners trip planning and navigation, as though we were going on an actual trip. We then had a Zoom meet afterwards to discuss how the forecast actually panned out and how the trip might have gone.

“Making trip plans and discussing them before and while on the water is a great way of building from what’s written on a bit of paper to what it translates to whilst paddling. No question is deemed too silly to ask. There is never competitiveness, only encouragement.

We are allowed to make mistakes and encouraged to try a different approach next time. For me this is a fantastic learning environment.”

The future of the scheme - can you pass it on?

Up to this point we have had three paddling sessions and there is already a difference in the confidence levels on the water. I’m learning plenty too and I’m not allowed to stay dry and avoid practising rescues!

By the end of my time as a #ShePaddles Ambassador I aim to help the ladies to achieve their goals, as well as build their confidence as paddlers.

It would be fantastic to see a similar scheme run across the UK and I hope that keeping it easy to follow will encourage others to adopt it.

If anyone has any suggestions or comments on how to get more people involved or questions on setting up your own mentoring scheme feel free to contact me: julie.perren18@gmail.com

#SHEPADDLES

Gaining experience in trip planning and learning to build a picture of the day from the forecast information seems a key factor in building confidence, alongside paddle skills and rescues.

The group all now arrive with a trip plan for the day and we talk through which to follow and why it might be the most appropriate option.

15

– Alison

Canoe Focus Late Autumn 2020

16

The greenest unit of energy is the one that isn’t used At Igloo Energy, we are delighted to announce that we are the official energy partner for British Canoeing.

You might think it strange that an energy company is so happy to partner with an organisation who cares about the environment, but we are not your usual energy company.

their energy consumption, we estimate how much they could save from a range of energy saving products. Depending on the set up in the home, not all products will save you money - if this is the case we will tell you!

Who are Igloo Energy?

We are an energy company who are passionate about the environment we live in. Our mission is to help make our customers’ homes smarter, more efficient and cost less to run while helping the world get a cleaner energy system.

On average 31% of a household’s total carbon emissions comes from heating It is no surprise that the biggest carbon emitter in the average home is the fossil fueled boiler. Air source heat pumps are an alternative way to heat your home and can be up to four times more efficient than the traditional boiler.

How we differ?

We truly believe the greenest unit of energy is the one that isn’t used. As a result, we want to supply our customers with as little gas and electricity as possible, and instead provide customers with recommendations on products we believe can actually reduce their energy bills. Using what we know about our customer’s homes and

Our team of experts can help you understand if an air source heat pump would save you money on your bills, lower your carbon footprint and if you have not already, find out how to make the most of Government schemes to help pay towards the cost of the system.

To learn more about air source heat pumps or to recieve a personalised free quote today visit: igloo.energy/britishcanoeing or call 0333 016 4500

Keeping Your Qualifications up to date and current

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Whether you’re a Paddlesport Instructor, Coach, Leader or Guide, it’s important to ensure your Membership, First Aid and Safeguarding qualifications remain in date to meet operational requirements.

Membership

Holding a recognised and valid First Aid certificate is essential to keep any British Canoeing qualification current. All Paddlesport Instructors, Coaches, Leaders and Guides have a responsibility to maintain an appropriate, and current First Aid award to ensure you can look after paddlers in your care.

Maintaining full National Association membership provides civil liability insurance, professional indemnity and a range of other benefits. Become a member of your National Association today.

See our First Aid Policy for full details.

Please note: This does not apply to paddlesport instructors that work under direct supervision.

Safeguarding Training Safeguarding training is a fundamental requirement and demonstrates your commitment to protecting everyone who participates in paddlesport. The individuals you coach and lead determine the level of training you require. As part of our ongoing review process, we have introduced changes to our safeguarding requirements for both Coaches and Leaders.

British Canoeing has a variety of training opportunities available for Instructors, Coaches and Leaders. If you do not work regularly with children or adults at risk, or need to refresh your safeguarding training, British Canoeing has a range of low cost eLearning packages available.

As an Instructor, Coach, Leader or Guide, you’ll recognise your need to continually maintain your skills to reflect current best practice in paddlesport activity.

British Canoeing recognises the commitment, time and effort made when obtaining qualifications and, aligned with our educational philosophy, wants to provide you with ownership of your continual development.

Considering your own areas for development as an Instructor, Coach, Leader or Guide will help you identify appropriate methods of staying up to date with current practices, consider new ideas and research, as well as continually improve the experience you provide to others whilst on the water.

Discussions with your peers, coach developers or mentors will assist you in reflecting on your current practice and areas for considering development. British Canoeing’s self-analysis tools may be helpful to suggest areas you may want to consider as part of your development.

We encourage you to develop yourself through a variety of means by seeking formal, non-formal and informal development opportunities.

British Canoeing qualifications, awards and learning resources are still very much recognised as appropriate CPD and individual records are updated automatically.

Instructors, Coaches, Leaders and Guides will need to gain 20 points every three years by uploading evidence on their record.

Canoe Focus Late Autumn 2020

• All Coaches and Leaders will need to engage in appropriate safeguarding training as a prerequisite before assessment • All qualified Leaders will need to engage in appropriate safeguarding training to keep their qualifications valid • All Coaches and Leaders will need to refresh their safeguarding training every three years to keep their qualifications valid and meet the Update Scheme requirements

Continuous Professional Development (CPD)

COACHING & LEADERSHIP

FIRST AID TRAINING

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#ShePaddles with sharks;

a #ShePaddles sea kayaking adventure As summer came to an end two British Canoeing #ShePaddles Ambassadors, Kirstie Macmillan and Jess Philip (#ShePaddles Ambassador for Scotland) joined third paddler Cat Ince for a long overdue adventure. Together they headed to the Scottish Isles of Raasay and Rona to undertake a classic Scottish sea paddle. From traditional grey seals and otters, to golden eagles and deer accompanied by their fawns, the journey was alive with wildlife!

Lurking just below the surface however, was something quite incredible...

PADDLING SCOTLAND

The islands of Raasay and Rona lie nestled to the east of Skye, protected from all but northerly winds and swell from the North Atlantic.

Together ‘Team Otter’, as they call themselves, planned to circumnavigate from Sconser on the Isle of Skye. Here Kirstie documents the magic of the adventure and relives their incredible encounter with the island’s gentle giants.

confirmed it.”It’s not an otter, it’s a basking shark!” I yelled. We couldn’t believe it. The gentle giant was completing laps of the small bay, filtering the cloudy, plankton-rich water with an air of elegance and grace. The creature entirely contradicted the traditional image of sharks depicted by films like Jaws.

We were awestruck. Jess tried to stay back, but the shark proceeded to calmly swim between, around and behind our boats, occasionally flicking its tail to u-turn around a patch of plankton. The most incredible moments were when its nose broke the surface of the water.

Only then did we appreciate the sheer size from head to tail and width of its gaping mouth!

After taking some time appreciating the spectacle, we were on our way, completing our circumnavigation of Rona amongst the company of sea eagles, harbour seals and discussions of our lucky encounter.

www.britishcanoeing.org.uk

After an 30km paddle into a stiff headwind on our first day from Sconser to northern Raasay, we were gifted a stunningly calm day for our paddle around the Isle of Rona. Relieved to launch into the open sea and journey northwards into a calm Atlantic swell, we rounded into the little bay of Geodha Chùil-Tairbh near the lighthouse. Cat alerted us to an otter. At first, I couldn’t see what she was pointing at due to the sunlight dancing on the surface of the water, but suddenly I saw it.

Suddenly a huge grey fin appeared on the surface of the water and a flick of a tail behind

Despite a long day paddling, we were kept awake that evening with lots of questions: How big do they grow? How long do they live?

Do they have teeth? Is their eyesight any good? Are they affected by plastic pollution?

Eventually though tiredness took over and we fell asleep to the sounds of lethargic lapping waves.

