Always Free							Summer 2010

The Hunt for
Lingzilla
A Sluggish Beginning
The “Not-so-Dinky”
Dinkey Creek

Greenland or Bust

1quarter-page-CAK-20100420-outlines.ai 1 4/21/2010 10:15:11 AMC• Whale-Watching
Kayak Tours• Humboldt Bay
Wildlife Tours• River Trips throughthe Redwoods• Guided Kayak Fishing
Trips for Salmon,
Halibut, Rockfish,
Steelhead

M

Y

CM

MY

CY

CMY

K

FamilyFriendly
Kayak and
Canoe
Rentals

Humboats guides aretrained and certified by
the ACA, BCU, U.S. Coast
Guard and Wilderness
Guides Alliance. Our
fishing guides arelicensed and bonded.

(707) 443-5157 • www.humboats.com
Dock A, Woodley Island in Eureka

Eskape Sea Kayaking

Helen Wilson, Kokatat Ambassador
paddling with friends, Humboldt Bay (CA).
hh GMER

from Mild ...
to Wild!

Our GORE-TEX® Meridian dry
suit with relief zipper and socks
is specifically designed withpaddlers in mind. It incorporates
an adjustable overskirt whichlayers with a spray skirt tunnel.

hh MsFIThTourh
The anatomically cut foam
panels have made this life
jacket one of the most
comfortable for both genders
and all paddling styles.

Nature Tours • Basic
Safety • Surf Skills • Sea
Caves • Expeditions •Galapagos • Bajaed
Personalized instruction withrtifi
Ce s in.
A ar
Roger Schumann,.
zCe
A. 5 y Cru
1 nta
Sea
Kayak
Rescue andauthorofaS

Guide to Sea Kayaking
Central & Northern California

www.EskapeKayak.com
831-476-5385
2

www.calkayakermag.com

hh Seeker
An ultra light, flexible and low
profile shoe designed to fit
well in low-volume kayaks.

Summer 2010

Summer 2010

Volume 1, Issue 2

Contents

Editor in Chief
Peter Donohue
Design & Layout
Laura Ramos www.portalcm.com
Contributing Writers
Glenn Brank, Laura Farrell, Matthew
Krizan, John Martin, Neil Schulman,
Roger Schumann, Helen Wilson
Contributing Photographers
Glenn Brank, Dubside, Laura Farrell,
Matthew Krizan, John Martin, Darin
McQuoid, Lisa Ouellette, Neil Schulman, Roger Schumann, Vincent Shay,
Helen Wilson
Writing and photos not otherwise credited is by California Kayaker Magazine
Psychological Support
Alaskan Brewing IPA
www.coastalcode.org
Legal Support
Karen A. Lapinski, Attorney
www.LapinskiLaw.com
Find Us
PO Box 282004
San Francisco, CA 94128
Phone: 650-868-8653
Fax: 650-560-2783
Email: editor@calkayakermag.com
www.calkayakermag.com
Copyright © 2010 by California Kayaker
Magazine. All rights reserved. Duplicationor copying of any portion of this magazine
in any form is strictly prohibited. Letters to
the editor should be sent to the editor at theaddress listed above. The opinions found in
California Kayaker Magazine are those of
its writers and do not necessarily reflect theopinion of management or advertisers.
California Kayaker Magazine is an independent magazine available for free at paddlingshops, sports retailers, outdoor stores, fitness
clubs, marinas, and events, and available fordownload from the web.
Kayaking can be a dangerous sport. Dressappropriately, always wear your PFD, andpaddle within your skill level.

9

			

22

		

26

Features

In Every Issue

6 Turning Tips for
Better Control

4 Editor’s Note

9 A Sluggish
Beginning
12 Making the mostof your Point &Shoot Camera
18 Greenland or Bust
22 The “Not-SoDinky” Dinkey
Creek

5 News andCalendar
16 Center Hatch
28 Review
30 List of Advertisers

24 American River
Bridge Tour
26 The Hunt for
Lingzilla
Cover Photo - photo of Three ArchRocks, Oregon, demonstrating thatyou can take your camera with you(see article on page 12).
Photo by Neil Schulman
Camera: Canon Powershot D10
California Kayaker Magazine

3

Editor’s Note
Welcome Letter

California Kayaker Magazine is expanding!
Issue 1 proved to be very popular – with some stores running out of copies within the firstmonth. And the PDF version was downloaded over 500 times in that same first month. So weare increasing the number of copies we print for this issue.
California Kayaker Magazine is also getting thicker. The first issue was limited in how muchcontent we could provide, so it didn’t have the broad coverage of a wide variety of types of
kayaking I would have liked. For this issue we added eight more pages. Critters from Kayaks,
Fishing, and Whitewater are subject areas I hope to include from here on.
There is even more expansion coming over the next few issues. One major area is that we areplanning a geographic expansion. This magazine started with a focus on northern California,
but I am getting a lot of interest from our friends down south plus border communities in neighboring states. There will be additional distribution of this issue in these areas, and we plan forcomplete coverage with the Fall issue.
Wanted to give a special shout out to Matthew Krizan, Karen Lapinski, Lisa Ouellette, Laura
Ramos, and one who wished to remain anonymous for taking time to proof read the articles forme. It is amazing how many errors I miss no matter how many times I read something – theirfresh sets of eyes have saved me more than once.
Enjoy!
Peter Donohue
Editor in Chief
editor@calkayakermag.com

4

www.calkayakermag.com

Summer 2010

uProposal to close parts of San
Pablo Bay for Homeland Security
Training
The Department of Homeland Security is working on implementing asafety zone in San Pablo Bay thatthey could use for training purposes. An example of their training
would be a Coast Guard helicopter
chasing a fast boat and using a gun
firing blanks. Definitely would be
exciting to see, but not somethingthat we would want to be in the middle of.
The proposed area is roughly arectangle out in the middle of San
Pablo Bay (the red box shown in themap below). If your route took you
through there, it could require a long
paddle around the area.

More information can be found in
the document at www.smartpdf.
com/register/2009/nov/06/E926792.pdf. This was a call for publiccomments, and currently they are
working through the comments theyreceived. They hope to be operating
on a temporary permit again in thenext few months, and then work on
getting the permanent permit.
Current boundaries of the box are:38°05′11″ N, 122°22′10″ W;
38°03′44″ N, 122°20′12″ W;
38°00′41″ N, 122°25′28″ W;
38°01′45″ N, 122°26′38″ W
The San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission
has been working with the Coast
Guard to determine if the boundaries of the box should be adjusted to
avoid a section called “the Sturgeon
Triangle”, an area with a reputation
as being good for sturgeon fishing.

This zone would be closed to allboats when they needed it for training purposes. These trainings would
only occur on Tuesdays, Thursdays,
or Fridays, and can occur at any
time during the year. In 2009, they
had a temporary permit to train inthat area, and they closed the zone
an average of two times per month.

The Coast Guard will announce
when the safety zone is closed toboaters by a “Broadcast Notice toMariners”, which is a “Securité”
call over VHF Channel 14. Securité calls (pronounced “secure etay”), are non-emergency situations
where there are potential navigational hazards such as a boat sitting
in a fog bank.

Red box is proposed closure area

Persons and vessels may also

contact the Coast Guard to determine the status of the safety zone
on VHF–16 or the 24-hour Command Center via telephone at (415)399–3547.
Nautical Charts and Google Maps
combined
Web firm GeoGarage has overlaid
the nautical charts for the UnitedStates over Google Maps, andprovides access to these as a freeservice. This allows you to viewnautical charts using the intuitive
Google Maps interface. Added tothis, you can insert waypoints andcreate routes, which are then downloadabe to your Garmin GPS using
the Garmin Communicator Plugin.
marine.geogarage.com
News Continued on Page 21w
Aquanfest
Foster City, CA
June 12-13, 2010www.aquansports.com
The Great Race #37
July 17, 2010
Rancho Cordova & Sacramento, CA
www.thegreatrace.org
US Surf Ski Championships
August 21-22, 2010
Sausalito & Berkeley, CA
www.ussurfski.com
see ad on page 15
Traditional Arctic Kayak
Symposium (TAKS)
Trinidad, CA
October 15-17, 2010www.shamankayaks.com/shaman/taks
Lumpy Waters Symposium
Pacific City, OR
October 15-17, 2010www.lumpywaters.com
To submit an event for consideration to California Kayaker Magazine,
please send basic information to
editor@calkayakermag.com.
California Kayaker Magazine

