Fluid Kayaks Team - News

Ottawa Urban and a move into winter....

Sven Perschmann — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 04:30:00 +0000

As I'm settling in in British Columbia I am browsing through pictures of our trip here.

Well now you could say: Right, why BC right now, no boating there, eh?

And fair enough it's true. Pretty frozen up around here.

Unlike Hog's Back in Ottawa in December...

John Rathwell took this series of me running this downtown gem.

Makes visits to the big city for very official matters way more enjoyable!

There's a bunch more to be found right HERE on John's site. Check it out!

Thanks bud!

Sorry, distracted.

Back to the moving to BC.

In winter.

Well, we brought it all. The two of us, 6 boats, 8 paddles, snowboards, skis, bikes and everything else.

Quite the rig, isn't it?

So yep: We've come to stay!

It has been fun on the Ottawa for the last five years but sometimes a change is needed.

So we're setting up base in the Kootenays, Southern Interior BC.

And well, this is what the kayaking looks like right now.

But can you imagine that water flowing? Or rather dropping?

I am pretty stoked to be here!

And while I am waiting for the spring to come so I can check out all those amazing creeks around here I am pretty sure that I could be happy for a while with deep powder, freezing cold play boat sessions on the Columbia River, hot chocolates and saunas.

So there you go.

That's why.

Sven

Mocoa, Putumayo, Colombia, Some of the Best Kayaking in Colombia

Mark Hentze — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 19:20:00 +0200

Kees Van Kuipers on the Rio Rumiyaco.

In the south of Colombia, just north of the Ecuador border, on the Amazon side of the Andes Mountains is the department of Putumayo. Putumayo is still considered “El Corazón” or the heart of the guerrilla territory, but in recent years security has improved around Mocoa, the capital city of the department of Putumayo. To the south and east of Mocoa, in “Los Llanos” or the plains which are part of the Amazon Basin, many areas are still controlled by the guerrillas and are not considered safe for traveling. Mocoa receives rainfall from storms that make there way over the Andes mountains from the Pacific Ocean and from storms from the Atlantic Ocean which cross the Amazon Basin making it one of the wettest places in Colombia. Where there is a lot of rain there are many rivers. The Andes Mountains abruptly rise to over 4000 meters just behind Mocoa, and they are covered by thick cloud forest and jungle vegetation. Mocoa is surrounded by rivers which are perfect for kayaking. Near Mocoa there are small technical creeks, such as the Rio Pepino and big volume rivers, such as the Rio Caquetá. In recent years a few kayakers have explored the rivers near Mocoa and have found some of the nicest rivers in Colombia, many of them within an hour or less of Mocoa which makes Mocoa one of the best places in Colombia to spend some time kayaking.

The Canyon of the Rio Caquetá. One of the most beautiful rivers in the world.

During January of 2011, Mark Hentze, Maud Verboven and David Kashinski spent about a week exploring some of the rivers near Mocoa. The Rio Caquetá is perhaps one of the most beautiful rivers in the world. Mark Hentze, Maud Verboven and David Kashinski did the first kayak descent in January of 2011. The only beta we had was a quick look at Google Earth and stories, or the legends, from the locals. The Rio Caquetá goes under a bridge on the main highway from Bogotá to Mocoa just 30 minutes from Mocoa and then flattens out in “Los Llanos” near the small pueblo of Puerto Límon. There is a police check point in Mocoa where they search for contraband such as the essential liquids necessary for the cocaine laboratories which are further south and east of Puerto Límon. To bypass the police check point the guerrillas fill 5 gallon cans with kerosene, hydrochloric acid, and other essential liquids, and float the cans through the canyon of the Rio Caquetá. The guerrillas accompany the cans by swimming and portaging the cans around the biggest rapids. The canyon of the Rio Caquetá is steep, dropping 300 meters in 50 kilometers, and a big volume river with many big class IV-V+ rapids. legend has it that some of the guerrillas drowned while accompanying the cans full of the essential liquids through the canyon of the Rio Caquetá. The canyon is sheer walled in many places and numerous waterfalls plummet from the walls directly into the river. Where the sheer walls give way to steep hillsides there is thick jungle vegetation, many colorful flowers and there are many white sandy beaches which are perfect for camping. Everything is massive in the canyon, the rapids are huge, the rocks are huge which makes portaging and scouting difficult. The Rio Caquetá will hopefully one day be a world class kayak trip. For now it may be a trip to avoid because of security. Some of the locals say it is safe and the guerrillas no longer use the Rio Caquetá as a liquid highway, and others say the guerrillas still use the river to bypass the police check point in Mocoa. During our January 2012 trip to Mocoa we did not paddle the Rio Caquetá because of high water and concerns about the safety with a big group of foreign kayakers.

Kees Van Kuipers on the Rio Pepino.

During January of 2012, Mark Hentze, Kees Van Kuipers, Charlie Watts and Julian Schafer, and a few others spent a couple of weeks in Mocoa and explored some other rivers. We found some great rivers and made a couple first descents, at least kayak first descents. About 20 minutes from Mocoa is the Rio Pepino, a steep and continuous class IV creek. The Rio Pepino is low volume, but almost always has enough water to paddle, and at low water it is crystal clear. The Rio Pepino is continuous class IV, but with a few pools in between the rapids. There are no portages, many nice class IV drops which are not too intimidating and easy logistics which makes the Rio Pepino a great afternoon run or warm-up run.