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The next morning brought wild and windy weather giving us a free day to rest, enjoy the views and take in lochs and hills whilst collecting fresh water for our final paddle back to Sconser the next day.

With the shark from Rona still on our minds, we collected a few handfuls of plastic items from the beach near our campsite and launched for our final leg to complete our circumnavigation of Raasay. We were quickly advancing southward with fantastic vistas of the Trotternish Ridge to the west and The Cuillins to the south. Finally, a little way past the shielings of Manish More, we found a suitable landing beach for lunch. As we sat in contemplation, watching the waves break a large fin appeared from behind the rocks...”Shark! No. Two sharks!” We couldn’t believe our luck and it got even better.

The UK waters are full of wonderful seabirds, seals, sharks and cetaceans. Respect the wildlife which you encounter and follow the marine code; give it plenty of space and let it come to you if it wishes to do so.

You can help record and research the wildlife you spot in the water, by submitting your encounters via the Seawatch Foundation website.

Despite the ominous silhouettes of fins on the surface, basking sharks are relatively docile, their brain is just 10cm long, rather disproportionate to their length which can get up to 11 metres!

The sighting of one basking shark off Rona left us awestruck, but seeing eight off western Raasay left us grinning like Cheshire cats!

On our return to relative civilization (and an overdue hot shower), we spent some time researching basking sharks to find that they are

“

It was an amazing trip for my first sea kayak expedition. I still can’t believe how much wildlife there could be round a small island.

”

Jess Philip, #ShePaddle Ambassador for Scotland

Canoe Focus Late Autumn 2020

Over the next hour we saw eight basking sharks, some appearing from beneath our boats whilst we were watching another set of fins in the distance scoot across the water. At one point, we had sharks beside us and sea eagles above us.

Coupled with the epic scenery, it felt as if we had paddled into a scene from Jurassic Park!

PADDLING SCOTLAND

It was comforting to spend time in reflection enjoying the simple things without the stress and anxiety 2020 has brought. We were adventuring, exploring the edge of our comfort zones and sharing amazing experiences together. Even the persistent midgies couldn’t dampen our spirits!

very mysterious creatures. Scientists are still unsure how long they live, where they mate or where they give birth. What we do know however, is that they are an endangered species.

Although protected in the UK, their liver oil, skin and fins are still highly prized on the East Asian market and closer to home, they are under threat from boat and propeller strikes. Perhaps most upsetting is their needless risk of ingesting ocean plastics and losing their vital plankton food source due to global warming and ocean acidification.

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Kit to keep you warm The arrival of autumn and the advent of winter shouldn’t be a barrier to paddling. With the right clothing you can enjoy getting on the water all year round. Here’s our guide to some of the best kit for keeping warm and getting the most from paddling through the winter months.

Tsangpo suit The ultimate one piece baselayer for cold conditions. Made from super soft‚ stretchy Pontetorto fabric‚ treated with Polygiene for odour control. The soft‚ natural feeling fleece‚ flatlocked seam construction and two way zipper access make it so comfy you’ll never want to take it off

NeoFlex hood

WINTER KIT

£114.95

A thin, super-stretch hood ideal for use under a helmet or as a spring or summer stand alone.

Made from Thermospan lined NeoFlex neoprene. The neck is shaped to fit over paddle jacket neck gaskets.

Talon mitts An open palm design with internal finger separation for increased control, the Talon mitten allows you to maintain a grip on your paddle and still keep your hands warm.

Made from 3mm Quick Dry thermal lined neoprene, with a GlideSkin cuff seal and grippy palm print.

£24.95

£27.95 Available in men’s and women’s

www.britishcanoeing.org.uk

Red Original Performance Top

The Performance Layer Top keeps you comfortable when paddling or undertaking outdoor activities on cooler days, and looks smart off the water too. Dri-release technology wicks moisture and keeps you from overheating. Zipped pockets keep small items safe and thumb-loops offer extra hand-warmth

£49.95

21

STRETCH FLEECE PANTS Thermal Rashy Perfect for kayaking and canoeing in most conditions, Peak UK’s Thermal Rashy is a super warm, quick drying and wicking long sleeve base layer.

£45

Wind and water resistant, super warm and super comfy, the Stretch Fleece Pants are great for kayak, canoe or SUP

£55

One Piece Suit

£625

WINTER KIT

The ultimate cold weather onesie. Peak UK have a range of one piece suits ideal for staying snug as a bug in a boat!

Rab classic Womens Microlight Alpine Jacket Now with fully recycled fabrics and down, the Microlight Alpine Jacket is as iconic as ever and is perfect for any adventure - land or water

£195

Designed for cold environments, the Bridgedale Womens Heavyweight Merino Comfort Sock offers superb softness as well as excellent thermal and moisture control. Ideal for keeping your toes toasty in the outdoors.

£21

The Men’s Icarus Insulated Jacket from Montane is a toasty insulated jacket keeping you snug in cold conditions. Incredibly lightweight and warm, it comes in a small pack size and is perfect for carrying on paddles

£150 Don’t forget members of British Canoeing can enjoy 15% off Cotswold Outdoor.

More information can be found via your member enews.

Canoe Focus Late Autumn 2020

Montane Mens Icarus Jacket

Bridgedale Womens Heavyweight Merino Comfort Sock

22

Get ready for your

Leadership Award!

In January 2021, British Canoeing will introduce a new Leadership Award suite aligned to the British Canoeing educational philosophy aimed at increasing the number of qualified leaders and providing more opportunities for people to paddle.

COACHING & LEADERSHIP

The new awards are ideal for clubs, centres and activity providers looking to lead groups on single or mixed craft journeys, from sheltered water to advanced water.

The new awards suite offers optional training and direct entry opportunities meaning you can start your development journey today and ensure you’re prepared for the new awards in January.

Your individual journey to becoming a qualified leader From formal training to more bespoke opportunities, Leaders can choose their own development journey. Private tuition, in-house training, shadowing other leaders or conference/symposium workshops are just a few options available.

• Leading skills: From January 2021, optional leadership training courses will be available across disciplines covering; leadership skills and group management, associated personal skills as well as safety and rescue skills. Alternatively, already qualified leaders can support your development through shadowing • Personal skills: The Personal Performance Awards are a great way of supporting your skill development across a range of environments and disciplines. Why not speak to a coach or leader at your club who will be able to provide some coaching on the specific skills you require?

www.britishcanoeing.org.uk

• Safety skills: Safety is paramount across all disciplines and environments and a range of the leadership routes include safety or navigation training as a prerequisite. Why not book your course now?

Don’t wait until January - start your leadership journey today!

23

To find out more about the new Leadership Awards, visit the British Canoeing Awarding Body website here

• A valid British Canoeing recognised First Aid award (valid within three years). To find the appropriate first aid qualification for your role click here and book on today!

• Up to date Safeguarding Training (valid within three years). British Canoeing offers a range of online safeguarding packages, as well as face to face courses • Membership. Membership provides liability insurance. To purchase your membership visit your National Association website today

From comfort your sofa…

From thethe comfort of yourofsofa…

COACHING & LEADERSHIP

All leaders will require -

• The Leadership eLearning package is an optional supportive resource that takes you through some of the key principles behind the British Canoeing model of leadership, exploring influences on a leader’s behaviours as well as leadership approaches • The digital library is full of resources to support you in your understanding and knowledge, alongside other eLearning such as buoyage, nutrition and looking after the environment Coming soon to the CanoeingCanoeing Awarding Body website…

Coming soon toBritish the British Awarding Body website…

• Downloadable logbook - Capture and reflect on your experiences with your logbook, this will enable you to consider your progress ahead of an assessment. You can use this as a record once qualified • Guidance for leading mixed craft is ideal if you’re looking to become a Paddlesport Leader or Paddlesport Touring Leader • Leading in an unfamiliar environment resource. Whether you’re driving 20 miles down the road to a new location or planning an overseas expedition, this resource will provide top tips and considerations for paddling in new places

Canoe Focus Late Autumn 2020

• Leadership Self-Analysis Tool - identify specific areas of development, so you can plan your bespoke learning journey based on your needs

Available At

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Stepping away from normal life – a Journey through T H E

INSIDE

PASSAGE

Anna is a wanderer at heart. She loves to spend her life in pursuit of new and intriguing experiences and is always quietly planning her next endeavour.

While not at her day job or out exploring the world, she enjoys trail running, backpacking, and eating delicious food.To find out more about her Inside Passage trip, check out https://kayaktheinside passage.com

Words: Anna Grondin Photos: Anna Grondin and Jeremy Nylander The idea of this expedition, and probably the success of our relationship, started with a seemingly benign question asked late one night while packing for another trip. Jeremy turned to me and asked if I’d ever wanted to kayak the Inside Passage.

Since I had spent two seasons guiding sea kayaking trips off the coast of British Columbia, Canada, I was familiar with the route. While I had never considered it a real possibility, it had always intrigued me. “Sure, of course,” I replied, smiling. It takes a special kind of person to find a 90-day sea kayaking expedition in some of the wettest country around a desirable idea, and we were both thrilled to have found such a person.

The Inside Passage is a waterway that stretches 1,200 miles, winding its way through the islands that form the upper west coast of North America. These islands and coastline receive about 200 inches of rain a year and are home to the largest temperate rainforest in the world. The shores are covered with Sitka spruce and hemlock forests where grizzly and black bears, moose, river otters, and other animals make their homes. Thousands of humpback whales reaching 60 feet in length and 40 tons migrate to these waters every summer to feed. A large population of resident and transient orca whales also reside here.

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The idea sat on a low simmer for several months but solidified the next year when we went on a nine-day kayaking trip in British Columbia. During that trip, the dream turned into a goal, and our path was set. We spent the next year preparing and purchasing gear, planning our route, and getting ready to step away from our everyday lives. I asked for a three-month leave of absence from work and Jeremy quit his job. We asked my parents to watch my dog, Rudager, for the summer. I spent hours pouring over maps and researching the water and weather conditions.

The Inside Passage is mostly remote with only a spattering of small towns along the way. For the miles and days between towns, we would be almost completely alone. Our only encounters with humans would be cruise ships, freighters, and the occasional fishing vessel. We planned out 100 days’ worth of meals and shipped packages of shelf-stable food ahead to pick up in the towns. We would supplement these with groceries purchased at local stores.

Our intended route started in Bella Coola, British Columbia, Canada and headed 90 miles out to the coastal town of Bella Bella and then travelled north to Juneau, Alaska. From Juneau, we would go west to spend a few days in Glacier Bay National Park and then paddle north again to Skagway – the northern terminus of the Inside Passage. From Skagway, we planned to ferry back to Bella Bella and then paddle south as far as possible before I had to return to work and real life.

I would love to say that we had no fears, but during the weeks that led up to our start date, we were both nervous. Between the two of us, Jeremy and I had several years of cumulative backcountry experience, we both had wilderness first aid training, we were

experienced paddlers, and we had thoroughly planned this trip. We were as prepared as we could have been, but we still slept uneasily. It wasn’t until we put our boats into the water and took the first paddle strokes of the trip that we relaxed.

WORRIES WERE OVER After we pushed offshore that first time, the decisions and worries were over – no more last-minute packing choices, no more explaining to our friends and relatives that we really wouldn’t have cell service, no more wondering if we were strong and skilled enough, we just had to paddle. I felt a rush of relief followed immediately by a sense of profound accomplishment.

Most expeditions fail before they even start. When they are just dreams pulling at a person's heart, they dwindle and die, suffocated by routine and normalcy.

But we had done it. We were there. Boats in the water, life put on hold, all we had to do was paddle.

As we crossed the inlet and paddled along the shores that first day we were overwhelmed with the scenery.

Snow-capped mountains rose straight out of the water towering into the sky.The water was clear and blue, the breeze cool, and the sun warm. A pod of porpoises passed us, leaping and jumping out of the water. We arrived at our first campsite, feeling quite pleased with ourselves.This feeling was short-lived, however. Seeking out a flat spot away from the tide to set our tent, we instead ran into a black bear, which is not necessarily a problem, but we also found a bear lure – part of the bear research going on in the area. We are relatively comfortable sharing space with bears, but certainly not interested in camping next to a bear lure. A bit defeated, we paddled on to another pebble beach.

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Over the next week, we experienced many firsts – our first night falling asleep to the snoring of humpbacks, our first weather day when gale-force winds kept us on land, and Jeremy’s first beachside hot spring to name a few. We paddled through some of the worst weather of our kayaking careers – pouring rain, fierce headwinds, large and confused waters. We were constantly tired and sore as our bodies adjusted to eighthour paddle days and consecutive nights sleeping on the ground. And we were ecstatic. We were free of our jobs, free of the routine of everyday life, and loving every second of it.

We made it to Bella Bella, our first coastal town, in high spirits. Our package of food was waiting for us at the post office, we took showers, washed our clothes, called our families, and ate more fish and chips than we would like to admit. We spent two nights in Bella Bella preparing for the next leg of our trip. From Bella Bella, we would paddle a little more than 200 miles to the next town of Prince Rupert. We carried food for 21 days, filling every crevice in our boats, to ensure we were prepared for the weather or emergency delays.

PACIFIC OCEAN SWELL As we left Bella Bella and crossed Seaforth Channel, we paddled through waters that were exposed to the force of the Pacific. Ocean swell came in from Milbank Sound and combined with the waves to create an interesting effect that left Jeremy a bit green. But we crossed safely and in the company of several humpbacks.

That evening we paddled in perfectly calm waters through a small archipelago, watching as the sun dipped low on the horizon and painted the water orange. We slept on a tiny island, alone under the stars listening to the waves roll onto the shore. We were 11 days in, we felt strong and capable and were excited for the rest of our summer.

We paddled through the next weeks in nearly constant awe of the world around us. An extremely low tide gave us a rare glimpse of the underwater world. Bears and wolves visited us onshore and in our camps. We saw more whales than we could count and routinely slept serenaded by their breathing.

Each afternoon we started scouting for a campsite, trying to outdo each other in picking the perfect small island to camp on. We pitched our tent on beaches when we could or in the forest when extreme high tides forced us back. We carried fresh vegetables, good cheese, and lots of butter and enjoyed fine backcountry dining nearly every night.

https://spotwalla.com/tripViewer.php?id=1de535cd c2ddbc4d43&hoursPast=0&showAll=yes

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AK, take the ferry back to Bella Bella and finish our trip by paddling south. We had completed our journey this far in enough time that with a bit of a push we would be able to paddle back to Jeremy’s childhood home in Shelton, WA, ending our expedition on the beach he played on as a boy.

We also struggled. There were hard weather days, opposing tides, and 11 straight days of rain. Our sleeping pad delaminated and we spent most of the trip sleeping on it deflated, with no padding from the rocks and roots below. As we moved north, the days lengthened, and the rain stopped. Alaska was experiencing one of the driest summers on record, and it became hard to find freshwater for drinking and cooking as the streams dried up.

At times we were on high alert, sometimes even scared. When we crossed Portland Inlet, we paddled through the largest waters I hope to ever be on in a kayak. Pacific Ocean swell meets a confluence of flowing tidal water and creates a stretch where even much larger boats take caution. At Holkham Bay, two fjords converge and then pour their waters out through a narrow channel creating dangerous whirlpools and rips. We crossed Holkham at slack tide but still found ourselves in strong currents with waves and whirls. Icebergs and tree limbs were being carried out of the fjords by the water. We dodged them as we raced the current, which was pulling us at an alarming speed towards a massive standing wave set created by the meeting waters. Our limits of exhaustion and stress were reached and passed many times over the summer, but with each experience, we grew as paddlers and as a team.

