This is a tree I pass on my way from Little Bay to Setauket Bay

By Cecil C. Hoge, Jr.

I designed the Sea Eagle FastTrack and I think it is the easiest to paddle, easiest to transport, most responsive, most stable, safest inflatable kayak in the world.

But rather than tell you how good it is, perhaps I should tell about how I use it.

I live on the water and I paddle at least 10 months a year. In the winter, my tidal bay tends to ice over for one month or so and if the ice is thicker than a 1/4″, I forego paddling. Simply put, I don’t want to be a ice-breaker.

Aside from the relatively short period when the bay is frozen solid, I go paddling everyday I can and that includes paddling on every winter’s day when the tide is in, when the ice is minimal and when the weather is passable – yes, I do not like to paddle in driving snowstorms or in winds over 25 mph.

People often look at me like I am crazy when I tell them that I paddle in the winter because it is cold. Yes, it is, but I point out that most people dress warmly and go outside during the winter so it is not that impractical to paddle outside. You just have to dress warmly. I value a warm jacket, warm gloves, warm shoes and various layers, but I find that on most days, no matter how cold it is, I am comfortable. This should be understandable from the fact that paddling is a form of exercise and just the act of paddling keeps you warm.

You might ask doesn’t paddling get boring? Yes, it could if you are bored by endlessly changing scenery. The fact is that when you paddle the same conditions are never repeated even if you paddle along the same general course. This is because the tide is always different, going or coming at one level or another, the weather is always different and what you see along a paddle is always different.

One of the pleasures of paddling in winter are the many different birds you might see along the way.

In the picture above, I am guessing one duck is a Mallard male and the other is his wife. You may have to look carefully to recognize the wife – she is very modest.

The pictures taken for this blog were all taken on January 3, 2011. I did not go out of my way in taking these pictures. In winter my little bay, cleverly called Little Bay, is often filled with swans. Swans pay kayakers little mind (I probably should say kayaker since I am the only one they ever see).  This makes them very easy to photograph. I pass literally hundreds of birds every day I paddle. Here are some more.

This heron is about to fly the coop. When he does, he will emit an otherworldy squawk to indicate his disaproval of me.

Herons do not like humans. I think they remember when they were giant flying dinosaurs and humans were little snacks to be picked off on a slow day of hunting.

I have a theory about winter paddling and that is that it is very healthy. I think breathing the air when paddling on salt water clears out your lungs and helps ward off colds. It’s just a theory – I cannot promise that it will work for everyone, but it seems to work for me.

If you ask a serious kayaker why they like to paddle they may not be sure just what to answer. Yes, they like the exercise…yes, they like seeing different kinds of birds…yes, they like the fact that something is always different. The sun, the clouds, the tide, the wind, the weather, the time of season, the time of day…every time you go paddling the surrounding elements are different and in flux – this is both soothing and exhilirating.

But I think it is not just the changing scenery that makes paddling interesting, exhilirating and plain fun. There is another word I would like to suggest. It is the horizon that is visible when you are paddling – the sheer open spaces that come into view without the obstructions that are so normal to everyday views. Think of it, when you go out of your front door, there a lot of things immeidately in view…a car, a driveway, a hedge, a road, a telephone pole. But when you are paddling, often you come to places where your view is not obstructed by objects. Literally, the horizon in front of you expands and seems limitless.

This may not seem exciting as a description, but I think if feeds an inner calm that most of us seek and long for. Even when you go for a jog, there is not much of a horizon visible. Usually, you are on a road with no great expanse of horizon in view…with houses and telephone poles and mail boxes. This is the great difference with paddling for there is a true horizon and it seems limitless. There is no path, there is no road, there is no set course, you may paddle where you will and along the way you come across unobstructed views. Of course, many will say it is a stupid and crazy idea to paddle in winter when your fingers might get chilled, but I will tell you oh no, your fingers will be as warm toast if your paddling in winter, because your hands are moving and exercising all the time so cold is simply not a factor.

Add to the warmth factor the fact in winter that you generally are out there by yourself – in my case I only see an occasional clamdigger. There are no mighty Mastercrafts charging back and forth with skiers in tow, there are no large yachts or small boats crusing back and forth, the waterways are no longer crowded, they are left empty, pristine, remote and all to yourself. Winter is in fact a nice time to paddle.

