Archive for February, 2012

Psst, Canoecopia is coming

Monday, February 27th, 2012

Part of the retail space, image from Canoecopia.com

So March is approaching and that means one thing, Canoecopia (click here) in Madison. An event that draws over 24000 people and some of the best paddlers from around the country. There is bountiful paddling stuff, so many great presentations you wish for a tivo equivalent and paddlers in all sizes, ages & crafts.

Nancy and I have been on an every other year cycle for several years now, this year it is my turn. Here are the presentations I’ll be giving:

Lake Superior’s Archipelago
From Thunder Bay to Rossport is the largest expanse of islands on Lake Superior. Include Isle Royale, this region boasts the highest cliffs on the lake, some of its largest wilderness areas and sites sacred to Native Americans/First Nations. Paddling in this area not only requires a passport but also skill, a sense of exploration and awe, as one is immersed in a big landscape. Come see these islands from a sea kayaker’s perspective.

Getting Ready for Paddling
With long winters, skills and fitness can take precious time to rebuild in the spring. How to get the most out of the season? The gym is one way, but rusty skills also need exercise. Learn fun ways to use pools to reengage not only rolling/rescue skills but also boat handling and fitness. Also learn how to structure early season paddles to build fitness as well as exercises to reengage skills such as navigation.

Rules of the Road & Paddling in Traffic
Paddlers and their craft are considered vessels by state and federal law. As such, we have rights and obligations under laws governing the nautical road. Learn about these laws and how they apply to all paddle powered craft as well as practical considerations when out paddling in traffic.

And then I am part of the following panel presentation as well.

Anyone Can Paddle
Do physical limitations make paddling difficult or challenging? Come hear from a group of paddlers with various disabilities and instructors of adaptive paddling. Through engaging photos, personal stories and examples of adaptive devices they will demonstrate that paddling is a universally inclusive sport, no matter your ability.
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It will be a busy three days with five presentations altogether. Presentations are always fun sharing places to paddle as well as how to get the most out of your paddling. Then of course there are meeting & greeting paddling friends, both old and new.
As always the weekend will be an overload – of talking, people and life in the big city. But one does come away with more enthusiasm for the season and an overdose of excitement that one could ever find anywhere else.
Well, outside the start of a paddling trip…
Sam

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US Nautical Charts and Topo Maps

Wednesday, February 15th, 2012

A little known fact is that you can download US nautical charts and topo maps for free! Instead of buying paper charts or a cd of them, you can download them with an internet connection. Free does mean you have to do a bit more work, but I’ve found the payback is worthwhile.

 

A section of the chart named Lake Superior #14961. It was downloaded for free from NOAA.

 

Disclosure time! I don’t use a gps unit. I find chart and compass easier to navigate with and they give me a better idea of the big picture than just where I am at. Also on a longer trip, there is no concern with batteries or the failure of an electronic device.

Click here for NOAA’s webpage for the free charts. RNC or raster navigational charts is a handy TLA meaning digital chart. You can download a bundle of them from a specific area or download them one at a time. They come in a .zip file. There will be a .bsb file and a .kap file for each chart. I’ve stuffed those into one directory which makes it easy to view them with the viewer listed below.

You can also view the charts online here. Useful if you are looking for a particular chart or set of charts before purchasing a paper chart or downloading them.

These nautical charts come in a specialized format that needs a special reader. I’ve used the Maptech one, click here to down load a free version. It will need to know the directory where the chart files are located as part of the installation process.

Once everything works right, you can view the charts and scroll around. This makes trip planning/dreaming fairly easy, especially when you combine it with topo maps from below, Google earth and other internet resources.

Charts I’ve purchased for Canada, Ireland and the UK work with this viewer as well. You will find buying a cd of charts is cheaper than buying paper charts. At $20-25 per chart, it doesn’t take many paper charts to be cheaper than the dozens if not hundreds you get on a cd. Perfect when you are going a distance as you will often need more than just a few charts.

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To download free USGS topo maps, click here. They come in pdf format and are the same as you would buy in a store or on a disk. Using topo maps together with nautical charts helps in those areas where the chart scale doesn’t have much detail or lacks detail of the land beyond the shoreline.

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Why do companies sell US digital charts/maps if they are free to download? Well, they like to make money and few people know about these resources. To be fair, they often try to package them in convenient sets or offer enhancements such as data on ports that larger boats want to have.

Why aren’t other countries free? Turns out the US government put US charts & maps into the public domain. Until the internet, the easiest way to access them was via paper. In other countries, like Canada and the UK, they are copyrighted by the government and one must pay a royalty even for the digital version. Good thing is the price is coming down over time.

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Photographer, writer, paddler, guide & instructor Bryan Hansel over at PaddlingLight.com has a good article on how to convert the .bsb files into a couple different photo file formats. Click here to see it. You can then use these photos as art, in blogs, send to buddies, etc. Better still go to a place that has a large printer like your local printer or an OfficeMax and you can print them out for $5-10, cheaper than the usual $20 for one from NOAA.

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How I make these charts and maps useful for paddling is to print them out then laminate them. One could print them on waterproof paper or put them inside a waterproof chart case, but I don’t know how that works out.

The Maptech chartviewer can print the whole chart in multiple page sections allowing you to tape it together for one whole chart or cut it up and tape it together how you want it. I often print just the areas I need but this does take more time and work. Printing it to a pdf first is handy to see what you have before printing to paper. Saving the pdf also gives you the chance to print it out again or send it to paddling partners, etc.