GLACIER BAY NATIONAL PARK On day 61, we pulled our boats onshore near the visitor centre of Glacier Bay National Park ready to spend a few days enjoying the pristine place. We would then continue the last bit north to Skagway,

When walking into towns in dry bibs and dry tops, hauling armfuls of drybags, we are easily recognizable as kayakers. It was no different at Glacier Bay, and as we opened the door to the visitors centre, we were greeted with an interesting welcome: “Any chance you are Jeremy?” We nodded, yes. “You’re mom has been calling.” The Alaskan Ferry, a crucial piece of our plan, had been in labour disputes and the workers had gone on strike. Jeremy’s mother was anxiously trying to reach us to let us know the ferries were not running. With the ferry system down, we had no way to return from Skagway to Bella Bella.

This news was devastating. It felt like our dream was torn from us in one benign comment from this young national park ranger. We walked back to our boats, discouraged and tried to regroup. Immediately our minds were running with alternative plans. We landed on this – we would spend two weeks in Glacier Bay instead of the four days we had planned. We would not worry about ferries or schedules until we returned to the visitor centre. If the ferry workers were still on strike at that point, we would try to rent a car and drive back, if not we would continue paddling north to Skagway and take the ferry back home.

The first few days in Glacier Bay were hard. We felt defeated, and the constant drizzle seemed to agree with our mood. But on day three, the weather broke, and as the clouds retreated the incredible beauty of that place was revealed to us. 7,000-foot peaks jutted straight out of cerulean blue waters. Goats trotted up cliffs and through grassy alpine meadows. Fall was arriving, and the shore plants were changing, their colours turning the reds and oranges of autumn.

For the first time on our trip, we were freed from deadlines and schedules. We paddled slowly, taking in the beauty around us. We spent nearly every other day resting, talking about our lives, and dreaming up future trips. Our trip this far had been incredible. It had pushed us to our limits and further. It pushed our relationship, as well. And sitting in that beautiful place, we looked back and saw how we had changed, how we had found new strength in ourselves and each other.

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blew down from the glacier. This was possibly the northernmost point of our trip, and we couldn't have asked for a better end. We stayed there for two days, the longest our permit would allow, and reluctantly packed our boats for the return to the ranger station and news of the ferry strike.

We arrived at the ranger station to find an agreement had been made, and the ferries were running again.

We continued north for another five wonderful days.

A storm chased us up Lynn Canal, and we made a great time, averaging nearly 25 miles a day.

GLACIER BAY Every day that we paddled further into Glacier Bay, the scenery became larger, the waters colder and our excitement increased. Glacier Bay has 11 tidewater glaciers - glaciers that reach the water, terminating in magnificent 200ft cliffs of jagged ice. Their towers slowly being eroded as the glaciers push downward and the tide melts their base. Eventually, the great towers of ice calve off and crash into the water with waves that can be felt miles away. We started to encounter iceberg bits floating in the water as we approached the first of these glaciers. The water became so cold that sitting in our boats with just the thin layer of fibreglass below was almost unbearable.

We heated water and put hot water bottles near our feet. I wore every piece of clothing I had and still was not warm. To capsize in those cold waters would be extremely dangerous.

We found a flat spot to camp at the base of Johns Hopkins Glacier- the prize of Glacier Bay. We slept at the bottom of a massive waterfall; its milky grey waters crashed down behind our tent. All night we listened to the thunder of glaciers calving, the shockwaves reverberating in our chests. In the morning, I drank coffee in the sun as an icy breeze

Landing in Skagway Harbor, we pulled our boats out of the water for the last time. All too abruptly, our trip was over. We transitioned from expedition kayakers to tourists with just a shower and a change of clothes. It seemed surreal.

We hadn't completed the trip as we planned, but what we experienced was more incredible than anything we could have imagined. The 82 days we spent kayaking through the Inside Passage changed us, making us stronger as individuals and together. We were pushed to our limits and beyond. We saw the beauty that brought tears to our eyes, we co-existed with bears and whales, slept under old-growth forests, and paddled at the base of massive calving glaciers.

We had hours upon hours to think over our lives, our decisions, our goals. We redefined what we desired in life and talked about how to achieve it.

People often ask how the trip was, but how can we explain thousands of incredible moments in a short conversation? Nearly every day, something amazing happened – some days it was wolves, or glaciers, or stormy seas. Some days it was eating a great meal with my best friend on a tiny island with no one around for miles. Thousands of incredible moments that string together to make up an incredible summer, a life-changing journey.

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ThePADDLER 114

The Spey descent idea was born on a paddle on the Thames from Cricklade to Lechlade in April 2019, long before the Covid Pandemic. Following this lovely, but very lowland paddle, some of us fancied a highland adventure.

There were nine of us, ranging in age from 20-70, including my family of five, my friend Robin Buxton, Robin’s friend Hanne, and Alana andTrevor from our canoe club.

By Sarah Webster At first, we debated whether we should go for the Spey descent or the Great Glen. The crucial deciding factor was that there are no portages involved in the Spey descent. Robin, who had polio when he was 18 months old and is now 70, has reduced mobility (50m walking). He is also the most stoical person I know. As a former marathon kayaker, with experience of paddling a wide variety of boats in many places including dug-out canoes in Pongo Songo (Cameroon) to his own big wooden Canadian on the Thames, he told me he was unconcerned about the distances we would need to paddle, but much more concerned about the distances we might need to walk.

A paddling friend put me in touch with a wonderful organisation, Equal Adventure, coincidentally based in Grantown-on-Spey, on our route. Suresh Paul, their Director and Principal Advocate, advised that Robin would be fine, provided he was prepared to ‘cuff it’. Suresh made an extra-strong, high viz bag for Robin’s wheelchair, so we could take it in a canoe without it becoming an entrapment hazard, as well as new knee-pads for Robin.

COVID PANDEMIC With the Covid pandemic came all sorts of uncertainties: would we be able to travel freely from England to Scotland? Would a group of our size be allowed to meet outdoors? Would Hanne be able to travel from Denmark to Scotland and back without quarantine? What if one or more of the group contracted Covid?

I accepted that Covid and its associated restrictions might stop us from going, I was determined that uncertainty itself must not deter us from preparing in every other way. So we read the excellent guides by Nancy Chambers and David Craig, and arranged boat hire. We practised paddling for relevant distances on moving water, experimented with packing our boats, checked the tides, and asked friends who had made the trip about the best campsites to aim for. We devised separate ‘cooking clans’ or households so that we were not sharing utensils and crockery. And we lived in hope.

As it turned out, at the time of our trip, up to 15 people from five households were allowed to meet outdoors. Hanne was able to fly from Denmark via Manchester, and I was able to book accommodation for the night before the trip. We hired our boats from Active Outdoor Pursuits, in Newtonmore, a mixture of Silverbirch open canoes and Dagger Stratos touring kayaks.

Finally, the day arrived, and we started our descent at Loch Insh, putting on near Kincraig Church. We had opted to start the trip on the last day of August when the days are still long, and air temperatures are warm. On the other hand, river levels were low, and we were still in the main fishing season.

On this first day, we started in the afternoon and paddled for a couple of hours, stopping when we found a wild camping spot just below Aviemore. As we paddled through the majestic scenery of the Cairngorms, we were lucky enough to see both red squirrels and Osprey – first one bird, and then a pair – still here before embarking on their long flight to Africa for the winter.

We successfully negotiated the sharp dog-leg in the river that we had been warned about, where the river flows relatively fast past fallen trees. The camping spot we found was in an area of long grass under alder trees. In Scotland, you are allowed to camp on most unenclosed land, provided that you are well away from roads and habitation and leave no trace. Definitive guidance on this can be found @ www.canoescotland.org/coaching-andleadership/guide-modules.

