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Interview with David Cohen

David Cohen
A once sprint paddler, David moved to Daytona Beach Florida to pursue a degree in engineering, there he began surf kayaking quickly found himself a sponsored athlete.  It was in florida his life changed and he moved up to the ocoee river to live in a tent guiding, and running huge cliffs and a degree in environmentalism.

Where is your favorite place to go paddling?
The Southeast region as a whole is awesome for whitewater, but Bear Creek in Cloudland Canyon State Park in Georgia is one of my favorites. Easy access, classic class V rapids and beautiful scenery bring it to the top of my list.

How did you get into paddling?
The Lanier Canoe and Kayak Club (LCKC) hosts a middle school racing league. I gave it a try in the 7th grade and haven't put my paddle down since.

What did it take to get where you are now?
Many things and people have helped me along the way, but two of the most important have been the support from my family and my love for the sport.

What is your greatest accomplishment in the sport?
I've accomplished the most through instruction. Teaching beginner whitewater courses during the last two years has allowed me to introduce hundreds of people to the sport.

Where do you want to see the sport in 5 years?
I'd like to see the sport grow in both number of participants and events held. More races, festivals and the like provide opportunities for more people to see and understand the sport.

What advice do you have for a beginner paddler?
Get some instruction. There is a lot to be learned about whitewater and having someone help guide you through it really cuts down on the learning curve.

What is a legendary story from your sport?
There are more legends and whitewater lore than I'll ever know, but one recent event is surely legendary. Tyler Bradt set the waterfall world record at 186 feet (taller than Niagara), shattering the previous record by nearly 60 feet.

Who do you think we should watch out for this year, or are there any new young guys coming up? N/A

What is a ridiculous question people ask you about your sport and how do you try to educate them?
When people see pictures of big rapids and waterfalls they ask "Are you crazy?!". I tell them that you don't go run a waterfall the first day you get a kayak. You start out on easy rivers and after years of practice and experience you slowly work your way up.

Is there a funny story about one of your teammates that you can share with us?
N/A

What equipment would you suggest for someone trying to get into the sport?
Definitely used equipment, especially boats. Used gear is pretty easy to find and makes the sport much more affordable.

Is there a core shop for your sport that really takes care of its customers?
Rock/Creek Outfitters at the Ocoee River, Tennessee has a good selection of gear and staff that really know the sport.

What is your weapon(boat, paddle) of choice?
Dagger Nomad 8.5, Werner Sho-Gun  


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Learn to SUP Whitewater

This short video series is to help people with previous whitewater kayaking experience, to learn to Stand Up Paddleboard on whitewater rivers and rapids.
Learn to SUP Whitewater 1


Learn to SUP Whitewater 2

Taking the various stances, and paddle strokes covered in part 1 and 2, we now take this into easy whitewater to apply these concepts to the practical are of currents, waves, eddies and other whitewater features on a basic level.

Learn to SUP Whitewater 3

Kaiser Permanente 14th Annual San Francisco International Dragon Boat Festival Brings a Packed Weekend of Exciting Competition and Family Fun to the Bay Area


September 24, 2009

SAN FRANCISCO -- (U.S. ASIAN WIRE) --  

WHAT: Organized by the California Dragon Boat Association (CDBA), the Kaiser Permanente San Francisco International Dragon Boat Festival is the largest dragon boat race in the United States. The festival celebrates the widespread adoption of the sport since being introduced to the Bay Area over a decade ago and the legendary roots it has in the Chinese tradition of the Dragon Boat Festival.

The event features dragon boat racing, two days of cultural performances, a traditional opening ceremony with lion dancing and Buddhist monks, Dragon Land - an expansive activity pavilion with arts, crafts, and games for children. This year has a special Family Day on Sunday with roving dragons, Chinese stilt walkers, a special appearance by the Kai-lan costumed character from Nickelodeon's hit animated preschool series "Ni Hao, Kai-lan", Chin-Chin the award winning magician, animal balloon artists, and more.

WHO: Over 110 teams will compete in the two-day festival, from novice teams representing local corporations, community organizations, high schools, and competitive teams. Regarded as the ultimate dragon boat race of the season, the festival hosts dozens of highly competitive dragon boat teams visiting from around the United States, Canada, and as far as the Netherlands.

