Playing The Outdoors Game

Over the last while I have noticed what seems to be an increasing number of rescues of those who have managed to get into situations that in many cases never should have come about in the first place. There are those who have a high, even arrogant opinion of their abilities (many of these do have a very high degree of skill) and will head off into areas that may be closed for the season or into areas that are known to be extremely risky for any number of reasons though they know they should not be there they are ‘good enough’ to handle anything that may arise. In addition to these we now have the adventure tourists, people who pay at times what are extraordinary fees for the ‘right’ to attempt what only the few, rare extremely skilled experts in the field of endeavour they are entering would ever attempt. Then in some cases they then proceed to ignore the advice of those experts because they have paid for the adventure they are going to see it through even when warned that it is for whatever reason no longer safe to proceed. Then of course there are those with no skills or any idea of what they are doing other that partaking something they always thought it might be nice to try, they saw the video and it looks simple.

Once upon a time there was the expectation that one needed to be able to get themselves out of trouble and that the knowledge that yes once you got out there, wherever that place may be, that you where on your own. With that came the knowledge that if things went wrong you may not come home so you had better be ready for all eventualities. A couple of years ago I was talking to a scout leader who had recently taken an advanced first aid course which included scenarios that involved life and death decisions he said that they made him consider things he had never thought of before and that he came close to no longer leading the kids on trips.

 Now when asked if they are ready for any emergencies that may arise while they are pursuing their particular adventure, many will proudly show off their sat phone, and locator device and that is often the extent of the planning. How about a first aid kit and the skills to use it? What at one time took weeks or months of meticulous training and planning in addition to the time spent in the acquisition of the appropriate skills has been replaced with these devices, and the attendant expectation that when you hit the button someone will come running and do so in a timely fashion, timely being defined by the person with the problem. This is what I refer to as the gamer mentality, all you need to do is hit reset and you get out of the situation that you have found yourself in with no real consequences. That mythical creature the taxpayer gets the bill and on you go to try again next year, reset complete.

The other thing that has come with this is the lowering of what defines in many minds what an emergency is, people who feel that sending out a rescue chopper for them because the weather is going to hold them up and they may be late for work so it is only reasonable as far as they are concerned.

For those who may interested our normal practise even for something as simple as a day paddle,  we carry a ditch bag (I will admit that this may not happen in areas where we are paddling close to shore in a well populated area) it contains a couple of space blankets, a water filter, matches, compass, a few emergency munchies and whatever other supplies are appropriate for the situation. What that means is that if I paddle a half day into a park or any other area and something goes wrong I will not even be real hungry until the second day of my one day paddle.  These things are kept in a dry bag so when we head out all you have to do is add some food (today’s lunch doesn't count) and the first aid kit and you are on your way. It also means that I don’t have to depend on cell phone reception or someone else to get me out of what is not an emergency but an uncomfortable inconvenience. 

A wilderness state of mind

Many of us go out seeking for some experience of wilderness, though what makes up wilderness varies from person to person, you may dispute this, but it all depends where you start. My dictionary states that the word is derived from the middle English word wilderne or wild place and what seems wild to one may seem tame to another if your life experience takes in only large cities you will not have to get too far outside of one to consider yourself in a wild place. On the other hand some of us who have little use for life in large cities consider ourselves in a wild place when entering one, as wilderness is  also defined as a large, confused mass or tangle of persons or things, there may be some validity to that point of view. Like many what I define as wilderness is those wild places where we like to roam, those places where you seldom see others apart from those who you have chosen to travel with, places which are not always easily or readily accessible.   

