Alder Creek Kayak & Canoe Blog

It’s time for our 20th Annual Free Spring Paddle Fest at Vancouver Lake!

Dates: April 28th-29th, 2012
Time: 9AM-4PM both days
Type: Festival and Demo Days
Location: Vancouver Lake
Contact: Staff: 503-285-0464, info@aldercreek.com

April 28 & 29, 2012

FREE – TWO DAYS of clinics, boat demos, and paddle sports fun!

Try before you buy! This is the best opportunity in the Pacific Northwest to test paddle new kayaks and canoes. Join our manufacturer’s representatives and coaches for two days of test paddling, skills development and clinics, all for free. ($3 parking fee)

Directions to Vancouver Lake:Take I-5 to Vancouver, exit on either Mill Plain or 4th Plain and go west. Mill Plain and 4th Plain merge into Lower River Road, Follow signs to Vancouver Lake.

SATURDAY April 28 9 am to 4 pm
-First strokes:1 hour Intro to kayak & canoe.9 am to 3 pm
-Which Boat is Right for Me? : 20 minute clinics offered all day.
10:00am
-What Floats Your Boat?
11:00am
-Local Paddling Destinations
-Kayak Fishing 101 w/Drew Gregory – Jackson Kayaks
-Stand Up Paddling w/Rob Casey
-Choosing the Perfect Paddle w/Rob Yager
11:30am
-Paddling with Kids
-Inflatable Kayaks: Designs, Benefits & Options
-Car Topping your Kayak, Canoe & SUP w/ Thule Racks
12:00pm
-Packing a Kayak for Multi-Day Trips
-Rescue & Re-entries Demonstrations
1:00pm
-Dream Trips of the Northwest w/Neil Schulman
-Forward Stroke Clinic
-Fishing on Rivers w/Drew Gregory – Jackson Kayaks
1:30pm
-Car Topping your Kayak, Canoe & SUP
-Stand Up Paddling
2:00pm
-Dressing for Conditions W/Karl Kohagen – Kokatat
-Towing Scenarios
2:30pm
-Boat Repair in the Field
3:00
-Choosing the Perfect Paddle w/Rob Yager – Werner Paddles
-Kayak Fishing 101
-Saltwater Fishing for Sea Kayakers w/Jason Self
-Kayak, SUP & Canoe Demos—All Day!

100+ boats on the beach ready to try!

SUNDAY April 29 9 am to 4 pm

-First Strokes: 1 hour Intro to kayak & canoe. Offered all day.
-Which Boat is Right for Me? : 20 minute clinics offered all day.
9:30am
-Edging and bracing
-Kayak Fishing 101 w/Drew Gregory – Jackson Kayaks
-10 Essentials of safety & repair
11:00 am
-Basic Canoeing
-Assisted and solo rescue and recoveries
-Stand Up Paddling
-Paddling For Women
-Dream Trips of the Pacific Northwest w/ Neil Schulman
-12:00 pm
-Dressing For Conditions w/ Karl Kohagen – Kokatat
-1:00pm
-Paddling for Women
-Towing Scenarios
-Trip Leadership Fundamentals (2 hour course)
-Local Paddling trips w/ Neil Schulman
2:30 pm
-Saltwater Fishing for Sea Kayakers w/ Jason Self
-Kayak Fishing 101
-Stand Up Paddling w/ Naish
-Packing a kayak for a multiday tour
-Paddle Tour of Vancouver Lake
3:15 pm
-Paddling in weather: Skegs, rudders, trim

Kayak, SUP & Canoe Demos
100+ boats on the beach ready to try!

All Events are FREE and open to the public!

Staffing at Alder Creek Kayak & Canoe
200 NE Tomahawk Island Drive
Portland, OR 97217
503-285-0464 Jantzen Beach Store

This was my fourth year making the trek south to compete and surf the best break on the west coast. Regardless of how I do each year, it’s worth the 12 hour drive to get to surf this break with only 3 other paddlers at a time. On a normal sunny day there can be up to 200 hundred people in the water, stretching over 4 main breaks from Cowell’s beach to the main attraction: Steamer Lane. But when the competition begins, everyone clears out and the 4-man, 20-minute heats begin. I was a little nervous this year because I hadn’t surfed since the World Championships back in October. On top of that I didn’t even have a boat since mine had been stolen back in July. So I called Santa Cruz local Dave “The Wave” Johnston to see if he had a boat I could use. Not only did he have a boat, but he had a pile to choose from. We narrowed it down to two boats: the Murky Waters Twist and the Mega Neutron.

