With the prospect of water in the California over New Years looking quite poor, Darin McQuoid, David Maurier and myself drove to the northern most drainage in California, the Smith River, for the edge of an Oregon storm that was planned to hit. The day we arrived we received an inch of overnight rain, luckily it began minutes after we arrived and as such our tents were set up without the added hassle of rain falling down on us.

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The first day while we waited for the rivers to come up we did Oregon Hole Gorge and the Siskiyou Gorge sections, familiar runs but fun none the less. That night however, we received 4.5 inches of rain and awoke to flooded creeks and enormous main stems. With our tail between our legs we backed out of our Diamond Creek mission and went high into the Middle Smith drainage for the rarely run (but very worth while) class III-IV Knopki Bridge section. At flood, this run was the scariest class III-IV run I have done. Twice the ever present of being swept into a jog jam was nearly realized, both encounters though allowed us to squeak by. The next day, with the rain letting up we were able to head into Diamond Creek for a run that has been high on my list for 6 years now. This run is also rarely done, not because it is not fun, but because the shuttle is 2.5 hours one way and the final 6 miles puts a hurt on your car. That night we treated ourselves to a treat and spent New Year’s Eve in Crescent City in a hotel… with a nice warm spa to enjoy.

The following day with flows further dropping, we went to Goose Creek of a personal first decent of all members of the group. In typical Smith River fashion, the rapids are a lot of fun but are gone all too quick. Goose has 4 rapids, 3 of which are captured in a half mile of river. The rest of the run is class II-III in a beautiful canyon. With the last of the water draining from the mountains, we headed into the Upper Smith for one last run.

The Kelsey Trail section of the Upper Smith offers more great scenery but again only 0.7 miles of rapids near the start of a 6.5 mile run. With water levels dropping we decided to head home and go to work the following day. All in all though, what a great way to spend the final days of 2011 and the start of 2012. With your friends, enjoying pristine wilderness, and getting on new rivers. Hopefully 2012 will bring as much happiness as 2011 brought me as well as as many new rivers! - Daniel Brasuell

There is little wonder why humans have fished from self propelled water craft for as long as these vessels have been in existence. It’s a very personal experience and a great way to fish many different types of water. Within 30 minutes after leaving the work behind at Kokatat, I can be on my kayak paddling towards a plethora of fishing options. Seasons dictate where to go, but any day could find me floating down the Mad River looking for holding water where I might entice a steelhead to go for my fly, getting salty on the Pacific Ocean mooching for Salmon or jigging for ling cod or paddling a whole day for tuna, dropping crab pots for fresh dungeness, or paddling our local lagoons and smaller rivers for trout.

Fishing from my kayaks and SUPs around our home in far NorCal has provided me some epic days and memories to last a lifetime. Sure, I’ve had more productive days on a larger boat, but you can’t beat the adrenaline and memories that come with fighting a good sized fish from a small watercraft. There have been few sunsets I’ve enjoyed more than those at the end of a long day on the water with friends and a cooler stocked with fresh edibles to take home. I’ve spent a lot of time fishing from a small watercraft along most of our western coast, from Neah Bay in Washington to the tip of Baja Sur, but have yet to find an area with such diverse fisheries available to a kayak angler as we have here in Humboldt County. - Adrien Pritchard, Kokatat Design Assistant an Kayak Fishing enthusiast

Outdoor Nation has announced that it is accepting applications from individuals between the ages of 18 and 28, or 501c3 non-profit organizations, for The Paddle Nation Project, a grant program that aims to connect young Americans with their waterways through recreational paddling.

Outdoor Nation is an initiative of The Outdoor Foundation®, a 501c3 non-profit organization established by Outdoor Industry Association® to inspire and grow future generations of outdoor enthusiasts. The grants are made possible by support and funding from the Outdoor Industry Association Paddle Advisory Council (PAC). PAC is a coalition of top paddlesports manufacturers, retailers, and stakeholders dedicated to advancing and growing participation in paddlesports.