— Travel professionals combine air travel, RV’ing, and boating

Out for a paddle on Chilcoot Lake Alaska. The McCanna’s own a Sea Eagle 370, 2 person inflatable kayak. It just fits the 50-lb bag rule for airline luggage. “Always nice to have your own boat to get out on the water!”

Travel means business in the McCanna household. Chantal works for Air Canada in Montreal, and Mark is a project manager for a subsidiary, Air Canada Vacations.

But travel also means personal adventure. When the McCannas aren’t on the job, they’re off on their own adventures to far away places including China, Hawaii, Australia, Germany, South America, the Caribbean, the Gaspe Peninsula, Corsica, and more.

A grizzly bear catches salmon at a fish weir on a river near Haines, Alaska. The McCannas saw so many grizzlies on their adventure vacation they stopped counting.

Mark and Chantal have developed an ingenious way to combine air travel, RV’ing, and boating into fascinating adventure vacations. They pack up their Sea Eagle inflatable kayak; check it as airline luggage; fly thousands of miles to an interesting destination; rent an RV; and enjoy 10 days or so of rambling, sightseeing, adventuring, and boating on the open highway…and open water.

50-lb. airline baggage limit

“Many airlines have a 50-lb. limit on baggage,” Mark told us. “Our Sea Eagle, life-jackets, and paddles fit in one 50-lb. bag. We got a bag with wheels so it rolls through the airports easily.”

The idea of combining air travel, RV’ing, and boating came to them on a trip to Canada’s Kathleen Lake a few years ago. “We were sitting on the shore wondering what was on the other side when a couple drove up in their van, took out an inflatable kayak, pumped it up, and paddled away,” says Mark.

“We just sat there with our mouths open.” Back home, a quick search on the internet got them a Sea Eagle 330 inflatable kayak of their own. “It’s nice to have your own boat on vacation,” says Mark.

“You must see the Alaska Highway once in your lifetime”

“We’ve flown from Montreal into both Calgary, Alberta, and Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, rented an RV, and headed north,” says Mark. “You have to see the historic Alaska Highway at least once in your life.” But Mark prefers the Stuart Cassiar Highway in British Columbia because, “there’s less traffic and more wildlife there.”

One of their adventure vacations took them all the way to the Arctic Circle via the Dempster Highway — about 800 kilometers of well-engineered gravel highway. You may feel you’re a thousand miles from civilization but, “you can get gas at Dawson City, Eagle Plains, and at Inuvik” at the Arctic Circle.

RV’s and inflatable boats are made for each other

An RV and a Sea Eagle give you your own portable adventure vacation. Many RV’ers pack an inflatable boat in their rigs so they can enjoy fishing, paddling, and exploring lakes and rivers while RV camping.

An RV and a Sea Eagle inflatable kayak – the perfect combination for an adventure vacation.

And because it’s a full-sized, two-passenger boat that packs into a suitcase-sized bag, an inflatable kayak fits perfectly in space-restricted RVs.

“On the road, we stock up with a few days’ food and water and drive into the wilderness where we find a spot by a lake to set up camp,” says Mark. “We’ll go for a paddle in the Sea Eagle, then cook a nice dinner and have a campfire.” The McCannas are up and out early the next morning and start scouting that night’s lakeside campsite by afternoon.

Travel professionals recommend…

“One of our favorite place to go is Haines, Alaska because of the grizzly bears there. You can also see the bears at Fish Creek at Hyder, Alaska, but you can’t see them as well,” Mark reports.

The McCannas prepare to explore Kathleen Lake by inflatable Sea Eagle kayak

In Haines, there’s a fish weir in the river and it takes the salmon a while to cross it. The bears know this and come out of the forest and onto he weir to get the salmon.

In the Tlingit Indians region of Alaska, says Mark, “We put out boat in at Chilkoot Lake and found a very shallow sandy area where we could actually see salmon spawning. You can only do that in a non-powered boat like the Sea Eagle. It’s very quiet so we could watch the fish spawn for quite a while.”