I was very excited to get back out, but I was a little shaky because Dave had installed a double belt system with no quick-release. That could make a wet exit very interesting. On top of that, we went to Davenport Landing which is a sketchy break. Davenport is a little scary because the main break is far from shore and you surf directly at a cliff. I tried the Twist first. After the first few drops and a couple of rides, I was feeling better. Still, this boat had a very low knee position, and I wasn’t feeling 100%. The next day, I took the Neutron out to Steamer Lane. It was a little stormy so there were only a few surfers in the water. I got in to position and waited for some waves to roll through. Again, I caught a few rides and was feeling good. Then a great set rolled through; bottom turn, lip smack, round house, radical top turn and a little hip flick off the back of the wave: I was back to 100%. But as I came off the wave, the boat filled up with water because neither of my skirts fit the combing on the Neutron very well. Not wanting my surf craft to fill with water in the middle of a heat, I sided with the Twist. I took it out for an evening session, shredded with it and I was ready!

Competition started on Friday, with my heat being the last one of the day, at 4:40. I had some steep competition with Stefano Bellotti from Italy, Ivan Pena Martinez from Spain, and Steve McConell. Stefano and I had become friends at last year’s competition, and I surfed with him again at the World Championships. He is a great surfer so I knew I had to bring my “A” game. I had met Ivan the day earlier, and he had been surfing in Australia before going to Hawaii to surf Pipeline, a world renowned break. I was going to need my “A+” game to have any chance of competing with these two. The day was quite stormy and reminiscent of last year’s comp: wind waves were coming from the south, messing up the NW swell. Those conditions either turned waves into crushing monsters or turned into nothing. Despite these conditions I was still able to get some good rides. I saw Stefano styling it up as well so I knew it was going to be close. I watched as Ivan took off on a wave but did not see him again until the end of the heat. It turned out that his skirt had imploded, and the jet ski safety swung in to help him empty his boat, getting him back to the point just as the heat ended. It was a valiant effort not to throw in the towel on that one. Stefano edged me out of 1st by only 2 points, but I was happy with a second place and some quality surfing in garbage conditions.

On Saturday, my heat was mid-day, and I was up against some very good surfers: Californian and fellow US Team member Mathew Hoff, Marc Woolward (UK), and Nigel Bland (Aus). The wind had subsided overnight and the swell had grown, so I was excited to see clean, glassy waves around 8-ft. My strategy for this heat was to wait on the outside of the break and wait for the big sets to roll through. As I waited for my heat to begin, I was watching where the medium waves were breaking and where the big ones went. I picked my spot and waited. In years past I had tried to chase them down without much luck. My patience paid off for my first wave!

Waiting for this one could have been my down fall, but it was an amazing ride and probably the highest scoring wave I have ever had. Unfortunately, I had surfed out of the competition zone, and I couldn’t get off the wave as it just kept going. Any other day I would have been delighted to ride this one all the way in, but if the judges can’t see you, you’re not scoring any points! After a long paddle back out, a medium wave came rolling through and I picked up a good ride, but by the time I got back to my spot, I knew I had less than 2 minutes left to catch my third wave. I started to move in to try and pick something off, and that was where I made my mistake. As soon as I moved in, the biggest wave of the heat came through, and I was in the impact zone. I paddled south, scrambling to get out of the way, as I watched the wave swallow up Marc. I still got hit but managed to avoid getting trashed. Unfortunately there weren’t any waves behind it, and the bell sounded, signaling the end of the heat. I was upset that I didn’t get my third wave, knowing that without it I hadn’t scored enough points to make it to the semi-finals. On the other hand, I was pumped to be able to hold my own against such skilled surfers, and I was very pleased with my performance.

Beyond the surfing, this is a great community, and the Santa Cruz Paddle Fest is more like an international event than a local surf comp. Every year I make new friends from all over the world and can’t wait to surf with them the next year. Like I say, no matter where you finish in the standings, the experience is worth every second!

Photos and Content by Chris Bensch; edited by Andrew Romanelli

 

Perhaps you were out paddling on a river, nailed a sharp rock and put a crack in your boat.  What now?  Bitumen tape or Gorilla tape is probably the fix to finish your run, but is there a better long-term solution?  Perhaps!

