Gnarly Sailing

On the recent Northstar Expeditions trip to Nistowiak Falls from Stanley Mission, we did a little downwind sailing for a few kilometers. Our sail rig was as simple as it gets: with the canoe in the centre and a kayak on each side, we held the a tarp erect with paddles to catch the wind. Sometimes hard to hold, hard to see where we were going, and with strictly downwind capability, this tarp sail was rather limited in it's efficiency. We sailed a little slower than we would have been paddling, but didn't need to paddle (that's not to say we weren't working at it).

It looks like we could learn a lot from Mr. Gnarlydog. Check out this post on the Gnarlydog News blog to see some fantastic sailing in small paddle craft. http://gnarlydognews.blogspot.ca/2012/08/video-kayak-sailing-in-bay.html

Kayaking in Some Hairy Stuff

This is way beyond NSE, but it's pretty exciting to watch. Interesting to see how they got out in the end. This is from Neptune's Rangers who are the California coastal kayak equivalent to Northstar Expeditions. (No, not really.)