I was recently reading a story where an experienced wilderness traveller had taken a couple of kids paddling. The adventure took place between a couple of large cities and was not what many would call a wilderness experience at all but a simple day paddle , there was no remote river involved, no camping, and dinner was in a restaurant on the way home. He was chuckling to himself as the kids told the waitress about their wilderness adventure, as many of us would. As I was thinking about this I could only see good here, these kids had enjoyed a new experience in the outdoors that had left them thrilled enough to share it with others.  They had an experience that that they would take with them as they moved forward in their lives,  hopefully it will lead to them seeking  more opportunities to see and experience wilderness and maybe even a little of what many would see as true wilderness. There may come a day at some point in the future when they laugh at this their first experience of wilderness, but I hope none of us laugh out loud when we hear these stories as the hope for preserving the wild places will one day be theirs and others who may get started making those wilderness treks in their backyards. For many of us it would likely be a great experience to when the opportunity arises  take some kids out to experience the wilderness in their backyard, and maybe have the chance ourselves to get a fresh perspective on our/their wilderness.

One last note as I wrote this I also looked at the meaning of wild which was defined as living or growing in its original, natural state; not domesticated or cultivated, taking this to its literal extreme is there any real wilderness left? Is there any place that has not been affected by man whether he has travelled there previously or not, while you think about that and I hope you will, what it really proves is that no matter how far you go to experience wilderness it is in reality a state of mind. 

Modelling

Modelling- we are not talking about some latent desire I may have to grace the cover of a magazine, those of you who know me and those who have surmised that the overly paunchy guy with the bald head that you see in some of the boat pictures is the guy on the other side of the key board you will no doubt be relieved.  If the thought or picture of such an occurrence is now planted in your head, I’m sorry.

What I am talking about is making models of boats, in particular new designs that we are working on, I do not do this often, and usually I rely on the fact that the boats are all modelled in 3D in the computer. Now that we have modelled a number of boats this way and in particular a substantial number of canoes and kayaks there is usually little reason to do so, simply looking at the model will tell us if the wood will bend to make the shape we desire. This judgement call is important in particular with the plywood boats as there is often a degree of compounding of the plywood in the ends of the panels that form the hull and sometimes the deck. Compounding is simply trying to bend the plywood in two directions at the same time; plywood will only do this to a very limited extent.

The boat that is being modelled now is the small trimaran that appears in rendered form on the home page of our web site, http://www.getonthewater.ca/ there are a couple of reasons that I have decided to model this boat to scale. First,  at the present time the plan is for the outer hulls to be stress formed that is two panels will be joined along the centreline and then bent into the desired shape and I want to make sure the final shape that is chosen will work using this method even before the prototype is built. The second reason is simply a practical one, a trimaran even a small one takes up a lot of space, show space is expensive it is much cheaper to sit an 18 x 12 inch [457 x 305 mm] model on a table than to rent the required space, it is also a lot easier to ship leaving room to take other boats which can be displayed more economically to shows.

 The above leads me to touch on part of the philosophy behind our designs, the expense of keeping a boat in a marina and particularly a wide body one is becoming prohibitive for many, one that can be taken home or disassembled and the taken home avoids that expense. Additionally making each section of the boat light enough that it can be carried piece by piece to the launch area will allow access to places you could not otherwise reach.

I do plan to continue with my modelling career even if only sporadically, but I do promise that I will model only boats, and that I myself will only appear when wrapped in one.  

Memory and Change

We have just returned from just short of two weeks in Algonquin Park, it is the first time in a number of years that we have been able to get away for that long a period of time. It was as it usually is a relaxing and enjoyable time, what struck me most about this year was how camping and the camping experience has changed over the years. I have been going camping for, I am afraid to admit this but over fifty years; my first visits are outside my recollection as they occurred before I was able to process such things. The first being just a few short months after I was born with a trip to Algonquin Park, there have been many trips over the years to parks in both Canada and the US, and the odd farmers field on the edge of whatever body of water was being paddled, all this is just to say that I have been doing this long enough to notice that things have changed and seem to be doing so even more quickly of late.

