Travis of Paddle & Portage Canoes rides the Wenonah Rendezvous through rapids

Recently I had my first taste of white water on the Kangaroo River, a few hours drive south of Sydney. My guide and instructor for the day was Team Fat Paddler member Travis from Paddle & Portage Canoes, my paddling partner for this year’s Hawkesbury Canoe Classic. Whilst I was looking to run the river in my Remix, Travis was keen to take out his white water canoe, the Wenonah Rendezvous.

Travis paddling onto the standing wave at the weir

Sliding onto the standing wave. Float bags are a good idea if you want to try this!

Once on the wave, the Wenonah Rendezvous, oops I mean Travis, surfs beautifully!

Our day was split into two parts. The first, a run down the Kangaroo River rapids that lasted a few hours. The second, a play on a standing wave created by a flooded weir further down stream. For both, it was amazing to see how well Travis handled the canoe in the rough – he could fly over rapids, could easily spin the boat as he crossed eddy-lines, and when it came to surfing the standing wave, the canoe was exemplary.

Travis carefully backs the Wenonah Rendezvous off the wave and into the froth

Sparky has a turn, paddling onto the wave. See video footage of Sparky's wave below.

Of course, had I been paddling it, it probably would have sunk – haha! But in the hands of Travis and his white water mate Sparky, the boat was amazing in the frothy stuff and looked like an amazing barrel or laughs. To prove it, here’s a little bit of video from the mornings paddle.

For enquiries in Australia on Wenonah canoes, contact Travis from Paddle & Portage Canoes. Cheers – FP

Tags: canoe white water, Paddle and Portage Canoes, Wenonah, wenonah canoes, wenonah rendezvous

Team Fat Paddler representing in Ontario, Canada (MIDN Steve, MIDN Sammy)

On a hot Canadian Summer’s day (you heard me, HOT!), two Canadian members of Team Fat Paddler stepped up to the plate to achieve a number of firsts. This was the first time a woman had represented TFP (go Midshipwoman Sammy!), the first time TFP had competed in an officially sanctioned event outside of Australia, the first time Canadians had represented TFP, and the first time Midshipman Steve had ever competed in any sort of race, ever!

And so it was that Steve and Sammy arrived at the 13th Annual “Conquer the Dog” triathlon at Kaministiquia Ontario, on the Dog River. This would be a team event comprising a 5km paddle, an 18km bike ride and a 5km run – both Sammy and Steve would take on the paddle (fastest time counts), followed by Steve on the cycle leg and Sammy bringing up the finale in the running leg.

Brace yourself Canada, Team Fat Paddler has arrived!

Sammy registering with a bemused organiser - "You're Team Fat WHO??"

The event shaped up to be a cracker, with over 120 competitors, 44 of them kids, lining up under the 24C degree sunshine. Steve and Sammy carried their boats down to the water and settled in at the start amongst the myriad of other boats, with many craning their necks at the strange Greenland paddles that Team Fat Padder were using. Then the race was go, with a quick downriver 2.5km to start followed by a final 2.5km upriver run into the wind.

Sammy lines up, her pink kayak perfectly matching her pink Fat Paddler cap

Steve in the middle of the pack for the downwind section.

Of the two TFP paddlers, Steve was the fastest going into the race. He’d also not slept the night before, as he’d been awash in nervous tension having never raced in any event before. As the race started he took an early lead but quickly slipped back into the pack as the rest of the paddlers got going. Sammy was following not far behind but a building cramp was playing havoc with her paddling, and she was glad that Steve was going strong. At the half way mark, the paddlers turned and commenced the more difficult leg against the current and wind. These are the sort of conditions that Greenland paddlers love and Steve soon found himself building up pace and passing other paddlers. By the time he got to the end, he’d set a great time of 36:19 minutes to set up the next leg of the race, and brought a rousing cheer from the crowd as crossing the finish line, he popped his skirt and did a backflip out of the boat to disembark!

Steve, having finished the paddle leg, sets off on the 18km bike ride

Running on adrenaline and nervous energy, Steve took off on the bike leg and blitzed the first 500metres. Then suddenly he realised  that this legs were starting to burn and he still had another 17.5km to go! Working through the exhaustion and dehydration, he pushed himself hard to the finish with a time of 46:22 minutes. Then, with a spirited but somewhat embarrassing lunge, he thrust the timing band into Sammy’s hand before promptly collapsing into a crumpled heap before her.

Steve pushing himself hard during the bike leg. Go Team Fat Peddler!

There was no time for sympathy however as Sammy took off on the loose gravel road. The run comprised three decent hills before turning back to do them all over again, and Sammy concentrated hard on not slipping over on the loose surface. Sammy pushed through her earlier cramps and the stifling heat to come flying into the finish to the rousing cheers of the crowd, having set a great time of 31:38.

Sammy pushing on through to the end of the triathlon

Waiting at the finish was the somewhat-recovered Steve, who promptly pounced on Sammy giving her a celebratory hug. The two relished the event, from the honour of representing Team Fat Paddler to the achievement of their officer ranks AND the news that they’d placed Second in the mixed team category! To celebrate in true Fat Paddler styles, they moved onto the Kaministiquia Community Centre to smash a few hamburgers and hotdogs whilst reliving the stories of that day.

