P&H Kayaks ready to go out the door...

The thing about taking vacation the day Canoecopia ends is that it takes you forever to get around to reporting in it when you get back. That's my excuse and I'm sticking to it.

The short report is that it’s a great event and if you don't go, you need to. It’s one of the few consumer trade shows that the owners and reps of various gear manufactures actually attend so if you can get the goods on new products straight from the horse's mouth.

I had the great pleasure of being invited to give two presentations this year so I showed up with laptop in hand to speak on, "The Search and Rescue Machine" and, "Paddling in Georgian Bay". The first presentation was a look into the technology, gear and history of search and rescue while the second presentation was about why Georgian is the second best freshwater paddling destination in North America behind Lake Superior.

Throughout the weekend I was mainly working in the Naturally Superior Adventures booth meeting people and giving them all the reasons why they needed to cross the border and do a trip on the Canadian side of Lake Superior.  I'm super excited about leading a trip for NSA this year (more on it another day) so I spent most of my time telling people that they need to step up and register for the trip if only for the reason that I’ve already asked for the time off work and I really wanted to go.

My buddy Ray working the Naturally Superior Adventures booth at Canoecopia.

Wandering around the show floor, I got to hang out with my buddies at P&H Kayaks who were selling kayaks like a flood was coming soon. I will admit that I ended up spending spend too much time sitting in the new Aries 150 and I kinda fell in love. I don’t think that’s a bad thing.

Bending Branches had a very cool paddle manufacturing process display.

For 2013, P&H tweaked the deck and outfitting of the Aries a bit by adding a day-hatch and recessed slots for a spare paddle. To make room for the day hatch, they replaced the rear oval hatch with a smaller hatch which makes sense as it’s a boat built for rough water and this should help keep the hatch from imploding in big surf.

Of course there was a huge pile of new gear on display at the show and by now you have probably read some of the very good reports by other bloggers of their Canoecopia shopping adventures. If you are looking for a solid report, check out Preston Ciere’s blog, portageur.ca. It’s super extensive and he has several great posts showing off some of the treasures he found along the way.

Two of the items that really interested me that were new this year included:

Kokatat Maximus PFD

New Kokatat Maximus PFD.

Kokatat has a bunch of new new lifejackets are on the market this year including the very cool Maximus. I tried it on and found it to be super comfortable and streamlined. I really like the small design features like the tapered foam edges which help bulkiness feeling to a minimum. Ticket price for this bad-boy is about $160.

Lendal Paddles

New Lendal Paddle Kenitic blade.

Did you know Lendel Paddles are back? For 2013 they have released several new blade models including their Kinetik Touring line which is a fully carbon blade with a foam core. The construction looks really solid and I like their redesigned Lendal Paddlok ferrule that uses a titanium insert that is pressed out against the paddle shaft to lock the unit together.

I’m really keen to give the new Lendal Paddles a try this season to see how they feel in the water. When I was standing in in the Lendal booth I decided to take one for a paddle up and down the aisle and in the process almost took a ladies head off who was standing next to me. I still feel it was her fault.

Keith Wikle and Scott Fairty working the Gales Storm Gathering booth.
Registration is filling fast so get yourself signed up for their event pronto.

I will admit that it’s a bit of a haul driving 12 hours for a weekend but it's a total blast hanging out with paddlers who I see only a couple of times a year. It reminds me of friends you might have had a summer camp when you were a kid. Even though you go months without talking, you fall back in the rhythm and pick up right where you left off when spending the evening figuring out how to change the paddling world over beers.

Today I saw the first press release for Canoecopia and was excited to discover that Jon Turk is going to be this year’s keynote speaker. Jon Turk is an adventure writer planner of expeditions to the wild corners of the world. This year he will be speaking about his 1,400 mile sea kayak circumnavigation of Ellesmere Island which earned Turk Canoe and Kayak Magazine’s "2012 Expedition of the Year award."

If you haven’t been to Canoecopia you should mark it on your calendar to attend. It’s been described as the world’s largest consumer canoe, kayak and outdoor expo and it all takes place this year March 8^th-10^th.

I was also invited to speak at Canoecopia as well though I was extremely disappointed that I wasn’t mentioned in the press release. I mean, how hard is it to drop in a sentence right at the end along the likes of, "oh yeah, some guy from Toronto is also speaking".

As far as presentations, I’m going to be blabbing on about two different topics. The first one is about the wonders of paddling in Georgian Bay (I’m really going to sell it!). The second topic is about the search and rescue machine and what exactly happens after you put the mayday call out while out on your canoe or kayak trip.

I’m over the rejection of top billing I just hope that I don’t get listed below the official Canoecopia pupper show. That would be embarrassing.

Photo credit: Eric Boomer

There is a new rough-water sea kayaking symposium taking place this coming September in the Maritimes that you should plan to attend. The Bay of Fundy Sea Kayak Symposium will be a 3-day paddling event that combines world class coaching with paddlers in one of the most spectacular coastal setting in eastern North America, The Bay of Fundy.

I just got an email from one of the event organizers, Christopher Lockyer who mentioned that they are looking for coaches for the event. If you are interested in teaching you should apply [pdf link]. The application deadline is February 1, 2013.

Check out their website for more info.

Top photo credit: BOFSKS

Over the past two weekends I had the pleasure of attending both the Gales Storm Gathering in Wawa, Ontario as well as organizing the Georgian Bay Storm Gathering in Parry Sound, Ontario.

Gales Storm Gathering
This was the second year for the Gales Storm Gathering and since it rotates around Lake Superior from year to year this was the first time that it has run in Canada. That made for a bit of a challenge for organizers as it also happened to take place over Canadian Thanksgiving so sadly there were not a lot of Canadians registered. That was ok, the enthusiasm and excitement from gang who was there more then made up for the lack of Canucks.