5Turning Tips for Better Control

O

ne of the big attractions
to paddling kayaks is their
maneuverability comparedto other boats, that feelingof being in command as captain ofyour own ship. These small, nimble
crafts make it possible to wind yourway along the narrow channels ofCalifornia’s bird-filled estuaries andslow moving rivers, explore themazelike tunnels of sea caves off ourworld-famous coastline, and weave
your way among the rocks andwhitewater of a scenic Sierra stream.
At times, however, this extreme
maneuverability may feel more likea liability, and making your kayak
go where YOU want it to go—rather
than where IT seems to want to go—
can feel like a game of tug-of-war.
Instead of fighting with your kayak,
understanding a few key conceptsof how it turns and what you can do
to keep it in control can help put you
back in the driver’s seat instead offeeling like you are being taken for aride.
Sweep Stroke
A common mistake novice paddlers
tend to make when their kayaks veer
off course is to do a braking backstroke on the opposite side. This
may turn the kayak back on course
but it kills your forward momentum. Amuch more efficient steering strokeis the forward sweep because it
both turns your kayak and maintains
momentum. The basic technique isto sweep your paddle in a wide, longarc from your feet, out away fromyour kayak, reaching all the way
back to your stern (see photos on
facing page). My daughter calls thisthe “rainbow stroke.”
Here are a few tips to make yourforward sweeps more effective.
First off, keep your regular forward
strokes closer to the boat and in
front of you, ending at the hip, which
6

www.calkayakermag.com

by Roger Schumann

will help keep your kayak tracking
straighter in the first place. Picksomething on the far shore to aim
at, and as soon as your kayak starts
to yaw (that’s boat-speak for veering off course) do a sweep stroke onthat side to bring your kayak backon line. The key is to catch it early
and try not to let yourself get morethan one sweep stroke off course.
Your goal is to make a lot of small
corrections to stay on course, rather
than fewer big corrections to getback on course. (Of course, you
could always drop your rudder if yourkayak has one, but rudders tend to
break at inopportune moments, so it
is good to know how to control yourkayak without one.) If you happen
to get more than one sweep stroke
off course, another tip is to try tokeep your right-left paddling rhythm,
instead of taking several sweeps onjust one side; for example, to turnleft, combine a wide, long sweep on
the right, followed by a short forward
stroke on the left. If you do the math,you’ll quickly see that paddling on
both sides will be twice as efficientas paddling on just one side. Your
turn may happen a little slower, but
you’ll maintain precious momentum.
If you are still off course after two or
three of these sweep right, forward
stroke left combinations it is time forother measures.
Stern Rudder and Reverse Sweep
When you are far enough off coursethat the forward sweep isn’t working,it’s time for a stern rudder stroke.
This is similar to the braking backstroke discussed earlier—the one
you’re trying to avoid—but the stern
rudder stroke is light and streamlined (see photo on page 8). If you
were still trying to turn to the left,
reach back and plant your left blade
next to your stern (that’s the back)of your kayak. Instead of pushinghard out to the side and creating abraking action, however, push gently
on the back of the blade, trying todrag it alongside your stern as muchas possible. You will slow down alittle, but you want to go as light on
the brakes as possible and allow
your forward momentum to createa gentle turn. As soon as you feelyour bow starting to turn left, you canback off the rudder and do a forward
sweep on the right to continue yourturn and regain some lost momentum.
If you need to turn all the way
around, for instance to go back fora dropped hat or a capsized paddling partner, many paddlers tend
to do a bunch of forward sweeps on
one side, but there is a much more
efficient way. Taking advantage ofyour forward momentum, you canstart with a stern rudder (on the left
again). Then as your speed dies out,
sweep the rudder stroke in a wide
arc from your stern all the way up to
your bow in a reverse sweep stroke.
Then alternate forward sweeps (onthe right) with reverse sweeps (left)
on opposite sides to create a quick“spin turn” in place.
Special Considerations: Whitewater vs. Touring Kayaks and WindWhitewater kayaks are designed tospin, unlike touring kayaks which aredesigned to track in a straight line.
Most modern whitewater designs
turn more effectively from the stern.
In other words, instead of using thefull rainbow sweep stroke, you’ll
probably find that you’ll have more
control by focusing on the last half or
two-thirds of the rainbow.
Sea kayaks are designed to trackstraight when they are flat and toturn when put on edge. Dependingon hull shape, some recreational
kayaks and sit on tops may also turnSummer 2010

Starting a sweep
stroke at your feet.

Continuing to sweep
from your feet aroundto your stern. Note how
the boat is edged to
one side to help it turnfaster.

Finishing the sweep
stroke by pulling yourpaddle all the way toyour stern. As withmany things in kayaking, rotating your torso
is more efficient thanusing your arms.

California Kayaker Magazine7

to simply paddle forward and let thewind turn the kayak. If you want toturn downwind, paddle backward
across the wind and let it blow yourbow downwind. In terms of goingstraight, paddling downwind is themost difficult direction, so expect
to use a lot of rudder strokes andsweep strokes to maintain yourcourse. Since you are getting pushed
along by the wind anyway, using rudder strokes won’t slow you down thatmuch as long as you remember to go
light on the brakes. More advanced
paddlers in touring kayaks can alsoenhance turning by edging awayfrom the rudder stroke to carve a turnthe same way they did before withthe sweep stroke.
Another more advanced turning
maneuver is using a rudder at thebow, but this bow rudder technique
is complex enough to warrant its own
separate article.

Stern rudder can also be used tokeep your boat pointed straightwhen surfing.
Photo by California Kayaker
more effectively when edged. It canbe confusing to remember which way
to edge, however, so here is a trick.
Let’s continue with our example ofturning to the left by sweeping on
the right. With longer touring-typekayaks, getting more leverage on thesweep is key. So when sweeping on
the right, reach out as far as you canto the right. This will automatically put
your kayak over onto its right edge(right both in terms right hand as wellas correct), helping it to carve a turnto the left. If you have a sea kayakwith good thigh braces or a sit on top
with thigh straps, you will have better
control over your edging and betterbalance by lifting your left knee andinclining your head toward your leftshoulder as a counterweight.
When paddling in wind, most kayaks
tend to weathercock, that is, they
seem to turn into the wind like oneof those old weathervane roosters
8

www.calkayakermag.com

on barn roofs. Actually it’s not thebow that’s turning into the wind. As
you paddle forward the bow plowing
through the water creates a lot of friction, which anchors it. Then the wind
is able to blow the stern downwind,since it offers less resistance. One
trick for paddling across a wind blowing from the right would be to sweep
and edge your kayak to the right.
Since you’re trying to control thestern, you can focus more on the last
half of the sweep as described above
for paddling whitewater kayaks. You
can also cheat your paddle out tothe right, choking up on your shaft
by sliding your grip to the left, so you
have more length, and thus moreleverage, on the right.
If you stop paddling in wind, yourkayak will tend to get blown sideways. In a strong enough wind you
can get stuck sideways to the wind“in irons” as sailors say, unable toturn. Many kayakers struggle to turnagainst a wind using sweep strokes
alone. But, remembering that yourkayak will turn into the wind whenpaddling forward, it is more efficientAs much as it can seem like it attimes, your kayak really doesn’t havea mind of its own, and you can use
various stroke combinations to makeyour kayak mind you. Combine asweep with your forward stroke to go
straight efficiently or to change directions. Alternate forward and backsweeps to spin around. Use a stern
rudder with forward sweeps to maintain a course in the wind. Learning towork with the wind and your kayak’s
design and figuring out the appropriate stroke combinations for your craft
and the conditions, can help put you
back in command. v
Roger Schumann is award-winning
co-author of Guide to Sea Kayaking
Central and Northern California and Sea
Kayak Rescue and the owner and lead
instructor of Eskape Sea Kayaking (www.
eskapekayak.com) in Santa Cruz, CA.
As an ACA-Certified instructor-trainer,
he’s been teaching classes and leading
expeditions for over 20 years on our local
shores and beyond--from Alaska to the
Galapagos and from Baja to Brazil.
Photos by Sandy Rintoul-Schumann

Summer 2010

A Sluggish Beginningby Matthew KrizanIn this first edition of Critters from Kayaks, I wanted
to ease into writing for California Kayaker and I am
excited to have found the perfect animal to matchthat sentiment. Rather than write about any of the
fluffy, feathery, or humongous marine critters that
already get pretty good press, I want to focus on the saltwater equivalent of backyard slugs: the nudibranch! Why
the lowly sea slug? With over two thousand documented
species, over eighty of which live along California’s coast,
it is easy to paddle out and find a nudibranch on yourown. In addition to living where we paddle, nudibranchs
are also some of the more colorful and visually dynamic
animals on earth. Beauty aside, nudibranchs are marine
invertebrates with a variety of adaptations that makethem unique and interesting to observe.
Chances are your salt-water paddling adventures havealready brought you close to a nudibranch. They tend tolive close to what they eat, and what they eat are otheranimals like sponges, anemones, hydroids (a relative of
anemones that look like they would be at home in any
Dr. Seuss book), and bryozoans (tiny creatures that form

