Whitewater Humour

As well as paddling, I'm interested in online comics -- and now, Ben has sent me a link where these two interests overlap! In Jennie Breeden's comic The Devil's Panties, she has four comics in a row about her whitewater boating trip.

borrowed from Jennie Breeden's very funny website for grown-ups

Whitewater Kayaking 1957 to 1963

I'm not all at all sure of the ancestry of this video, but it has great photos and clips of vintage whitewater kayaking from nearly six decades ago.
Check it out:

River Kayaker Video Rescue

A neat little video is making the rounds today. It shows a river kayaker with his boat jammed in the rocks, and unfortunately, his head is under water. But with the help of his friends, he's pulled out of his kayak and a few steps to shore.
Yes, I said "steps." The incident took place in a rocky rapids, looking about Class 2 or 3, which translates as water that is dropping about 2 feet + over and through rocks that make it challenging enough to be fun for experienced whitewater kayakers. There would be deep pools and shallow places all through those rapids.
You can see the video here on a news site. One of the paddlers had a helmet camera and recorded the quick rescue as it was happening.
It's worth saying again: Be prepared! Practise your rescue techniques. There's nothing like a little practise with your tow ropes or wet exit and re-entry skills to give your body the confidence you need if a small emergency happens -- and safety practise can be one of the things that helps keep an incident from becoming a big emergency. That's what happened this summer when Heather and I were able to help a tired swimmer (read it on Kayak Yak here)! And safety practise can be fun and games, as it was when Mike Jackson taught a towing workshop.

A Very Fast Morning

Paula and I were out on the Sooke River this morning, finding it very fast and very full. Water was cold, but it was a gorgeous morning. Really, all you need to know is in the video--I filmed it standing next to a dead-fall in the rapids, trying not to fall over. It may not look like it, but Paula was having a blast. We both ran this stretch using her Advanced Elements Dragonfly, and had no troubles with the water at all.

Dream Result Trailer

Earlier this year, Tyler Bradt went 186 feet over Palouse Falls and filmed it for an upcoming film. The film is called Dream Result, and here's the amazing trailer:

The film is planned for release in early 2010.

Kayaking On an Iceberg

New Record Kayak Plunge

Last Tuesday, Tyler Bradt took his kayak over Palouse Falls in southeast Washington State, a drop of 180 feet, shattering the previous record of 127 feet set just last month. He hasn't released any photos yet, but he filmed the drop for a film called Dream Result. He was only slightly injured, suffering just a sprained wrist. Next, he's off to Norway and Iceland. There's a lot of waterfalls in Iceland, he says. Dream Result is planned for a 2010 release.

See That Dot? That's a Kayak

Last week, Pedro Oliva broke the record for the largest waterfall run in a kayak with a 30-metre free fall over Rio Sacre in Brazil.
The fall took less than 3 seconds and he is believed to have a reached a speed estimated at over 110 kmh during the plunge.

Taking It to The Next Level

It won't be long until kayak jumping becomes an Olympic event.

32.61 metres in a 2.6 metre boat - The Video

Not that I want to turn the blog into a series of YouTube clips, but a few weeks ago Bernie noted that a couple of "crazy-ass motherfuckers" went over Alexander Falls in the NWT in a kayak.
Guess what I found?

Loop De Loops

If you ever thought that you were just going around in circles, check these guys out:



This guy probably didn't want to do a loop:


And this guy probably didn't know how lucky he was until he saw the video later: