The Punt Ledge River Fest

Kanami and I.

Ok all great plans hit bumps.

I had hoped that this year I would finally go spend some time surfing at skookumchuck narrows. I had a bunch of mates keen and the flows sorted (it is a tidal race, which makes the sea a river). But three days out everyone pulled out for unforeseen reasons. Not happy to paddle the huge rapid by myself with the Trak. So I changed plans I wanted to now head to Squamish to run a river in the Trak kayak, namely the mighty “Elaho River”. “Maybe next year for the Skookumchuck rapid!” I’d been saying that for the last 6 years.

I packed up my stuff and headed across on a ferry, drove to Squamish to meet Kanami Anderson, a rafting friend of mine. Only to find the rivers had dried up virtually overnight due to a sudden freeze that halted the snow melt and the rivers had turned too trickles. Hmmmm a sign maybe? So we ended up taking the kayaks out on a local lake for a putts around, then had a great dinner and some drinks with her and her boyfriend, talking traveling stories and skiing.

I guess No rivers for me! "Or are there?"I was planning on flying to Calgary to paddle the Kananaskis River, which was also looking bad option. Though while staying with my old mate Shaun from NZ in Vancouver, I found out about the Punt Ledge River fest back on the island. The Punt ledge is a dam released river -

Shaun and I.

-(guaranteed flows and warm water!) so I changed my ticket and prepared to hit the fest for its first day. I Left my car with some friends Nal and Christa for the summer, loaded my gear and boarded a ferry back to the island. Where my mate Kerry Onno (another sea kayak guide) picked me up and we made plans for the River fest.

Nal and Christa

The kerry Mobile!

The river fest was great; I had no boat except the Trak. I was torn about using it; despite now having the chance I was looking for, as it was pissing with rain all day and I had to fly to Norway the next day. If it got wet and I couldn’t dry it all in time plus my gear, it would weigh too much and I may have trouble getting it on a flight to Norway. I had to make the hard choice to not run the river with the Trak. Grrrrr! However I scored some demo boats to use and ended up running the river a couple of times and spending allot of time on the play wave called Tarp ‘n’ Play.

Was a great day I boated from 9 am till 7pm. Hung out with a couple of great guys one namely Kevin and old hat at play boating and a past Canadian surf kayak team member. I felt very rusty back in a play boat after all the years of neglecting it for sea kayak expeditions, but loved it all the same.

Came back to camp to find a portable hot tub set up, so naturally jumped in for a soak and a couple of beers before the prize giving. Sweet deal

I Meet a couple form the states, Don and Darcy who run a white water kayak lodge in Ecuador www.smallworldadventures.com . They invited me to come see them and paddle some of their amazing rivers down there. I will put that near the top of the list for sure. Kerry and I got to bed at 2am after beer drinking with some Aussie’s and kiwis and some guitar playing with some Canuks (Canadians). Kerry and I had not spent much of the day hanging out as she was playing with the white water clinics and helping teach. Though had both had a blast?

In the morning it was a rush to pull my tired still drunk head off the couch, pack my semi dry kayak gear into my bags load them all in Kerry’s van and head for my 12.30pm flight to Calgary and then on to Norway. My bags got on Just, even though they were both over weight and the Trak being over sized for the west jet flight. It luckily didn’t cost me a thing; some would say it is the kiwi charm, others that I look poor! Ha ha!

I was sad to be leaving BC, with every summer for the last six years been spent here, I felt a bit empty leaving to work in Norway for the summer, though excited as well at what adventures will come! here i come world.

J.

All my gear for kayaking and traveling for the next year!

On Trak Across a Wave

My heart pounded in my throat. My pulse raced. I carried a flimsy aluminum frame wrapped in a plastic impregnated canvas down to a surf beach. It looked like a sea kayak, and paddled like a sea kayak, weighed about the same as a fiberglass sea kayak, though it folded up into a golf bag.

Am I sane? I asked myself as I climbed into the cockpit, fastening the spray skirt amongst the swirling shore surge. I looked forward at the surf rushing in towards me with walls of ravenous white water. What’s the worst that can happen? I again rhetorically queried (not really wanting to know the answer). My mind was swirling like the foam in the shallows around me. I was about to take my Trak kayak out into the surf for the first time, and my doubts of it sea worthiness came leaping into my head and my instincts, though I Had to test what it could do and take. “Let’s see what you are made of!!!” I exclaimed and pushed off into the surf as the next surge lifted the boat clear of the sand.