The advantage of lamination is that it is waterproof  so you can do chart work anywhere, including the rain instead of inside tents on a rainy day. They take up minimal space on your deck compared to a chart inside a case. You can do your chart work right on it. In case your plans change, you can carry extra charts & maps you may need on your deck. No more digging thru dry bags or having to open up a chart case to rearrange the chart fold (try that out on the water in rain or high winds!).

Laminated chart of Dublin Bay with chart work for crossing it. Click on it to see it enlarged.

 

Here are some lamination tips I found useful:

  • Use 7-10 mil laminating pouches than the commonly found 3 mil. It will cost more as a result but last longer.
  • Use a laminator that uses heat versus cold lamination methods which are often not waterproof nor durable.
  • Mark up your maps/charts before laminating. On charts put the chart name & number, magnetic variation, it’s year and the annual change. Make sure to have the longitude and latitude on the chart edges. This is the information you will need for navigating and using the charts in the future.
  • Additional chart information I’ve found useful includes lines for magnetic north, tidal information (races, overfalls, current info, etc), any hazards, marine traffic, etc.
  • I often put campsite and scenic info from guidebooks and other sources on topo maps. They have reasonable detail to place/locate the site.
  • Use a china marker, preferable a plastic one that won’t fall apart like a paper one does or rust (click here), to write on the laminated charts/maps. This is particularly useful when doing chart work. It can also be rubbed off.

 

Enjoy!
Sam

 

 

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Paddle: A Long Way Around Ireland by Jasper Winn

Tuesday, February 14th, 2012

This is Jasper. He is getting ready to fish. That is a shark behind him.

There is something about books on paddling around Ireland. Up until now, they’ve all been written by people from outside of Ireland. Jasper is different, he was raised in Ireland. Being well read with extensive world travels, he brings to Paddle what makes this land and people unique in the world.

First off, I can speak from experience that the summer of 2007 was a stormy year for going around. It made for an aggressive but doable trip for someone of Jasper’s paddling experience and health issues from the previous year. So expect to hear about misery, fear and uncertainty.

But also expect to read about a paddler who is gaining confidence. The West Coast was an unsettled place in 2007. The weather often changed 2-4 times a day. Jasper built his success by being conservative as he went. When the coast guard was busy with a couple of rescues due to stormy conditions, he was out paddling but in a way to intentionally minimize risk. That didn’t stop a boater from racing over and insisting on rescuing him. After refusing, he took off across a reef and around a small headland to loose the want to be hero. Soon the radio crackled with the boater talking to the coast guard – “He says he is alright. But the conditions are very bad out here … He’s paddled away now.” The coast guard responds “So what you are calling us to say, there isn’t a problem. [long pause] So would you clear channel 16 then?”

His near misses are frightening yet he leaves you chuckling at his honesty. Paddling after dark across a stormy Donegal Bay he talks of death by drowning, of other paddlers launching and not landing. Clearly he knows he has himself in a pickle. Relieved after he lands in a harbor, he works to get the boat up a boat ramp in the surging swell. When a swell lifts the kayak onto him and fatigued after six hours of stressful paddling, he lets loose with ” foul oaths – the majority having to do with procreative acts, some involving Jesus and the Mother of God”. Once up the ramp and out of the reaches of the sea, he realizes there in the dark is a mother with a six year old son. “Its forgiving of her to respond to my embarrassed Ah! Eve’ning’ with a cordial-sounding greeting.”

You hear about Ireland not from some soft eyed romantic foreigner but someone who knows its moods, its quirks and its humors. Even after being there for a summer and reading a bit on Ireland, Paddle still entertained me. Jasper describes a walk near Belfast where the Irish, normally curious about strangers, showed a cool restraint out of a cautiousness that comes from the Troubles. A farmer in the Aran Islands moves rocks around to open a path through a stone fence for his cattle instead of having a gate. And finally, he figures the value of free drinks given in pubs to the Australian who walked the length of Ireland with a stuffed toy donkey.

He is an Irish storyteller and writer of the modern era. Ireland is often painted as a quaint backwater by the tourist industry. Jasper has seen his homeland modernized by the wealth spread by the Celtic Tiger (what is now another Irish tragedy). That wealth has introduced many vehicles onto roads that in the 1970s were busier with foreign bicyclists than cars. Today, he deftly points out, one is safer on the sea than biking on narrow roads traveled by speeding SUVs.

 

Jasper and I at a memorial to St Brendan the Navigator and author Tim Severin, who launched here as part of The Brendan Voyage.

 

We met at a place called Brandan Creek. It was a rainy, windy, miserable day and the evening wasn’t shaping up to be any better. Jasper knew of a pub, a few miles away. It was quickly decided to go grab a meal and a pint or two. Well, I can tell you it was four pints, a late night and a most enjoyable conversation. It was here that I noticed Jasper’s talent to put together history, current events and his stories in such a way that left you entertained and amused.

Paddle brings me back to that pub. It brings back the paddling with Basking Sharks the next day. It brings me back to watching him fish. Except with Paddle, Jasper has gone around Ireland and skillfully landed a modern Irish tale only a sea kayaker can tell.

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Click here for the kindle version of his book.

Sam

 

 

 

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