“We enjoyed Barkersville, British Columbia,” says Mark. “It’s an old, restored Gold Rush town.” Mark recommends Liard River Hot Springs as another interesting stop. There’s a boardwalk, changing rooms, and the hot springs are free…and never freeze in winter.

Next adventure?

What’s the next adventure vacation for the McCannas? “Maybe a tour down the Amazon or the Nile,” says Mark. “Or maybe kayaking at

Aloha, from one of the McCanna’s trips to Hawaii.

Kalalau Beach on the Hawaiian island of Kauai.” Aloha!

George Davis trolls for Kokanee salmon on Lake Billy Chinook, Oregon, in his Sea Eagle FoldCat

We receive armloads of photos, letters, and e-mails from Sea Eagle inflatable boat owners who love to share their boating experiences and talk about the fun they have with their Sea Eagles.

Like this recent note from Colleen Faulkner, Sea Eagle owner: “We got our Sea Eagle kayak because we have a cabin cruiser and needed something we could use to take our dog, Morgan, to shore. We find the Sea Eagle very relaxing. We like to take it to a little cove in the Navesink River where we relax, read, and hang out.”

Tim Faulkner paddles his Sea Eagle 330 while Morgan navigates

We love receiving these pictures and notes because they’re further proof of what we’ve always known: Sea Eagle boaters are interesting, upbeat, active folk who love nothing more than a great day out on the water.

Every kind of boater

Owner letters and photos prove, too, there’s no one kind of Sea Eagle boater. If you can do it on the water, our owners are out there doing it in their Sea Eagles. That includes every kind of boating from adrenaline-fueled rushes through raging rapids to gentle paddling on placid lakes. Boating in waters from America’s great rivers to those in France, Thailand, and more.

Out for a day on the water in their Sea Eagle FastTrack Kayak

And boaters from twenty-something adventurers to golden-age grandmas and grandpas.

Some of our owners write in to enter our photo contest. Most write simply because they want to share what they enjoy. And many write and send photos just to say, “Thank you, Sea Eagle!”

We recently started posting owner stories and photos on the Sea Eagle Photo Blog you’re reading now. Not surprisingly in today’s computer-connected, social media-active world, our blog gets THOUSANDS of hits, fans, and followers as do our Tweets and Facebook page.

We think it’s clear: the only thing our owners like

Sea Eagle owner, Dirk Darling running the American River in his Explorer Kayak

better than boating in their Sea Eagles is talking and writing about the great times they have.

Tell us YOUR Sea Eagle boating story

So here’s an open invitation: e-mail your photo and story to our Photo Blog Editor, [email protected]

Who knows? You could be featured on this blog, sharing your Sea Eagle adventures with our world-wide community of boating enthusiasts.

Looks like owner, Larry Green, had a good morning out on the water

(And you don’t have to be a “white water junkie” to have an interesting Sea Eagle story to tell. One of our most-read and most replied-to posts features 78-year young Maggie Dickeson who asked, “Why would you want to post my story? I just paddle around.”)

And while you’re at it, check out our photo contest and our photo gallery where you’ll see dozens and dozens of photos sent in by owners who’re out there doing what you do — paddling, fishing, exploring, sailing, lazing around, having fun, and enjoying the great outdoors in every imaginable activity that’s done on water!

“People don’t realize there are still areas where there’s no civilization at all,” says Brad Beaver. Brad’s a professional photographer specializing in wildlife and nature photography. In particular, he’s capturing the “unseen America” — the hidden, remote, pristine areas many miles from civilization.

Brad is exploring and photo-documenting America’s hidden wilderness areas. His dog, Laura, scouts the way.

Documenting natural areas most people will never see

“My photography is all about capturing beautiful scenery most people will never see unless they backpack deep into the wilderness,” says Brad. And there’s a lot to see out there as evidenced by Brad’s remarkable photos.

Living in Iowa, Brad’s documented the back woods beauty of many Western states. Little by little, he’s compiling a large coffee table book of photos of the natural splendor of America. “I want to photograph all 50 states,” says Brad. “That’s why I call my company ‘Zoom In America Photography.’” 14 states down, 36 to go.

There’s pristine beauty everywhere — you just have to take to the water to visit it.