RIVER SPEY Low-down on a Highland paddle

Loch Insh to Aviemore by Alana Pain

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NO STINGING NETTLES In the morning, we awoke to sunlight streaming through the trees and saw a pair of roe deer moving through the vegetation along the nearby railway line. Robin pointed out the absence of stinging nettles, indicating the lack of extraneous nutrient levels in the soil. We continued on our journey, seeing herons, dippers and a flock of fieldfares making their characteristic calls.

It was a windier day, but as the river flows north-east, the south-westerly winds blew us along. We were treated to a surreal experience of paddling through a snowstorm of thistledown. Small globes being bowled along the water surface by the wind, without being swamped, like tumbleweed. We stopped for lunch in a field full of the violet-blue flower-heads of devils-bit scabious, a plant rarely seen in such profusion in southern Britain.

We went aground quite a bit in this section, but eventually reached the beautiful 15-span timber Broomhill Bridge, which was built in 1894. Two miles further on, we reached the commercial but basic campsite at Boat of Balliefurth, run by Ronnie and Adelaide Macpherson. We had booked in advance, and Adelaide met us and showed us around.

There were a tap and a loo and piles of brushwood that Trevor used to build us a lovely campfire. A group of canoeists soon joined us on a guided trip with Wilderness Scotland. The next morning we awoke to a different sort of day – cloudy and drizzly.

We established that on balance, we were going slightly faster than the Wilderness Scotland group, so we overtook them, although we were to see them several more times during the trip as both groups stopped for breaks. They warned us, however, that there was a Covid cluster in Grantown-on- Spey, so we paddled on to Cromdale Church seeing red-kites and oystercatcher and a lot of salmon leaping close in front of us.

DONNED OUR HELMETS At this point, the river is starting to pick up the pace, and we donned our helmets; unlike many other rivers, the Spey gets faster as it is joined by tributaries that drain the surrounding hills, while it keeps to a relatively narrow channel. On this day we somehow managed to break two paddles (one canoe and one kayak paddle) – a salutary reminder of the need to take spare paddles!

The next feature which the guides warn about was Advie Bridge. Here, at low water levels, the main flow is to the left of the island immediately before the bridge, yet the left-hand gap is to be avoided, as there are submerged bridge pillars from an earlier bridge. It was helpful to be forewarned about this, and we successfully steered to the right.

We then arrived at the 'Washing machine', a big, bouncy wavetrain, which Jamie and Alana inspected before leading us all safely down it. Immediately afterwards, we arrived at Blacksboat Bridge and started looking for a campsite. We phoned the estate before leaving our boats under the bridge and found sufficient flattened grass to pitch our tents among some recently planted saplings. At this point, it was getting distinctly windy, although we were treated to a beautiful evening sky.

We were now in the prime fishing beats of the river. The Spey is a premier salmon fishing river, and anglers spend considerable sums of money to be able to fish a given

We woke up to sunshine streaming through the trees.

By Sarah Webster

stretch of river for a day. While there is a right of navigation through the water, it is perhaps inevitable that tensions arise. A tremendous amount of work is being done to build good relationships between the paddling and the angling communities. These depend on mutual respect, and paddlers are advised to alert anglers to their presence using a whistle (although we found a 'whoop, whoop' with the human voice worked better), and then pass on the side that the angler indicates. We found the great majority of the anglers to be friendly and cordial, although on occasion we had a distinct impression that we were being filmed or photographed.

CAPSIZED We left Blacksboat in glorious sunshine and soon reached the Knockando Rapids. This was to be our longest day’s paddling (30km), but also our fastest. One of our tandem canoes was tripped up by a rock in a shallow rapid and capsized, but was quickly rescued, and only a water bottle was lost overboard. We saw lots of grey wagtail, heron, and mergansers, but we were also starting to see the invasive plants Japanese Knotweed and Himalayan Balsam.

When we stopped at a beach for lunch, we saw both lupins – a naturalised garden escape – and the shells of the Freshwater Pearl Mussel, a threatened species for which Scotland is a stronghold. We paddled on, eventually reaching the beautiful Victoria Bridge (also known as the ‘penny’ bridge, referring to the toll that used to be charged) at Aberlour.

We stopped here to visit the renowned deli, the Spey Larder http://speylarder.com and bought all manner of provisions for a feast at the end of our trip. Astonishingly, some fellow canoeists had retrieved the lost water bottle from the river after an angler spotted it, and returned it to us! We were all a little exhausted when we arrived at the campsite just above Boat O’Brig and were easily lulled to sleep by the sound of the river lapping the stones on the shore.

The Spey gets faster as it is joined by tributaries that drain the

surrounding hills, while it keeps to a relatively narrow channel

We paddled through the majestic scenery of the Cairngorms

By Alana Pain

Jack and Robin – the home strait.

By Holly Webster

The put in at Kincraig by Alana Pain

Thistledown by Alana Pain

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SEVEN PILLARS OF HERCULES On our final day, we set off especially early, unsure whether we could cover the remaining 20km in a morning’s paddling. We need not have worried; the river sped along, past sandy cliffs with sand martin holes, and the lovely red earth pillars, known as the 'Seven Pillars of Hercules' taking several tight turns that required active paddling to avoid going into trees.

Finally, we reached the old railway bridge at Garmouth and knew that we were soon to reach the sea. We arrived at lunchtime, just as a spring high tide was pouring into Spey Bay. Suddenly, the wind was in our face, whipping up waves, as if to rebuke us for our pride. The storm soon passed, however, and we hugged each other in our 'clans' and went to skim pebbles into the Moray Firth.

Top 10 tips 1. Research the trip before you go – read Nancy Chambers’ excellent River Spey Canoe Guide and David Craig’s River Spey guide which is available online: www.speydescent.com/speyguide.htm 2. Nine people in seven craft/tents represent a maximum reasonable number for a group, as both camping spots and eddies are limited; 3. With no portages, and camping spots in easy reach of the bank, this makes a good trip for paddlers with restricted mobility; although we took Robin’s wheelchair in a canoe, we did not need to use it; 4. You need one or two experienced river leaders and rescuers, as it is not always clear which is the main channel, and the presence of anglers and rocks complicates decisions; 5. There is undoubtedly a trade-off between the longer days and warmer conditions of summer on the one hand, and low water levels and clash with the salmon fishing season on the other; 6. Practise paddling the necessary distances, as well as on moving water, before you go – one of the paddles was 30km (18 miles); 7. Practise packing your boat, especially if you are in a touring kayak. Packing kit in multiple small dry-bags gives you much more flexibility than one or two large ones; 8. A mixture of canoes and kayaks works well, as the canoes offer greater capacity for transporting some of the communal items; 9. Have some back-up camping sites in case the ones you aim for are taken; 10. Take spare paddles!

Carron Bridge by Sarah Webster

We eventually reached the beautiful Broomhill Bridge

by Sarah Webster

https://goo.gl/maps/Ndxkkarfd6jHMaos9 Jamie: we have arrived! By Alana Pain

Equal Adventure Resourcing and inspiring, inclusive adventure and active lifestyles since 1995 Equal Adventure designs, manufactures and sells training and equipment to enable inclusive outdoor adventure and active lifestyles with disabled people. It works with disabled people and their families in outdoor adventure and expeditions. With over 500 items of equipment from postural supports and assistive paddling devices to all-terrain wheelchairs, and all the support to facilitate successful experiences, get in touch to discuss your bespoke or off-the-shelf requirements. www.equaladventure.org

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Beginners guide to…

WATER SAFETY

Words: Richard Harpham Photos: Richard Harpham,Ashley Kenlock and the RNLI Water is a unique resource. It can give life and take it away.As an island nation, our heritage is built on using rivers, canals and the high seas to trade and explore the planet we call home. In many faith models, it is the cleansing of the body that leaves us pure.

For me, I was born a ‘water baby', and most of my life have embraced a deep connection to water. As a kid I learned to sail, canoe and kayak, windsurf by joining Viking Kayak Club or saying yes to opportunities. Now years later, with over 11,000 miles of expeditions, a qualified commercial diver, a qualified coach and leader, I want to share some of my safety and survival tips for white water, the sea and general water immersion.