WHEN: Saturday & Sunday, September 26 & 27, 2009ÊRacing from 8 am to 5pm, festival from 10 am to 5 pm

WHERE: Clipper Cove at Treasure Island, San Francisco

COST:     Free entry and courtesy shuttles to and from the festival site from San Francisco Chinatown (Kearny & Washington) and Powell St. BART/Muni(pick up Mission at 4th St., in front of SF Marriott)

About Dragon Boat Racing
From its beginning as a Chinese legend over 2,300 years ago, dragon boat racing is now one of the fastest growing sports in the world and is practiced in more than 35 countries. A dragon boat is 45-foot long boat adorned with a dragon head, tail, and scales that is propelled by 20 paddlers, a drummer, and a steersperson.

About the California Dragon Boat Association (CDBA)
The CDBA is a non-profit organization formed in 1996 to promote the growth and development of dragon boating. The CDBA has been successful in establishing dragon boat programs in many Bay Area high schools and has grown
the San Francisco International Dragon Boat Festival to its strong international reputation it has today. For more information, please visit: www.CDBA.org <http://www.CDBA.org> .

About Kaiser Permanente
Kaiser Permanente, founded in 1945, is a non-profit integrated health care organization, with physicians, nurses and staff working in collaboration to provide high quality care to patients and address the health care needs of communities served by the organization. The Kaiser Permanente Northern California Region serves about 3.2 million members.

Press contact:
Linda Cheu (Festival Director)
(415) 378-8858
linda.cheu@gmail.com
www.sfdragonboat.com <http://www.sfdragonboat.com>

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How To Go Kayak Surfing in the Ocean: Surf Kayaking Tips and Steps By George Sayour

Kayak surfing in the ocean is one of the best kept secrets in the paddling world.  There are so many benefits to surf kayaking  that it really is amazing why more people haven’t picked it up. Whether you’re a whitewater pro wanting to branch out to the sea or you’ve never been in a kayak and think it looks fun, this how-to will help you on your way to ocean kayak surfing.
Difficulty: Hard
Time Required: 1 or more hours
Here's How:
Make a Judgment Call: As soon as you get out to the ocean make a good decision. If it is too rough out there, don’t try to go surf kayaking. You should know your ability level well enough to determine if you can handle the waves you are about to paddle. Also, don’t get discouraged as anyone who goes to a beach knows, the waves change and will fluctuate throughout the day with the tide.
  • Dress for Water Safety   When Kayak Surfing in the Ocean: It can be tempting when surf kayaking to think you can go without your helmet or even life jacket. After all, surfers don’t wear either. This is an all around bad idea. You never know when you’ll be thrown upside down onto a coral-laden sandbar and will need your helmet. Wearing a pfd while kayaking should just be obvious at this point. (Sit-on-top paddlers don't might not need to wear a helmet as they won't be upside-down while still in the kayak.)
  • Survey the Waves from the Shore: Before you get in your kayak come up with a plan of attack on how you will kayak out to the break. Visually time the waves and see if there is a lull enough to paddle out. If not, you’ll have to paddle around the waves or through them. Armed with this information, decide where you will enter the ocean.
  • Get into Your Kayak:   It is best to get in your kayak right at the edge of where the surf hits the shore.  This way your kayak does not get moved by the impinging coastline. Then once ready to launch, use your arms underneath your kayak to lift up and push your kayak into the water.
  • Paddle Through the Waves: Hopefully you have launched your kayak into a part of the ocean where you can paddle around the waves. If not, depending on the waves and your position in them you’ll have to paddle over the wave   or through it.  Avoid at all costs the waves breaking right on top of you.  If a wave is about to break on you  or your kayak take evasive action and either paddler over it or decide to ride it in. Paddle out to a point where the waves are still just swells.
  • Catching Waves While Ocean Kayak Surfing: While out past the break, you can paddle around to find and catch the best waves. As a swell starts to build, start paddling toward the shore, thereby catching the wave . The ideal situation and position is when you are paddling only fast enough to keep up with the wave. Too slow and it will pass you by, too fast and you will outrun the wave.
  • Riding Waves While Ocean Kayak Surfing: You can ride the waves   straight in toward the shore or aim your kayak on an angle.  Steep waves have a tendency of forcing the bow of the kayak into the ocean in front of you. This will flip you over the long ways. To avoid this angle the kayak away from how the wave is breaking. Don’t worry if the kayak gets turned sideways, just be sure to lean and to brace. You can get off the wave whenever you want by turning and paddling back over it.
  • Have Fun!:   Ocean kayak surfing is definitely loads of fun.  Paddling out through the waves  will be reminiscent of paddling through a wave train on a river. You can even do wave wheels over the waves while paddling out to sea. Riding waves in toward the shore is like surfing on your favorite park-and-play. Be bold and try some flat spins and side surf the waves as you ride them in. So have fun out there and remember to enjoy the battle  .  The sky’s the limit!
      Tips:
      Have a Solid Kayak Roll  : This tip is more of a prerequisite before being able to go kayak surfing. Having to swim out of your kayak should not be an option out in the ocean. Even if you can swim to shore, rescuing your equipment can be extremely difficult. (This tip does not apply to those using sit-on-top kayaks  .)
    • Use the Right Kind of Kayak: Recreational kayaks  are not to be used in the ocean surf.  The only kayaks that should be used to surf in the ocean are whitewater kayaks  fitted with spray skirts or sit-on-top kayaks that are made for the ocean.  While sea kayaks  have been used to surf a wave or two on their way in to shore, this is not the preferred vessel to be surfing waves and they aren’t made for that style of paddling.