 

The topic of our last Winter Clinic was plastic welding.  We learned that it’s not really rocket science!  There are some guidelines to keep in mind when determining whether a repair is appropriate, and some tricks that might make your repair a longer-term solution.

 

The first consideration is the plastic from which your boat was constructed.  Crosslink plastic, as used on many Jackson kayaks and older boats cannot be welded.  To be appropriate for welding, your boat needs to be constructed from linear plastic, as are most modern roto-molded polyethylene kayaks.

 

The second consideration is the extent and location of the crack.  Welding cracks in areas of substantial wear or stress will probably not be a viable long-term solution.  A weld might make the boat functional for friends to use on those easier runs or for use in the pool, but not for that class 4 or 5 waterfall run.  The ideal crack to weld is a small crack in a low-stress, low-wear area.  We can all dream, right?

 

What do you need to weld a linear plastic boat?  Not much!  Solutions for welding guns can be a hot air tool like the $250.00 Weldy Plus that we use at Alder Creek, or as simple as a Wagner Hot Air gun for $29.99.  What advantage do you get with a gun like the Weldy?  The ability to carefully control the heat vs. the high/low setting on an inexpensive gun.  Whichever solution you choose, an attachment like a wide slot or condenser nozzle will give you more control and precision.

You can purchase generic rods of HDPE, (high density polyethylene), but a better solution is to see if your kayak’s manufacturer can provide rods or to cut your own from a boat from the same manufacturer.  Often times enough material can be cut from the inside of the cockpit coaming to get a rod or two.  This also provides the advantage of a good color match.

 

Other tools to consider are a good scraper to clean up and bevel both edges of the crack, and scrape some of the excess plastic after welding, and a roller, or type of tool to put pressure on the fresh weld as it cools.  Some people also choose to drill a hole at either end of the crack prior to welding.  The logic behind this is that it may keep the crack from continuing to travel.

 

As far as the actual process of the weld, a picture, or in this case, a video is worth a thousand words.  Liquid Logic has an outstanding video on the actual process, which can be seen at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5bos4lfOA3k

Boat Welding

Hopefully this is one of those skills you never find a need to use!  If you do crack a boat and don’t want to try repairing it yourself, bring it down to Alder Creek and we can help you determine the suitability of welding and even repair it for you.

***Get It Together***

FIRST things first: LIST all of your materials.

Start with a game plan! Embrace your inner artist and draw the boat with the outfitting you want. This will become both your shopping- and check-list. Do you have all of the D-rings, daisy chains, flotation, drybags, shock cord, static line, clips and hardware you need? DON’T FORGET to include things like adhesive, sandpaper, cleaning solvent and protective wear.

COLLECT all of you materials.

I’m sure you have good lighting and great tunes, but go through your list. Is it all there?

***Don’t Eat The Paste***

TIME FOR YOUR APPROPRIATE WORK SPACE AND SAFETY GEAR. Your work space should have ample ventilation and light. Be aware of the temperature as it will affect drying times. Safety gear may consist of gloves, glasses and a mask. 

PLACE and TRACE your odds and ends.

Use pencil! Because it is easy to erase. If everything is correctly marked, right where you want it, you can embolden your pencil lines with a marker and start prepping the surfaces.

PREP the surfaces.

Use your coarse-grit sandpaper and scuff up the vinyl backs of your daisychains and D-rings AS WELL AS the destination surfaces in the boat. This greatly increases your working surface area, and it will make for much stronger bonds. Use a rag with a cleaning solvent (we used methyl ethyl ketone, aka MEK) to wipe all of your sanded surfaces, boat and bits.

 

STICK to it!

Get your glue and something to spread it with. Foam brushes work well for application. For gluing VINYL-on-vinyl (D-rings and daisy chains to Royalex), use something like Vinabond. For gluing FOAM-on-vinyl (knee pads and thigh blocks), use a contact cement like Mondo Bond. IMPORTANT: TAKE CAREFULL NOTE HERE: You will apply two coats of adhesive to each surface. The first, thin coat, on each surface, MUST DRY COMPLETELY. Allow your second coats to get tacky, and then join the two surfaces. Carefully lay large pieces, slowly and evenly, minimizing and working out any air pockets.

Rock and ROLL.

Use your fingers to “stretch” vinyl pads into the perfect place. Then, using an even can or rubber roller, roll over the whole patch. Get the perimeter as well as the center of the patch. You don’t want edges peeling up.

 

***Cage Match***

MARK.