The nudibranch Janolus fuscus feeding on anarborescent bryozoan colony on a dock in theTravis Marina at Fort Baker, Sausalito, CA
colonies that appear like a colorful crust or as a seaweed
to the naked eye). These animals are collectively known
as fouling organisms because they grow in massive
quantities, carpeting or “fouling” the surfaces they live on.
Since these organisms can be found wherever we kayak,
so too can their predators.
So, unlike the vegetarian slugs in your backyard, nudibranchs are carnivores. Yet because we are still talking
about slugs—animals not known for their sudden ambush
techniques or dramatic capture of prey—their food must
be slower than they are. Fortunately for them, their preyis sessile [fixed to one spot], so nudibranchs are free tochase down their food at their own pace. Once a nudibranch gloms on to its prey, it rips or scrapes off digestible chunks using its radula, a tongue-like part of theirmouths serrated like a rasp. One important aspect of thenudibranch’s radula is that its shape forces it to specialize
California Kayaker Magazine9

in one type of prey. Each species ofnudibranch has evolved to eat one
primary type of food, and its radula isa species-specific adaptation. Biologists can determine the exact species of a nudibranch by dissecting it
and observing its radula through a
microscope.
Fortunately for us here in northern
California, the nudibranchs we’ll see
while paddling are identifiable bytheir outward appearances. Looking
at the picture of the Lemon Dorid
nudibranch Peltodoris nobilis, its
head is on the right and the tail atleft. On its head are two ear-like projections: these are called rhinophores
and function as chemoreceptors,
similar to what our nose and sinuses
do for us. The nudibranchs in northern California waters have two rhinophores, though some species havethree. Nudibranchs do not have eyesthat function as ours do, instead they
have eye spots which differentiate
light and dark only. Difficult to see,eye spots are typically located on the
animal’s head near the rhinophores.
The feathery-looking appendage at

10

www.calkayakermag.com

the tail is the branchial plume andis used for breathing. This is whatgives the nudibranch—naked gill in
Latin—its name. The Lemon Dorid in
the picture was 11 centimeters (4.25
inches) in length, but they can belonger.
Besides the Lemon Dorid, several
other species of nudibranch foundin our waters are also in the Dorididae family and have a similar body
shape, but vary in size and coloration. You’ll likely find Dorids in rocky
tide pools or along rocky shorelines.
The variation in color between Dorids
has to do with the type and color ofsponge that they eat, because theydigest and absorb the colored pigments from the body of the sponge
and incorporate them into their own
flesh.
The Opalescent Nudibranch (Hermissenda crassicornis) has a different
morphology, or body shape, fromthe Dorid. Growing to about five cm(2 inches) in length, the Opalescent
Nudibranch is in the sub-order Aeolidina, which all have a hedgehog-likebody form. In addition to the rhino-phores, two appendages shoot out tothe sides of this nudibranch’s head:these are tentacles with chemoreceptors and tactile (touch) receptors.
The finger-like projections protrudingfrom the back of this nudibranch arecollectively called cerata (singularcera), and are functionally similar to
the Lemon Dorid’s branchial plume.
Not only does gas exchange happen
through the cerata, they also contain
part of the animal’s digestive tract.
The favored food of the Opalescent
Nudibranch is hydroids—the aforementioned Seussian critters—andboth the hydroids and this nudibranch are commonly found on thedock skirting, pilings, and sea walls inany harbor, in addition to rocky cragsand tide-pools along the coast.
Notice the bright fluorescent coloring of the Opalescent Nudibranchin the picture. Given its colorful,tender, even tasty appearance, you
may wonder why it has evolved suchhigh-visibility markings that might
A lemon dorid (Peltodoris nobilis) at
Fitzgerald Marine Reserve, Moss
Beach, CA

Summer 2010

For more information on Nudibranchs:
The California Academy of Sciences Opisthobranchs of SF Bay
web page:researcharchive.calacademy.org/
research/izg/SFBay2K/Opisthobranchs_of_SFBay.htm
The Sea Slug Forum:
www.seaslugforum.net

The Opalescent Nudibranch(Hermissenda crassicornis) on adock in the Travis Marina at Fort
Baker, Sausalito, CA

attract the attention of larger predators. In reality nudibranchs have also
evolved very functional defenses.
Dorids produce chemicals that maketheir flesh unpalatable to potential
predators. The anemone-eating
Aeolida papillosa (not pictured) is
not only colored like the anemones it
eats, but with its rows of cerata, it isalmost indistinguishable among thetentacles of the anemones—a very
effective camouflage. Anemones andhydroids have what are called nemaMo re

Go o din diameter or less), flat, circular deposits of what looks like white ribbon
or string. These are fertilized egg deposits. Nudibranchs are hermaphrodites but do not usually fertilize theirown eggs. Instead they join together
to transfer or trade sperm, and thenwill part company and deposit theirfertilized eggs elsewhere.

In your own search for a nudibranch
you might first see evidence of themin the form of small (one centimeter

I hope you are now motivated to look
for these critters as you go about
future paddles. They live wherever
we paddle, and aren’t fast-enoughthat you’ll miss getting a few good
pictures before they glide off into thedepths.

!!!

Mo r esi
F untocysts, or stinging cells, that they
employ along their tentacles for prey
capture and self-defense. Anemoneand hydroid-eating nudibranchs haveanother unique defensive ability: they
are able to digest the nematocysts of
their prey intact and then incorporate
them into the tips of their cerata for
their own defense!

in Humboldt County
Guided Tours
Lagoon Rentals
Family Fun!

www.kayakzak.com
707 498-1130

Good luck and good hunting! v
Matt Krizan is an avid kayaker, kayak
instructor for California Canoe & Kayak,
and marine biologist who likes to share
the beauty and glory of the great outdoors. Matt lives in Pacifica, CA
Photos by Matt Krizan

California Kayaker Magazine11Make the Most of Your
Point-and-ShootBy Neil Schulman

I

Surprisingly, most point-and-shoot cameras have enough control tocapture stunning but difficult light. Storm on the Columbia River.

t’s 1996. Spray stings my face as I propel my kayak
under a stunning waterfall pouring directly into the
Columbia River amidst a spectacular bowl of cliffs.
I pop my sprayskirt, open the dry bag between mylegs, and unwrap my old 35mm SLR from inside a
towel. I take a few hurried shots before cramming it into
its dry bag.
Now it’s 2001. I’m on a long trip in British Columbia, andwe’re visited by a pod of Orca whales. On my deck is the“splashproof” Pentax IQ zoom, which can handle occasional submersion. I pull it out from my deck bungies
in time for a great shot, only to realize that I’m out of film
and don’t want to open the camera with wet hands.
It’s 2005, and I’m paddling in the tidal races of Deception Pass, Washington. My paddling camera is a digital
Canon Powershot in a waterproof housing. I’m eager
to capture my friends jostling among the whirlpools andwaves. In it’s housing, the camera is about the size of abrick, so it’s in my day hatch. Since I need both hands on
my paddle, it stays there. I miss the shot.
Now it’s 2009. I’m bucking up and down in swells off
the Brooks Peninsula, when I realize there’s a school ofjellyfish right under me. I pull my palm-sized submersible camera out of the pocket of my life jacket, shove it
underwater, and start shooting away.
For years, kayak photographers have been stymied by
the demands they place on cameras. It’s only in the past
year or two that small, submersible, and halfway-decent
cameras became available at a reasonable price. Thoseshots of undersea life or your friends in the surf no longer
carry the risk of destroying expensive equipment. Better
yet, these new cameras are about the size of a deck ofcards and surprisingly durable. They do, however, havetheir limitations…but not as many as you might expect.
Like many photographers, I grew up in the age of film
and darkroom. I love the speed and versatility of my digital SLR, the precision of my hand-held spot meter, andthe ability to control shutter speed and aperture to blur
motion or manipulate depth of field. Obviously, if you’re akayaker, these set-ups aren’t always feasible. Here’s how
you can use these little waterproof wonders to unlock
some serious photographic potential.
Zone Defense

Waterproof cameras give you plenty of opportunities tophotograph life under the sea. Jellyfish off the Brooks
Peninsula, Vancouver Island.
12

www.calkayakermag.com

The single greatest tool in photography is controlling exposure. Imagine the silhouette of a kayaker on a golden
dawn, or a beam of light bursting through storm clouds—
situations that fool auto-exposure meters. Since mostpoint-and-shoots use auto-exposure, this is a difficult
situation to expose properly, right?
Wrong. In a recent class, I showed my students how theirinexpensive point-and-shoots have a spot meter that
Summer 2010

second to be sure, but fast enough tocatch some kayak surfing action.
You’re Smarter than the Machine

To make the most of the camera’s ruggedness, swim in the surf and change
your default camera settings to capture action. Colm Lenaghan in the surf at
the Lumpy Waters Symposium.
allows you to meter off a tiny section
at the center of the frame, just likespot meters of old. And they all have
exposure compensation [sometimes
listed as “EV Compensation”], whichallows you to make the photo as
much as 2-3 stops lighter or darker.
Now you can control exposure justlike a big DSLR. You can use theZone System, one of the classic
imaging techniques developed byAnsel Adams, to get precisely calculated exposures. Here’s a simple
overview of the digital Zone System:
spot-meter off the most important
highlight. Use Exposure Compensation to make it one stop or so lighter,depending on your desires, than themetered value. Make sure the midtones aren’t too dark. Then shoot.