    • Northern Lights Expedition Completes Greenland Phase

    Press Release

    By Kokatat

    Image © Kokatat

    Arcata, CA, September 10th 2009 --- Northern Lights Expeditions, a project seeking to establish links between children of isolated indigenous communities of the Arctic and children of the U.K., has completed the first phase of this three-part service project.

    Northern Lights explorers Richard Smith and Craig Mathieson founded the project with the goal of educating children about climate change and environmental awareness through scientific and social projects. Kokatat Watersports Wear has provided Smith and Mathieson GORE-TEX® Expedition Dry Suits and Ronin Pro Life Jackets to assist their efforts.

    Smith and Mathieson returned recently from kayaking between remote Inuit settlements of Greenland where they forged links with U.K. schools and delivered donated laptops to Inuit children. Ultimately these laptops will assist both cultures as they connect on joint projects exploring climatic change, cultural differences, differences in way of life, and core values. 

    “Along the journey we dodged falling icebergs, avoided polar bears, learned how to hunt narwhal from kayaks, were shot at, experienced extreme opposites in weather, learned a great deal about the modern issues and problems affecting the East Greenlandic way of life, made great friends, and established links for the follow-up phases,” Smith said.

    During April and May of 2010 Smith and Mathieson will return to Greenland with children from specifically chosen U.K. schools, guiding both the U.K. and Greenlandic children on a mini expedition by dog sled across the sea ice while sleeping under the stars and the Northern Lights.

    “Guided by our mantra ‘inspiration of exploration,’ we will inspire a younger generation to learn about the environment and take advantage of the great outdoors themselves,” Smith said. “With active involvement from children of both communities our aim is to educate the generation who will be directly impacted by climatic change. We hope these experiences will leave lasting impressions so that the children will make the right choices in the years ahead,” Smith added.

    About Kokatat Watersports Wear
    For the past 38 years, Kokatat has built a reputation as a friendly company of paddling enthusiasts, dedicated to creating innovative paddlewear and accessories. Kokatat is a highly trusted brand known for its independence, high level of quality in addition to an extremely well respected, service-driven business model. Kokatat is an incredibly strong brand and is known for authenticity and launching game changing paddling products.

    Northern Lights Expeditions
    Northern Lights Expeditions is an initiative to establish links between children of isolated indigenous communities of the Arctic, and children of the United Kingdom, highlighting climatic change and environmental awareness through joint scientific and social projects. 

    Please visit http://northernlights-expeditions.org/.

    Http://www.ultimatepaddler.com

    Waterman's team takes top honors at Catalina Classic..

    Waterman's team takes top honors at Catalina Classic..

    4 September, 2009 : - - Manhattan Pier -- Conditions were epic and the competition was fierce during the 34th annual Catalina Classic, presented by Honolua Surf Co. At six am the horn went off and an all-time record of 106 paddlers began a 32-mile journey from Catalina Island to Manhattan Beach, CA.

    Celebrating 16 years of Paddling

    Celebrating 16 years in business!

    Sea Kayak Adventures Inc. has operated sea kayak tours to the premier whale watching destinations of Loreto in Baja California, Mexico and at the northern end of Vancouver Island in British Columbia, Canada since 1993. Blue and fin whales are frequently seen in the Sea of Cortez (known also as Gulf of California) on our Baja sea kayaking tours in Loreto Bay National Marine Park. Surround yourself with gray whales in Magdalena Bay. On our British Columbia sea kayak tours, kayaking with Orcas in Johnstone Strait, near Robson Bight Orca Preserve, a biological wonderland between mainland British Columbia and Vancouver Island near Port McNeill and Telegraph Cove.