Maud Verboven enjoying the Rio Pepino with some Colombian children.

The city of Mocoa is located in the open valley of the Rio Mocoa and near Mocoa the river is mostly class II-III, but just above Mocoa and just below Mocoa the river passes through some steeper canyons which have many nice Class IV rapids. The Rio Mocoa also has easy logistics and the put-ins and take-outs are all less than an hour from Mocoa. Below the city of Mocoa, the Rio Mocoa passes through one more steep walled canyon and with medium to high water levels there are some big class IV rapids and many waterfalls which drop from the canyon walls into the river. At the bottom of the run the canyon walls abruptly open and give way to the “Los Llanos” and the river flattens out just above the take-out.

Kees Van Kuipers on the upper Rio Villalobos.

The most memorable river of our January 2012 trip to Mocoa was the first descent of the upper Rio Villalobos. The upper Rio Villalobos drops 600 meters in 30 kilometers so we packed our boats for an overnight trip and departed early one morning. On the way to the put-in our taxi driver told us that the guerrillas had burned a bus a week earlier on the highway to the Rio Villalobos, which is also the main highway from Mocoa to Bogotá. At least the guerrillas were kind enough to take the passengers and luggage out of the bus before they set it on fire. There is no bridge over the Rio Villalobos, but near the top of the run the highway is not far from the river, so we asked the taxi driver to take us to the closest and easiest access to the river. We found a field where we could easily drag our boats down to the river. As we pulled over the taxi driver told us that just around the next corner is where the guerrillas burned the bus which made us a little nervous, but we decided to go anyway.

Kees Van Kuipers in a typical boulder garden of the Rio Villalobos.

The upper Rio Villalobos is a medium sized creek and at the top the canyon was open and the river was not to steep, but we found a few nice class IV rapids on the first day of the two day descent. Because of a typical late Colombian taxi driver and a two hour drive to the put-in we only had a few hours to paddle on the first day and a couple hours before dark we found a nice beach to camp on. The next morning we did not get an early start either, most everybody slept in Colombian style, and it was about 11:00 am before the boats where loaded and we started paddling down the river again. We started the morning off with another stretch of flat water interspersed with a few bony class III rapids, but then then the canyon walls tightened up and the river bed steepened. The last few hours of the second day was full of great class IV+ whitewater, no portages, and most everything was boat scoutable. The upper Rio Villalobos drops through a beautiful canyon with steep walls covered by cloud forest and we saw parrots and two “Cocks of the Rock”, a rare jungle bird with a bright red head, and a black lower body and tail. The upper Rio Villalobos is another Colombian classic river.

El Fin Del Mundo.

Putumayo is still considered dangerous by some, but many foreigners travel through Mocoa and venture into the surrounding mountains and the guerrillas seem to leave the foreigners alone, or maybe we are all just lucky....Our experiences have been that the people of Putumayo are warm, welcoming and friendly like all the Colombian people. There are still many guerrillas in Putumayo, probably some not far from Mocoa and random attacks still occur, but sometimes the risk is worth the beauty that can be found in places such as Putumayo.

To see more photos check out the Facebook page:

-Mark Hentze

JAUNT whitewater kayaking feature film

Adrian Kiernan — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 14:41:00 -1100

JAUNT - Showcases some of the worlds best kayakers doing what they do best, dropping waterfalls, exploring deep canyons and surfing big waves in the most epic kayaking destinations around the globe... all while living a uniquely southern, paddlers lifestyle.

Exotic locations include: Laos, Uganda, Kenya, Norway, USA, Canada, New Zealand and Australia.

Paddlers: Kelsey Thompson, Adrian Kiernan, Anthony Yap, Sean Boz, James Thorp, Sam Tregenza, Colin Furmston, Ben Earle, Lachie Carracher, Jimmy Lohrey, Weka, Sean Mac and many more!

Filmed and edited by Adrian Kiernan with additional footage from Sean Boz and Kelsey Thompson

Produced by Go Boating Austalia and Skippy Films back in 2010.

A big big thank you to: www.fluidkayaks.com

www.kayak4play.com.au

www.immersionresearch.com

Finally the White Nile Video is here

Craig Rivett — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 06:06:00 +0000

Here is the video that goes with the White Nile article found here is up. Check it out

Craig

www.lifebywater.com

Colombia Rivers, Travel and People

Mark Hentze — Sun, 08 Jan 2012 17:28:00 +0200

Colombia. Rivers, travel and people from Andy Atkins on Vimeo.

Check out the video by Andy Atkins, shot in Colombia featuring Fluid kayaks.

Colombia, The First Month

Mark Hentze — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 06:03:00 +0200

I arrived in Colombia in mid November with intentions of doing some paddling, but mostly with intentions going to see my my very attractive dentist and organizing my business visa, transportation, lodging, equipment and so on for the first kayak school and guided kayak trips by “Colombia Whitewater” in Colombia.