Sharing some Team Fat Paddler love at the finish line!

Seriously dude, I'm starving now! I want a hotdog THIS BIG!!!

All up an awesome event and a great way to kick off the international membership of the team. From all of us in Team Fat Paddler we’d like to send you both a big congrats and welcome to the team!!  Cheers – FP

(Photo credits: Chris Johnston)

Tags: Canada, Conquer The Dog, Team Fat Paddler

Running the river in my Remix after plenty of rain equals plenty of fun!

Three friends, three completely different boats, but one shared goal… white water fun! Full story in a few days, but here’s the video of our fun running a river in the Southern Highlands after a week of rain. Enjoy! Cheers – FP

UPDATE! Just another little video, this time a short blooper reel from the river run. Enjoy!

Tags: Liquidlogic, Liquidlogic Remix XP10, Remix XP10, Video, Wenonah, wenonah canoes, wenonah rendezvous, white-water

The Whale - Release dates: Sept 9 (Seattle) Sept 23 (NYC) Oct 28 (Vancouver, BC)

As a paddler I feel incredibly close to our watery environments and the marine life that inhabit them, and a particular fondness for our Cetacean cousins.  So I was quite excited to hear about a new movie coming out from Canada which details the true story of an orphaned orca that breaks all the rules by trying to socialise with people.  Ric O’Barry, of “The Cove” fame, has given his stamp of approval on the movie, which confirms for me that it’s not just another exploitation for entertainments sake type whale movie.

The lonely orca named Luna - orphan, friend, or victim?

Here’s some official blurb:  “THE WHALE is the true story of a young killer whale, an orca nicknamed Luna, who makes friends with people after he gets separated from his family on the rugged west coast of Vancouver Island, British Columbia. As rambunctious and surprising as a visitor from another planet, Luna endears himself to humans with his determination to make contact, which leads to laughter, conflict and unexpected consequences”.

There’s plenty more information on the The Whale official website, and for updates on the availability of the movie itself, join The Whale Movie on Facebook . I have no idea when it’ll make it to Australia but I’ll definitely be keeping an eye out for it. Cheers – FP

Tags: orca, The Whale, The Whale Movie

Lt Nat on his Epic V8 Ocean Ski... a touch skinnier and longer than my Remix XP10

The skies were dark and threatened rain as Lt Nat and I set off for an early morning paddle to Manly via Gelo Cliffs. As we paddled out from The Spit you couldn’t imagine a stranger pairing, with Nat in his 18′ ocean ski, and me in my 10′ whitewater boat!

My Liquidlogic Remix XP10 - a touch wider, flatter and a LOT slower than Nat's V8

Despite the obvious difference in speed, we had one major similarity. We both love moving water. Sure, Nat prefers big swell and ocean runners to make his ski fly, whilst I prefer to hug the cliff line and bounce around in white water. But in both cases, its moving water that we love, and on this day, went looking for.

Nat gazes longingly at the swell rolling in as he plans his lines of attack

Riding up and over a big breaker as it rolls into the cliffs behind me

As we made our way to Gelo Cliffs we enjoyed a fairly lumpy sea state with 1m swell giving us something to play in, and the odd 2m+ bumper wave to get excited about. I concentrated on bouncing around in by the rocks in the Remix whilst Nat would take off to deeper water on his ski before turning back to run the swell back in. Despite the major differences in boat design, we were both pretty much enjoying the same lumps, albeit in slightly different ways.

Nat heads out to deeper water to pick his runs back

This bad boy jacked up seconds after this shot and sent Nat flying down its face

Of course a 10′ boat doesn’t exactly surf ocean runners particularly well, but it certainly loves flying in and out of the rocks and surf along the cliffs. Whilst Nat surfed swell, I decided to get wet in close to the rocks and froth instead.

Hell yeah! The great thing about being IN the rocks is that the swell breaks ON you!

There's really nothing like cold spray in the face to really wake you up!

I guess we all get our thrills in our own way. I like mine with lumps!

Not that it was all craziness. We did paddle into Manly for a quick coffee, where we happened across the ridiculously fit Guy Leech having a post-training breakfast of porridge and berries next to us. Of course he went on to tell us about HIS adventures in surf and rocks, including a great one about smashing a ski into a gazzillion pieces in surf at Dobroyd Point. Clearly Nat and I felt exactly like him at that point… a part from the fact he’s fit, good looking, a World Champion Iron Man, a Molokai Winner and if I didn’t mention it before, he’s very fit.

After seeing what a healthy breakfast and daily training might do for us (yeah right!), we took off back to Gelo Cliffs for a last bounce before making our way back in for our own “healthy breakfast” (eggs and bacon ARE healthy, right??). Despite the dark grey skies, we’d had another cracking morning of fun on the water, despite the fact our boats are so different! The moral of the story? Don’t let your boat hold you back, have fun in whatever you get to paddle! Cheers – FP

Tags: Epic V8 Ski, kayak surfing, Liquidlogic Remix XP10, ocean white water, rock gardening, ski surfing, white-water