A floating photo studio

How does a photographer get himself and all his camping gear, food, cameras, tripods, light meters, tons of photo equipment, and his dog, Laura, into the outback, many miles from the nearest road? Brad’s mode of transportation is his Sea Eagle FastTrack 465FT. Nearly 15 feet long, rated to carry nearly 800 lbs., his FastTrack holds everything he needs for extended water-based travel, camping, and photography in the great outdoors.

Brad recently visited the Arrowhead Region of Minnesota, about three hours or less north of Minneapolis, home of The Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (BWCAW), Voyageurs National Park, and nearby Canadian Quetico and La Verendrye Provincial Parks. Collectively, they’re called the “Quetico-Superior country,” or the Boundary Waters.

Where fur traders & explorers paddled birch bark canoes

When you’re miles and miles from civilization, you must bring everything you need…and leave only footprints.

Covering well over 1,000,000 square acres, the Boundary Waters is a deep, north woods wilderness of forest and lakes.  Explorers, French-Canadian fur traders, and Indians paddled birch bark canoes through this area 200 years ago and Brad says it hasn’t changed much in all that time. “The only way to get back in there is by boat,” he says.

“Will I make it back to camp?”

Nature’s flora, fauna, clean water, fresh air…who could ask for more?

Sea Eagle calls its FastTrack kayak a “performance kayak,” and Brad agrees, citing a recent Sea Eagle boating experience. “I was out on a remote lake and the wind started blowing 15 or 20 miles an hour in my face. The waves were crashing and I wondered if I’d ever get back to camp. But the FastTrack cut right through it like it was calm. It was incredible. It didn’t even bother my dog, Laura. She can get nervous in waves but she just sat there.”

The FastTrack is Brad’s second Sea Eagle. Fascinated by the Missouri River and Lewis and Clark’s explorations, Brad and a friend traveled and photographed 750 miles of the Missouri a few years ago in a Sea Eagle SE9. “The SE9 was great on a big river,” says Brad. “But I talked to the folks at Sea Eagle and we agreed that for backwoods exploring, the FastTrack is more nimble.”

“There are places in The Boundary Waters where I’d have to drag the FastTrack over rocks, snags, and even beaver dams,” says Brad. He dragged it, carried it on his shoulders, then discovered the FastTrack can be deflated, rolled up, and worn like a backpack. “I was very glad about that,” he says.

Much more wilderness to explore

What’s next for Brad? He and his Sea Eagle FastTrack will take a trip down the St. Croix National Scenic Riverway —  225 miles of pristine waterway coursing through a lush landscape down the Wisconsin-Minnesota border.

We look forward to seeing more of Brad Beaver’s outstanding nature photographs from his trip down the St. Croix and many more of America’s great rivers!

“You don’t have to be a little old lady sitting on the shore doing needlepoint!” That’s what Sea Eagle boater, Maggie Dickeson, says. Maggie knows of what she speaks: she’s an active hiker and boater in the East Kootenays, British Columbia, Canada. Maggie’s 78 years young.

An active lifestyle

The East Kootenays (pronounced KOOT-nees), in Canada, north of the U.S. Idaho – Montana border, are remote. A recent census pegged population at about 56,000 inhabitants in a region of about 27,600 square miles. That’s about two people per square mile.

And as you’d expect, those are some hardy folk. “The people who come here are outdoor types,” says Maggie. “It’s just part of the lifestyle up here.” And “up here” is really “out there.”  The nearest city is Calgary, Alberta, Canada. “It’s about 250 miles away,” says Maggie.

“Around here, everybody’s active,” she tells us. “This is outdoor country and the scenery is just fantastic. All my friends are outdoor people.” Nearby Mount Fisher tops out at about 10,000 feet. “We’ve all been up it,” Maggie says. “One friend of mine climbed it on his ninetieth birthday.”

Columbia River headwaters

And between the mountains are plenty of lakes and rivers, making the East Kootenays a boating paradise for outdoors people. “We’re a short distance from the headwaters of the Columbia River,” Maggie told us. “I’ve boated on it; it’s a large, calm lake.”