The put-in to the Rio Chicamocha at high water.

The first mission was to do some paddling. I met up with Kees Van Kuipers and a couple of Canadian kayakers in Bogota and then we traveled to San Gil, the kayaking capital of Colombia. As we left Bogota in a heavy rainstorm we drove by some huge lakes that are normally fields. It had been raining heavily in Colombia and most of the rivers were flooded, landslides were washing away the roads and small towns. When we arrived in San Gil many of the best rivers had to much water to paddle so we headed for a multi day Colombian classic, the Rio Chicamocha. The Rio Chicamocha at normal water levels has a couple sections of nice class III-IV whitewater and passes through a dramatic semi desert canyon. The Rio Chicamocha was also flooded, but we were not that concerned because it can hold a lot of water. We arrived a little late, Colombian style, and did not get on the water until early afternoon. We paddled down the first stretch of warm up rapids and then we arrived at the top of one of the biggest rapids in the canyon. Everybody else wisely decided to eddy out and scout, but I was feeling comfortable in my boat and I had paddled the rapid a few times before. I saw a line, at least through the entrance, so I bypassed the eddy and the scout. I paddled past a couple massive holes guarding the entrance and around the corner and I thought there would at least be a short pool or another eddy, but the rapid just kept going and going. After about a mile of dodging massive holes I finally found an eddy. It may have been one of the biggest and longest rapids I have ever paddled. I eddied out and waited for the rest of the group. They all thought I was dead for sure. After a while I gave them a call on the cell phone to let them know I was okay and a couple hours later they caught up with me. One of the other paddlers was in a playboat which was not the right boat for big water class V. Another paddler had hurt his shoulder while they were eddy hopping down the side of the river. It was almost dark and we still had not reached our intended destination for the night, and there was no good camping were we all met up. So we shouldered our boats up the hill and found a barn to camp in.

The pueblo Jordan in the canyon of the Rio Chicamocha.

About an hour later one of the locals found us in the barn and insisted that we come and spend the night in his house with his family. He led us to the house and generously gave us some space to sleep under the roof and the use of their kitchen so we could cook our dinner. The family lived in a rustic house and survived by subsistence farming. They were kind and generous like most people in Colombia and what could have been a rough night in a barn turned into another memorable experience. Colombia has the reputation of being dangerous, but most everywhere I travel and paddle the people are warm and extend random acts of kindness. The next day we decided to exit the canyon and we went to the nearby pueblo of Jordan and found transportation back to San Gil. The road from Jordan to San Gil is steep and rough and we somehow managed to fit six boats, six kayakers and the driver into a small pick up truck, the only transportation available in the small town of Jordan. Just before we arrived in San Gil the wheel fell off the truck and rolled past us as we skidded to a stop. The wheel bounced over the shoulder and rolled through a vacant tennis court and finally came to rest after it crashed into the fence surrounding the tennis court. We were able to find most of the lug nuts along the road and we jacked up the truck and put the wheel back on. We safely arrived back in San Gil after a typical Colombian paddling mission.

Putting the wheel back on the shuttle vehicle.

Soon thereafter Kees cut his leg while he was pulling my boat off a rock and the Canadians returned home. Kees’s leg was infected and walking was difficult and painful and paddling was out of the question. Kees traveled to Ecuador to recover with his girlfriend and I spent the next couple of weeks taking care of some errands for my Colombian business “Colombia Whitewater”.

Kees Van Kuipers, Mark Hentze, Andy Atkins and the rest of the crew on the Rio Fonce.

In mid December I made a quick trip home to the states for Christmas and spent some time doing more business errands and spent Christmas with friends and family. I returned to Colombia just a few days ago and tomorrow I travel to Putumayo in the South of Colombia. Some of the best rivers in Colombia are in Putumayo, Kees will be in Putumayo with some other kayakers that he brought from Ecuador. Summer, or the dry season, has finally arrived in Colombia and the floods have receded. I have finished most of my business errands and I have a few weeks to paddle for myself before my first kayak school and guided trip. More reports to come shortly.

Creeking up a storm in North America

Adrian Kiernan — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 13:13:00 -1100

An exert from the upcoming full online release of Skippy Films first feature, "Downunder The Horizonline" Stay tuned to www.whiteboxmag.com for more. .............................................

Skippy Films represents a collective of 3 australian based kayakers as they travel and work with kayak, paddle and camera in hand.

A film By Colin Furmston Adrian Kiernan Jez Blanchard

"Downunder the Horizonline" is the first collective film by Skippy Films

Watch in this section as Australian kayaker Adrian Kiernan joins forces with the likes of Sean Boz, Jimmey Lohrey, Ben Earle and Canadian, Kelsey Thompson, to bring you a whitewater travel film, made in one season and with no sponsors, with a true australian twist.

