Kayak Asshole

This is pretty hilarious. Enjoy! Thanks to the Kayak Yak blog for sharing! http://kayakyak.blogspot.ca/2014/08/kayak-asshole.html

Ski to Sea Race, A Goal For 2018?

I learned today about a pretty awesome looking race in Washington, the Ski to Sea Race. It's a relay race involving 7 different sports:

1. cross country skiing (4 mile loop), 
2. downhill skiing (2.5 mile loop), 
3. running (8 miles), 
4. road cycling (42 miles),
5. canoeing (18.5 miles),
6. mountain biking (13 miles) and
7. sea kayaking (5 miles)

You'll note that I mentioned that the first two events are loops. That should make the downhill ski section pretty interesting! 

I mentioned 2018 in the title because I think it'll take me a while to get into race condition, though Jay should be nearly there since he's an experienced adventure racer and is competing in the Dirty Donkey this summer. 

Maybe our Montreal River/Otter Lake/Churchill River trip from 2009 could be considered our warm-up event (cycling, packing up, paddling, driving, more paddling, for a single day total of 77 self-propelled kilometers, with a hangover).

Kayaking The Great Bear

What do you think guys, a trip to BC and the Great Bear Rain Forest?


KAYAKING THE GREAT BEAR, a Search for Wilderness from Kayaking the Great Bear on Vimeo.

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.)

Where To Go, Version 12.0

The 2012 NSE trip got pushed back a month, which is why you haven't seen the photos and trip report yet (not that that actually makes a difference). As every year, we have been asking each other

"So, where should we go this year?"

This year I'm suggesting we strap the kayaks to the roof of the van and head for Wawa and the Gales Storm Gathering. It would be pretty awesome to ride the rough water of Lake Superior. The cast of instructors (here & here) that are going to be there is pretty remarkable too (hey, if I went maybe I could add myself to the list).

Men in Skirts

Bomber Gear is currently running a contest (last day is today!) on their Facebook page asking folks to post videos or pictures of themselves wearing Bomber Gear in public. We like the following entry.

Proof of Awesome Competence!

I was going through the files the other day and happened to come across this certificate from when we took a kayak course a few years ago.  I thought we would share it here as evidence of our certified awesomeness. 

(Flatwater Skills is now called Introduction to Sea Kayaking.)

That little course and certificate eventually led to Bryan starting Coldspring Paddling Instruction.

We're No Experts But.....

NSE makes no claims on whitewater expertise, but in our opinion, these guys suck. This might be the best bad kayaking video that I've ever seen.

Radiant Rivers Photo Contest and World Rivers Day

Your friendly NSE blogger is also a kayak instructor and owner of Coldspring Paddling Instruction.  Coldspring Paddling Instruction is helping the Saskatchewan Environmental Society to celebrate World Rivers Day by contributing a gift certificate for an Introduction to Sea Kayaking lesson as a first prize for their Radiant Rivers Photography contest.  I'm probably disqualified, but Chief Photographer Rob should have a good shot at it and in a week and a half we'll be on the water somewhere (yet to be determined!) giving the opportunity to capture some award winning photos.

The following is information from the Saskatchewan Environmental Society about the day and the contest.

World Rivers Day – September 25, 2011
For more information about any of these events, contact water@environmentalsociety.ca, call 306.665.1915 or visit environmentalsociety.ca.


Radiant River Photography Contest – rivers all over Saskatchewan
In celebration of World Rivers Day September 25^th, the Saskatchewan Environmental Society presents the Radiant Rivers Photography Contest to highlight the beauty of Saskatchewan’s rivers.  The photos must fit one of the three categories (action, tranquil, and sustainable). Participants must name the river featured in their photo and describe why water is valuable to them and what they do to protect water.  All winning entries will be displayed as a travelling photo exhibit at locations around the province and will win fabulous prizes, including three outdoor adventure packages as first place prizes. Entries can be emailed to water@environmentalsociety.ca on or before September 26^th at midnight and winners will be announced the following week.  For rules and regulations, please visit our website by clicking here. A big thanks to our sponsors: Sturgeon River Ranch, Coldspring Paddling, Phase 2 Foto source, Outter Limits, and Mister Print.


The following are Saskatoon-based events:


Park Clean Up – 9am Rotary Park
SES is joining Trash Dashers Saskatoon and the Great Canadian Shoreline Clean-Up to pick up trash at Rotary Park in Saskatoon in celebration of World Rivers Day. Bags and gloves will be provided, so all you have to do is show up to help us keep our river valley clean and healthy.  We will meet at the peace torch in Rotary Park at 9am, September 25th. See you there!


