BaffinPaddler - http://baffinpaddler.blogspot.com

Frode Wiggen, the Senjaroller from Senja, North Norway with the Boreal Baffin sea kayak and Northern Light Paddlesports Greenland paddle enjoying the Northern Lights! Frode Wiggen is the Senjaroller , from Senja , North Norway . He's an awesome Greenland roller, and obviously much more judging from the photographs and videos I've seen on his blog: Senjaroller http://senjaroller.blogspot.com which is in English and Norwegian. Frode Wiggen, "Dividing the waters" And Sea Kayaker Magazine has taken note too. The February 2012 issue featured one of Frode's stunning photographs called, “Dividing the Waters”.  The Greenland rollers fascinate me. They are the ones I need to watch and study as they are the masters of rolling a kayak. They truly love it and they make it look so easy. It's the Greenland rollers and paddlers who have gotten me into Greenland paddles by letting me try the paddles, or given me one, and they are the ones who encourage me an...

What's your relationship with turtles? Do you ever think about turtles? Do other people ever make you stop and think about turtles? What do you think about turtles? Why am I thinking about turtles when I should be planning a ski trip or a trip somewhere warm with a beach?! It's time to get this thing with turtles off my mind and into a post so I can move on to other things! So here it is, my thing with turtles! 50 Baby Snapping Turtles: Adirondack Turtle Tails . . . On a rainy day last September, our group of seven kayakers were headed to Big Moose Lake in the Adirondacks , New York , to paddle on a day I thought it would be much more fun to visit the Adirondack Museum ! On a steep sandy embankment along the road next to a creek, there was a gathering of about 15 people hovering around the same spot. I thought there had been an accident. Was it a roadside vigil? But, the people were all smiling. Someone called out: "Baby snapping turtles are be...

November paddle in the Boreal Baffin from Shirley's Bay to Pinhey's Point and back on the Ottawa River, Ontario, Canada. 10 kilometres each way. 20 kilometres (12 miles) round trip. About two hours of paddling each way. Compass bearings: North 0 heading out of Shirley's Bay, to NW 330 to Pinhey's Point . SE 150 heading back to S 180 into Shirley's Bay . Photo courtesy of KayakJock. You thought I meant burrrr, it's cold? No, I'm talking burrs ! Those prickly, clingy, sharp, spiny, bristly, thistle-like things that let loose in the late fall and get stuck in all your neoprene gear like your paddle booties and spray skirt and won't let go! You don't even notice the burrs , lurking in the brush, until you're getting back into your sea kayak. You look down and see that you've suddenly grown lots of prickly hair on your feet and spray skirt. You're going to have to paddle back home like that. Covered in them! They are sneaky things. Thi...

WOW! The first week of November I saw 18 kite surfers negotiating the 15-18 knot wind from Parc des Cedres on the Lac Deschenes section of the Ottawa, River just off the Aylmer Marina in Gatineau, Quebec, Canada. It was an awesome sight! It was 17 degrees Celsius, about 63 degrees Fahrenheit, which is really warm and nice around here as long as you are geared up in a good wet suit with a layer of insulation or a dry suit with ditto. I've seen the kite surfers out in much bigger wind, but never in such great numbers. I couldn't understand how they managed not to run into each other or get tangled in each other's lines. Kite surfing is an extreme sport. You've got to trust who's out there in the water with you right? Or hope you can. I didn't have my camera with me. It was 3:00 p.m. With the time change set back one hour, I knew if I went home to fetch my camera, they'd probably be off the water by the time I got back at 4:00 p.m. And, when the wi...

The last sailboat . . .  Coming Soon: Kite Surfing the Ottawa River in November! The wind shifts, a kite goes into the trees! Enjoy fall. One way or another! The BaffinPaddler 

So, you've taken the doggie ashore on the mainland or an island for a little exercise. "Hey, you look so cute in the bush." The final flowers of fall are still standing. You've got to get a shot of the beautiful field of six-foot tall yellow wildflowers before they're gone. Suddenly, your early warning system clicks on and you remember to look down instead of up to see what you're tromping through on that barely there trail to the flowers. Poison ivy starting to turn red in the fall along the Ottawa River, Quebec, Canada.  Ah, ha! Of course. There are a few strands of poison ivy creeping out under the tall stuff! And you manage to avoid it. But where's the doggie? She's romping right through all that poison ivy you've just avoided and now her fur, paws and collar may be full of the oil, called urushiol , from the poison ivy plants - the oil that can cause a nasty rash if it gets on your skin, especially if you're one...