canoe
Boundary Waters Burning, but OK for Paddlers
09.11.2011
With wildfires affecting some 2,700-acres of northeastern Minnesota’s Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, paddlers are being forewarned of “rolling closures” in certain burn zones. Still, officials and locals are saying the Pagami Creek Fire—aflame since it was first detected, Aug. 18, after a lightning strike—has yet to seriously impact paddlers and paddling opportunities.
Bratislava #7
09.11.2011
“Why is this French C-2 team paddling on the same side?” I asked in the caption to my photo in Bratislava #3. Now I know that my guess was wrong: They weren’t “just hacking around.” In the C-2 final Saturday, that same French team—who I discovered is the legendary Fabian Lefevre and his partner Denis Gargaud-Chanut—was the last boat down the course…
Three Brothers (+1), Down the Mississippi
09.10.2011
Last night, the three Bragiel brothers—Peter, Paul and Dan, and their paddling friend, Tony Corella—pitched camp on a sandbar of the lower Mississippi River, about 20 or 30 miles upstream of New Orleans. It marked their 58th straight night out; they’d set out in two canoes from the Mississippi’s headwaters, Lake Itasca, Minn., on July 14.
Bratislava #6
09.09.2011
It was a disappointing morning for the U.S. paddlers, including for my sentimental favorite, the McEwan and Eichfeld team. The drama of qualifying heats lies not in the placings within the top ten, but “on the bubble”—those paddlers who are just inside or just outside the cutoff.
Hudson Bay Found
09.09.2011
The final day of Natalie Warren and Ann Raiho’s 85-day canoe trip from St. Paul, Minn. to Hudson Bay will be remembered in one way: “The overwhelming feeling was hunger,” says Warren, 22. “For some reason we didn’t eat… I don’t know why.”
Bratislava #5
09.08.2011
t wasn’t exactly a quiet day at the course today, but the sound was not the roar of the crowd, rather the roar of the event-canceling wind. What’s a honed and hungry racer to do?
Bratislava #4
09.08.2011
Was I nervous this morning? Nah. It was just everyday forgetfulness that made me fail to put the battery back into my camera. And if I was completely exhausted after the the first C-2 heat, well, blame jet lag. It had nothing to do with watching my son race in his first World Championships.
Bratislava Chronicles #3
09.06.2011
BRATISLAVA, Slovakia — The official Opening Ceremonies of the 2011 Canoe Slalom World Championships did not begin until 7 p.m. Tuesday local time, so during the day there was training as usual on the course. With boat and gear inspection taking place off to one side, it was a good chance for me to meet new people as they stood in line.
Bratislava Chronicles #2
09.06.2011
I’m getting the feeling that the 2011 Canoe Slalom World Championships has an inferiority complex. Today the home page for the World Championships features a photo of Michel Martikan with the caption, “Road to London Adds Extra Excitement to Canoe Slalom World Championships.”
Setting the Stage in Bratislava
09.05.2011
By Jamie McEwan Here I am—Bratislava, Slovakia! Site of the 2011 Canoe Slalom World Championships! Ouch, I’ve done it already: I can’t even write two sentences (one a fragment) about the Worlds without stumbling over Slalom’s Eurocentrism. Here they don’t say “Canoe and Kayak Slalom” because for Europeans, “canoe” is the generic word for canoes [...]
Tunnel Vision
09.02.2011
Something bad happened to North American tent design shortly after the first freestanding dome tents became popular in the 1980s. With the exception of those who clung to tired yet trusty A-frames, the camping masses shunned non-freestanding tents as being old and dated.
Ask Eddy
08.29.2011
Ed’s note: In the interest of, you know, facilitating dialogue, we’ve decided to start rolling out one of the magazine’s longtime recurring features, “Ask Eddy,” here on the website; below the latest, from the August 2011 issue. We invite readers to submit future questions for Eddy’s consideration here, at our Facebook page or by regular ol’ email: AskEddy@canoekayak.com.)
A Few Days to the Bay
08.23.2011
Speaking by cellphone from the native community of Oxford House in northern Manitoba last week, Natalie Warren enthusiastically riffs about the 76 days she’s spent so far on a 2,250-mile canoe expedition from St. Paul, Minn., to Hudson Bay.
Photo Book: AuSable River Canoe Marathon
08.02.2011
Northern Michigan’s 64th annual AuSable River Canoe Marathon, a 120-mile race from Grayling to Oscoda, went down Saturday and Sunday. Photographer Kevin Johnson, of Eagle Feature & Image, was on scene to capture the race from bow to stern.
25 Days on the Northern Forest Canoe Trail
07.29.2011
Last Thursday, July 21, Skip Ciccarelli set a new standard for the fastest through-paddle of the Northern Forest Canoe Trail. Ciccarelli, a high school shop teacher from central Massachusetts, completed the 740-mile route across parts of four northeastern states and one Canadian province in 25 days—besting the previous record by a full seven days.
Out of Africa: Berg Canoe Marathon
07.25.2011
The Berg is a mighty race, with no-where to hide, paddling 240km from the vineyards of Paarl to the Atlantic Ocean on the west coast at Velddrift, South Africa. For my Zulus, this trip went beyond just racing down a river, but was more of a life-enriching experience where they got to travel across South Africa.
¡RIO NAZAS REGATA!
07.22.2011
Letting his kayak paddle do the talking, 23-year-old Martin Rangel, aka “El Mudo” (the Mute), held off a furious charge by the Villela Landeros twins to win the mid-July Rio Nazas Regata. It was a rousing finish to Mexico’s longest, and longest-running, canoe and kayak race.
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