First turn off the automatic review
function and the flash. This will
give the camera less to think about
between shots, and will vastly extend
battery life. Then set your camera on“burst” or “continuous” mode. Different manufacturers will call it different
things, but basically it shoots continuously while the button is held down.
Lastly, put the camera in “Action” or“Sports” mode. This sets it on a fast
shutter speed. Now it should click
away faster. With my Canon Powershot D10, I get about 1-2 shotsa second. Slower than 8 frames/

The hallmark tools of creative
photography are controlling shutter speed and F-stop. They control
how the camera perceives motion
and visual depth, respectively. And
they’re absent from the submersible,
consumer-oriented point-and-shoots,in favor of various automatic settings.
Purists who grew up shooting inmanual mode often think of automatic settings as blasphemy. However,once you know what they mean, you
can outsmart the camera and exert
some creative control.
My D10 has auto modes like “sports”,“landscape”, “portrait”, and so on.
These modes are basically pre-set
parameters. Sports mode is generally a fast shutter speed (as fast as
the ISO you’ve selected will allow)
and a wide aperture that creates ashallow depth of field. Landscapeis the reverse: a small f-stop to holdforeground and background in focus,
with a slow shutter speed. Portrait isoften the same as Sports mode, butwith a less contrasty and saturated
color balance.

Sometime both speed and depth of field are essential. When you need both,raise the ISO. Canoeists on the Umpqua River, Southern Oregon.

[More information about the Zone
system can be found at www.outdoorphotographer.com/how-to/shooting/the-digital-zone-system.html]
Delay of GameOne of the most persistent complaints about small cameras is the
shutter lag. Sometimes it’s as muchas a second between hitting the button and the actual image capture, bywhich time the subject has moved
or left the frame entirely. While mypoint-and-shoot will never be as fast
as my DSLR, I’ve made it operatesignificantly faster. The secret lies inchanging camera settings.
California Kayaker Magazine

13

Five Legs Are Better Than Two

You Can Take It With You

Another way to get the most out ofyour point-and-shoot is to pretend it’s
not a point-and-shoot. Digital sensors are good enough to be capableof great images regardless of thecamera. When I encounter a scenethat moves me, I take it slow. I takein the scene, visualize the final image, set my tiny camera on a tripod
and pretend it’s an old-school clunky
medium format camera. This does
more than allow slower shutter speed
and greater depth of field. It helps
me slow down and think. I’m far more
likely to get a clean shot, without distracting elements in the composition
that I didn’t see. And of course, witha tiny camera, you can get away witha very small and light tripod.

But by far the greatest benefit ofthese small cameras is their size.
They don’t just fit in a PFD pocket,
they fit in any pocket. Mine is almost
always with me, even on my trips towork or walks to the supermarket.
You never know what you might see,and now I have no excuse for not
wanting to lug a camera around.

Filters
The fact that your point-and-shootdoesn’t have a thread for screwing
on filters doesn’t mean you can’t use
filters. In fact, I often use a polarizing
filter with mine—just hold it in front of
the lens. Keep in mind that if you’rein wide-angle mode, the camera
may try and focus on the filter if it’s
not close enough to the lens. Unfortunately, you can’t use split neutraldensity filters that have to be positioned directly on the lens.

In 12-foot swell near cliffs,
there’s no way I’m opening
my day hatch. A camera thatcan live in the PFD is essential.
Cascade Head, Oregon during the
Lumpy Waters Symposium.

The RAW Truth
Of course, point-and-shoots do have
limitations. A big one is that the submersible cameras are aimed at theconsumer market, and only capture
JPEG files. Your shots will be lower
resolution, and you’ll miss out onsome nifty RAW file processing options as a result.
Lens Loss
The other area where DSLRs shineis the versatility of lenses available.
Submersible point-and-shoots generally have focal lengths of around35-150mm (roughly equivalent to a
35mm film camera). I miss the wideangle end more than the telephotofor kayaking, since long focal lengths
also magnify the instability of bouncing around in the waves.

But that’s a trade-off I’m willing to
make for something I can use underwater, fits in my pocket, and can takea beating. To make the most of yourwaterproof camera, get it wet. I’ve
swum around in the surf with mine,shooting from the top of the wave
at my friends surfing below me. I’ve
captured spawning salmon, swarms
of jellyfish, and split-images of both
sky and sea.
And remember that photography isabout light and vision. If you havegreat light and a well-crafted image,
it won’t matter what kind of camera
you’re using. Nobody asked Picasso
what kind of paintbrush he used, did
they? v
Neil Schulman is a photographer, writer,and occasional instructor living in Portland, Oregon. Someday he hopes to takehis waterproof camera into the shark tankat the Monterey Bay Aquarium.
Photos by Neil Schulman

Got sales tax?
We don’t!

Hike - Camp - paddle - Climb

thenorthwestoutdoorstore.com

541-245-4000
980 Biddle Rd.
Medford, OR

14

www.calkayakermag.com

Summer 2010

2010 US SURFSKI CHAMPIONSHIPS

August 21-22

Come join the fun on San Francisco Bay. A world class venue that includes anassortment of challenging conditions.
FridaySaturdaySunday-

Demo Day- 12:00Pm-5:00PM. Stoke Clinics to be announced.
Short Course, 8 miles- Fort Baker
Long Course, 16 miles- Fort Baker to Berkeley
Doubles Race- 8 miles, Berkeley
Relay Race- 4 laps

Over $18,000.00 in Cash and raffle prizes.
For more info and to register, check out- www.ussurfski.com
Coverage at www.surfski.info

California Kayaker Magazine

15Competitor Wayne Waddington during one of the International class heats at the 2010 Santa Cruz Surf
Kayak Festival. This particular section is a bit tricky to take off on. The wave jacks up suddenly on the
rocky reef below and throws off your balance. Especially tricky in a surf kayak.
Photo by Vincent Shay Media
Camera: Cannon EOS 50D

Have a photo that shows the beauty of kayaking or otherwise makes people think?
We’d love to see it. Send submissions to editor@calkayakermag.com.
Include the background story and what camera was used.

16

www.calkayakermag.com

Summer 2010

German tourist making a lap of Lake Tahoe in an inflatable kayak.
Notice that he has his suitcase strapped on the back deck.
Photo by California Kayaker
Camera: Pentax Optio W20

California Kayaker Magazine

17

Greenland or Bust
An interview with Helen Wilson

Helen paddling in Greenland
Photo by DubsideI

first saw Helen Wilson at
the 2009 Golden Gate
Sea Kayak Symposium.
At the hostel they had
set up a rope between
two pillars, and people were
trying “Greenland Rope” tricks.
Though she was probably oneof the better people at it, Helenwas sitting in the corner watching – doesn’t seem to be herstyle to show off.

But show off she can - she has competed in the 2008 Greenland National
Kayaking Championship, in which
she received three first place medals. I sat down with her over lunch inArcata to get her story.

18

www.calkayakermag.com

CKM: How did you get into kayaking?
HW: I moved to Arcata. I love water.
I did synchronized swimming anddiving and SCUBA diving. There isjust so much water here, and I justwanted to be in the middle of it.
I started looking into boats. My very
first kayak was a 2-person Perception Acadia 2 so I could take my sonout in the lagoon.
But, I wanted to go out into theocean, and with the big 9-foot cockpit
I couldn’t do that. I had joined a local
kayaking club, so looked at what the
majority of the members were paddling and bought the same thing. In
the store I had two choices, the big or
small one. The larger had way moreroom to move around and I could put

a lot of stuff in it. They were the same
price, so why would anyone want thesmaller one? I bought a cheap aluminum paddle and a friend gave me a
massive deck bag, which I placed asa permanent fixture on the front deck.
I was ready to explore the ocean.
CKM: How did you go from thatpoint to winning Greenland kayaking competitions?
HW: Over the next few months I
learned a lot about kayaking. I took
every class that I could, read every
book, watched every instructional
DVD. The skill that I had the hardest
time with was the forward stroke. A
club member told me that I “needed”
a better paddle, so I splurged andupgraded to a fancy carbon fiber,
bent shaft something-or-other. Still,
my stroke just didn’t feel right. One
Summer 2010

afternoon a friend put a Greenland
paddle in my hand. The awkwardness was immediately gone, andalthough I hadn’t become a betterpaddler, I liked the simplicity, the organic feel and the lack of “rules” that
this piece of wood provided. So myfriend, Michael Morris, made me one.
Of all the skills that I’d been working
on, I enjoyed rolling the most. I loved
the feeling of moving through the water and enjoyed playing with my bodyand hand position, trying to makemy moves as graceful as possible.
I learned of the “Greenland rollinglist” and immediately began working
through it at least four times a week,
thrilled with each new roll that I developed. At this point I was beginningto wish that I’d picked the smaller of
the two kayaks, because every time
I would capsize, half of my effort was
to stay in the kayak and the otherhalf to actually perform the roll.
Michael suggested that I attend akayaking event in Washington called
South Sound Traditional Inuit Kayak
Symposium (SSTIKS), and withenthusiasm I went. I was immediately intrigued by the homemade,traditional kayaks on the beach andthe friendly people. My bright yellow,
plastic kayak with an even brighter
yellow deck bag looked very out ofplace amongst the beautiful handcrafted boats. What intrigued me themost were the discussions about thelong history that is associated withthe sport... an aspect that I hadn’t
previously thought about.

