I’m here to help you get through your Friday so just keep this page open all afternoon. A word of warning though, keep an eye out for your boss as your productively is guaranteed to plummet.

Next time you get stick in the wilderness with only your busted phone follow the tips on the info-graphic below. I'm pretty sure this will get you out of your bad situation in no time flat. That is, unless you have a fallen rock on your hand. In that case you will need to wait at least 127 hours.

You can thank me later for all this extra knowledge...

Cheap guy tip: Remember to try not to break anything when disassembling your phone so you can still try to make a warranty claim when you get back.

Oh wow, you need to check these out. Below the Boat is a brand new company that produces 3D wooden nautical charts laser-cut from sheets of Baltic birch and glued together in a wood frame.

They offer a wide selection of charts from across North America including San Juan Islands, Puget Sound, San Francisco Bay, Lake Superior, Lake Michigan, Cape Cod, Martha's Vineyard, Nantucket, and Long Island Sound.

Prices range from $130-300 depending on how large and complex the map is.

More info: belowtheboat.com

Congratulations to Dane Jackson for winning the White Water Grand Prix for the second year in a row.

The White Water Grand Prix is a fantastic competition where 30 of the worlds best whitewater kayakers compete in five events over 14 days. Last year the event took place in Quebec, Canada while this year they traveled to the Futaleufu River in Chile.

You can get all the info and full event results here.

Here is a great clip that event sponsor, Tribe Rider put out of the BoaterCross stage.

And who doesn’t like lego animation?

Photo credit: Tait Trautman Photography

I recently got sent a couple photos of the updated P&H Aries that is just starting to arrive in North America from the UK factories. The Aries is the fibreglass (or Kevlar) model that is very similar to the rotomolded plastic and highly successful Delphin.

Though the Aries has been out for a couple years, they have made some design adjustments based on feedback from boat owners and P&H team paddlers (which I’m a member of).

Apologizes in advance as a couple of the photos are not the greatest but it will give you an idea of what to expect in the spring when the boats show up at your local paddling shop.

The biggest change is the addition of a day hatch. To make room they changed the existing rear hatch from a large turkey platter to a smaller 8” round cover to match the front. This change totally makes sense since the vast majority of people are not packing this boat for a 10 day expedition and a day hatch is bit more practical.

They are now recessed slots in the bow for a spare paddle. Looks like a nice design feature that will help keep paddleshafts in place in surf.

The security bar has been moved from directly behind the seat to between the day and rear hatch. The gap below the security bar looks slightly deeper as well so it should fit thicker lock cables than older models. The other advantage to this move is that the new location will also make it function better if you set your boat up for a deck mounted tow line.

Check out those new thigh braces! I can see the whitewater outfitting influence here and they should give you more boat control.

A couple of other updates include the new improved skeg slider system as well as improved stainless steel backband ratchets. No more rusting in salt water!