I have had my hands on the Trak for a week now. And I have been very impressed by its pack ability, ease of set up and break down and how well it paddles in average conditions. I managed to get a bit of storm swell surfing on the inside passage of Vancouver Island and I was impressed by its speed. But could it take a thrashing on the open coast??

I needed to know what this boat is capable of, so I packed the Trak into the back of my wagon and headed to Long Beach Tofino, BC Canada. 20 minutes down the road I suddenly realised I left my dry top and PFD in my pack, which I just took out of the car before I left. OH crap!! So after wasting 45 minutes returning to get missing gear, I was back on track. The drive to Tofino is a spectacular and windy road that passes through giant Cedar forests and by beautiful snow capped and cloud enshrouded mountains, until it drops to the ocean and the sheltered sounds and exposed beaches of the Pacific Rim National park.

I sat and watched the goings on near the water at the main dock in the quaint town of Tofino while eating a Salmon wrap for lunch. I then headed for the beach.

Arriving at the parking lot I looked out at the surf and was slightly disappointed at how small it was, though the logical thought of “best to start small and build your confidence in this boat up, and then hit the bigger stuff” calmed my disappointment.

I pulled the Trak from the back of the car where it sat all 16 feet of it folded up into 5 feet of clutter in a bag. It took me 15 minutes to set up and I got allot of interested looks from the surfers and passersby, as what appeared to be a strange tent turned into a sea kayak. Hoisting the kayak onto my shoulders, with it all ready with air bags and a sea sock and I fully donned with my almost forgotten kayak gear. I headed over the giant logs that lined the high part of the beach and down to the water’s edge and placed the Trak on the wet sand just out of reach of the lapping shore surge.

Long beach Tofino is a beautiful sandy west coast beach; with cute little islands just off the shore and a wicked reputation for big surf at the right time of year. Today was part of the May long weekend and there where people everywhere and beginner surfers everywhere in the surf (they even had a cheerleading squad of young surfers sitting on a rock yelling false appraises and heartfelt put downs, the little shits weren’t doing much better sitting on a rock in my opinion!!).

The sky was slightly over cast the water warm enough, for the west coast of Canada, and as I looked at the surf I realised it was bigger than it had looked at the car park (averaging about 2 meters). Doubts of the boat ability crept into my mind. Determined to find out what the boat could do and the hope it was worthy enough for open water expeditions, I steeled my mind to the possibility of a swim, climbed in and pushed off into the white wash.

Paddling easily over the first two small banks of white water and dodging a couple of flailing beginner surfers I began to relax. I then powered out towards the new wall of sea that formed out in front of me. As I neared, the wave broke in a hungry fury. I then drove the boat forward; the nose rose over and through the wave and dropped with a slap behind the passing wave. This boat was happy to punch through and had good speed; a smirk slipped onto my face as a leapt off the back of an even taller cresting wave. I arrived out the back of the surf break easily, My mind However still focused on the fear of a Skirt implosion (I had a skirt do that to me with the help of a relatively small wave, off the coast Washington state USA which resulted in a cold swim back in through the surf). I had tested the Trak skirt as best I could, though a wave is bigger and tougher than I am and will be the true test.

Some large waves would roll through every now and again breaking further out and then reforming before breaking again near the beach. These where perfect as I could surf a big fast green face with some break, and then bust out before they truly broke. If I was to get caught on a fully broken wave I was stuck on it for the entire ride and in a Broached (side on) position, I would be a nasty surprise for all the "want to be surfers" in the white wash near the shore.

The Trak Surfed wonderfully, it was very responsive and fast and with the center jack cranked to lift the nose and tail as high as they could go, it was and is a surfing machine (for a “folding” sea kayak that is). I dropped of step faces and the nose lifted and allowed me to push out into the trough, it was happy to change directions on the wave, though once the wave broke the white wash forced you to either stay dead straight, cranking on your stern rudder to avoid the side surf, or you just Broached and took the bronco side surf ride. I became truly comfortable, when I rode one wave and as I tucked side on across the face, it crested and the lip broke down hard onto me. I stayed upright, the skirt stayed on, the boat rode the beating well, and then we paddled back out. My Confidence in the boat blossomed.