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Living in a town with Britain’s fourth longest river, there are tragic drowning accidents from time to time resulting in local media coverage suggesting strange currents and undertows concluding everyone should avoid the river and water sports. Whilst these are undoubtedly sad and tragic accidents, they are often from people under the influence or who are weak swimmers or misadventure.

It’s a grim stat, that water-related accidents claim over 400 lives a year in the UK and accounts for over 100,000 rescues and incidents according to RoSPA. (Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents) many of which are paddling incidents.

RESCUE TECHNIQUES There is a useful hierarchy of water rescue techniques published by RoSPA, which are developed into rescue strategies as part of the FSRT (Foundation Safety Rescue Training).

Technique

Explanation

Talk

Try to talk to the victim to safety – see if they can help themselves.

Reach (use a paddle)

Reach to aid the victim, could be a branch, a paddle or even some clothes knotted together.

Throw (throwlines)

Throw an aid to the victim, practice with a line, work on underarm skills and overarm as well.

Wade

Wade into the water and provide aid to the victim. In moving water, this can be extremely difficult, and you risk being swept away. In white water safety, we use live bait (a rescue swimmer attached to a line).

Row/paddle

Row out to the victim and help them into your boat/provide them with aid.

As potential canoe, kayak and SUP paddlers, I have rescued countless people over the years.

Swim

Swim out to the victim and provide them with aid. Make sure you can cope with the conditions, river, sea or lake including water temperature.

Tow (use your craft)

Swim out to the victim and tow them back to safety using an aid. Learn these skills by taking a life-saving course.

Carry

Using direct physical contact, remove the victim from danger.

If you are reading this article and thinking I can’t swim or lack water confidence, then book some lessons! In terms of rescue techniques, the golden rule for this is to assess the situation, self, team and then victim before taking action. Seeing the hazards and completing a dynamic risk assessment allows ‘would be’ rescuers to assist without exacerbating the situation.

TOP TIPS 1. Learn to swim 2. Practice rescues, sign up for a course and feel confident in your skills.

OUTDOOR SWIMMING Outdoor swimming is a growing movement and reconnects us with wild open spaces, tranquil pools and reed bed streams, the same places our ancestors learnt to swim. It has significant benefits for fitness, endurance and mental health. Many paddlers use it for cross-training and an opportunity to mess about in the water. We love it and spend many lunch hours and our off-season swimming in rivers, lochs and the sea throughout the year. It takes time to acclimatise to the autumn and winter months, usually resulting in shrieks and gasps.

Outdoor swimming websites identify safe swimming spots and guidelines on best practice and remember in winter; there are no lifeguards on most beaches.

TOP TIPS 1. Learn to swim in a pool and then take those skills to the great outdoors with wild swimming, using a buoyancy aid until you are confident.

2. Build endurance with swimming outdoors, treading water and general confidence.

3. Develop your breathing rhythm for swimming particularly in choppy water 4. Join a local group (many on FaceBook) to swim with others, and they will always know in-depth local knowledge.

COLDWATER IMMERSION Hypothermia is a hazard that is well publicised and creates a sense of realism and fear when discussing watersports or on first aid refresher courses.

However, many people confuse feeling cold and wet with Hyperthermia. Coldwater immersion can create a real sense of panic. Whilst skiing in Norway I fell through the ice crossing a lake and getting out was pretty tricky. While achieving this, my language deteriorated in raw shades of blue as I fell back in. I was then faced with an 8-9km ski with the frozen kit. I am happy to report that my Paramo Clothing passed that test with flying colours and probably saved my life.

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causes a gap which can trap a paddler), siphons (the flow sucked under a large rock), and bridges which can cause a pinning obstacle.

White water paddling is fantastic, pitting you against the mysterious drops, waves and flow of the river but can go wrong. Over the years, I have been pinned on rocks with my legs trapped on several occasions which is scary and has required my teammates to rescue me.

Simple tips for safe paddling include staying close to shore on open water, paddling in calm conditions and wearing a leash and BA when SUP’ing on open water.

Wearing the right kit is an obvious fix as well as carrying spare equipment, a means of contacting emergency services and perhaps some simple rescue kit(pin kit).

DEFENSIVE SWIMMING Defensive swimming is an important survival technique for swimmers in swift water or white water.

Training as a professional paddling instructor has involved various courses with exciting titles like white water rescue and advanced white water rescue. A core skill of the courses is learning defensive swimming in bigger rapids and white water. The idea of launching yourself into a raging torrent may seem alien to most people, but it is essential to learn the appropriate skills in a real and testing environment.

Defensive swimming involves; 1. Swim on your back with feet facing downstream.

2. Knees slightly bent and lower than your bum.

3. Do not put your feet down or they will slow down, and you will end up head first.

4. Set angle to 45 degrees and use backstroke to ‘ferry glide’ or traverse across the river.

5. Try and enter slow-moving water called eddies (usually at the edges).

6. It is Ok to flip onto your front and use front crawl to reach an eddy or safe water.

7. Be aware of foot entrapment hence keeping your feet up.

TOP TIPS 1. Get some professional instruction, join a local club and learn paddling and self-rescue skills.

2. Paddle within your abilities for the conditions.

3. Carry a saw in your buoyancy aid for cutting canoe thwarts and ‘pin kits’ (pulleys, prussiks, carabiners) and throw lines on white water.

4. Download useful apps for location and positioning (What Three Words, OS Locate and GB Postcode Finder) and register your phone with the emergency services.

5. Download Weather apps such as Windfinder and Magic Seaweed for better forecasting.

SEA SURVIVAL The sea is an altogether different beast with a range of hazards to be aware of. For all of us as kids, and bigger kids going to the beach conjures up fond memories of sunny days, ice creams and playing in the sea. My journeys by sea kayak have seen me cross the channel on three occasions, Scotland to Ireland and the Isle of

PADDLING SAFELY Post lockdown and with the prospect of international travel reduced, more people are investing in UK staycations including paddling craft, canoes, kayaks and SUP’s galore. The explosion onto our waterways is marked, and the SUP revolution is leading the way.

Part of this is an increase in inexperienced paddlers heading out onto rivers, lakes and the sea. Recognising the hazards in the conditions is vital to paddle safely.

The rise in inflatable kayaks and SUPs provide easy access but can be tricky in tides and windy conditions.

Weirs, sluices and human-made structures can be fatal forming stoppers (recirculating water) with a tow back that holds the victim. Green buoys guard many on navigable rivers but not always!

Fallen or overhanging trees equally can present a serious risk in moving water where they act like a sieve called a strainer allowing the water to pass through and holding the paddler and or the craft.

Other hazards to avoid in more significant white water are undercuts (where the bank erodes and

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3. Get the forecast including tide times, flows and weather.

4. Stay close and only tackle activities within your ability. If you aim to ‘Go Big’ then hire a professional instructor to de-risk it for you.

ACCESS RIGHTS

Man as well as 1,000 miles of the Inside Passage from Vancouver to Alaska. There are plenty of occasions where we have been well outside our comfort zone on big open sea crossings, in deteriorating conditions and generally holding on, terrified!

Some of the critical things that have made a difference when facing these kinds of risks include being fit and with the right skills. Beyond this, we carry a range of safety equipment, and like insurance, we hope we never have to use. Kit includes EPIRB beacons (Emergency Positioning International Rescue beacons), marine flares and VHF Radios. However, when facing big seas in a small sea, kayak complacency is not the answer.The other kit we have also helped increase our survival chances if things go badly wrong. Good drysuits, buoyancy aid, and good kit help reduce the risk.

On big crossings, we also have to contend with other marine craft, hydration, energy levels and making good plans. You can see some of our bigger sea kayaking and SUP exploits on our new Canoe Trail YouTube Channel with some pretty raw footage. As novices treat the sea with respect, stay close to shore, particularly if faced with offshore winds. Find out about tides, undertows and local rip currents rather than becoming another statistic.