She’s always loved water

Against this backdrop of rugged outdoor adventure, Maggie doesn’t see herself as much of an adventurer. “When I look at Sea Eagle’s blog,” says Maggie in a charming Scottish accent, “there are so many people doing fantastic things, I don’t know why you’d want to post my story.” We politely disagree. Most of the 78-year olds we know are perfecting their needlepoint or puttering in the garden. But not Maggie and friends.

Growing up in Scotland, there was lots of sea around. “I always liked boating, swimming, and getting out on the water,” says Maggie. Her husband, Paul, built a canoe a few years ago. But when he tore a rotator cuff while skiing, “I was left high and dry,” says Maggie. That’s when friends recommended she get a Sea Eagle inflatable kayak.

“Never leave home without your Sea Eagle!”

“I love it,” she says, and has even christened her Sea Eagle “Erne,” the zoological name for the Sea Eagle — a bird of prey of the genus Haliaeetus.

“You can take the Sea Eagle anywhere.” And she does; she deflates it and throws it in her van. Maggie tried a plastic kayak first but, “It didn’t have stability,” she says. “You’d put your paddle in and it’d spin 360 degrees.”

We hope we’re as active, happy, and healthy at 78 as Canadian kayaker Maggie is!

“I like the Sea Eagle because you don’t have to sit in a little hole,” as you do in a hard-hulled kayak, says Maggie. And you don’t have to do an Eskimo roll. “Eskimo roll? Not interested, thank you. I stay afloat, I’m surprised at how floatable it is,” she says. “You sit high on the water. A kayak sits low in the water and I thought the Sea Eagle wouldn’t be stable, but it’s very stable.”

Maggie told us, “You may tell your public I’m 78 and I just love my Sea Eagle inflatable kayak. Never leave home without it!”

Jacques Saunier kayaks the great rivers of France in his Sea Eagle Explorer Kayak

If you’re a kayaker seeking travel, adventure, and a full dose of beautiful, bucolic scenery, go kayaking on the great rivers of France. There are plenty to choose from including the Loire River, the Garrone, Rhone, Dordogne, and more.

Kayaking and wilderness camping in France

We talked recently with a Frenchman who does in France what kayakers do on rivers all around the globe: pack their kayaks, point them downriver, and head out for a day – or many days – of boating, exploring, enjoyment, relaxation, and camping in beautiful natural settings.

Wilderness camping in the French countryside.

French kayaker, Jacques Saunier, caught the kayaking bug about fifteen years ago and has explored thousands of miles of rivers through France’s beautiful countryside ever since in a variety of hard-hull and inflatable kayaks.

Over time, as he gained kayaking experience, he came to the conclusion that he’d get maximum utility from a kayak that could handle everything from Class 1 to Class 4 rapids. His further requirements were that it be able to withstand close encounters with river rocks; that it be relatively fast in flat water; and that it be capable of handling 400 lbs. — Jacques and his gear.

Kayaks online

“While searching for kayaks online, I discovered Sea Eagle’s Explorer Kayaks,” says Jacques. “I say with confidence that the Sea Eagle fits my boating style perfectly.” What’s his style? Jacques kayaks France’s rivers and camps in the open countryside.

“With my 420X Explorer Kayak, I’ve traveled 500 miles in several trips on the Loire River; over 200 miles of the Dordogne twice; more than 93 miles of the Vezere River, and more.”

France’s great rivers

The Loire River, at 629 miles, is the longest in France. Along the Loire, boaters pass many vineyards and picturesque Renaissance chateaux. The weather in the Loire Valley is considered to be some of the finest weather in France.

The love of adventure kayaking is a universal language anywhere in the world.

The Dordogne River, in southwestern France, passes through an upper valley with a series of deep river gorges. Its lower region winds through a valley of fertile farmland, orchards, and pastures.

The Vezere River courses 131 miles through southwestern France. The Vezere Valley is well known as the site of prehistoric caves, many of which have cave paintings.

More photos of Jacques’ French kayaking adventure online

For many more photos of of Jacques’ kayaking adventures on some of the great rivers of France, visit his online posts on “Carnets d’Aventures,” a French adventurers’ forum. His online name is jak91. Click here to see photos of his trip down the Dordogne. Click here to see photos combining Jacques’ photos from his Loire and Dordogne trips.