He asked a lot of questions, andneeded a lot of measurements. I
wanted a low volume qajaq thatwould roll easily, but would also bea good ocean boat. Bob worked onthat qajaq for several months, andmeanwhile I continued to work myway through the rolling list, began(with a TON of help from friends)
raising money to go to the Greenland
National Kayaking Championshipand studied all of the information I
could find about the history, culture
and language of Greenland. I waseager to compete in all of the competitions, which include several races,
individual and team rolling, rope
gymnastics and harpoon throwing forboth distance and accuracy.
I took a road trip to Washington to
get my qajaq. It was about half finished, so I spent several days working with Bob and learning the fine artof qajaq building. The qajaq fit me
like a glove, which meant that every
time I twitched, it would twitch.
Until that point, I had only been in theocean in my large plastic kayak. I’dbeen hit by waves, rode over swelland played in rocks. The kayak had
floated on the surface and servedme well. But the day that I first sat in
the qajaq that was built for me, outof wood and nylon, with my every
measurement and need in mind,
I truly felt like I was a part of theocean. Every movement that I madeinfluenced the qajaq, and over time
it taught me to be a better paddler. I
was no longer floating on the surface,
I was now interacting with the water.
CKM: How did you do in Greenland?
HW: In July 2008 I competed in theGreenland National Kayaking Championship. I had studied everythingthat I could about the competition
but didn’t really know what to expect.
The championship was developed in1984 as a way for newer generations
to remember their country’s history. It
is more of a celebration than a serious competition. Each of the towns
in west Greenland forms a team,and often one team judges another.
Getting from one town to another can
only be done by ferry or helicopter,
which is very expensive. This makes
the championship somewhat of areunion, as many of the competitors have not seen each other since
the previous year. The competition
Maligiaq Padilla, four time Greenland
National Champion, during the competition in Greenland.
Photo by Helen Wilson

That evening I sat alone amongst
the oyster shells and skin-on-frame
kayaks. It was at that moment that I
realized that I wanted to learn everything that I could about the tradition of kayaking. I decided to go to
Greenland... but first I needed a real
qajaq (this is the traditional spellingfor kayak). The overwhelming feelingstayed with me, and a few weeks
later I won some money in a raffle
drawing at an event and immediately
emailed Bob Kelim, a boat builderthat I’d met at SSTIKS.
California Kayaker Magazine

19

you ended up underwater, you can
get yourself up.
Qajaqs and harpoons aren’t needed
for hunting now, as they have better
equipment. The competition is done
for tradition. I think the list used is expanded over what was actually usedhistorically, because some of them
have you starting from positions that
I can’t imagine someone would actually get in.
CKM: What are the Greenlandropes?

Helen demonstrating a roll at
Bay Area Paddlefest
Photo by California Kayakermoves from one town to the next,
each town taking its turn to host theevent. The week-long championshipis filled with laughter, games, parties,
and of course kayaking.
While I was there I had the opportunity to learn a lot about the designof the qajaq that I had fallen for at
SSTIKS. A traditional west Greenland
qajaq is a wonderful hunting tool.
It moves through the water quickly
and quietly. Its low volume and small
amount of freeboard makes it virtually unaffected by wind, and its woodand skin design makes it light but
strong.
My view on kayaking since the daythat I bought my oversized, plastic
kayak has changed dramatically. I
now think of kayaks as an extensionof my body. I want my kayak to fit myevery curve. I want my every movement to make the kayak move.

In competition, you have 30 minutes
to go through the list. You must go
through in order, but you can skip
rolls. Each roll has a point value,
and the values increase as you go
through the list.
The hardest roll is the straightjacket
roll, and is worth 10 or 11 points, andas far as I know, no one has evergotten points for it in competition inGreenland. Your arms are crossed
across your chest with your hands
underneath your arm and you goaround like that. If your elbows lift at
any point or your hands come out
at any point, you don’t get points forthat one. What it shows is that rolls
have to do with body mechanics, notwith the paddles the paddler is holding. If you can do it, your technique isvery clean.
CKM: Can you do the straightjacket roll?

CKM: Can you describe the“Greenland rolling list”?

HW: Yes, but not on both sides. My
left side is not very consistent.

HW: The rolling list consists of 35
different rolls, each one is done oneach side of the kayak. The beginning ones are all with a paddle, thenyou move on to the norsaq ones. A
norsaq is a throwing stick, which iswhat attaches to a harpoon. If you
threw a harpoon and fell over, could
you roll up with the norsaq?

CKM: Why were the Greenland
Rolls developed?

20

www.calkayakermag.com

HW: In Greenland, people don’t haveflotation or rescue devices. If you
capsize, you are expected to either
wait for someone to come save youor to roll yourself up. These rolls
were used so that whatever position

HW: Greenland Ropes are 2 ropesthat hang horizontally at about waist
height. It is kind of like the rolling
list – there is a rope’s list as well. In
Greenland it is too cold to paddle in
the winter, so they set up the ropes
system as a way to practice theirrolls in the winter.
I actually have a set up in my livingroom and I do them quite often, but I
am not very good at them.
CKM: Besides practice, how can
one get better at rolling?
HW: Stretching and Yoga - rollinghas way more to do with flexibility
than it does strength, and if you can
get the flexibility then your roll can beeasier. I normally do yoga 4 times a
week. I notice the difference if I don’t
do yoga, as my rolls are stiffer.
CKM: What Greenland Kayaking
events are there locally?
HW: In California, there is Traditional
Arctic Kayak Symposium (TAKS). It
rotates locations. Every other year
it is in San Simeon, and alternating
years it is at other locations. This
year it is in Trinidad (Oct 15-17), andI am actually an organizer for the
event.
Somewhat nearby is the SouthSound Traditional Inuit Kayak Symposium (SSTIK) in Washington Statein June.

Summer 2010

CKM: Tell me about your video?
HW: I have a DVD on rolling called
Simplifying the Roll with Helen
Wilson that came out in mid-May. It
has 3 chapters. The first chapter ison how to do the roll. It is generalrolling for anyone—for white water
kayakers, sea kayakers, anyone whowants to learn to roll.
Second chapter is troubleshooting
a roll. Covers problems like diving
paddles. There is a whole bunch ofthings that can go wrong with the roll.
Third chapter is on taking these newtechniques into more advanced rolls.
Once you have a clean roll, how tostart playing with the rolls on theGreenland list.
Bonus section on how to transition toa forward finish roll. Layback rolls are
all high brace rolls, where forwardfinish rolls are low brace rolls. So it is
the complete opposite.
The thing about rolling, which I am
trying to get across to people, is thatit doesn’t have to be a concern. If
you play with it and practice rolls as
a fun thing, and then if you do get
knocked over on the water without
expecting, you’ve been there before
and can just roll back up. v

NewsContinued from page 5
Santa Cruz Surf Kayak Festival
Results

Traditional Arctic Kayak Symposium(TAKS)
www.shamankayaks.com/shaman/
taks
Oct 15-17, 2010, Trinidad, CA
South Sound Traditional Inuit Kayak
Symposium (SSTIK)
www.qajaqpnw.org
June 18-20, 2010, WA

Tim Smith
Chris Bensch
Rob Casey

Stand up Paddle Surfing

High Performance Men’s

Reno River Festival Results

1.
2.
3.

Galen Licht
Christopher Hobson
Stephen Farthing

High Performance Women’s
1.
2.
3.

Rachel Krugman
Devon Barker
Roberta Borsari

Masters Open
1.
2.
3.

Ken King
Dave Johnston
Dan Crandall

International, Men’s
1.
2.
3.

Darren Bason
Dessie McGlinchey
Sean Morley

International, Women’s
1.
2.
3.
1.
2.
3.

Helen Wilson’s web site and infortmation on the Simplifying the Roll
DVD
www.greenlandorbust.org

1.
2.
3.

Top 3 for each category are listed
here. Full results can be found atwww.asudoit.com/kayak_fest/index.
html

Devon Barker
Morlee Griswold
Jameson Riser

Wave Ski OpenFor more information

Sit-on-Top Intermediate OpenFletcher Burton
Mathieu Babarit
David Speller

1.
2.
3.