Those of you who have seen my facebook page will know that I was bemoaning the slow internet connection while in the park and my inability to upload pictures in a timely fashion to inform those who may be interested in what was happening.  I am becoming more convinced that the ability to do things such as get on the internet and in particular to have high speed access is not necessarily such a great thing, it is wonderful to be able to keep in touch and to make sure that everything is OK at home but do we really need to post pictures and messages now? Camping was once upon a time a rather social happening focused on what you where doing now and you talked to those who where there taking part in the same experience, most often those path crossings remained just that brief encounters with an interesting cross section of people you would never have otherwise met. On occasion these encounters could lead to lasting friendships, my grandparents made some friends that became very close to over the years; they met in Pinery Provincial Park. The relationship continued for many years with invitations to birthdays, anniversaries and holiday visits to each others homes, at one point in time my younger brother dated one of their granddaughters.

Today rather than a group of people who have gathered in the same place, to share a common interest and are happy to meet others who have come to do the same, the parks seem to be a set of site designated individual enclaves. Some come to the park and set their sites up in the camping equivalent of the old west’s circling the wagons to keep out intruders, the tents or trailer are used to block any view of the site from the road and a vehicle used to close off the path to the encampment when the residents are in. Not everyone goes that far, the more common creatures now are the ones who set up, get the fire going and since most car camping is done in areas with cell service they park themselves by the fire and start making phone calls, texting and informing their online ‘friends’ of what is happening on their camping trip, practicing the modern version of being social, no human contact required.

There are of course exceptions, the people who say hello as you walk by and strike up a quick if passing conversation, and those who allow their kids to do what I remember wandering about the park in the area prescribed by them, under their protective eyes but with enough leash so to speak to feel some sense of freedom. It is fun to watch these kids, excited as they run about or ride their bikes to explore their new surroundings, this is how this past week I was able to meet a nice young man and his family, he is about eight years old and while wandering as far from his parents as allowed came by with a series of questions about our kayaks and comments on how he has always really wanted to go kayaking. After meeting his parents as they passed by our site we arranged to get him and his mom into a boat so he could have that experience.   

When he gets home and he goes back to school and writes about what he did on his summer holidays and on into the future, I hope that is what he remembers about camping, that he met someone that was outside his families’ normal experience and that he had fun. I know it is what I remember, campfires and people lots of people gathered around them sharing a common joy and each others company whether it is a passing thing or leads to a lifelong friendship it certainly makes memories.

Inseparable

Last time I wrote about the difficulty of getting on the water, now here I am fresh off the water, my last post ended with a comment on how it is no longer possible to really separate time on the water from business. This is the one small downside to making your passion your business, while you may get to be part of it on a day to day basis you can never  leave it behind entirely; when  I can I paddle our new boat models they don’t always fit me so this is not always possible, this year it is. 

The things that happen when I am on the water are all the things that happen to everyone a sense of getting away, of freedom, peacefulness, enjoyment of the outdoors.  The other things that happen are not necessarily the normal ones that happen to people when they are out enjoying a day on the water. When the boats are first being used I want to see what can be improved, what will be changed between the prototype stage and the stage when the plans and kits are ready. This starts right at the beginning whether getting in and out of the boat or where the foot braces are placed many of these things are similar from boat to boat so the question is how these parts come together as far as being comfortable in the boat. Part of the process is watching and feeling how the boat moves through the water, how easily is it paddled, does it meet the goals that where set during the design stage?  How does the boat interact with the waves how does it respond to the increase of wind that comes with the waves? I also spend time watching the water flow around the hull; this is naturally true more of the boats that I can see than of the one I am in. On the water I also watch to see what you are paddling and what you are asking the boat that you are paddling to do, and how you use the boats that you have.

Reading this you may think that there can’t be any joy to be had out on the water that is far from the truth; hey I’m still out on the water. Yes I may miss the odd bit of wildlife because I was watching the water flow around your hull, remember it’s my passion for being out here and the boats used to get here that led to this and the business, in the end they are simply two inseparable parts of the same experience.

Paddle Time!