Check your kayak as airline luggage

Flying to your next kayaking adventure? That’s where an inflatable kayak really has an obvious advantage over the hard-hull variety: IKs (inflatable kayaks) deflate and pack small enough to be checked as airline luggage. Inflatable kayaks like Jacques’s 14-foot Sea Eagle 420X Explorer Kayak weighs just 54 lbs. and pack in a carry-bag that’s 31” x 21” x 10”.

Jacques takes a break from kayaking and wilderness camping over lunch at a French cafe.

Our world’s a global community these days and kayaking adventure is a universal language. No matter which of the world’s great rivers you travel, you’re sure to meet other kayakers like Jacques and have adventures you’ll long remember.

“This photo was taken on a lake in the Adirondack Mountains. As I was loading my boat with provisions for a week-long stay park rangers, fellow campers and lots of kayakers stopped by to admire it. Everyone was impressed with its durable construction and ample floor space. They all were completely amazed when I told them that inflation time is less than 10 minutes and when I am back home the boat is stored in bag no larger than laundry bag and the rest of hardware slips under my bed. I think I may have made a sale or two for you guys.” — Joe

Do you live in an urban environment and long to go boating? You can head out of town…but you’ll find many local, urban boating opportunities if you look around a bit.

Wilderness a few hours north of  NYC

Head due north out of New York City and in just a few hours you’ve traded The Big Apple’s sizzling hot concrete canyons (and eight million New Yorkers) for the cool, green, silent splendor of deep wilderness punctuated with countless brooks, streams, rivers, and over 3,000 clear mountain lakes.

Sunset on Forked Lake

That’s what New Yorker, Joe Guimento, does. Joe works at a community garden in The Bronx but takes time out in the summer for a week of boating, camping, and relaxing in New York State’s Adirondack Park.

The Adirondack Region is the biggest natural wilderness area east of the Mississippi. With over six million acres, it’s larger than the entire state of Vermont, its neighbor to the east. And it’s a boater’s paradise.

Primitive camping accessible only by boat

The Adirondacks Region has many conventional campgrounds for tents and RV’s. But Joe favors primitive camping in state-sanctioned sites with no stores, services, electricity, or much of anything besides the natural setting. His camping and boating area-of-choice is Forked Lake just southwest of Long Lake.

Joe Guimento (back) and Mike Pagan on their way to a wilderness campsite accessible only by boat.

“I camp at primitive campsites that are accessible only by boat,” says Joe. That means he has to bring in everything he’ll need during his stay. “I just check in, pile all the supplies in the Sea Eagle SE9, boat to the site, and set up camp,” says Joe.

A boat on the subway

It’s a long stretch between Adirondack boating vacations but Joe and his partner, Mike Pagan, have found a way to get back to nature by boating right in their own urban neighborhood.

Joe says, “We go boating on Long Island Sound where there are a bunch of uninhabited islands.” They boat down from Yonkers, explore a bit, land, pack up the boat, and take the subway home. “The Sea Eagle deflates and packs in a small bag,” says Joe, “so it’s easy to carry it on the subway.”

On other local outings, Joe and Mike boat across the Hudson River to explore the Palisades in New Jersey. “It’s crowded in New York, even the beaches,” says Joe. “It’s great to go boating and get away from it all. It’s very relaxing.”

Kayak on the shelf, outboard in the kitchen

How do you store a full-size boat in a one-bedroom NYC apartment? Joe stores two in his — a 22-lb. Sea Eagle 330 sport kayak, and a larger Sea Eagle SE9 motor mount boat. They deflate and pack in small bags. “I have a shelf above the doorway where I store the boats,” says Joe.

He has a small outboard motor for the SE9 and keeps it in a corner of the kitchen — after draining the gasoline, of course.

So next time you’re in The Big Apple, keep an eye open for Joe. He’s the guy on the subway with a boat in a bag.

Russ and Margie Hanson explore one of Lake Powell’s many side canyons in their Sea Eagle 330 inflatable kayak.

What do you get when you take a houseboat, a speedboat, a Sea Eagle 330 kayak, eight family members and friends, and plunk them in the middle of Lake Powell? You get the family vacation of a lifetime.

That’s what the Hanson family had recently. Russ and Margie Hanson, of Phoenix, hosted their family on a scenic, adventurous, and unusual family boating vacation.

