Paddler News Feed

 

•	Hotline
•	Paddle Tales
•	All in the Family

< Jan/Feb 2003
	Hotline
Blurbs

Paddling with Mary Poppins

Sea kayakers use umbrellas for wacky race at Bay Area Paddlefest

Though the sight may have made Mary Poppins cringe, competitors at this year’s Bay Area Paddlefest swapped their paddles for parasols, using umbrellas to navigate their way around San Mateo, Calif.’s Coyote Point during the festival’s International Umbrella Race. The well-shaded racers competed in two team events—one pitting two clubs against each other, the Bay Area Sea Kayakers vs. Western Sea Kayakers, which Western won; and another testing local outfitters, which Sea Trek won. Though the race’s second day was canceled due to high winds ("We were afraid of umbrella blowout," says organizer Mark Pastick), day one saw just the right breeze for racers to pop up their rain guards. "The key was picking the right boat," says Pastick, adding that racers got to choose from a number of sea kayaks on shore. "A Seaward Silhouette ended up winning. But people had to use my officially registered and sanctioned umbrellas." Adds co-organizer Beth Rundquist: "It’s not as easy as it looks. It’s a pretty fast ride—especially when you can’t see around the billowing nylon."

Grizzled Grayhairs Hit the Grand

Though it might have meant packing an extra drybag full of Geritol, last summer a group of elderly open boaters re-enacted a commercial trip taken in 1990 by canoeing the Grand. "We are no longer spring chickens," says permit holder Ed Grove. "The average age on the trip was 57, and three of us were over 60."

Nevertheless, they felt at home in the even-older Grand Canyon. They all got through Lava successfully, says Grove, with the oldest member even leading the way through Dubendorff. "We did have a support team to keep the geezers together," says Grove, adding that one of the members paddled a Stone Age Bluehole OCA from 1975. Riding herd at the top of each drop was one paddler’s 20-year-old daughter—"Part of maybe the first father-daughter solo open-boat descent of the Grand Canyon," says Grove—with a kayaker waiting at each rapid’s bottom to pick up the pieces. And the venturesome geezers aren’t yet done. "We have another private permit," beams the denture-less Grove. "In a few years we’ll be able to pay for it with our Social Security checks."

Rusty Sage in Sports Illustrated

While it’s a long way from football, golf, or even surfing, freestyle kayaking rose a notch on the national sports barometer recently when whitewater poster boy Rusty Sage garnered a four-page profile in Sports Illustrated. Of the September issue, which eulogized the late great Baltimore Colts quarterback Johnny Unitas, Sage says, "It’s something I never would’ve dreamed about four months ago. To be featured alongside Johnny Unitas is pretty incredible." Sage sees his profile as a valuable step in the campaign to attract a following for whitewater. "Sports Illustrated is the world’s biggest sporting magazine. It’s bound to help us attract attention and sponsors." The article focuses on Sage’s role as a kayaking instructor at this summer’s Jeep World Outside Festival, which featured the portable Wave Box. He says he believes he was chosen for the profile because of his diplomatic personality. "I don’t project much egomania," he says, which he thinks is important. "Kayaking’s image is largely up in the air. We can make the image one of punks—like skateboarding—or something more positive."