Featuring BC and USA

"reminiscent us of australian cult classic, the castle" CUMEC MAGAZINE

Filmed By: Kelsey Thompson Adrian Kiernan Sean Boz

Edited By: Adrian Kiernan

Produced By: Skippy Films 2007

Out With The Old And In With The New - Making the Transition From The Solo To The Bazooka

Bobby Miller — Sun, 01 Jan 2012 00:57:00 -0500

With 2012 having arrived, there are some new and exciting developments coming with Fluid kayaks. The Bazooka is the new creek boat and will replace the long time proven creek boat (and in my opinion one of the best creek boat designs of all time), the Solo. So, after exclusively creeking in the Solo since 2005, I must admit that a replacement made me a little nervous. Like Mary Poppins, the Solo is practically perfect in every way. In early September, I had the fortune of getting to paddle the Bazooka prototype full time. So, after logging many miles in the boat, I am pleased to say that Celliers has fixed any minor imperfections the Solo may have had. He has eliminated the word, "practically," and has gone straight to perfect. So, at this point in time, reader, you may ask yourself, "Did Bobby just make the claim that I think he did? DId he just say that the Bazooka is the perfect creekboat? Oh no, he didn't! Don't go there!" Well, I just did it! I WENT THERE! Fluid Kayaks has created the perfect creekboat and it is called the Bazooka! The day after I got the boat, I headed to the Delaware Water Gap, an area know for SIK creekboating and big waterfalls. On this day, we decided to run Adams Creek, the most difficult and dangerous of the creeks in the area. The run features awesome slides and drops throughout but the final gorge is where the real SIK drops are. There are four major waterfall drops in a quarter mile, dropping over 100 feet total. The first one goes into a hole, pinches through a tight boat width slot and goes off a 10-12 drop onto a slide next to the wall. I punched right through the approach hole and was surprised at the speed I carried through the hole. Being used to the slower Solo, I didn't expect to shoot through the hole as quickly as I did. I ended up hitting the right wall and had to scramble to get back through the slot without getting pulled into the hole. Once through the slot, I launched a nice boof off the falls and landed cleanly on the slide. The next drop featured a steep 8-10 foot cascade that led directly into a 20 foot waterfall. There was a tree sticking out from the right bank so it was imperative to be in the middle and it was also important to keep your bow up due to the uncertain depth of the pool. I came flying down the slide and took a light stroke to avoid getting launched way out and l entered the pool smoothly at a 45 degree angle. A simple 10 foot sloping ledge carried us to the last drop of the gorge. Here the creek goes over a 6 foot ledge that lands directly on the lip of a 20 foot waterfall. I was worried about my stern catching the lip of the falls if I launched off the top ledge so I floated off the 6 footer. This allowed my bow to skip off the lip of the falls, which launched me out. I landed flat at the bottom and it was definitely a solid hit. I was also really excited by the performance of the Bazooka. The initial impressions of the boat were that it is definitely faster than a Solo, is more stable, and boofs nicely. The boat overall would take some getting used to since the boat has a different feel than the Solo. The deck is higher than the Solo so the paddle strokes need to be higher and this creates a slightly different launch point with your propelling stroke. Over the passing months, I really put the boat through its paces, testing it on all of the Mid-Atlantic area classic runs. I tried it in a variety of situations, I launched huge boofs off the waterfalls at Great Falls of the Potomac and on the Big Sandy. I took it down bouldery runs with tight slots and precise boofs such as the Upper Blackwater. I ran cascades such as Swallow Falls on the Top Yough and punched through big holes in rapids like Railroad Cut Falls on Wills Creek. Initially, I found the stern especially tricky to get used to. I found my unfamiliarity with the stern edge would occasionally catch me off guard. The Solo has a very forgiving stern and the edge of the Bazooka is definitely less forgiving. However, I could tell right away that the stern gave me a great ability to carve my turns in a way that the Solo can't. As I started to get used to carving with the stern, I really started to like the boat, a lot. My lines got cleaner and I noticed that, with a tilt of the edge, the boat shoots in the direction you want to go. I feel like I get to know the boat a little better each time I get out and my paddling has climbed to new heights. This boat has really impressed me and I can't imagine creeking in anything else. The boat and I now have become one and I know that the sky is the limit for what I can accomplish in this boat. I can't say enough good things about the Bazooka! I am very excited for the production model to be available! The boat is fast for its size and boofs extremely well. The stability allows you to feel confident when cranking into a boof stroke or even just while running tight rapids. The edge in the stern allows the boat to carve extremely well when put on edge. This boat is a performer and really will rocket in the direction that you tilt the edge. The edge is rounded off near the bow so you don't get tripped up in shallow water or when going for a boof. For fans of the Solo (or similar soft edge creek boat desgns), the boat will instantly be faster and more responsive but the stern edge will take a little time to get used to. For fans of the Detox (or similar hard edge designs), you will instantly notice that the boat is more forgiving but still is very high performance. I think that Fluid has hit the mark of creating a spectacular creek boat that is forgiving yet is great at carving a turn with the Bazooka and this design will make any creek boater who tries it a believer. Thanks, Celliers, for designing this new and exciting boat, which I know will be a leader in the creek boat world!

Colorado paddling in December

Leif Anderson — Sat, 31 Dec 2011 04:14:00 -0700

For years now, when people ask me about paddling in the winter in Colorado, I tell them that the problem isn't the temperature, it's that there's no water. Well, this year there is a high water release through the Black Canyon of the Gunnison, and so I put my money where my mouth was and ran it a couple times.