1 houseboat, 1 speedboat, and 1 Sea Eagle inflatable kayak

The Hansons, their twenty-something kids (plus their kids’ friends), and Russ’s sister and her husband spent an entire week boating and exploring the southern half of Lake Powell from Glen Canyon Dam at Page, Arizona to Rainbow Bridge National Monument in Utah.

“We rented a houseboat to live in, and a speedboat to get around in, at a marina on Lake Powell,” said Russ. “And we bought a Sea Eagle 330 kayak to explore some of the lake’s side canyons.”

Canyon kayaking is otherworldly

The Hansons kayaked deep into still, silent, surreal slot canyons.

“We’d paddle our way into the canyons as far as we could go,” said Russ, “until they were as narrow as our kayak.” Sometimes they had to back their way out stern first.

“Kayaking in a slot canyon is a surreal experience,” said Russ. “The canyon walls can be two or three hundred feet high and you can’t see the sky in some places because the rocks overhang.” The canyons are totally silent with just the echo of your voices and rippling water. “Our Sea Eagle kayak got us into places other people just can’t go,” Russ says. “It was an otherworldly experience.”

Back to boating

Russ is not new to boating. “I grew up in Montana,” he says. “My dad and I did a lot of canoeing and fishing when I was a kid. I enjoyed that a lot and wanted to get back to it.”

But the Hanson boating expedition was their first family boating adventure. “Our family is very close,” says Russ, “but we’re scattered all over the country so we look for opportunities to get together.” And now that their kids are grown, the Hansons feel it’s even more important to create family experiences.

Members of the Hanson party went ashore long enough to visit Rainbow Bridge National Monument.

Easy portability

Russ says he wanted an inflatable kayak because they’re easy to transport. “Everything fits in the Sea Eagle bag. I can throw it in the back of my GMC Yukon and go.”

He sought an inflatable kayak under $400 because he wasn’t sure how frequently he’d be able to use it. “The Sea Eagle came out tops for quality and value,” he says.

And it looks like he’s getting his money’s worth: Russ and family have their next adventure in the planning stages already.  They’re checking out the lower Colorado River, downstream from Hoover Dam. The river’s calm there with many scenic areas, caves, and hot springs to explore. “Companies do kayak tours there,” says Russ. “We think we’ll just take our own kayaks and go.” See you on the river!

Benny Briggs’ boating adventures began with a commercial rafting trip in the Grand Canyon and have turned into annual kayaking expeditions.

Benny, from Lubbock, Texas, hadn’t boated before but in 2001 he and his sons took “the boating trip everybody should do sometime,” a commercial raft trip down the mighty Colorado River through the Grand Canyon.

They didn’t have to ask him twice

On that trip, Benny got to know a group of guys from Arizona who go on private group kayaking trips in their own kayaks. They invited him to come along and they didn’t have to ask him twice.

“Every year, we go on a kayaking trip somewhere,” says Benny. “We’ve kayaked down the Rio Grande, the Green River in Utah, the Gunnison, and more.” Next up for Benny and friends — a trip kayaking trip down the Colorado near Moab, Utah.

Camping under the stars

Benny and friends aren’t high-adrenaline kayakers. They’re out to have a good time with friends in America’s beautiful outdoors. “In 2008, we went down 105 miles of the Rio Grande in about a week,” says Benny. “We’d put in and kayaked for four or five hours and then make camp for the night.”

Camp means camaraderie with tenting, bonfires, cooking, and story telling under the stars. “I like to get with my friends,” says Benny. “We sit and talk, tell jokes, and have a great time.”

Benny worked for Exxon Mobil but is retired now. “Kayak trips are a lot of fun,” he says. “They’re manageable for people of all ages including retired folks like me.”

Benny kayaks through Tight Squeeze, a narrow opening between boulders in Mariscal Canyon, Rio Grande River, Big Bend National Park

Rising river and a quick exit

Of course, no kayak adventure comes without the unexpected. Benny and friends were camped in a side canyon alongside the San Juan River on one of their trips. On the last day, the river began to rise. “We packed up fast and got in our kayaks,” says Benny. “The current was running so fast we made it to the takeout point in about two hours — a trip that normally takes all day.”