TOP TIPS 1. Support the RNLI as you never know when they might save your life.

2. Ask the locals, from fishermen or women to the

We currently have limited access rights to our inland waters, rivers and lakes (except in Scotland with its right to roam). Current legislation prohibits paddling, swimming or other activities unless there is a statutory right of navigation or local access. British Canoeing is lobbying for a change to allow river access for swimming, dogs and paddling with http://www.riveraccessforall.co.uk.

TOP TIP 1. Be informed about access rights and sign up for the river access campaign.

SIGNING OFF Paddlesports including SUP, canoeing and kayaking, sea kayaking and wild swimming are all ways to boost mental health, fitness and feeling good. They come with an assumed risk that water can be dangerous if we don’t know what we are doing or paddle in conditions outside our skill level. Don’t forget it might be someone else in trouble, so having good first aid knowledge and skills to help might save their life. As a paddler I have rescued other paddlers, countless inflatable dinghies getting blown out to sea, and even a sailing dinghy on my London to Marrakech trip.

Make sure you tell others where you are heading and wear the right kit for the conditions. Learning new skills is fun, so find out what is on offer near you (some elements won’t be possible with social distancing restrictions).

Please stay safe and enjoy our magnificent rivers, lakes and seas.

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US Navy SEAL finds

SOLITUDE out on the water

Exclusive report written by Stephen Weber To become a US Navy SEAL in the military is one of the hardest things to do. Not only do you have to be the top of the top, but you have to be able to conquer the sea, air, and land.

Sean Matson, a decorated Navy SEAL for over 13 years is one of the very few who have served his country in every way possible. Now retired, Sean lives next to a lake (as his love of the water will never retire) and has formed a company with his military brothers called MATBOCK that creates and innovates products that those in-service can use to help survive across the sea, air and land.

We spoke exclusively to Sean about life in retirement away from active duty, the lessons he learned on the water as a SEAL and how the water and paddling has helped his mindset in life overall.

Why is paddling and being out on the water so important to you and your mindset as a person?

I’ve grown up in and around water all my life. Being on the water is peaceful and calming, which allows me to think. I’ve also always used exercise as a way for me to reset myself both mentally and physically. Getting out to paddle allows me to enjoy both nature and exercise.

When was the first time you paddled and were out on the water?

One of my earliest memories was when we went on a rafting trip with my church when I was probably in fourth or fifth grade.

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workout where we incorporate the lake during the summer months. I don’t have anything expensive, but we do own a SUP and kayak, both are plastic so the kids can enjoy them too and I don’t care if they run them into the rocks.

As a Navy SEAL, what types of water training did you have to do? Anything with kayaks, canoes, or other types of boats?

We have to know how to use a lot of different types of watercrafts from SUPs to boats, but usually that training is more specialised and I never went more than just the basics. One of the sayings in the SEAL teams is a ‘jack of all trades, but a master of none’. We spend a lot of time underwater, diving 100% oxygen rebreathers and utilize kayaks, SUPs and jet skis as safety.

As a business owner and inventor now postmilitary, your company MATBOCK has created an incredible state-of-the-art dry bag. Tell us about it and what sets it apart from others on the market?

The biggest difference between our MR Dry Bag and our competitors is that our bag allows for unmatched versatility, durability and ease of use. It comes with a rigid frame which is critical when hiking in more than 40lbs worth of gear.The internal bag is easily accessible with a simple zip of the clamshell zipper on the outer dry bag. Simply unzip the outer dry bag to access your internal bag, which is hard-mounted to the frame allowing you to operate from your internal bag without having to dig through a bunch of gear.This simple, but effective design gives you the ability to quickly access all gear from anywhere in your internal bag.You can also quickly detach your internal bag from the frame to use your internal bag in a dry environment.

You are now retired from active military service and currently live next to a lake. How often do you get out on the water? What types of kayaks/canoes do you use?

During the spring/summer and early fall it is usually four-five times a week. A group of us do a weekly Here is a great video to show all the details of the MR Dry Bag: https://youtu.be/4JD-udJExQA

Will you be creating any other products related to paddlers and those seeking adventure (or that can be used for rescue) on the water?

We have looked at others in the past, but unfortunately they just haven't fit our business model enough to pursue them. We are looking to pyramid shifting technologies that disrupt the competition, some of our products have a bigger shift than others, but that is our goal. We are definitely not opposed to bringing others to the market, we just haven’t found the right ones yet.

Any fun or interesting paddling stories you can share? Any neat adventures you've been on dealing with paddling and your time around the globe?

This didn’t involve paddling, but when we were on an assignment to South Africa, my platoon and I got one

day off where we all went great white shark diving.

One of the coolest adventures that I have been able to do thus far in my life and I plan to go again.

Where is one place you want to still explore most?

Australia. It has some many different types of terrains that I find interesting. I’d love to go there and spend a few weeks exploring all the different terrains.

Do you ever miss your time as a Navy SEAL? I miss the people! I miss the brotherhood of serving beside other people that have my same mentally, but I definitely don’t miss the BS that came with it.

Anything else 'paddling' related you wish to add?

Just get out and enjoy being able to be in nature.

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PIROGUE PLEASURE Sarah Thornely (SUPjunkie), interviews Woo Director of Operations Fanny Ringrave, about the outrigger company, the future and the memories of her father Guy, the founder of Woo, tragically lost at sea in April 2019.

Photos: Woo & Luc Cividino

Fanny – as a proud owner of a Woo Outrigger myself, it’s great to be able to interview you. Can you let me know how long the company has existed and where you are located?

Hello Sarah, it is a pleasure to answer your questions.

The company has been in existence for just over ten years now.

My father built it up from scratch, just from a crazy idea: making a living from his passion. He realised that nobody made outrigger canoes in France and that it was very difficult (but above all, very time-consuming!) to import them.This frustrated him a lot as a practitioner and awakened in him an opportunity as an entrepreneur. Indeed, this was not his first project - he had always set up businesses, but I can say that this was the first one for him with real meaning.

We are based in Anglet in the Basque Country (south-west France). Guy moved there out of love for the region more than 20 years ago.

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make us a significant player in a market that is constantly growing. Guytou had set down his vision for the next five years on paper in a business plan that he had time to finalise. His business plan became our one and only roadmap.

WOO’s future will therefore be through innovation, the optimisation of our manufacturing processes, maintaining and developing employment in France, sustainable development and CSR, products adapted to the practice and its spirit and finally, relevant services that will allow the #WooFamily to be even more connected.

Your father passed away 18 months ago on the water doing what he loved – are you okay to let us know a little bit more about that time, please?

On 24th April 2019, Guy decides to go to sea with three of his friends in a downwinder in his OC1. The departure is from the port of Soccoa in Ciboure for an expected arrival at the port of Anglet. After two hours and 15 minutes of paddling in a windy sea, the team arrives at the mouth of the Adour River. All experienced, side by side and each in turn, they pass this difficult course; it is there that the three other paddlers lose sight of Guy. Despite a quick call for help, he was found the next morning on the beach of Seignosse in the Landes.

Our grief is immense – nevertheless, he left doing what he loved, in the middle of the ocean, where he felt good and free. We find this idea pretty comforting.

He couldn't have dreamed of a better outing. I imagine that knowing this must also help his friends and all the paddlers he left that day.

You and your other family members have taken over the running of the company – how's the transition been over the last 18 months?

The boss left us too early, too abruptly but my sister and I, we are his daughters and – like him – we are not used to giving up. Of course, it wasn’t easy for the company, but it was his project, his passion and from 25th April 2019, it became his team’s dream, and our dream too.

I understand Waina Outrigger Organisation (‘Woo’) was the brainchild of your late father Guy – what were his core values at that time for the business and visions for Woo’s future?