The Paddle Nation Project will award 10 grants of up to $2,500 each to youth-developed, pioneering projects and initiatives that will result in increased paddling participation. Outdoor Nation will select projects that reinforce the idea that recreational paddling is one of the most accessible and impactful ways to introduce young Americans to the outdoors. In addition to cash awards, Outdoor Nation will also provide technical support and guidance to grant recipients.

“We believe that sometimes the smallest awards make the largest differences, particularly among youth,” said Chris Fanning, executive director of The Outdoor Foundation. “With these paddle grants, we hope to empower an upcoming generation to engage with the outdoors through all types of paddling, such as stand up, whitewater, kayaking, canoeing, and more.”

Outdoor Nation is committed to increasing and expanding youth participation in outdoor recreation thorough entertainment, education, engagement, and action in order to cultivate a healthier, more active generation. During the past year, Outdoor Nation has awarded more than $250,000 to youth for projects that reconnect young people with nature.

Paddle grant applications are due February 15, 2012. The Outdoor Foundation will announce the winners on March 9, 2012. Projects must begin in Winter/Spring 2012 and be completed by July 1, 2012. For more information about the paddle grants or to submit an application, visit outdoornation.org/grants.

This February, the Yonkers Riverfront library is proud to present an exciting and educational exhibit about the Yonkers Paddling and Rowing Club (YPRC), formerly the Yonkers Canoe Club, currently celebrating its 126th year. For years, the Yonkers Canoe Club sent many teams to national canoeing championships and brought home Olympic Gold in 1948. Today, YPRC is a community of paddlers and rowers who share a boathouse and a passion for human-powered boating. The opening reception for the public is on February 2 from 6-8 pm.

YPRC members can be found on the river virtually every month of the year. Each summer, the club’s highly-acclaimed free public kayaking program puts dozens of local children and adults into boats on the river; in the winter, the group sponsors a boat building workshop, and pool based skills and safety sessions. Throughout the year members launch from our boathouse just north of the Yonkers Pier. A hardy group even dons cold weather gear and paddles through the frigid waters.

This February, the library lobby will be home to eight full-sized YPRC kayaks: five boats built by club members, a 1960s four-person racing kayak, and two plastic boats - a sea kayak loaned for the exhibit by Eastern Mountain Sports, typical of those used by most YPRC members, and a sit-on-top kayak (the kind used in the public program). Visitors can examine the boats, a display of paddles of different styles and from many traditions, and other related gear such as life vests, spray skirts, pumps and cold weather clothing.

This informative exhibit will also include photos of the club’s historic past and current activities and general information about kayaking. It will thrill children, school groups, and human-powered boat enthusiasts of any age. YPRC members find adventure every day they paddle on the Hudson River. YPRC and the Riverfront Library invite the public to learn more about kayaking here in Yonkers and to join this great adventure. - John Maggiotto, Commodore

‘It’s nearly 1am  and I am sat in my tent listening to sand being blasted against the walls. I am absolutely zonked. Having cycled thousands of miles across Eurasia I am fit but my body isn’t used to paddling. My shoulders feel like cement, my hands are blistered and my back squeals regularly. The transition from Hercules to Nelson has been gruelling for both mind and body, and I am only three days in…

Sarah Outen - blog excerpts from September 25^th, 2011

"When I first started planning my London2London journey two years ago, I picked out the Russian island of Sakhalin as a stepping stone down to Japan. The map showed a tiny gap between the mainland continent and this little-heard-of island, with a 25 mile strait in the way of Japan. Given that the other options for getting to Japan from mainland Eurasia involved the volatile and impossible Koreas or the cauldron of risk that is the East China sea, it was an easy decision. On paper at least. The logistics and red tape involved in getting kit, kayaks to the edge of Russia with a view to paddling out to Japan (they are not friendly neighbours) was huge. The plan was that I would use a mixture of kayaking and cycling to make my way down the island. I was joined by two of my team – one in a logistics role and the other, fellow Kokatat paddler the marvellous Justine Curgenven as my support kayaker and camerawoman.

Sarah & Justine

It was a hugely challenging leg for me in all respects, not least because of the physical and mental challenge that the change from bike to boat and back again posed. I had been punching hard every day since leaving London and we needed to maintain the pace to get down to Honshu within all the weather and visa windows. On one day’s cycling I pedaled continuously for 19 hours through driving rain and bitter cold to reach my destination, arriving in the early hours the morning after I had last laid my tent. As I often joke – it’s an expedition, not a holiday.