Robin Donaldson
Lars Hansen
Tim Larkin

Top 3 results for each category arelisted here. Full results at
www.renoriverfestival.com
Female Kayak Downriver1.

Amy Delosa 22:34.00

Male Kayak Downriver
1.
2.
3.

Sean Morley 18:03.00
Rich Roehner 18:38.00
Edward Gordon 19:42.00

Female Stand Up Paddle Downriver
1.
2.
3.

Ruth Gordon 26:10.00
Donyelle Dewey 27:25.00
Allison Bruner 31:19.00

Male Stand Up Paddle Downriver
1.
2.
3.

Dan Gavere 20:24.00
Mike Bennet 21:19.00
Jay Kincaid 21:23.00

Pro Invitational and Open Freestyle results were not posted when
California Kayaker Magazine went
to press.

Plastic Pro Challenge
1.
2.
3.

Jason Craig
Luke Borserio
Ruth Gordon

Elite Stand up Paddle Surfing
1.
2.
3.

Chuck Patterson
Zane Schweitzer
Michael Roberts

High Performance Intermediate
Open
1.
2.
3.

Kye Borserio
Doug Hudson
Mike Bancroft

Follow California Kayaker Magazine on Facebook
for progress updates, announcements of wheneach issue will be published, up-to-date listings
on events, etc.
http://www.calkayakermag.com/facebook.html

California Kayaker Magazine

21

The “Not-so-Dinky” Dinkey Creek
By Laura FarrellImagine driving across the country from
North Carolina and hours into the Californian wilderness to put in one of thestate’s best steep creeks only to find thatthe storm the week before dumped too
much snow on the road to make it drivable. Thisis exactly the predicament that myself and a
few friends experienced a few weeks ago whentrying to do a spring run on Dinkey Creek, a
California high Sierra classic located just Northof Sequoia National Park. Did we know thiswas a possibility? Sure. There is a reason that
this run has only been attempted in the springa handful of times. However, the enchantment
and allure surrounding the creek’s clean waterfalls and unmatchable scenery clouded ourjudgment and drove us to that point.

Not ready to give up easily, we literally pushed our shuttle
vehicle up a few hills and out of a few ditches hoping thatthe end of the snow was just around the corner. Eventually we all had to come to the realization that the vanwas simply not going to make it to the put-in. After having
already put so much time and effort into the mission, it
was hard for us to turn back now. So what did we do? We
started hiking. We started hiking knowing that we were
somewhere between five and fifteen miles away from theput-in and that we were determined to get there.
22

www.calkayakermag.com

The author about to drop over a final 40’ slide on “Willie
Kerns”, named after a person who broke their ankle on it
years ago.
Photo by Darin McQuoid
After saying goodbye to our shuttle vehicle (whose driver
had to return to Reno due to a time commitment), wewere truly committed to making it to the river considering we were in the middle of nowhere, hours away fromour other vehicle, which was happily waiting for us at the
take-out. Walking through the winter wonderland of the
California wilderness was magical. Dragging a 45-poundkayak loaded down with another 30 pounds of overnight

Trudging through thesnow to the put-in
Photo by Laura Farrell
Summer 2010

gear through the snow… not somagical. But the enchanting worldof steep rapids flowing over smooth
granite rock was too enticing so wepushed on.
Some twelve miles and seven hours
later, we finally made it to the put-inof the river. Exhausted and without
much daylight left, we decided to
set up camp by the river and rest
up for the big day we had ahead of
us. This stretch of Dinkey Creek isgenerally paddled as an overnight
trip, but because of our late start,
we would have to paddle the entire
river in one day. While only six miles
long, it drops over 1,700 vertical feet,
involves at least two mandatory (andnot especially easy) portages andmore Class V rapids than you could
count.
We woke up early the next morning
anxious to finally paddle the rapids
we had worked so hard to get to. The
put-in slide is not your standard warm
up rapid and requires your immediate
focus and attention from the get go.
The saying goes that if you want toportage this rapid, you might as wellstart hiking your boat back to the putin. For us, having no car at the put-in,
this was not an option.

From there the river continues tomeander through a granite wonderland of rapids such as Spike, theGood Morning Slide (named because
it is just below the standard campingspot) and the Nikki Kelly Slide. The
group dynamics were strong andeach member of the team played apivotal role in making the day safe
and smooth. We encouraged eachother to both test our limits while also
remembering the importance of good
judgment in the face of large ClassV rapids in the middle of the wilderness.
The pace doesn’t let up until just amile or so before the take-out when
the river mellows out to Class III-IV
boogie and you finally realize you justdid it, you just ran the Dinkey Creek.

During the summer, this might nothave been such an epic adventure,but in the spring, when the roads arelocked in by snow and the rivers areon the rise, running Dinkey Creek
can turn into quite the mission. v
Laura Farrell is an experienced Class V
paddler, whitewater kayak instructor andadventure travel guide from North Carolina. Currently living in California, she isspending the summer as an instructor for
California Canoe and Kayak. Her sponsorships include Dagger Kayaks, Kokatat
Watersports Wear, and Seals Sprayskirts.
To see and read more about her paddlingadventures, check out
www.theliquidlifestyle.blogspot.com
More information on Dinkey Creek can befound at www.americanwhitewater.org/
content/River_detail_id_179

Looking upstream
at what we justcame down

Photo by Laura Farrell

Throughout the first few miles of theriver we encountered some of thebiggest drops, including the Willie
Kern rapid, a must run 40-foot highangle slide. After a quick scout of theentrance (which involves a 15-footer
into a low angle slide before dropping off the main drop) everyone
fired into it with great lines. Following
a few more 20-foot waterfalls, wearrived at a both difficult and dangerous portage which either involves a
40-foot jump into the water or the useof ropes to descend closer before
launching in. While getting past thispoint did mean we had some of thebiggest stuff behind us, we were still
miles from the take-out and knew we
had to keep moving downstream at agood pace so as to not risk spending
another night out there.

California Kayaker Magazine

23

American River Bridge Tour

By Glenn Brank

The American River runs through the heart ofCalifornia’s capital, but most drivers catch onlya glint of water as they speed across one of theAmerican’s bridges. Kayakers enjoy a much better view, and paddlers never find themselves caught in a
traffic jam.
A short, easy kayak trip on the American near downtown
Sacramento is perfect for that sunny spring day when
you have a few hours to spare. Our weekend paddle began near Howe Avenue and ended 3 hour and 8.5 miles
downstream at Discovery Park, where the American
converges with the Sacramento River. As a bonus, weenjoyed an “underview” of 11 bridges while paddling oneof the finest urban parkways in California and the West.
The current on this wider stretch of river tends to be
more leisurely than upstream, closer to suburban Sunrise Boulevard and Nimbus Dam. That section of theriver becomes a social circus on spring and summer
weekends, when hundreds of people rent rafts for somehigh-decibel floating parties. In contrast, our trip featured
quiet contemplation, nature-watching, and an occasional
fly fisherman. Aside from the muted rush of traffic on thebridges above, the loudest noises we heard came fromhonking Canada geese.
Idyllic as it seems, this paddle demands reasonable caution. Snags, shallows and a few good-sized riffles can
24

www.calkayakermag.com

Paddling under the Guy West Bridge, a one-tenth scalemodel of the Golden Gate Bridge
Photo by Glenn Brank
take an unwary kayaker by surprise. Water temperatures
are cold almost year-round. So wear a personal flotation device, as always, and go with a group—preferably
including someone who has paddled this stretch before.
Companions are needed anyway for the vehicle shuttle.
After passing under the Howe Avenue bridge and past a
futuristic-looking water treatment plant, we floated under
the Guy West Bridge at California State University, Sacramento. This pedestrian bridge and engineering gem—aone-tenth scale model of the famed Golden Gate—wasbuilt in 1966 and named for Dr. Guy West, the first campus president. It’s the smallest span on this trip but themost elegant by far.
Looking up from the water at Guy West and the nineremaining spans, it’s amazing to realize that many werebuilt when Gold Rush memories were still fresh. Before
these bridges, the American River was more of an obstacle than an urban playground. People paddled this riverout of necessity, not for recreation.
For example, take the H Street Bridge (also called the J
Street Bridge and the American River Bridge at H Street).
It wasn’t built until 1932, though other bridges preceded
it. According to an article in The Sacramento Bee, thisSummer 2010

was roughly the spot where Gold
Rush-era folks forded a shallow spotin the river.
Today it’s a four-lane span to upscale
suburbs. Old concrete abutments under the bridge look ominous—like thelairs of river trolls. But any mythicalmonsters must have been snoozing
on the Saturday morning when wequietly glided by.
Further downstream, past the Capital
City (I-80 Business) freeway bridge,
are three railway crossings—the oldSouthern Pacific and Western Pacificlines, plus a pedestrian and bikebridge that once carried the Sacramento Northern. It was an electricrailroad that once ran all the way to
Chico, say transit historians, whonote these rail lines created the firstpermanent crossings of the Americanin the early 20th century. That’s a fact
probably lost on graffiti artists who
have decorated the bridge foundations more recently.
Nearby, tucked into the shadows of
the busy 16th and 12th street bridges, is a little riverfront neighborhoodcomplete with docks, decks, solar
panels and a houseboat or two. Mostof the residences are mobile homes,
though by the look of things, they’re
not about to move anywhere. Only
two minutes from downtown Sac-