The Black Canyon is a pretty committing experience in the best of conditions. In the winter, the park service closes the 7 mile road to putin, and there is much less daylight. Furthermore, until this month, I had always done the Black as a two day trip, because of the long portage in the middle. However, camping was pretty much a last resort because of the cold weather. And it was high water. All these factors made the run a whole lot more serious than usual. The prudent strategy was to get up at about 4:00 AM to start your day, and expect to finish right around dark.

Despite the high level of commitment, and the danger of any emergency becoming a major emergency, the paddling in the Black is relatively easy. I would compare it to Fremont Canyon in Wyoming. The main dangers are sieves, but they are reasonably easy to avoid. There are a handful of rapids that are indeed pretty difficult, but they are all easily portaged.

Except one set.

Halfway down the run, the river basically pours into a rockpile and doesn't come back out for about a mile. The portage is up and over a lot of large rocks, and it's the one thing that makes this a two day run (or even three days, for some people). The fresh snow on the ground had some strange effects on the portage. I was in there twice, and with a light dusting of snow, not much was different, apart from unpredictable footing. Sometimes the snow was thick enough to give extra traction, and sometimes it was thin enough that it just made everything slippery. On the second trip, we had a little less than a foot of snow, and I think it made the portage a lot easier because it padded the rocks. Every time we came to a downhill, I would sled down on my butt in the snow. It was great, although I had some medical issues that slowed me down (you don't want to know). On both trips, I was slowing down the group during the portage.

On the first trip, I hit a wall of exhaustion trying to keep up with Ben Luck (his grandpa was a mountain goat, and married an olympic runner). So for the second trip, I planned ahead.

That's right. Before leaving Fort Collins, I cooked up a pound and a half of bacon, and brought the whole batch with me down into the canyon. Halfway through the portage there is a nice spot for a fire (it's the usual choice for a campsite). I was highly popular around the fire, trading bacon for whatever else people had brought with them. For myself, I had a perfect bacon sandwich. It was the first bacon sandwich I have ever had, and I found my new favorite food.

After our snack, we finished up the portage by crossing the river two more times and climbing over a whole bunch more rocks. The rapids were just about over at that point. There are two bigger drops, which actually looked a little better at higher water, but nobody felt like rolling the dice in such cold weather.

At the end of the run, there are two takeout options, neither of which is easy. You can either hike up Chukar trail, which is about a mile and is a pretty big climb, or you can paddle the 12 mile Gunnison Gorge. We tried both options, one for each trip. I vastly prefer the trail. In the cold, everything is more serious. I really liked getting off the water early at the trail. During the second trip, when we paddled out, the group got very strung out and it began to get dark. Had we been on the trail, I would have been much less concerned, because you can always hike back down. On the river, if someone is back upstream of you, there's nothing to do but wait for them. Also, it's a lot safer to hike in the dark than it is to paddle in the dark.

However, despite my concerns, both times I went in there, I was accompanied by groups of very solid paddlers. My thanks to Ben Luck, David Spiegel, Fred Norquist, Kurt Braunlich, and Erik Boomer. On the trip that Erik came on, he broke the boat he was borrowing right at putin and had to hike back out and run shuttle for us. He got a ride from a park ranger before he had even gone a mile, and had a way easier day than we did.

So it looks like the Colorado season extends into December. I kept saying that we only had a couple weeks left in the 2011 season, and I think that I was right. As I write this, there's only about 12 hours left in the 2011 season. Have a happy new year out there, and stay safe.

Also, I always try to work in little sponsor product inclusions in my articles, and this time I want to quite blatantly point out that I am wearing Stohlquist gear. Thanks Stohlquist.

"Upper Cispus POV Guide" presented by Team Fluid & PDX River Explorers!

Luke — Sun, 25 Dec 2011 01:36:00 +0200

PDX River Explorers and Team Fluid bring you a whitewater kayaking POV video guide to the class V Upper Cispus River in Washington state! Produced by Luke Spencer, shot with Go Pro HD, www.pdxriverexplorers.blogspot.com

ENJOY! HAPPY HOLIDAYS ~luke

What Fluid Creek Boat is Right for You? Solo vs. Big Bang vs. Detox FULL ARTICLE!

Luke — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 01:22:00 +0200

It is always hard to decide what kind of boat is right for you. With all the different designs, what makes one better then the other? I am writing this blog post in hopes that it will help paddlers decide what style of boat best fits them. Keep in mind these are my own opinions and info that I have gathered after paddling these boats over the last few years.

Check out PDX River Explorers to see my testing grounds for these boats!

My Stats Male Age: 33 Weight: 195lbs Height: 5' 11" Inseam: 32" Shoe Size: 10 Class of Paddling: 3-5+

At my size the large models in Fluid's lineup fit me best. However I've also paddled the Med Solo and Detox both were reasonable but not the best fit in regards to volume and comfort. For the purpose of comparison I have decided to include reviews on areas that are important for me in a creek boat including: Stability, Maneuverability, Speed, and Comfort

The SOLO For specs follow this link http://www.fluidkayaks.com/wwkayaks/solo.html

The Solo has been a favorite of mine for sometime. This was the first boat I paddled from the Fluid line up and despite the new boats Fluid has introduced the Solo is still a favorite!

