Featured
Michigan Booze Cruise
A look at one of the Midwest’s most popular kayaking events, this weekend’s 27-mile Short’s to Short’s Paddle, which has competitors race across a series of northern Michigan’s lakes and end at the Short’s Brewing Company production brewery in Elk Rapids, Mich., with a few pints to celebrate the arrival of summer.
All Features
Across the “Otherworldly” North
03.10.2013
After securing a prestigious Royal Canadian Geographical Society grant, a core group of Camp Wabun staffers and alums launched Coppermine 2012, a 1,500-mile expedition across the barrens of Canada’s Northwest and Nunavut Territories to the Arctic Ocean, setting off from Yellowknife on July 1, tackling the big waters of Great Slave Lake in three canoes, then across the Barrenlands, hoping to inspire the Inuit communities along the way.
Chattahoochee Journal: Waking Morpheus
03.08.2013
Morpheus hadn’t moved since I put him to rest there in November 2009. I know boats are supposed to be female, but I named the canoe I borrowed from Chattahoochee Riverkeeper for my ‘Hooch float in 2009, Morpheus, God of Dreams. My grandfather, who had passed away earlier that year, said, as he left the living room to take his daily nap, “I’m off to the arms of Morpheus.” Seemed like a good name for a dirty old canoe that would float me down a dirty old river.
Two Girls and a Tree Named Makeba
03.08.2013
Countless adventurous journeys have proven the open canoe to be world’s the humblest yet accomplished vessel. Last summer, Michigan City, Indiana-based friends Mary Catterlin and Amy Lukas, both 24, chalked up another amazing feat by completing a three-month, 1,200-mile circumnavigation of Lake Michigan in an 11-foot, outrigger-equipped dugout canoe that Catterlin crafted herself from a cottonwood log. This weekend, the pair’s story is sure to wow audiences at Madison, Wisconsin’s Canoecopia, North America’s largest paddlesports tradeshow.
Under Human Power
03.08.2013
Darrell Gardner’s eight-and-a-half year epic self-propelled mission from the U.S.-Mexico border to the Arctic Ocean was inspired by a dream, not a last-ditch effort to set his life on a new course. Read more about the Santa Fe, N.M.-based registered nurse’s unprecedented human-powered journey that he began at age 50 and finished in August.
Lessons Learned
03.07.2013
Checking in with Pete Marshall, whose video teaser from the Trans-Territorial Canoe Expedition just earned an IMAX Award and a $25,000 prize, presented by IMAX, Newsweek & The Daily Beast, for exhibiting the keen “ability to take audiences on an adventure through explorations in filmmaking.” Learn more about the 130-day, 2,600-mile expedition from the Pacific Ocean to Hudson Bay documented in a four-part CanoeKayak.com series.
MSR: Carbon Reflex 3
03.07.2013
Same vertebral shape as the smaller Topaz 2, but much bigger. I ran a CR3 on the Owyhee recently and dropped my jaw when it set up. It is amazing how spacious a tent of this weight and packed size becomes. Design targets maximum livable space with few bells and whistles. Sets up easily, enters [...]
When the Currents Stop
03.06.2013
Airing his last episode airing in April, TV producer Mike McKay is ending Currents, the web TV documentary series that both illuminates the risks threatening the world’s rivers and highlights the intrinsic value of preserving rivers in their natural state. Currents episodes have won several awards, including its latest episode The Ottawa River, which won Best Accomplished Documentary at the National Paddling Film Festival last month.
Paddling to the Public
03.05.2013
Two remote ponds and part of a brook in New York’s Adirondack wilderness might have been off limits to paddlers and the general public had a state Supreme Court judge not recently ruled in Phil Brown’s favor. But on Feb. 25, Judge Richard T. Aulisi ruled that the waterways Brown traversed are navigable and open to the public. Read more about the access implications of the ruling.
The North Face: Topaz 2
03.05.2013
The North Face: Topaz 2 MSRP: $249 thenorthface.com Admittedly, a TNF fanboy here, the Topaz is another 2P/3S tent option and one I might actually consider for two. A half moon shape with a pole at front and back and two connecting strut poles sets up tight, suggestive of a vertebra as seen from the [...]
Sierra Designs: Mojo 2
03.05.2013
Sierra Designs: Mojo 2 MSRP: $399.95 sierradesigns .com The Mojo is a hybrid, single/double wall structure that reminds me of a shirt tail sticking out below a sweater or two dogs humping, I’m not sure which, but the way the rear of the tent protrudes out from under the fly jars my aesthetic. Rant end. [...]
Hyperlite Mountain Gear: Echo II
03.05.2013
Hyperlite Mountain Gear: Echo II MSRP: $595 Hyperlitemountaingear.com The Echo II is made with high performance Cuben fiber fabric with an unmatched strength to weight ratio. They call the Echo series the most technically advanced professional tarps available and I believe it. A three piece modular: tarp, mesh tent and detachable vestibule, handy concept for [...]
Kelty: Vista 3P
03.05.2013
Kelty: Vista 3P MSRP: $349.95 Kelty.com Another good 3S, 3P choice with highly livable interior space. Excellent vestibule footage as well, front and rear, always a premium for storing dry bags and cooking a quick meal. It has average weight, with slightly more interior space and vestibulage than the much lighter Carbon Reflex 3. Fabric [...]
Kayak Shelters: Take Two
03.05.2013
Multi-day kayaking and canoeing are as much about how to spend the night as they are where to paddle. Having the right tent, tarp or even hammock really can allow the paddler to have a good night, sleep tight, and rest sure the bugs can’t bite.
Mountain Hardwear: Hoopla 4
03.05.2013
Hoopla 4 MSRP: $373 Mountainhardwear.com An interesting design and one that would work well for kayakers needing an emergency group shelter from rain and light winds. Storm winds might make a mess of it, but if well positioned, it might be a game saver. Covering 64 sq ft and weighing a hair over two pounds, [...]
NEMO: Morpho 2
03.05.2013
NEMO: Morpho 2 MSRP: 489.95 Nemoequipment.com Air Supported technology again from Nemo (see GoGoEx). Nemo air beams are too cool. Inflated AIR tubes are stronger and more durable than metal, erect quick and easy and pack down smaller than poles. Roomy with sit-up head room at the door, where you want it. Although it’s a [...]
Back for More This is the Sea
03.04.2013
It’s been almost a decade since British paddler and filmmaker Justine Curgenven redefined sea kayaking with the launch of her first This is the Sea video. The film injected excitement and youthful vigor into ocean paddling, capturing the thrills of long-boat surfing and the drama of expedition paddling to battle the stereotype that sea kayaking was a sport for graybeards in floppy hats. Curgenven followed up with another three TITS volumes, driving the rough-water sea kayaking trend and inspiring countless paddlers to set off on their own adventures on the world’s oceans.
Chattahoochee: Who Owns Water?
03.01.2013
It sounds like a simple question: Who owns water? But in Georgia, Alabama, and Florida, it’s anything but simple. A decades-old water war has pitted states against one another, all the way to the Supreme Court. It’s produced age-old sparks between developers and environmentalists, farmers and fisherman. All because of a few rivers that start like any other rivers do – fast and clear, in the mountains and foothills.
Buyer's Guide