Directions:
Since this is a one-way, downstream paddle, arrange a vehicle shuttle fromthe Howe Avenue Boat Ramp to Discovery Park, both located on the American River Parkway. To Howe: take U.S. Highway 50 to Howe Avenue, turnnorth and then right onto La Riviera Drive. Follow La Riviera for less than amile. Turn left at the clearly marked park entrance. At the east (upstream) endof the Howe parking lot is a concrete ramp and small beach that are ideal forlaunching kayaks.
The drive from Howe to Discovery takes about 20 minutes. Go west on Highway 50 to Interstate 5 North, past downtown Sacramento, and exit on Richards Boulevard. Turn left toward the river and then right on Jibboom Street tothe park entrance. Immediately past the park entry kiosk, turn down the hill tothe south shore of the American. Skip the launch ramp, and drive a bit further
to the parking spaces that face the riverfront. This area offers shade, a goodview, and a sandy beach that’s an ideal kayaker take-out point.
Sacramento County Parks charges a day use fee per vehicle of $5 per vehicle ($8 on holiday weekends) and an additional $3.00 per boat. Pay at eitherpark, then keep the receipt on your dash; it is good for both parks. More info
can be found at www.msa2.saccounty.net/parks/Pages/ParksA-ZListing.aspx.
Cautions:
While this portion of the lower American is free from significant rapids, higher
river flows may be expected this spring and summer due to runoff from theSierra’s deep snow pack. Kayakers may find the latest California river reports
on flow and water temperature at www.dreamflows.com/graphs/day.076.php.
Flows in the range of 3,500 cfs indicates higher, faster conditions that meritadditional caution.
ramento, it’s the perfect waterfront
hideaway. Someone should open adockside coffee bar here.
At this point, the river begins towiden and slow like a mini western
replica of the Mississippi. Ducks andgeese patrol the riverbanks and fly
overhead in formation. A few turtles
sun themselves on snags near thebank. Even though our day beganwith a chill, most of our paddlers had
already shed their jackets and weekday cares.
All that was left before us was themassive Interstate 5 overpass – itshuge concrete trusses reinforced by
the mud nests of swallows – and the1930s Jibboom Street Bridge thatcrosses the river at Discovery Park.
It marked the perfect ending to thisbridge paddle tour as we surveyed
the old and the new, side-by-side. v
Glenn Brank of Sacramento is a veteranjournalist whose blog, www.norcalyak.
com, features Northern California kayaking trips and related topics.

View of four bridges on the American
River, starting with the Union Pacificrail bridge.
Photo by Lisa Ouellette
California Kayaker Magazine

25

The Hunt for LingzillaT

by John “Hawk” Martin

he clock reads 4:20 am as I lay wide wake, fully
dressed in giddy anticipation of the day’s hunt on
California’s fabled “Lost Coast”. It’s still o ‘dark
thirty as I creep into the driveway of local kayak
fishing legend and Guru Eric “Abking” Stockwell. We hydrate profusely with cupfuls of freshly roasted Humboldt
Java as we lash extra tie downs to the kayaks to weather
the drive across the insanely winding country road nicknamed the “Wildcat”.
We cruise through the Victorian era Town of Ferndale
and turn off at the forested road to Petrolia, named for its
once thriving but now defunct oil industry. At first the drive
appears pastoral and benign, but soon gives way to stark
terror as the road winds wildly up and down the mogullike terrain. Logging trucks pass within inches and cut
across lanes to save time and turning. Sheep and fowl
wander right into the road oblivious to traffic. Eric, who
has made this drive literally hundreds of times, barrels at
breakneck speed while blasting AC/DC from the stereo.
As the road exits the forest, the ocean comes into fullview. We stop at a pull out above a hill known to cyclists
as “the wall”. It’s a near straight drop. Looking down you
can’t help but wonder what these road engineers werethinking.
The view is as informative as it is breathtaking. You can
see the entirety of the fishing grounds and gauge thewind effect on the sea. We know exactly where the fish
are and where we want to be but getting out through surf
and rocks at low tide in loaded fishing kayaks is going to
be a challenge. The shoreline is composed of millions ofgrapefruit-sized rocks pounded on constantly by dumping
surf. We seek out a launch behind a bulbous pair of sea

stacks we call “mother’s milk”, named for their resemblance to the upper anatomical features of the fairer sex.
They offer a protected window to launch from for thosewith good timing and solid bracing skills. It’s about a mile
and a half out to a special reef that shall remain undisclosed. It’s not a straight shot however because the way
is guarded by menacing rocks that cause us to zigzag
around them to avoid getting maytagged by waves breaking everywhere. As the sun rises the morning mist is
turning into a thin fog. It hangs on the coastal redwoods
like sticky tallow and creeps down like a serpent throughthe distant Mattole River valley. I look back to shoot acompass bearing on my parked car which is now barely
visible. Through the haze I keep my eye on Eric’s bright
red jacket rising and falling with each passing swell.
Even paddling our plastic battleships at 4 knots, it takes
almost an hour to get to our spot with a quick stop to dropsome baited crab traps. The appearance of vast kelp
fields clues us in that we’re right on top of the offshore
reef. Usually we find our secret spot by lining up a range
with particular sea stacks and certain coastal features,
but today we rely on technology and follow the GPS
gizmo.
The Lost Coast is the healthiest and most abundantfishery in the state. Anywhere we drop our hooks is probably going to be productive. But we are going through all
this trouble to catch Lingcod. And not your garden variety
Lingcod, but a species so huge it can only be called“Lingzilla”. I won’t kid you, this is a beastly looking fishwith big ol’ teeth and shoulders like a Green Bay Packer.
They don’t like being messed with and have a particularly bad attitude when it comes to the indignity of beingcaught by a kayaker.
At our spot we immediately tie up to some kelp to keepfrom drifting. Eric’s rod is pre-tied with a fluorescent yel-26

www.calkayakermag.com

Summer 2010

low double fluked swim bait, tippedwith squid bits. Mine has a beefy root
beer scampi bait attached to a 6oz
jig head. I tie an additional shrimp fly
to my line with a dropper loop. Our
method is to jig the rod, bouncing thebait off the bottom and doing our best
not to get hung on rocks.
Right off the bat Eric starts nailing‘em. He’s pulling up bright orange
vermilions, black rockfish, and theprehistoric looking Cabezons. I put
my camera down just in time for thestart of an insane feeding frenzy.
Schools of blacks and blue rockfish
have amassed beneath our kayaks.
These fish are going nuts to becometacos and ceviche. They slam thebottoms of our kayaks and leap clear
out of the water to snatch our hooks.
I’ve never seen anything like it in 30
some odd years of fishing all over theworld. Eric lands the first ling, though
not a monster, it came up as a hitchhiker that chomped onto a rockfish
Eric had on the line.
It’s half past noon and we’ve beenfishing for hours. Between us weprobably caught over a hundred fish
and carefully released 95% of them.

We usually keep a few fish for dinnerand for cooking up on the beach withsome brews before heading home. It
has been an epic fishing day and ourarms are feeling all that reeling. The
wind is starting to pick up and we still
have a long paddle back.
Despite the phenomenal fishing anda nice keeper ling for the both of us,
we still haven’t seen anything worthyof the title “Lingzilla”. Eric takes off
the tattered shrimpfly to avoid a preemptive rockfish strike, and tries one
last time. Within one or two jigs his
rod goes bendo and he looks at mewith these wide eyes. He pulls up on
the rod but it doesn’t budge an inch.
At first I’m thinking he’s got to behung up on a rock, but then that thingnearly pulls him off his boat.
He hasn’t used his net all day so now
when I see him look over to it, I know
this is the fish we’ve been waiting for.
In a single moment the silence is interrupted by an explosion of water at
the side of Eric’s kayak. Rather thanhorsing it in or frantically going forthe net, Eric holds that rod and takes
the thrashing of a lifetime. This isbrute versus brute but in the end theland-walker wins. There she was in
the net; this Lingzilla Eric had always
talked about on previous trips.
Some may disagree, but for us thisis not the type of fish you take home.
This is a fish that will benefit the generations down the line if left to breed.
So Eric grabs this ling matriarch byher enormous gill plates and slides
her on board the deck of his kayak
for a measurement. I’m snappingaway like the fish porn paparazzi
and this thing’s jaws are inches from
Eric’s nads. He takes a moment ofcommunion with the fish, which lay
amazingly calm on his deck. One or
two more shots and the back into thedrink she goes, wasting no time inretreating back to her den.
It’s a good bet that ling and many
more Lingzilla like her are still downin those waters, breeding the future
stock. It’s amazing to know such aplace exists and is kayak accessible.
Note - It takes more than just greatfishing knowledge to be a competent
kayak fisherman in these northernwaters. The ocean can be brutal andunforgiving. We always venture out
in teams and loaded to the hilt withexperience and redundant safetymeasures. v

John “Hawk” Martin is ACA and BCU certified and is owner of Humbolt Kayak Adventures (www.humboats.com), a company based in Eureka that specializes inkayaking lessons and tours (including
kayak fishing tours). Hawk, a nickname
he picked up when serving as an Army
Ranger, has over 15 years of experiencein paddle sports and has accomplishednumerous adventure kayaking and solo
expeditions worldwide.
Photo by John “Hawk” Martin showing Eric Stockwell fighting and landing
Lingzilla.