Description A true creek boat the Solo excels on steep technical creeks! With a wide weight range for its volume it's easy for me to handle and rides well in the water. At 195lbs the 75 gal Solo does not have enough volume to be expedition worthy but makes and excellent boat for single day runs on creeks. The Solo uses a semi-displacement hull and blends the best of both worlds. A good rocker profile, soft rails or chines, just enough edge, and adequate straight water line give the Solo reasonable speed for its length, good tracking, and excellent maneuverability..

Stability At my weight I find the initial stability to bet less then other boats I've paddles, but lighter paddlers should find the Solo's initial stability to be higher. For me secondary stability, or stability on edge is very important. The Solo's secondary stability is excellent, offering great performance when making ferries, crossing eddy lines, and running holes. slots, and drops that create chaotic whitewater.

Maneuverability At 8ft long the Solo turns and boofs awesome! I try to be conscious of a good vertical paddle when making aggressive forward strokes, this also helps with boofing effectively. For turning and making quick corrections in technical rapids I find this Solo be very effortless, its rocker profile and displacement hull make these maneuvers a breeze. Vertical ledges and falls are a delight in the Solo. Easy boofs and quick stable resurfacing on vertical drops will ease the stress when your running the stouts, brown, burly, gnarly or whatever you call those challenging rapids encountered on the steeps!

Speed At 8' the Solo is not the fastest boat on the market but a narrower bow provides good tracking and easy corrections. Off the line I find it gains speed rapidly but don't expect its top speed to keep up with today's longer boats that reach almost 9'.

Comfort With the new MOD 3 outfitting released in 2010 the solo is easier to adjust and very comfortable. With a little extra lift do to the raised see I get good leverage when paddling, The large rigid back band offers great back support while giving me good upright and forward paddling posture. The aggressive thigh hooks are comfortable and adjust easily keeping my legs in place when I'm upside down and rolling. Combined with an easily adjustable bulkhead the Mod 3 outfitting provides me with performance and comfort.

Me boat testing the Solo EXP!

The DETOX For specs follow this link http://www.fluidkayaks.com/wwkayaks/detox.html

Description The Detox is the Porsche of the Fluid creeking line up! This sporty boat may require a bit of getting used to, but buckle up and grab the wheel because once you harness its sporty handling you may not want to paddle anything else! A Hybrid design, the Detox uses an aggressive yet forgiving planing or flat hull with more aggressive edges then your average river running/creek boat. Take this boat pretty much anywhere and tap into its versatility.

Stability For me the stability of the Detox is similar to the Solo. Initial stability doesn't seem to be as high as its secondary stability.. The edges on the Detox are more aggressive and require me to be more attentive and in tuned.

Maneuverability The Detox is one of my favorite boats to paddle. It has generous rocker, with edges copied from Fluid's playboat the Nemesis, It feels crisp on edge yet still is easy to turn. The edges also help the boat boof effectively by holding a line when I am really cranking my boof stroke. The generous bow rocker prevent the nose from subbing out when running steeper drops and the peaked deck helps shed water and resurface quickly after steep drops.

Speed The Detox is not a long boat at 8ft so its not the fastest boat on the market, but it's no turtle, When the Detox is on edge it tracks well and maintains good speed.

Comfort With the same MOD 3 outfitting the Lrg Detox is a roomy boat at 75 gal and has a wide range of paddler weight. Paddlers between 160lbs and 210lbs should fit depending on their height.

Me testing how the Lrg Detox boofs.

The BIG BANG For specs follow this link http://www.fluidkayaks.com/wwkayaks/bigbang.html

Description The Big Bang is the largest creek boat in Fluid's line up. At 8' 11" it's almost a foot longer then the rest of the group. A creek boat designed with expedition paddling in mind the Big Bang can handle it all. From the steep creeks of the Columbia River Gorge to the steep large volume rivers of the Himalayas the Big Bang can handle it all!

Stability In my opinion the most stable out of all the creek boats from Fluid, the Big Bang has great initial stable while maintaining good secondary stability. It will help instill confidence to both entry level paddlers and experts!

Maneuverability At 8' 11" I wasn't sure what to expect from the Big Bang. But after paddling the boat I was surprised to find that it wasn't a chore to paddle. The extra length and long water line give the boat exceptional speed and amazing hole punching capabilities. I was surprised to find that despite its longer waterline it still turns well. If you need a boat that accommodates larger paddlers, big rivers, and heavier loads but still want it to handle well check out the Big bang!

Speed I will keep this short and sweet! The Big Bang is fast and can punch holes!

Comfort The Big Bang uses the same MOD 3 Outfitting as the other Fluid boats and is very comfortable for most medium to extra large paddlers. Fluid has also made a few modifications to accommodate larger paddlers. The extra length and volume along with a slightly taller deck makes it Fluid's roomiest boat and with the release of a second smaller size for 2012 the Big Bang should accommodate most paddlers.

