BaffinPaddler - http://baffinpaddler.blogspot.com

Need I say more? Strap a yoga mat to your fab sea kayak. Find a spot. Strike a pose. Notice the bright green yoga mat under the bungee on the back deck of my Maelstrom Vital 166 ? That's not a bed roll but maybe it could function as one under a sleeping bag. It doesn't get any better than this! I'm out shopping for Paddle to Yoga spots in the 1000 Islands region on the St. Lawrence River off the quaint little town of Gananoque in the province of Ontario in Canada . I'll never tire of it . . . shopping for great places to get out of the yoga studio and do some yoga outdoors once in a while. Don't get me wrong. I still love my yoga studios and teachers. But variety is the spice of life. Doing yoga in the outdoors is more invigorating. You really don't even need a mat to paddle to yoga. Just yourself and a sea kayak. Don't forget the paddle. Paddling to yoga really rocks. I love it and I'm going to keep doin' it! . . . Paddling to sp...

Ever have someone really make your day with something so simple? Like one little innocent comment that really makes you laugh and think?  I just did. It made me wonder why we work so hard to have fun sometimes. I was out tooling around some water with my "skinny stick" (Greenland paddle) in a sweet sleek sea kayak when a guy in a parked houseboat sipping a beer with some friends called out, "Hey. What's that thing you're paddling with? The stick I use to stir my cake mix with is bigger than that!" "Ha! It's a Greenland paddle", I replied. "Can you get anywhere with that!?" "Yep!" "Why do you paddle with it!?" "Well, lots of reasons": "The long narrow blade of the Greenland paddle doesn't catch the wind like a big spoon, and spreads the pull on the water over a longer area. A big bladed paddle has a bigger pull on the water over a shorter wider area and puts more strain on your bod...

Cold Water Rescue Practice. Do it safely. Test your gear before heading out. I finally did! Today some experienced local paddlers and kayak instructors got together on Canada's Ottawa River to do cold water rescue practice. I joined in. I was glad I did! Whatever gear you are paddling in when the water is cold, it is a good idea to test your gear close to shore before you head out further. Some days, you choose your gear well. Other days, you wish you've dressed differently.  I've been paddling for several years in different types of gear, and combinations of gear, and never got completely into the water to test all of it in cold spring waters before heading out. Today I did. And I'm so happy I finally had the courage to do it! Everything I wore today performed well for me in the conditions I paddled and practiced in during cold water rescue practice. The water temp was probably 10 degrees Celsius or warmer, but I can't be sure. The thermometer w...

Camera Failure - What a way to start an epic first spring paddle! The absolute bane of the blogger has to be camera failure when you set out for your first spring paddle on an epic weather day with exceptional environmental conditions that offer rare photo ops that won't be there tomorrow or maybe ever again. When I set my Boreal Baffin down on a nice solid ice ledge near a big rock on a sunny spring afternoon with a perfect view down the Ottawa River's mirror reflection of both the azure blue sky lightly dusted with soft white clouds and the surrounding landscape, I knew I had a perfect shot! You couldn't tell what was sky and what was water or which way was up. They both looked the same at that moment in time. But my orange Olympus Stylus Tough camera had other ideas! It had a dead battery and no spare was on hand. You can relate, yes? Even though I'm a girl, that didn't stop the barrage of four letter words that escaped me for a good long while. I had ...

I did a little Spring paddle planning from a tree today. Spring for those of us in colder climes, like Canada,  means we start getting major paddle itch when we see open water and start dreaming about where that first paddle is going to be after a long cold winter. Finding new water to paddle, meaning water you haven't paddled before, is always more exciting than thinking about plopping your sea kayak in the same old beautiful river, lake, or stretch of ocean you've paddled time and time again. Right! On my way back home from a visit up to Mont-Tremblant, Quebec, Canada, my GPS Tom Tom One "Lori" suggested a small highway I didn't normally travel, and I had the great pleasure of discovering a much better route that took me along beautiful stretches of the Petite Nation River through the little town of Ripon, Quebec. When you stop and fall in love with a spot, it's a great day. Especially when you vow to come back with your boat. I was wishing my Maelstrom V...

To sunscreen your kayak or not to sunscreen your kayak. That is the question. It may sound like a modified quote from William Shakespeare, "To be, or not to be . . . that is the question." And it is. An opening line from Shakespeare's play Hamlet. That's about as much of Shakespeare as I can comprehend. And it's a big question. To be or not to be? To sunscreen your kayak, or not to sunscreen your kayak? We know that we have to protect ourselves from the sun, either with sunscreen, shelter, or clothing. In Florida, cycling the long stretch of white sandy beach along the Barrier Islands in the Gulf of Mexico , I use SPF 60, a hat and sunglasses, along with common sense. I don't stay out there too long. We expect that the factory paint jobs on our cars protect their finishes from the ravishes of the sun, but I didn't know that I needed to think about sunscreen for my kayak. I owned two plastic sea kayaks for a few years before someone told me that y...

Trust me. You may be a paddler who doesn't know you love cross-country skiing! How do I know? That was me a few years back. What are the signs of a paddler who does not know they love cross-country skiing . . . yet? You are a paddler (OK, that one is obvious.) You tried cross-country skiing once and hated it! (That was me too. I tried it in the wrong place at the wrong time. Let's call it Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada! I love you Manitobans but it was flat, too cold, windy, uncut trails with crappy rental equipment across a somewhat frozen lake that went "crack" in spots, zero amenities, and I had no knowledge of technique. It wasn't my idea, someone invited me.) You hate winter and how long it lasts! (That used to be me too. I immigrated to Canada from California. Yes, I know that Canada is a country and that California is a state in the U.S., despite being a true blue-eyed blond with a few highlights. No, I was not thinking when I did it - meaning immigratin...