California Kayaker Magazine

27

Pedal Power

Review of the Hobie Mirage and Native Watercraft Propel Pedal Drives
One of my friends used to call me “massive thigh guy”.
Not sure if this was good or bad, but there may be sometruth to it. For all of my adult life, I have been riding bikes.
Even raced for a while. Doing so has built up my thighs
to be rather large—enough so that my legs won’t fit in low
volume sea kayaks (of course, the size of my stomach
may have something to do with this also).
Having strong legs, I have wondered for a while about
these pedal operated kayaks. Would they be good forsomeone like me? So I figured I’d check them out.
When I think of pedal powered kayaks, I mostly think offishing. These propulsion methods allow one to movethe kayak while still keeping their hands free to land thatfish. And reading the manufacturers’ literature, the fishingcrowd is definitely one of their target markets. But theyalso appeal to people who have weak upper bodies or

people who are doing other activities that require hands(like bird watching). They could also be a way for fitnessfans to work out a different part of their bodies while enjoying being on the water.
How Tested:
I wanted to get a boat from each manufacturer very
similar in length, hull shape, etc., so I could do a headto-head comparison, but their product lines aren’t closeenough. There were too many differences between theboats to make that fair, so I changed the focus to looking
at the Hobie and Native Watercraft drives and comparing
them to each other, and also looking at them in relation tousing a paddle.
I set the borrowed boats up at a dock. I started the sea
trials, switching back and forth between the two, using

Native Watercraft
Propel Drive

Available in the Ultimate Multi Sports and Mariner Multi Sports line of boats.

Manufacturer’sMarketing Speak• Enjoy total boat control with forward and reverse capabilities.
• The 1:10 drive ratio converts each pedal crank into ten revolutions of the prop.
• You will go far with less fatigue as the sleek hydrodynamic design allows efficient propulsion
with minimal drag.
• Your body position mimics a recumbent bike• The internal drive unit is completely sealed against sand, grit, and mud so it is virtually maintenance free.
• Drive unit’s housing is marine grade anodized aluminum so it is light, tough and rust proof.
• The system uses a simple pivot system to be lowered or lifted out of the water easily.
• Unit weight 11 pounds (down 4 pounds from 2009 model)

More Info

www.nativewatercraft.com

Propel Drive Underside View
28

www.calkayakermag.com

Propel Drive Paddler’s POV
Summer 2010

a GPS to track speeds. Played around in a variety ofconditions – mostly flat water, but some boat wakes anda decent spring breeze going. Tried each boat with thepedal system, and then removed the pedal system fromeach boat and paddled each boat with a paddle only. Dida second set of test runs at Bay Area Paddlefest when
I had friends take each boat out and provide their feedback. This also gave us an opportunity to feel what it was
like to launch and land off of a beach.
How They Work:
With the Native Watercraft Propel, you pedal in a circularmotion, just like a bicycle. Through gears, the pedal motion is converted into revolutions of a propeller (at a ratioof 1 revolution of the pedals becoming 10 revolutions of
the propeller). You can pedal both forward and backward,
causing the boat to go both forward and backward.
When using the Hobie Mirage, you use your legs to pushand pull on the pedals in a Stair Master motion. This
causes the fins to move from one side to the other. As thefins move, the trailing end of the fins flexes into a shapethat pushes water toward the back of the boat in a sculling motion. Propulsion is in forward direction only.

Similarities:
Interesting to find that there are more similarities between
the two pedal systems than I expected. Both have hand
rudder controls in similar places near the paddler’s hip,both have pedal drive units that are easy to remove, andboth pedal-systems out-performed a paddle in regards toacceleration and cruising speed.
On boat speed, I have read online message boards
where some people would claim one drive system was
faster than the other, so I specifically tried to test for this.
I did not find this to be true. Both systems let you get
up to speed quickly, and cruise at this speed with lessperceived effort than with a paddle, but neither would let
you exceed the hull speed for the boat (which would takea huge amount of energy to do).
But I also found that neither system functions wellenough that you would want to go out without a paddle.
Both required that you be moving at a decent clip to get
the rudder to turn the boat. So turning in a small area
would be challenging without a paddle. And even when
not in confined space, using sweep strokes with a paddle
to turn would be faster.

Hobie Mirage Drive

Available in the Mirage line of boats, which consists of 8 models of hard shelled kayaks and3 models of inflatable kayaks.

Manufacturer’sMarketing Speak• Revolutionary new propulsion system• Pedal driven• Hands-free kayaking• Adjustable mechanism accommodates a wide size range of pedalers• Durable construction of injection-molded plastics, anodized aluminum, stainless steel fittings• Self-cleaning mechanism (resists wear from sand and other particles)• Easily removable for transport and storage• Unit weight 6.6 pounds

More Infowww.hobiecat.com

Mirage Drive Underside View

Mirage Drive Paddler’s POV
California Kayaker Magazine

29

Drive units removed
from the boats.
Who Should Consider Them:
Both of these propulsion systems
would be good for kayakers whowant to keep their hands free, or justprefer to use their legs. Propel had
a slight advantage if you needed tomove forward and backward a lot,
where Mirage may be slightly betterfor someone who is often launching
and landing on a beach or paddlingin shallower water.
Neither system also would be goodfor “technical” paddling, like whitewater, rock gardening, or surfing.
This is not something that may comeup, as these propulsion systems are
not normally installed on the highly
responsive boats that are preferred
for these types of kayaking. v
Differences:
Beyond the similarities, there clearly
were differences between theseunits.
Neither unit works well in very shallow water, but the Mirage drive didbetter. The Propel drive needed to bepulled out when the water was lessthan about 14” deep. The fins of theMirage can be placed flat againstboat hull to land on a beach, or drive
unit could be pulled out. The fins canalso be “fluttered” close to the hull to
Rudders are controlled by a lever located near the paddler’s hip. Hobie’s
rudder control shown here.

30

www.calkayakermag.com

allow you to get propulsion in shallower water.
Neither unit is inexpensive. Native
Watercraft does sell the same model
boat with and without a Propel drive,and those with the drive are about$650-700 more expensive. Hobie
does not offer the same boat withand without a Mirage Drive, so there
is not a direct comparison to determine the cost of the Mirage Drive.
Looking at similar boats, I estimatethat a boat with the Mirage drive
is about $750-800 more than one
without.
I found my legs got tired faster with
the Mirage unit than with the Propel,
but this was probably to be expected(given my years of biking, but having never spent any time on a Stair
Master). In the Propel, I found I
was not “pedaling circles” (applying
power through the entire revolution),
but instead was pumping the pedal.
There are optional toe straps available (or standard bike pedals can beinstalled) that may resolve this, but
unfortunately I was not able to testwith these.

Advertisers
Index
Advanced Elements ................... 31
Aquan Sports.............................. 32
Clavey River Equipment............. 31
Eskape Sea Kayaking . ................ 2
Humboats .................................... 2
Kayak Zak’s................................ 11
Kokatat . ....................................... 2
Northwest Outdoor Store............ 14
US Surfski Championships......... 15
Wheeleez ..................................... 2

Summer 2010

KAYAKS • RAFTS • SUPSCANOES • ACCESSORIESClasses•Tours•Sales•Rentals
WWW.CLAVEY.COM

409 Petaluma Blvd. S
Petaluma, CA 94952
707-766-8070“on your way to Tomales Bay”

If you are reading this ad...
...so are your customers!
4 reasons why you should advertise with California Kayaker Magazine:
1. We focus only on kayakers - anyone who picks this up is interested in kayaking.
2. We focus on Northern California, one of the largest markets for kayaks and gear in the country.
3. We offer high content to advertising ratio, so your ad won't have a lot of competition for readers’ attention.
4. We offer competitive prices for 4-color ads, so you can take advantage of colors to make the best impression.

Details at http://www.calkayakermag.com/advertise.html, or contact us at 650-868-8653 or
editor@calkayakermag.com
California Kayaker Magazine

31