The Gales had an absolutely stunning set of instructors brought in for the event including Nick Cunlife (from the UK), Shawna Franklin & Leon Somme (from Washington state, Christopher Lockyer (from Nova Scotia), Keith Wikle, Ryan Rushton, Sam Crowley, Erik Ogaard and well, the list is to long you should go to the website to see everybody.

Anybody who says that the Great Lakes don’t get ocean conditions has clearly never been to Lake Superior in October or November. Throughout the weekend we were under a gale wind warning with winds around 25-35 knots and surf coming in around 4-8 feet for almost the entire weekend.

Because of the extra large surf at the mouth of the Michipicoten River on the door steps of Naturally Superior Adventures, we were able to make use of the several neighbouring beaches where the surf was a more manageable height of around 2-3 feet.

A couple of highlights for me included co-instructing a beginner surf clinic with Shawna as well as tagging along for an ACA Level 4 instructor assessment with Ryan Rushton and Sam Crowley. For the assessment we went on a downwind run south from Wawa to Old Woman Bay in Lake Superior Provincial Park which was about 22km (13 miles) long. While out on the trip we experienced almost every type of weather condition including 25 knot winds, sunshine, clouds, rain, and sleet and finally snow.

As soon as I got home after driving 12 hours, I threw all my laundry in the wash with just enough time to pack it up again and head out on the road again. This time it was north to Parry Sound to the event that I run, the Georgian Bay Storm Gathering. Now in its fifth year the Gathering has become a southern Ontario tradition for intermediate kayakers.

Georgian Bay Storm Gathering
Now I’m totally biased but I always look forward to the Gathering as one of my favourite events of the year. This year we had instructors from across Canada and the US including Gary Doran (from Victoria, BC), Kelly Blades (from Michigan), Ray Boucher and Dave Wells (both from Wawa, Ontario). We also had a huge pile of other amazing instructors so check out the website for the full list.

Weather wise, we had pretty good winds throughout the weekend but because the direction was from the NE, we didn’t have the largest conditions (not like the Gales that’s for sure). That being said, there was more than enough lumpy water to run clinics on surfing, rocks, rough water rescues, etc. Though I would have liked slightly larger conditions, it was ok as we know how to make our own fun. Highlights included the annual dock launch, paddling in pea-soup fog and a serious match of pumpkin polo. If you haven’t seen pumpkin polo before, picture a large group of kayakers driving over each other while tossing around a medicine ball. It got pretty heated at times.

So for me that ends the organized paddling season for 2012. We still have plans to get out and do a lot of paddling in November and December but I can finally take off my teaching hat and paddle for myself for a change.

See you out there.

Top photo credit: Karine Boucher
Middle photo credit: Meg Garnett

Did you know it’s the middle of August? I sure didn’t. That means that for most people, the paddling season is 90% over. Booo. Just because Labour Day is coming soon, that doesn’t mean you need to hang up your lifejacket for the season. There is a large pile of events taking place throughout the fall to keep your braining tricked into thinking its still summer.

Here are a couple highlights to start planning for in September and October:

Ontario Greenland Camp
If you are a skinny stick paddler you need to make room in your extensive social calendar to attend the Ontario Greenland Camp September 7-9 in Bracebridge, Ontario.

The line-up of mentors and instructors looks really solid with Cheri Perry, Turner Wilson, Dubside as the big names. Tom Froese and Jill Ellis are both coming to teach the paddle making workshops.

More info: ontariogreenlandcamp.com.

Gales Storm Gathering
The Great Lakes is going to host to two fantastic rough water paddling events this season so book your work vacation days now. The Gales Strom Gathering takes place in Wawa, Ontario over the October 5^th weekend. The event is going to feature a collection of fantastic instructors from around the world including Andy Stamp, Nick Cunliffe, Shawna Franklin & Leon Somme and Christopher Lockyer. That doesn’t include the crazy gang of local instructors who have last names like Wikle, Rushton, Crowley, Fairty, Blades and Bloyd-Peshkin. With so many people having so much fun, you need to be there.

The other cool thing with this event is that for the 6 days leading up to the Gales there is going to be a large collection of advanced instruction with courses from the British Canoe Union, American Canoe Association and Paddle Canada. It’s going to be a smack down of instructor nerds fighting for your love.

Check out the website with all the course and event details at galesstormgathering.com.

Georgian Bay Storm Gathering
The very next weekend after the Gales Storm Gathering is my event which takes place in Parry Sound, Ontario on October 11-14.

The Georgian Bay Storm Gathering is for intermediate paddlers who are looking for one good last kick at the can for some rough water paddling on Georgian Bay before winter sets in.

It’s a bit of a different weekend where we encourage people to come with their bucket list of things they always wanted to do but just haven’t got around to giving it a try. Want to work on your rough water rescues? What about surfing? Always dreamed of getting thrown off a high dock in your boat? This is the weekend to get ‘er done.

We got a pile of top quality instructors coming from across Canada and the US including Gary Doran, Kelly Blades, Erik Ogaard and Ray Boucher (that guys wicked awesome).

More info: georgianbaystormgathering.com.

Lumpy Waters Symposium
If you find yourself in Pacific City, Oregon over the weekend of October 19^th and looking for something to do, make your way to the Lumpy Waters Symposium. It’s a fantastic event for people interested in rough water instruction and tomfoolery.

The list of top-quality instructors is massive and includes Danny Mongo, Paul Kuthe, Steve and Cindy Scherrer, Sean Morley, Rob Avery and Christopher Lockyer (didn’t we see him at the Gales?).

It’s a key fall event for west coast paddlers so get yourself registered pronto.

More info: lumpywaters.com.

Photo credit: Malcolm Taliano