Decide how far apart you’d like your lines. Remember, the cages are there to hold your flotation in! 3-4″ between each lacing works nicely. Mark where you want to lace the cages, just below and along the gunwale, stopping inline with your daisy chain. It is good to leave a little room between your hole and the gunwales. 0.25-0.5″ should be ample. Double check that your marks line up with each other!

DRILL.

Put some holes in that boat!

TIE.

Lace your cage! Start with an excess of rope. You can always trim it at the end. Tie a nice stopper knot, like a double overhand, and put some tension in your line.

***Put A Bow On It***

Clean up your boat, and get it out there! If you have errant permanent marker lines in your boat, wipe remaining lines with some MEK on a rag.

There are all sorts of things we can do to customize our boats for performance, comfort or looks. On this boat, we also replaced a rotten yoke, added painter lines, drilled drain holes in the deck plates and rigged a custom dry-/floatbag setup for the center. Other bells and whistles you may be interested in are skidplates and footpegs.

See our finished product:

As the river continues to eat away at the river bed more interesting things are happening. Pacific Corp is going to have to pull these old pilings out pretty quick. My guess is they were from an old bridge before the dam was built.

I got this email today:

Please be advised that White Salmon River conditions near the Northwestern Lake Bridge and Northwestern Lake Park are changing almost every day. The river has cut it’s bed down approximately 12 feet and this cut continues to move upstream. It has also revealed previously unknown hazards within the river course (see attached picture). The river bank at this location is very steep and not conducive to raft take out. PacifiCorp and JR Merit are monitoring the site and once it looks like the course has stabilized we can assess adjusting the slopes for boater take out. Until then and per PacifiCorp’s Recreation Management Plan that states “River conditions and the former reservoir will be monitored after the dam breach and, if conditions develop that pose a threat to public safety, the boater take-out at the park will be temporarily closed until conditions are deemed safe by JR Merit and PacifiCorp Energy. Notification of closures will be made to the U.S. Forest Service.” PacifiCorp will temporarily close the ramp until further notice. We have notified by phone message Sue Baker of the U.S. Forest Service.

Thanks, Todd

Todd Olson
Director, Compliance
PacifiCorp

Today we got a tour of the dam and the opportunity to see the project from another perspective. The river continues to eat away at the debris deposited in the lake bed. Things that most impress me are that the river looking downstream at mid lake has dropped the river about 30 feet in 17 days, the water level is down a good 10 feet into gravel/rock deposits at NW lake park and that when the coffer dam comes out there will be even more lowering of the river level/channel in the lower river. There is an incredible amount of debris in the lower river at the mouth that has not washed into the Columbia, the Steelhead fishery at the mouth of the White Salmon is currently a mud bath about 3″ deep. No migrating fish will be stopping here to enjoy the cool fresh water anytime soon.

FREE clinic…
Drysuit Care & Repair by Karl Kohagen from Kokatat
Monday 7-8pm @ Alder Creek’s Boathouse
1515 SE Water St

Aside from your boat, your drysuit is likely the most expensive piece of gear you will own. This time of year, it’s just as essential as your paddle or pfd. Be good to your suit…it could save your life.

Karl Kohagen with Kokatat will be our special gue st presenter. Feel free to bring in your old suit for a little TLC straight from the expert.
Want More Information? Click Here!

No Sign-Ups Required!
Cost: Free
Clinic is Located @ Alder Creek’s Boathouse Location
1515 SE Water St.
Portland, OR 97214
503-285-1819

Here are a few more photos from the same places I took them on Wednesday. A large amout of sediment has moved below the dam and old trees and some basalt bedrock is starting to show in the muddy water.

Here is a sequence of photos from just upstream of the dam shot at 2 pm, 2 hours after the breach. The smell was very earthy, the scouring quite significant and the amount of scouring left for the river to do quite significant.

Today is an interesting day in the history of free running rivers. The White Salmon river is now back in the club. After 20 years of negotiations Pacific Corp decided it was time to let the salmon and steelhead swim upstream and the kayakers and rafters float downstream. There was a big party to celebrate the day. The process employeed is called “Blow and Go”. They blow a hole in the bottom of the dam and hope all the upstream sediment washes away quickly with the big rush of water.

This is a link to Pacific Corps website:

Here is a time lapse off KGW

Lumpy is finally here! We are going to have an epic weekend of paddling, parties and great people.

www.lumpywater.com

October 14, 15 & 16, 2011 Pacific City Oregon

Sponsored By:
Alder Creek Kayak & Canoe