    Our camping, BC lodge-based and Baja mothership whale watching and sea kayaking BC Canada trips feature close encounters with wildlife, whales, extraordinary wilderness areas and incredible cuisine. No prior experience is necessary and we provide all the equipment needed. We are fully permitted and licensed in the areas/countries we paddle in, and well versed in natural history. For your safety and enjoyment we offer the best staff-to-guest ratio of any outfitter of Baja or BC Canada sea kayak tours!

    Please check out Sea Kayak Adventures Inc.

    To learn more about paddling visit http://www.ultimatepaddler.com 

    In Real Time

    The film Paddle to Seattle is more than a movie. It's an experience.

    J.J. Kelley and Josh Thomas launched their self-made Pygmy Cohos in Skagway, Alaska’s harbor on July 5, 2008 with just two plans: Paddle the 1,300 miles down the Inside Passage, along North America’s only rain forest all the way to Seattle. And No. 2: Make a film about the adventure.
    They didn’t even have a good title.
     

    What they did have was the discipline to collect 65 hours of film and the vision to turn those shots of spitting oysters, of a bloated seal carcass, of maggots devouring an apple core into 80 minutes of the best feature film about paddling produced in the last decade.
     

    The plot is simple: reach Seattle. And before it thickens with deteriorating conditions that present them with the choice to either wait out the winter in an abandoned schoolhouse or just go for it, Kelley and Thomas accent the plot with the footage and quirky commentary of their whimsical explorations.
     

    They don’t attempt to prophesy that the end is near—not even when they happen upon a salmon farm or when they notice that the glaciers around Skagway have receded. Instead, they follow those fish into a processing plant and marvel at the majesty of those glaciers.
     

    These scenes seem to threaten to engage us in another eco-lecture about the ever-expanding human footprint or about industries belching too many greenhouse gases.

    But it never comes. And to some extent, it seems a little odd that it doesn’t, especially when you consider Kelley studied environmental science at the University of Minnesota.
     

    “We were interpreting them in real time,” Kelley said later. “We just want to let folks interpret the facts as we saw them.”
     

    And, as Kelley says, the expedition wasn’t about investigating the imminent demise of our planet. It was about two buddies trying to delay that most ambiguous of transitions—from boyhood to manhood—while freely roaming a harsh coastline.
     

    Roaming coastlines, mountainsides and valley floors is something both have been doing for some time now.
     

    They met on the Appalachian Trail six years ago, while Kelley was hunched over a creek, purifying water.
     

    He was 400 miles and a month into a solo trek and he had met hikers with whom he’d walk for awhile, until he grew tired of waiting for them, or until they grew tired of waiting for him.
     

    Kelley seemed to prefer the same pace as Thomas, a native of Pennsylvania. So, for the next four months, they hiked together along the trail.
    The next summer, they headed to Seward Alaska, to teach sea kayaking at Millers Landing. All summer, they slept in tents and paddled.
     

    For 35 days, they rode bikes up to the Arctic Ocean and they made their first film about the 1,300-mile ride, called Pedal to the Midnight Sun.
     

    “We wanted to end up at the Arctic Ocean,” Kelley says. “We didn’t care how we got there. Bikes just made the most sense.”
     

    In Paddle to Seattle, both Kelley and Thomas interact with the camera as if it was made with a heart, mind and soul, rather than electrodes and copper. They spend very little time discussing the logistics of their trip, a topic that dominated Scott Lindgren’s over-hyped Into the Tsangpo Gorge.

    Throughout the film, you get the feeling that both Kelley and Thomas had, to some extent, relied on the camera as more than a way to document their journey—as a sounding board, perhaps. Or, maybe even a sort of electronic friend, much like Tom Hanks’ Wilson soccer ball in Cast Away; a friend who watched and listened for 65 hours—whether a whale was breeching just beside it or if its subjects were eating a half-gallon of ice cream.

    To learn more about the project please click on http://www.dudesonmedia.com/PADDLE_TO_SEATTLE.html

    via paddlermagazine.com

    You can also follow Paddle to Seattle on http://www.ultimatepaddler.com