It’s all about integrity

The five week phase involved three open water crossings of between fifteen and twenty four miles which strong currents multiplied to distances much greater than I had paddled before. The crossing from Sakhalin to Hokkaido turned out to be a marathon effort – 11.5 hours in the boat clocking my biggest continuous kayak slog yet - thirty eight nautical miles. The extra was partly due to currents pushing us away from our destination, but mostly the extra thirteen miles we paddled back into Russian waters once we had been stamped out of the country. We did this to intersect with our path from the previous day – thus ensuring my human powered loop of the planet was maintained. It’s all about integrity J

Sarah with Nelson

My favourite paddling was along the coast of Sakhalin  – firstly down the north western side and later down the south eastern edge to the mysterious Cape Krillion, where  bunkers and rusting guns tell tales of wars gone by and a Russian military outpost still houses young conscripts on lookout.

Wild & windy

Our coastal journey allowed us to glimpse Sakhalin’s untamed beauty and the lives of the people and animals that depend on the sea. This is a harsh and unforgiving environment – stunted trees grow a shocked crown at angles to norm, as though screaming eastward with the wind, and giant logs lie in awkward places high up the beach and shoved into rocky gaps like graffiti. Then there are the shipwrecks on the shallow northwest coast, gentle giants rusting quietly as they wait for forever to arrive and swallow them into the sand.  Along that stretch we had a few days of mad and not-very-helpful wind before one still day, when our kayaks sliced through glassy calm seas as we hugged the low coast, watched by lazy seals dozing in the sunshine. A few tiny wooden villages perched at the edge of the sea, grey and brown boxes set against a vibrant background of thick forest and framed by blue skies and seas. A few wide-eyed fishermen in little boats, goading at the size of their expected catch, quizzed us as to where we had come from. I got the impression they are seldom joined by two lone paddling girls in Gore-Tex!

After I returned to my bike Hercules and cycled the final 600km down the island, mostly on mud tracks and through thick forest and swampland, Justine and I got back in the boats to paddle to the end of it. Happily, the wintry weather that had made my cycle south so punishing left us in peace and sunshine, albeit with a nip in the morning air. There were hills at this end of the island and far fewer people – little fishing outposts rather than full villages.  Said fishermen welcomed us in for tea and always warned us of the bears who were now feeding up for a winter of hibernation.

Bear hug

The following sunny afternoon we were treated to a spine-tinglingly brilliant show as one such fellow, a young brown bear, sat on his haunches and munched happily among the tidelines on the beach. Justine and I paddled to within twenty metres without causing him any alarm – the feisty wind blowing our scent and noise downwind. I now understand why we have teddy bears – he looked very huggable until he stood on his hind legs to check to see if anyone was watching. He was beautiful and I was glad for that moment – after three weeks in Russia I had been starting to wonder if I would ever see a bear. We had seen a few huge clawed footprints in the sand at our campsites but never the owner. I am glad of that, too, for a few days later we were taken to visit two captive bears kept by a village on the south western edge of the island. One had been orphaned as a cub and the other had come from a circus on the mainland. Both had sadness in their eyes and I left them with a huge sadness in my heart.

It was with mixed emotions that I left Sakhalin – excited on the one hand to be heading to country #12 but sad to be leaving new friends and wonderful wild places. The remaining paddling to be done was to Japan’s northernmost island, Hokkaido, across La Perouse strait and then after cycling down it’s coast a final paddle between the nationwide famous Tsugaru straits. For me, those crossings were all about endurance. Mind and body exhausted, it was a battle to stay awake at times and I landed on Honshu’s northern tip of Aomori, happy to have made it and almost too tired to think. It was to mark the end of an era – the Far Eastern Question – so long a beacon of logistical trickiness and expedition intrigue, Sakhalin had been a beautiful stepping stone in my journey home and one which will be hard to beat for its epic wilderness, warm people and breathtaking wildlife encounters." Sarah Outen