Me testing the Big Bang on the Little White Salmon WA.

Wrap up In the last few seasons Fluid Kayaks has introduced new boats to round out their models. With the Detox filling the River Runner/Creek Boat category and the Big Bang Expidition/Creeker there should be a boat to fit any paddlers style and needs.

But Fluid hasn't stopped there! This winter Fluid releases the Bazooka! Available in 3 sizes with cutting edge design the Bazooka takes the best features from multiple kayaks blended into one!

See you on the river! ~luke

Big Thompson Colorado video

Leif Anderson — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 14:07:00 -0700

The Big Thompson is one of my favorite runs. Definitely not my absolute favorite, but it's a great training run. It's one of the more difficult sections of whitewater in Colorado, in my opinion, but it's still relatively safe, because it's completely roadside and not especially sieved out. When mistakes happen here, the most common injury is a bruised ego. Well, that and bruised shoulders, scraped knuckles, and sore thumbs. Not to mention all the gear that gets broken by this run.

The section with whitewater is less than a mile long, and it's packed with a lot of medium-difficulty moves. If you get off line, you can usually recover. On a lot of runs, you can finish a rapid and look back and wonder if maybe there was a smoother or faster way of running it. On the Big T, you almost always know if you had the smoothest possible line or not, because the smoothest line hits only one rock, but anything less than smooth hits many rocks. It's great instant feedback on how well you are paddling.

One of the best features of the Big T is that because of dam releases from the reservoir upstream near Estes Park, this section often has higher water in November than it does during spring runoff. November is usually a very dry time of year in Colorado, so this is usually the only thing running. It's great to have the only water in the state right outside my back door (well, actually an hour away, but still, close enough).

Here is a video I put together from this fall on the Big T. I am paddling the Big Bang, and Nathan Werner tried out the Detox a few times.

Shot on GoPro HD Hero.

Thanksgiving in the Pacific Northwest

Leif Anderson — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 15:09:00 -0700

My wife Natalie is out of the country for a few months doing some geologic mapping in Honduras, so I had to find new paddling partners for my Thanksgiving paddling trip. I ended up traveling with Chase Nobles and Eddy Honea. I had paddled with Chase a couple times, but I had never met Eddy, so it was a bit of a gamble. It paid off pretty well. Those damn kids were really annoying, but man, they certainly were stoked to go paddling. It was nice to rekindle some enthusiasm for the sport.

Eddy in particular was super stoked to experience the northwest. He's from New Mexico, where you can only paddle rivers when they're at full flood, and even then they're actually manky rocky tiny creeks. He and Chase kept hooting and hollering every time they found a "face shot" stash - water deep enough to splash you in the face. We started out on some low water class IV creeks, and every day of the trip we ran a more high quality creek. By the time we worked up to a couple waterfalls, they were just about crapping their pants.

Around day three or four, I managed to get ahold of team paddler Luke Spencer, and he showed us down Hagen Creek and joined me for a little playboating downstream on the Washougal.

I was really glad to get back in the Element, since I had been paddling the Nemesis at the Mwave for the last few months of playboating. The Washougal wave was a little small for the Element, but I still had a total blast. Instead of feeling frustrated that there wasn't enough face to do tricks, I felt like it was an exciting challenge. I really like the Element.

The Washougal photos are by Logan Farrell. It was very cloudy and dark that afternoon, and I was amazed at the quality of the shots that he got.

It was also a really cool experience to paddle Canyon creek with Greg Mallory, who cannot use his legs. He is pretty demanding on his boats since his usual mode of operation is to get in the boat near the cars where there is a little more space to move around, then have someone drag him in the boat down to the river. Also, he doesn't like to switch boats often because he re-outfits them pretty extensively. Right now he's paddling a large Solo, and says he likes it. We had a good talk about the benefits and drawbacks of the design.

It was cool to notice that once we were on the water, Greg was literally indistinguishable from other paddlers. Greg doesn't seem like the type of person that would let a wheelchair limit him very much during everyday life, but I bet that it's still nice to be able to sort of flip a switch and become exactly like everyone else sometimes.

We also managed a lap of the Little White, where Orion Meredith got this photo of me on Spirit falls. Spirit is as fun as ever, but now there is some wood in Chaos just downstream, which brings up the commitment level on this drop by quite a bit.

At the end of the trip, we got in a high water lap on Eagle creek. We had a bit of a close call when Eddy went behind the curtain of Skoonichuck falls, but by the time we worked our way down to Punchbowl and Metlako, I was back into my full stride. I didn't trust the kids with the camera very often, so there weren't that many photos of me from the trip, and when I ran Metlako I went over the bars and got ejected, which ended up detaching the GoPro from the mount I had built. This lost a lot of the video footage of me, too. But we don't paddle to get photos, we paddle to paddle, so it wasn't that big of a deal. Enjoy some of the photos that we did get, and check out my blog for a more detailed write up, with a whole bunch more photos of Chase and Eddy, because I certainly took plenty of shots of them.