How does a first-time kayaker get himself into a Sea Eagle Explorer Kayak? “I saw it on the internet,” says Benny. “I bought it for my first trip and I wasn’t sure I’d like kayaking so I didn’t want to spend $2,000 like my friends did.”

Try it – you’ll like it

So if you’re out on a river somewhere in the Southwest and see a group of five or six kayaks slide by, it just might be Benny and friends. His advice? “Go kayaking. You’ll enjoy it!”

A friend of the Zuchs, Kamini Fonseca (pictured), says, “I love hanging out with Susy and Fritz. We pack up and go almost anywhere there is water to float on!”

Fritz and Susy Zuch enjoy what many kayakers would call the perfect lifestyle.

The Zuchs live next to the Methow (MET-how) river in Washington State; one of America’s premier kayaking rivers. They own four Sea Eagle 330 inflatable kayaks. They also own their own business so, as Fritz says, “When the river’s perfect and the weather’s fine, we go kayaking.”

Their four-kayak flotilla

You’ll often find Fritz and Susy running the Class II – III sections of the Methow, each in their own Sea Eagle 330 inflatable kayak. Their favorite 18-mile run takes them four or five hours.

The Zuch’s daughter carries on the family tradition.

Or you may see their mini-flotilla shoot by — Fritz, Susy, their kids, or friends — each in their own Sea Eagle. “We look like a whitewater kayaking company with our four matching 330’s,” says Fritz.

Class I – III rapids

The Methow, named after the Methow Indian Tribe, flows southeast from its headwaters in the northern Cascade Range. It twists and turns through the mountains and valleys of Washington State and empties into the mighty Columbia River. Fritz gives a local kayaker’s perspective. “The Methow starts as a Class I – II river then changes to a Class II – III. At Black Canyon, it becomes a Class III – IV river. That’s where the whitewater companies run their businesses. As you go east, the river gets wilder and wilder as it’s squeezed into a series of steep canyons. When it hits the Columbia, it widens and slows.”

Kayak Season

The river’s flow varies through the season, says Fritz, because, “The Methow is fed largely by glacial and snowpack melt.” The Methow’s popular “Kayak Season” — five to seven weeks when the river runs fast — from about mid-to-late June to early-to-late July. But you’ll see dedicated kayakers on the Methow from May through August.

The river’s flow is measured in CFS, or cubic feet per second. 10,000 CFS is ideal in the Methow. “Above that, the water’s so stirred up you can’t see obstacles easily,” Fritz reports. “And below 1,000 CFS, you’re scraping bottom.” “There are several websites that continually report the CFS,” says Fritz. “We use the U.S. Geological Survey’s site, http://www.usgs.gov/.”

What’s the Zuch’s attraction to boating? “For us,” says Fritz, “it’s the beauty of the river and surroundings. There’s something soothing about being on the river. Throw in some rapids, and you’ve got an adrenaline rush, too.”

“Dude, that’s awesome!”

A sandy beach on the Methow…but the D.O.T. chute lay ahead.

Fritz and Susy pumped a bit more adrenaline than they bargained for recently. They put in at a beautiful, sandy beach in a lazy section of the river they hadn’t run before. Launching after a relaxing picnic, they soon heard rapids ahead.

The Department of Transportation (D.O.T.) had placed abutments on both sides of the river, narrowing it significantly and creating a chute. “There was no turning back,” says Fritz. “Susy lined up perfectly and I followed” through the chute. “We popped through the chute,” says Fritz. “We found a place to pull out and decided we wanted to go back and do it again!”

The Zuchs later learned from local 20-something adventure kayakers that the areas’s called the D.O.T. Chute. “You went down the D.O.T. Chute in an IK (inflatable kayak)? Dude, that’s awesome!”

Kayak Season has passed for now but the Zuchs aren’t done boating by a long shot. Besides their four 330’s, they also own a larger Sea Eagle SE9 they use for fishing, and have their eye on a Sea Eagle Sport Runabout.

Nearby alpine and sub-alpine lakes await them. “And there’s absolutely great Salmon and Steelhead fishing in the Columbia,” Fritz tells us. And after all — when you live on the Methow River, Kayak Season’s never that far away.