“Ok!” I thought. “You’re tough, we can do this stuff” though the meanings of this statement rang true 20 minutes later when as I paddled over one breaking wave I was then faced by a monster, looming up into the sky ,it seemed 15 feet high. The steep green face rushed towards me. I had a moment to think “Can I run, can I dodge, can I wait or do I fight??” Fight was the only option, as it WAS going to break on me! I gave it all from a standstill, got up some speed as I pushed up the face that was already curling over me. White foam, like teeth dripping saliva loomed as the boat and I stood almost vertical and I pushed my last paddle stroke with all my vain effort to get up, over and through the wave. The world stood still for a split second.

The world went white for a moment and all noise seemed to stop. And then I saw the sky and my ears where full a noise similar to radio static turned up to full volume. White water, clouds, and then a little yellow of the Trak Kayak become obvious. I was bouncing hard and we where surfing the monster backwards in the middle of the foam pile half swallowed in it. The boat kicked and bucked and lay on its right side as I used my paddle face as a brace to keep my face at least above the pile. After what seemed like a lifetime we pushed out in front of the surge and slide into side surf, which lead onto a spectacular sight of a giant foam pile pushing a bright yellow boat along at a horrendous speed bouncing and twitching and then finally letting it off amongst the surfers.

I had miraculously not hit a single Surfer, and they all looked at me and the kayak with a slight apprehension as I paddled back out into the surf chuckling, with a big grin on my face. This boat could take the nocks! Empty any way. The next test would be to push out and come in through surf loaded, but not today, today was about playing. With full confidence in the Trak and the surfers clearing space as they left in the evening, I hit some big waves far out and rode them all the way in.

This boat rocks!

J.

Trak’n in the Winchelsea’s

Today the Trak and I headed out for a day trip; we geared up, I was wrapped in an anorak and fleece lined paddling shorts, the Trak had airbags inflated and it's insulated sea sock all set. The day couldn’t have been better, storm clouds rolled in over the hills form the west, and squally winds whipped up white caps in Nanoose bay.

I hadn’t approached the company “Trak “ to get their Kayak so i could paddle on glassy flat waters, I wanted it to explore and to have fun in the rougher more wild places you could sea kayak (and the places that where hard to get normal hard shells into) and this day was promising to be a good first trial.

We set off across the bay in the sun though we were soon in steady rain and a solid wind swell. The Trak rode the rollers well and the cross wind did not affect its course significantly. The sea sock was warm and cozy against my bare legs. Edging the boat, it would turn effectively into the wind and we headed out the bay and hopped across to the Winchelsea islands.

Here we found a sheltered lee shore and enjoyed an unhampered glass water paddle, then crossed back into the wind and white caps and across to some more of the islands. Finding some great surf breaking against the southern most islands, I decided to get amongst them and see how the T1600 handled a messy windward shore. The boat rode and sliced through the small waves well, and surfed with speed and want. With a desire for a bit more I chose to ride the longer waves that broke over a reef, along a small islet and wrapped around an into a small cove. The Trak was game.

The Trak was quick to broche if you didn’t catch the wave dead straight or with lots of speed, however when you got it right she was responsive and fast, zipping along with the swell. Due to not having a helmet and the boat being a skin on frame design, I feared to push too hard near the rocks. I did get pushed up hard against one rock while retrieving my video camera but the boat took it well, however on return to the beach, I found small surface lacerations on the keel and side chine. None had punctured through the skin, though they sent home the reality of how easily an oyster shell would open the kayak up like a tin can if you came on to one at full speed with a wave.

The boat and I continued on, tucking into and pushing through little rock channels and inlets. Paddled along the steep cliffs of the larger islands and paddled by the Navy base that sits on the eastern most island. Eagles nested with their young on a couple of islands. Their eerie shrills and piping rang through the air, as seals flopped quickly into the water with a splash, to snort and fart at me. The air smelt of the ocean and the rain came and went. Heading back to the beach in Nanoose bay, the wind died and the sun came out and descended towards the horizon, giving a spectacular sunset as I lifted the kayak up to the lawn and hosed her down. What a great day, and an enjoyable boat.

J.