Guytou’s (his nickname) values were very strong: humility, resilience, tenacity, generosity, cohesion, team spirit, authenticity and respect. We are imbued with these values today, and we continue to defend them daily.

He believed very strongly in his idea, which he called ‘his great adventure’. The first ones were not easy. In retrospect, his only mistake was to have been right too soon. About 15 years ago, outrigger canoe was an ultra-confidential sport: there were only two or three boats on French territory.

So, when he said he was going to start an outrigger canoe ‘business’, everyone told him it was crazy, and he readily admitted it himself, but he was a stubborn man! Today, we can say that his determination and all the work he did, allows us – 10 years later – to benefit from the expertise and a serious and stable basis that

With my sister, we went through a long phase of turbulence in which we had to react quickly: management issues, taking stock of the figures, managing the concerns of our partners and suppliers.

We had to make some difficult decisions, but fortunately, we were able to rely on a solid, committed team that never gave up. We were able to count on each, and every one of them and I fully appreciate how lucky we are to have them.

Support, tribute and remembrance, I think that this is what guided us and helped us in this challenging transition. We were carried along by our community (the Woo Family) who supported us very strongly. It is this chain of solidarity that ended up saving the project.

We are proud to manufacture in France, and we have never lost our determination, our strength, our values, and we intend to continue to build this project for him and the whole Woo Family.

We were joined at the end of 2019 by new partners who came to support our development. I have to admit that we needed them. Now the results are there, and we have even more projects in mind!

The Woo family

www.woo-outrigger.com

Guy Ringrave, downwind Photo: Woo

ThePADDLER 135

ThePADDLER 136 You have an incredibly small but loyal and strong team working for you – are they part of the family too?

As I said in the previous question, I am proud to work with each one of them every day. There are not many of us (eight), but all of us are very involved and essential to the success of the project. I want to take this opportunity to thank them individually and collectively for their commitment and the daily ‘good vibes’ they bring!

Some have left, and those who are still here. They all built this project and they are, of course, part of the WOO FAMILY forever. Big up to them!

Which was the first outrigger designed by Guy and which has been the most popular model?

His most beautiful project was the Feline because it is a project that he created for himself. This means with a vision of a practitioner and a passionate person. Guytou was a sailor out of the ordinary, and his thing was navigation and challenging conditions.

What he loved was downwind sailing; it was about understanding the ocean to get the most out of it.

That's why he had the crazy idea of creating the smallest outrigger canoe in the world! Its small size makes it a more playful outrigger canoe, and above all, more manoeuvrable in the close swell of the Atlantic Ocean. It was a great poker shot in a discipline attached to traditions. Today the Feline is our biggest commercial success! When I tell you that Guytou was a visionary…

I know from my own experience that you can customise your outrigger – what has been your most popular?

When you buy an outrigger canoe from us, we make YOUR OC. Customisation options are discussed with the customer at the time of the request and everything, right up to the joint, is customisable. In the basic price of the outrigger, the customer can choose up to three colours on areas that do not require masking (deck, hull, outrigger or the entire canoe), choose the colour of the seal and the stickers which then leaves plenty of room for creativity.

If the customer has a more complex or precise customisation project, we do that too! These are options that can be activated upon request. On our side, we are always pleased to make the Woo family’s wildest dreams come true!

Where in the UK might we be able to see and try out the Woo brand?

Anyone who would like to see or try our canoes can contact Jenny Williams, our distributor in the area.

Jenny is passionate about paddling sports. From a client of WOO to a friend of Guytou and WOO in general, she joined the adventure as a partner in 2018 and will be delighted to take you for a ride! We are 100% convinced that Jenny is the best person to carry our values and bring the WOO Family together here in the UK.We know that you are in good hands to test our canoes, so don’t hesitate any longer!

I believe the Woo brand is huge in France – in 2020 (where we have had a distinct lack of races) have you been able to attend or support any races?

Indeed! We were the partner of the Corsica Paddle Trophy for their second edition which took place on October 22nd, 23rd and 24th. At the Paris boat

show at the end of 2019, we met Daniel Damien, one of the organisers with whom we immediately got on well. We very quickly adhered to the project, which focused on friendliness and sharing with an all-inclusive and multi-disciplinary format. Given the potential of the event and the playground, it was apparent that the outrigger canoe had its place!

We just came back from the event, and I can tell you that we were not wrong: a crazy atmosphere, 250 registered (25 OCs) on four disciplines (stand up, surf ski, outrigger canoe canoes, prones) in a magnificent setting! It was crazy and in this challenging period, hats off to the whole organisation team who fought for the maintenance of the event and who knew how to apply a strict sanitary protocol without ever spoiling the party.We needed it. Many thanks to them!

Despite the current climate, we realise that many of them did not give up and continued to develop projects! And that's good.We are at the moment exchanging on a surfing competition in OC4 in Ericeira in Portugal, organised by Miguel Ruivo from Laneez Ericeira Surf House (laneezericeira.com) which should be held in March. So, if you have OC4 and you want to participate, don't hesitate to contact us on our website or on our social networks to know more about it. It promises to be huge!

Finally, with my sister, we did not give up the idea of organising an annual race in April in honour of our father (the G.Race) to be held in our region! We had to cancel it last year, but the first edition could be held in 2021 if everything comes back to normal by then. We keep our faith!

I hear you are launching a new Outrigger which is very exciting – can you let us know more about that.

Our biggest project in 2020 was the design of a new OC1 pro, and we’re almost there! The Covid didn't help, so we’re a little late, but this OC is the fruit of the work of our whole team. This is our tribute to Guytou. We’ve been working on it for a year now, and we want it to make a difference, so it will take as long as it takes! But don’t worry, it won't take much longer, we’re close to our goal, and everything should be ready at the beginning of 2021.

We designed the plans, using an iterative principle, integrating the feedback and wishes for improvement from our riders and friends. We want to be disruptive, to innovate, to dream, the objective is to bring out a high-performance outrigger canoe on the flat without impacting the manoeuvrability in downwind, thanks to the development of two outriggers specific to the conditions of the water surface. Paddlers will therefore have the choice between a downwind and a flat ama. They will even be able to customise the configuration of the fittings to meet their needs precisely according to their size and the conditions.

With this new OC1, we push customisation even further! It’s a stimulating challenge.

Guytou was a sailor out of

the ordinary, and his thing was navigation and challenging conditions

Pirogue ceremony for Guy

www.woo-outrigger.com

The Bask country by Luc Cividino

ThePADDLER

ThePADDLER 138

I have heard you run an incredible downwind camp in Guadeloupe – can you tell us more and why you chose this destination? What can people expect if they experience this camp?

Guadeloupe has always been a strategic course of the ‘Great Adventure’, designed by Guytou. We think of the Downwind Camp in such a way that it is more than a simple ‘paddle school’, it is an event during which paddlers from all over the world (Canada, Argentina, USA, England, Spain, France) have the opportunity to get together around the same passion.

These are moments of sharing with the Woo family that are very important for us. The 2020 edition was a success, but unfortunately, the current context forces us to cancel the 2021 edition, which was to be held as every year in January. Even if today the situation does not allow the Downwind Camp to be maintained, one thing is certain: sporting events like the Downwind Camp or races must be part of the future because they play a crucial role in discovering who we are, allowing us to progress, to push our limits, to widen our fields of possibilities and to make magnificent encounters. Then we are sure; the DW camp will come back stronger in 2022.

So, a small family business which has at its core, a loyal team that still holds dear the ideas and passion of the late Guytou Ringrave. I know from personal experience how much fun OC paddling is and also what great cross-training it is particularly for SUP. Do get in touch with Jenny if you fancy giving it a whirl – you won’t look back!

Fanny, thank you so much for taking the time to let us know more about the history and plans of your family business Woo Outrigger – we very much look forward to paddling with you one day.

Sarah paddling her Woo outrigger

OC4 surfing

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