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Events Calendar
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Send calendar listings to ackayak@comcast.net or ACK Calendar, P.O. Box 520, Ipswich, MA 01938.
NORTH ATLANTIC
SYMPOSIA AND SHOWS
March 6: Collinsville Canoe & Kayak Paddle University
Focus will be on spring paddling. Full day of informative and free talks, demonstrations, and seminars. Topics include Cold Water Boot Camp, Dress For Success, Essential Equipment for Safe Paddling, Choosing a Paddle, Choosing a Kayak, Intro to Canoeing, Springtime Kayak Fishing and more! Contact: Melissa, Collinsville Canoe & Kayak, 41 Bridge St., PO Box 336, Collinsville, CT 06022; (860) 693-6977
www.cckstore.com/calendar/university.htm
March 26-28: Paddlesport 2009 Show, Somerset, N.J.
A kayak, canoe, and outdoor show, Garden State Exhibit Center, Somerset, N.J. Sponsored by The Jersey Paddler. Exhibits include manufacturers of kayaks, canoes, accessories, sportswear, paddling clubs, professional instruction and expeditions. Lectures and video/slide shows of exotic trips and expeditions, plus paddling techniques. For more information, call (888) 22-KAYAK or visit
www.jerseypaddler.com
March 27-28: Small Boat Shop Warehouse Sale
The Latest 2010 models. Used boats. All in-stock boats and accessories at special pre-season prices. Sea kayaks, recreational kayaks, canoes, rowing shells, row boats, peddle boats, and small sailboats. Free admission. For more information, Small Boat Shop, 144 Water Street, Norwalk, CT 06854; (203) 854-5223 www.thesmallboatshop.com
April 24-25: Collinsville Canoe & Kayak Annual Spring Demo Weekend & Storewide Sale.
Saturday 9-6; Sunday 10-5. Free. Major manufacturers on hand; demo equipment; classes, talks, and tips. Friendly staff on hand. Rain or shine. 41 Bridge St. (Rte. 179), Collinsville, CT. Call (860) 693-6977 or visit www.cckstore.com
May 15-16 and May 22-23: Maine Sea Kayak Guide Courses
Lincoln Canoe & Kayak
Two weekends. The first weekend will be a mix of classroom and on water time, the second will be an overnight trip on Casco Bay. Lincoln Outdoor Center, 8 Varney Rd., Freeport, ME; (207) 865-0455; LOC@paddlelincoln.com or www.paddlelincoln.com
May 21-23: Adirondack Paddlefest
Old Forge, N.Y. Sponsored by Mountainman Outdoor Supply Co. More than 1,000 canoes and kayaks on sale. Test paddle kayaks. Lectures and skill sessions. Live music, food, and fun for the whole family. www.mountainmanoutdoors.com
May 23: Contoocook River Kayak & Canoe Demo Day
Contoocook River Canoe Co., Concord, N.H. More than 200 kayaks and canoes to demo, talk to the reps. On-the-hour in-water and on-land presentations. Call (603) 753-9804 or www.contoocookcanoe.com
June 2-5: Maine Sea Kayak Guide Courses,
Lincoln Canoe & Kayak
Full day of classroom prep and a three-day expedition in Muscongus Bay.
Designed to provide leadership training for outdoor program trip leaders and to prepare guide candidates for the Maine Sea Kayak Guide Exam. Courses will train and instruct participants in the knowledge and skills required to lead single or multi-day sea kayak trips on the Maine Coast. They are also an opportunity for recreational paddlers to develop paddling expertise. The four-day course content goes beyond the essential skills required to become a Registered Maine Guide.
Lincoln Outdoor Center, 8 Varney Rd., Freeport, ME; (207) 865-0455; LOC@paddlelincoln.com or www.paddlelincoln.com
June 5: World Ocean Day Festival
Old Quarry Ocean Adventures, Deer Isle, Maine. Family oriented weekend festival of outdoor activities, education, and fun. http://oldquarry.com
June 10-13: New England Intermediate Rough Water Symposium
Point Judith, Rhode Island. Sponsored by Maine Island Kayak Co, and NDK. Focus on intermediate level rock garden play, tidal stream work including trips out to The Race off Fishers Islands, and surfing with a bit of Greenland and BCU. Facilities at a "youth camp" facililty on a protected bay on the edge of this small Rhode Island town. Tom Bergh, Maine Island Kayak Co, Peaks Island, ME 04108;
207-766-2419 h; 207-232-6733 c; www.maineislandkayak.com
June 12-13: 21st Annual Atlantic Canada Sea Kayaker’s Meeting
Tangier, Nova Scotia. Discover one of the best paddling destinations in eastern Canada. Clinics, slides shows, traditional church supper. . Pre and post meeting sessions (June 11 – Tidal Current Clinic; June 14 – Surfing Clinic). Special Guest: Jim Price, Eastern Edge Outfitters, Paddle Canada Senior IT. Scott Cunningham, (877) 404-2774; www.coastaladventures.com
June 25-27: Wooden Boat Show
Mystic Seaport, Mystic, Ct. Enjoy hundreds of wood-crafted boats including kayaks, test paddle, seminars, programs, special events; www.thewoodenboatshow.com
CLASSES
March 13-14: WMI of NOLS Wilderness First Aid Course put on by Crossing Latitudes Sebago Canoe Club, Brooklyn, NY.