Nature Walk and Photo Walk – 1pm Peturrson’s Ravine
SES is hosting a nature walk with the Native Plant Society of Saskatchewan along Peturrson's Ravine in Saskatoon. This river-side location was chosen to celebrate World River Day on September 25th.  If you are a photo-enthusiast, we also encourage you to bring your camera along to capture some of our river valley's natural beauty.
We will meet in the parking lot, just north of the Regional Psychiatric Centre on Central Avenue at 1pm, Sept 25th.


Blue Drinks – 6pm Winston’s
Blue Drinks is like Green Drinks, in that it is an opportunity for environmentalists to meet up, make connections, and talk about environmental issues, but on September 25th, the discussion will be all about water in celebration of World Rivers Day.  This pub-based discussion group is an informal, relaxed atmosphere, so come on out and talk about your local water issues!
We will be meeting at Winston’s Pub at 6pm in Saskatoon.

Jay Reaches His Goal

NSE member Jay had a goal to learn to roll a kayak. Actually, this was something that Bryan & Jay were going to work toward together. Then, last summer, Bryan got impatient waiting to coordinate with Jay and went & figured it out for himself. Well Jay had not lost sight of that goal and has been working toward it over several weeks this spring. He joined the Kelsey Kayak Club and used the "member pool nights" to work on rolling a whitewater kayak, sometimes with help, sometimes on his own working with paddle floats and the side of the pool. A couple of weeks ago Bryan was at the pool with Jay and shot this short video featuring two successful rolls, the second being a clean roll where he brings his head up last and makes it look more or less effortless.

Jay is still working on perfecting the roll, trying to get to a place where he can play in the water with confidence. But this is a great start, and means he doesn't have to pay up on that bet he made!

A NSE Helicopter?

I came across this video this evening:

The River from FPV-Leif on Vimeo.

Aside from being a pretty cool perspective on a nice Norwegian river, it brings to mind an idea for cool new gear that NSE should investigate. No longer need our Chief Photographer Rob be tethered to the ground! Let's get his photography into the air with a camera mounted on an "octocopter"! (I'm not sure, but I think this would kick my brother's kite-mounted camera's ass!)

Northstar Expeditions Meets Kingston Kayak Instruction

The following was previously posted on Bryan's Blog and describes a course we took in June of 2008.

NorthStar Expeditions is the official name for a group of 4 guys (including myself) that I canoe trip with every year. This spring, as a Father's Day gift, our wives signed us up for kayak lessons through Viki at Kingston Kayak Instruction. Some of our group had a bit of experience but mostly we're fairly novice paddlers when it comes to kayaks so we signed up for the Flatwater Skills course. The course included a session discussing various aspects of boats and paddling, a pool session, and most of last Saturday was spent on the water at Pike Lake. Getting the opportunity to practice rescues in a pool was a great way to get comfortable in the water where tipping over in the kayak becomes play. The highlight of the pool session was jumping off of the 5 meter platform - that's a long way down and a lot of time spent falling to think about regrets. Jay jumped off of the 7 meter platform and he said it was a big step up from 5 m. Thankfully, the 10 m platform was closed.

Saturday at Pike Lake the day started off pretty nice with warm and sunny skies, but eventually thunderstorms and rain rolled in (as previously posted). The rain really didn't matter too much since we were spending the afternoon largely in the water anyway. A bit warmer might have been nice but it was OK. My outfit for the afternoon while we were wet and practicing rescue techniques was a "shorty" wet suit, a polyester t-shirt, cycling sleeves (arm warmers), PFD, paddling gloves, with my light cycling jacket thrown over top of everything (I didn't realise how odd the jacket over everything made me look until I saw the pictures later - think red beach ball with a head on top). I tried goggles for about 30 seconds but they immediately filled with water.

After getting pretty confident with our "eskimo rescues" (aka T-rescue) I decided it was time for an impromptu test. While paddling fast alongside Jay, I called over to him and asked "Jay, are you paying attention?" He looked over and said "yeah" or perhaps it was "nah" or maybe "huh?" I promptly flipped over (while still under steam) and began banging on my kayak hull, the signal that I need assistance. My thought was that Jay would just paddle right over and present his bow for me to grab onto allowing me to right myself without leaving the cockpit of the kayak. Only problem is that Jay was paddling fast in the slowest turning kayak in the group. By the time he even realised what was going on, I was under water, banging on my boat and moving my hands back and forth waiting for the sudden appearance of his bow in my hand. Everything also seems to go a little slower while your are hanging upside down under water. I quickly ran out of breath and had to wet exit. By the time I came up in the water alongside my kayak, Jay was rounding the turn in his kayak and just about on his way over to me. Well I guess it ended up being a good practice of assisted re-entry techniques.

At the end of the class our families found us and took some photos. Unfortunately the batteries on our camera were dying so the videos that my wife took didn't turn out.

In the photo below the class is grouped around Viki who is wrapping things up.
Viki and the others head back while the 4 guys paddle over to the families.
NorthStar Expeditions

Using the water pumps to spray the kids.