Well we have finally reached that longed for part of summer, paddle time. From the outside looking at the lives of those employed in the boating industry may seem to be the ideal life, the opportunity to pursue your passion as an occupation. The problem with this stems from the fact that while many of us entered this field as a result of a passion for the outdoors and in particular spending time on the water, the passion resulted in a business that needs to be run. What this means in practical terms is that there are weekends spent at boat shows, there are people who want to go paddling in the boats on weekends when they are free, then there are of course the normal events that happen in life, weddings to attend, those regular family obligations that come up and are often planned for summer weekends. While taking people out paddling may sound like a fun filled task it ends in the reality of loading and unloading boats and helping new paddlers in and out of the boats and never leaving the shore. These things make even getting weekends away to simply paddle at times difficult, but that is not specific to this industry many I know struggle with this or a variation of it.

To those who I have taken paddling this is not a complaint, there is a certain enjoyment that comes form sharing the experience of being out on the water, to seeing people out in a kayak for the first time and discovering that despite all the talk of rolling kayaks that you don’t instantly end up looking up at the water’s surface when you enter one. That by the way seems to be an impression that quite a number of people have of this sport, while rolling has its place as a rescue which is its intended purpose, sometimes you get the impression from some that getting on the water and rolling is the reason kayaks exist. There are a lot of people out there paddling many of them for the shear joy of being on the water on a nice day they are never going to push the limits of anything except the strength of their sun block, and short of doing something thoughtless or being on the receiving end of such an act are highly unlikely to end up wet.  This is not to discount the  need be able to self rescue I hope to do some practicing while away when I can find a nice quiet spot to do so, far enough away that no one will call 911 to report on a kayak being attacked by some large ungainly creature that seems intent on causing harm.

To get somewhat back on track as this post did not go in the direction intended at the start, while it is sometimes difficult to get out on the water the time spent there is important from more than one perspective. For me it is a chance to relax, no phone, no Internet, no extraneous noise, just nature, a chance to do something that I enjoy for the sheer joy of it. Even though there will be paddling for the sake of paddling, the business part that can no longer be separated entirely from time on the water, because my passion is also my business.

Just scratch it already!

For the most part we and our customers build boats that we want to shine; I’m not talking about the way in which they fulfill their intended tasks. Though we do want them to shine in that way, what I am talking about is that wonderful look you get with a boat that is built of wood and covered in coats of carefully applied varnish, giving them that warmth that you only get with wood. I have said more than once when we are at shows that if we just charged a dollar a picture we would always make back the money we have invested. This tells me that many of you feel the same way about wood and wooden boats as we do.

The problem that this glossy finish brings to the fore is that first scratch, at shows we are often asked if we paddle the boats, or if they are just for display. Yes we do paddle them, as often as we can and like everyone who enjoys getting out on the water not nearly as often as we want to. Those who pass through our display booth will follow that question up with, aren't you worried about damaging the boats? The answer I usually give is that the cure for that worry is to go out the first day and just get it over with, scratch the boat.  This answer is given somewhat tongue in cheek as it does seem to me to some small degree a sort of sacrilege and I have scratched many boats.

The fact is that the answer really is yes, like any boat owner you do not want to damage your boat but damage and scratches are not the same thing.  A scratch just means that you use your boat, all boats get scratches some are more visible than others due to the fact that some colours and materials simply make them more obvious than others. Some are more obvious because well you have hit something a little harder. These  wood and epoxy  boats are amazingly tough but like any boat they where designed for a purpose, you would not run rapids in a sea kayak and neither would you do so in one of ours its not what they where made for. That’s what playboats are made for and they use materials that are appropriate to the use when they build them.

Varnished boats actually have a distinct advantage over the average fiberglass boat when it comes to those inevitable scratches. The varnished boat can go home and into the garage and with a couple hours of work the next day comes out looking like new.  Not many people are equipped to repair gel coat but most everyone can handle a paint brush and a little varnish. So get out there and use them it he reason they where designed and built.