March 20-21: WMI of NOLS Wilderness First Aid Course Cattus Island Park, Toms River, NJ. Price: $250.00 per person for both. Two days of intense training in Wilderness First Aid. The Wilderness Medicine Institute staff will teach you the skills needed so you can care for an injured friend until the pros arrive. A few spots are open on this Wilderness First Aid course to folks who need to recertify their Wilderness First Responder. 60% hands-on with realistic scenarios and 40% lectures, demonstration, and discussions. A must for all guides! Crossing Latitudes, (406) 585-5356 or info@crossinglatitudes.com
Kayak Building
March 4th-14th: Kayak Ways Skin on Frame Kayak Building Workshop
Wallingford, CT, and Brownsville, ME. Cherry Perry and Turner Wilson offer an 11-day workshop to produce custom kayaks that are designed to fit the paddler and the water they paddle in. Do you want a rolling machine or a day paddling kayak? You decide. These are NOT kits and are great for folks interested in the building process of the Inuit Kayak. Contact: sof@kayakways.net or www.kayakways.net
RACES
April 24: 28th Annual Run of the Charles
Greater Boston. Series of professional and amateur canoe and kayak races for ages 12 and up, with more than 1,500 participants. Races wind along the Charles River through Dedham, Needham, Newton, Wellesley, and Waltham to Herter Park, Soldiers Field Road, Allston. Races include the $5,000 Professional Flatwater 26-Mile Canoe Marathon, 24-Mile Canoe Relay Race for teams of ten, and 19-, 9- and six-mile canoe and kayak races. Take note: The six miler is portage-free.
Sponsored by the Charles River Watershed Association, with 43 years of improvements to the health, beauty, and enjoyment of the Charles River. Entry fees $40-$55 a paddler. Free Finish Line Festival at MDC Herter Park. Race or Volunteer. Contact: (508) 698-6810 or rotc@crwa.org. Look for on-line information and registration at www.crwa.org
July 17: Blackburn Challenge
Gloucester, Mass. 23-mile race on mainly open water, circumnavigating Cape Ann. The race is open to anyone, but there is a half-way checkpoint with a time limit, and a full race pull-out limit of six hours. For race info and online registration, www.blackburnchallenge.com. Or email Donna-Lind@comcast.net or call (978) 764-9407
SOUTH ATLANTIC
SYMPOSIA AND SHOWS
Feb. 23-28: 14TH Annual Sweetwater Kayaks Symposium
BCU and Greenland Week: February 23-28
Kayak Symposium Weekend: February 26-28
Totally immerse yourself in the art of sea kayaking at this exciting event, located in West Central Florida, Tampa Bay area. Campsites: waterside with fabulous sunsets. Venue: Fort Desoto Park. Classes: with world class coaches. Evenings: dinner & slide shows. Kayak: sheltered lagoon or the Gulf of Mexico. All are invited: the beginner to the experienced. Coaches include Nigel Foster, Andy Stamp, Steve Maynard, Dale Williams, Shawna Franklin, Leon Somme, Lamar Hudgens, Mark Schoon, John Carmody, Jean Totz, Turner Wilson & Cheri Perry, Greg Stamer, and many others. For details and registration go to www.sweetwaterkayaks.com; email jean@sweetwaterkayaks.com
April 16-18: 20th Annual East Coast Canoe & Kayak Festival James Island County Park, Charleston, S.C. One of the premier kayaking events of the year. Lectures, on-water classes, and demonstrations. Four classes run at the same time. Refine your skills in a master class. Learn strokes, rescues, or rolls from H2Outfitters. Demos. For more information www.ccprcevents.com
EVENTS
March 20: River Quest 2010
Downtown Beaufort Waterfront Park, 1106 Bay Street, Beaufort, SC
10:00 a.m. Start Time. Kayak and Canoe races of 3.0 miles or 7.4 miles. www.active.com or www.HigherGroundBeaufort.com
March 6-April 4: Ultimate Florida Challenge
This race circumnavigates Florida starting in Fort Desoto in Tampa Bay – 1200 miles with a 40-mile portage. The first stage starts at with the Annual Everglades Challenge. At Key Largo you turn north and head for Sebastian Inlet. From there you go to the farthest northeast corner of Florida at Fort Clinch. Then it's about 90 miles upstream on the St. Marys River to St. George. At St. George you begin the infamous 40-mile portage to the Suwannee River at Fargo. After about 220 miles down river you are back in the Gulf of Mexico - next stop Cedar Key. The final sprint from Cedar Key finishes back at Fort Desoto. It's hard to predict which stage will be the toughest since weather will be a factor.
