Any wwkayakers here?

Another past kayaker here, whitewater, sea [HTML_REMOVED] surf. Moved from UK 8 years ago and managed a few years of kayaking before my first kid arrived and I sold the creekboat. That was after 20years of kayaking, my first kayak was a Dancer! :) The faff:fun ratio is just too big when you only get a few hours a week to go out and play, biking is a much better ratio!

I agree that you never stop looking wistfully at a river and plotting a line down it. I biked up alongside the Cheakamus last September, which brought back fun memories of running it several times in 2009, getting practice for a trip to Costa Rica. Hope to get the kids into sea kayaks when they're older and do some multi-day trips, I did Desolation Sound in 2008 [HTML_REMOVED] 09 which was fantastic.

Wistful longing of rivers. I've got that. I live by the Lynn creek my fav run.
My first ww boat was also dancer the hot boat at the time. I ride from my doorstep. Very low faff factor.
I still have 4 kayaks lol.
Dragged my squirt boat"enigma" out for a trip to Tofino was so awesome. Especially the hot tub afterwards for my 48-year-old body. As was very sore afterwards.

that squirt boat is totally rad. i was explaining squirt boating to someone recently and they were dumbstruck that this is an actual subset sport of river paddling. no shit. i was a moderate river yaker at one point, started as a general canoeist and then river canoeist. then more heavily into sea kayaking then very deeply into sea kayaking. i got tired of the bs in that community at the high levels and now paddle much less than anything. mtn biking dominates. something about the faff to fun ratio as mentioned. still love paddling, just don't prioritize it. bought a cool small river canoe couple yrs ago that solo's or tandems well. maybe i'll do more living in Kamloops who knows…

@jbv squirt boating was bigger in Ontario where I took it up .
This one is plastic and is like a beginner boat. I had a projet Kevlar boat that was the real deal . So much fun on flat water and eddy lines. The enigma was a great bigger water squirt boat. I took it down , the gull river, Ottawa river, the Elora gorge the Thompson , capilano, Wenatchee ..and of course Tofino and the Lake Huron on high wind /surf days, it really excels at big wave surfing..
I also grew up canoeing since I was 8. I went on to get all the Crca levels up to tripper . I love canoeing still and have my black solo paddle still from when I was 17. I worked at a summer camp , teaching and tripping went on to do some solo trips in muskoka area later on.
That said I love two wheels on dirt in the woods :)

I learned on the chilliwack from Rick Hayes who was huge into squirt boats back in the day. I remember trying to squirm into the awesome sparkle-glitter glass boat he always had leaned up against the wall - awful easy to picture getting shrink-wrapped around a rock in tamahi with no option to get out, so while it looked cool I was never tempted to try one. First boat I ever paddled on a river was a Dagger Transition. I never had as many swims as that first day. Feb '97 IIRC, which made for a damn cold intro to the sport. That truly was a shit boat, though. I jumped back in it a year or two later when I could actually paddle and it was still terrifyingly unstable.

First boat I really loved was the supersport, had some awesome days surfing at long beach. Still have pictures on my wall running Englishman to rinse the salt off on the way back to the mainland :)

Too many sports, too little time, gotta cherry pick the ones that either can include the kids, don't take too much time away from the kids, or can be done by headlight when the kids are sleeping. That mostly crossed boating and paragliding off my list years ago. Climbing, biking, dirtbiking, snowboarding are the preferred sports for the time being.

My first dagger boat was also a transition, a terrible boat indeed. I got an rpm later it was an epically great boat. I used to squirt boat tamahi a lot but I was super careful I planned my route out at low water .
Very sad when Rick Hayes died on the river , he was a great guy. He was one four paddling friends I lost back then to the river ..
Now I just ride my bike , surf at Tofino when I can..
Like u said family first

Great to reminisce about paddling, lets have some photos!

Someone from VKC in Lynn Canyon

My friend in Desolation Sound

White Nile. Me hanging on for dear life, Necky Chronic.

Boofing in Corsica in a Pyranha H2

Surfing in Portugal, my friend in his Wavesport Foreplay

Playboating at night in my Necky Switch (loved that boat). Shepperton, Thames weirs.

This is me chugging a fosters extra special bitters beer on drunkards drop wave Wenatchee river in flood at 25,000 CFS
a long time ago in land far far away…

GT, i grew up on ON as well, learned ww on the gull while living in TO. did a bit on the Ottawa and places in between. plenty of tripping in the usual places. you've got one of those old school super hardcore paddling pedigrees. rare degree of experience.

[QUOTE GT you've got one of those old school super hardcore paddling pedigrees. rare degree of experience.

I was lucky , I got to see so much. I paddled with bob foote canoe designer at summer camp and some old school cedar strip canoe builders. Paddling to me is my second nature . Riding is much harder for me.
At one point I was at Skook surfing with Scott Shipley Olympian on one side Margaret Langford Canadian Olympian and Scott's brother and dad at the same time .. So cool. Also got to paddle and hang with Corran Addison what a gifted nut bar of a paddler . I bough a riot hammer from him and still have it. That boat owned the Thompson every wave , that boat surfed the Great Wall like Velcro I would get on there and just spin spin , side surf it on the green. Watching boats change from displacement to planing hulls was cool such huge leap in design. Seems all boats are stubby freestylers with no hull speed ..

Current paddler here. Skiing and paddling are my recreation priorities these days. Have two young ones at home, but paddling doesn't have to take up the whole day, unlike ski touring. Plus paddling the Clearwater in July is just a lot more enjoyable than mountain biking in 30C.

So true , Clearwater such a great river ! One time we did a different run to surf a wave called the "white room " . I found out why it was called that , a seam line swallowed me Sending me deep enough to hurt my ears , worst swim I ever had , got out just before that giant house sized rock downstream ..

An old pic of me at Skook in a riot hammer.
This boat has little golf ball divets all over the bottom. Made it very slippy on green waves

I paddle a Wavesport ZG 54 or the diesel 65 if I'm feeling chicken, we paddling the bulkley, suskwa, telkwa, skeena/babine multiday.

For surfing there is a play wave just 10 min from town where we have a private beach/campfire/ sauna on some leased land with a locked gate

Almost given up WW a few times but I still seem to be getting in the boat, I keep threatening to get a newer play boat that is a little more easy going

Also taken up sea kayaking in the last 5 or 6 years either in lakes or out on the north coast around Rupert/Kitimat/Haida Gwai