Although the deadlines allow just a bit more than 29 days to complete the Ultimate Florida Challenge, hard chargers might be able to do this in 15 days or so, but the weather would have to cooperate. A more reasonable target is 20 days give. Cruisers may take a more leisurely pace and use every minute of the allowed time. Of course, this challenge is so tough that it is possible that nobody can complete it in the allowed time limits.
March 6-14: WaterTribe Everglades Challenge
Unsupported expedition of 300 nautical miles following the southwest Florida coast from Fort Desoto to Key Largo. Time limit of eight days or less. The WaterTribe Ultra Marathan runs at the same time.
March 6-7: WaterTribe Ultra Marathan A 68-mile course from Fort Desoto to Grande Tours at Boca Grade, two-day limit. For that sprint event, you are not required to carry camping gear. Registration for all three events ends Feb. 15 at noon. For more information www.watertribe.com
GREAT LAKES
SYMPOSIA AND SHOWS
March 12-14: Canoecopia
Alliant Energy Center, Madison, Wisc. One of the biggest paddlesports shows in the country. Sponsored by Rutabaga. www.canoecopia.com
July 15-18, 2010
Great Lakes Sea Kayak Symposium
Grand Marais, Mich. www.downwindsports.com
Sidebar
Film Premieres at Canoecopia
Canoecopia, March 12-14, Madison, Wisc., has been the site of several paddling films’ world premieres. This year it will debut three films:
Eastern Horizons: Exploring North America’s Atlantic Coast by Kayak
Bryan Smith
Eastern Horizons is the second in a series of films by award winning filmmaker Bryan Smith of Reel Water Productions. From paddling the wildlife rich swamps and mangroves of the Carolinas to the icebergs of Newfoundland; from surfing the "zipper" at Tybee Island, Georgia to playing in the tidal flows around Nova Scotia's Bay of Fundy; and from capturing the iconic urban landscapes of New York City to the remote fishing villages of Quebec's Magdalene Islands, Eastern Horizons inspires paddlers and non-paddlers alike to get out and explore the ocean.
Bryan Smith is an adventure filmmaker and expedition kayaker based out of Squamish, British Columbia. He co-founded Body Boat Blade International sea kayaking school.
Terra Antarctica, Re-Discovering the 7th Continent
Jon Bowermaster
The final expedition in Jon Bowermaster’s ten-year-long OCEANS 8 project took he and his team to the Antarctic Peninsula for five weeks in January 2008. Traveling by sea kayak, sailboat, small plane and foot they had an up-close look at the spectacular beauty of the place—like Alaska piled on top of Alaska piled on top of Alaska—during days spent paddling. They also were witness to the increasing impact of warming temperatures and a booming tourist business to this pristine and fragile part of the world. Along the way they hooked up with scientists, soldiers and explorers working and living along the frozen coast.
Jon Bowermaster is a writer, filmmaker and six-time grantee of the National Geographic Expeditions Council. His ongoing OCEANS 8 project—sea kayaking around the world, one continent at a time studying the health of the seas and the lives of the people who depend on them—concluded in January 2008 with an adventurous expedition along the Antarctic Peninsula.
Kayak Fishing: Game On
Jim Sammons
Kayak Fishing: GAME ON is an epic new fishing movie that follows renowned big game kayak angler Jim Sammons around North America on the kayak fishing adventure of a lifetime. Fights with tarpon in Florida, halibut in Alaska, marlin in Baja, stripers in Chesapeake Bay, and muskie in Canada are just some of what you can expect to see in this exciting new film.
A San Diego California native and certified fish and game licensed guide, Jim Sammons has spent most of his life on or near the water. In 1995 he started La Jolla Kayak Fishing guide service and is one of the original Ocean Kayak ProAnglers.
Send calendar listings to ackayak@comcast.net or ACK Calendar, P.O. Box 520, Ipswich, MA 01938.