I'll leave you with this cool shot of Chase's paddle running Metlako falls. The paddle continued on to have quite an adventure after this waterfall, running a pretty stout drop without even scouting, but we eventually caught up with it about a mile downstream of here.

A Week on the Nile

Craig Rivett — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 12:08:00 +0000

Having been absent from the White Nile since 2007 I decided, last minute, that a short northern flight to Uganda was overdue. Managing to entice my father and one of his friends, Hennie, by the notion of some lemon livin, we flew up for a week of high volume whitewater, warm wet weather and fishing.

After an uneventful flight, matched with a more eventful rush-hour drive through Kampala, we set our sights for the Hairy Lemon. The next morning, being one kayak short, we headed to the NRE camp to catch up with Jamie Simpson at kayakthenile.com. Additional kayak in hand, I then spend the rest of the day at the Nile Special wave with some Finish and American boaters. This afternoon at the wave also gave me the opportunity to test the pair of GoPro cameras I was lent for the trip. I tried a number of different mountings and played around with the different features.

Over the next few days we slowly found ourselves falling more into the Ugandan way of life with early, slow moving mornings waiting for the water level to rise. Then, we either tripped the river or headed up to the wave to surf. As fun as the wave is, running the river was just that much better! The lines are relatively simple and forgiving, while the high volume makes for a very intimidating paddle.

The completion of the Bujagali dam was very depressing. The realization that the more-fun rapids are gone for good was solidified by the wakeboarding which is taking place over the hump, widowmaker, bujagali falls. Nether-the-less the rest of the river presented itself as one of the leading kayaking spots in the world.

Having only a week there, I wasn’t able to get onto any of the bigger rapids except for Kalagala. We did, however, manage to have a look at Hypoxia. This has become one of the more impressive looking rapids I have ever seen with a final hole that is at least a story high. The line doesn’t look that tight, but even if you get it right you will most likely go VERY deep.

Due to the relaxed pace of the environment the week went very slowly and left us feeling very relaxed when we arrived back in South Africa. This trip, I hope, will serve as a warm-up for the Nile Festival in February. This event, according to Jamie, will be bigger, better and far more scary than the previous festivals.

This paddle brought back some memories of previous trips I’ve done up here. I remembered why I think the Nemesis is one of the best high volume playboats out there. This being said, I cant wait to get my hands on the new Fluid Dope and see how it handles on its soon-to-be, stomping ground.

Over the next few days I’ll try sift through the tons of Nile footage I gathered from a week up there and will hopefully have a short video up soon.

Craig

www.lifebywater.com

One Good Month Part I: The Box, Clark's Fork of the Yellowstone

Xavier Engle — Sat, 26 Nov 2011 18:44:00 +0200

All good ideas start with healthy doses of dreaming and fiscal irresponsibility. After a summer spent on the North Fork of the Payette, literally running only one river for two months (although with the North Fork, one river's all you need), I was itching to get back out into the world. Enter Ben Luck, who returned from commercial fishing a month early and with nothing to do until he had to go to school. We immediately started looking at gauges all across the western US, and realized runoff in Wyoming and California was tapering perfectly to set us up to link together three amazing missions: The Clark's Fork Box in Wyoming, and the Middle kings and Devil's Postpile in Cali. We had just over two weeks until Ben had to be at school in Durango, so with a quick stop off to end my blossoming career as a professional raft guide, we were on the road. Some quick phone calling convinced Oliver Deshler and Kurt Braunlich to rally up from Colorado, and we picked up guru Ryan Casey on the way to the river to round out the crew.

On an aside, Palouse-Shmalouse, here's a picture of the Next Great Huck: Lower Yellowstone Falls. A clean 300 footer that lands you in a Stikine-esque gorge in the middle of Yellowstone National Park. Oh, and it's illegal. We passed it on the way to the Box; Ryan wanted to run it, but we had a schedule to keep, so we didn't let him.

Check this out!

Sven Perschmann — Thu, 24 Nov 2011 16:57:00 +0000

Alright, fall is officially here!

Or does it count as winter if we had the first snow already?

So with slow and icy mornings in our beautiful little cabin…

…right on the Ottawa I am slowly going through footage of this summer.

And while all of my filming went into my last video “One more time: CANADA”, I did stumble upon some more things I would’ve wanted to use.

Check out this piece shot by filmer, guitar hero and friend, Dave Hartman from Hayfiremedia! A beautiful edit and showcasing shots of his past season – and I am stoked on the little appearance I got in there!

And while you’re at it I also recommend taking a peak at Dave’s Bugz for life – Well worth the time wasted – pretty hilarious…

Another thing I found is a sequence my brother Bjoern shot while he was over in Canadia.

This is a helix on Cornerwave, probably my favourite low water wave on the Ottawa.

Fast and steep with a challenging eddy Cornerwave is one of the spots that pushes a lot of the Ottawa boaters to the next level, forcing you to throw quick and clean in order to get your moves right…

Alright, time to get back on the water! The good thing about cold days is that you got the waves all to yourself….

Peace,

Sven

Mexico 2011

Lachlan Carracher — Thu, 24 Nov 2011 00:16:00 +0000

Hey Guys,

I have just touched down in Australia after an amazing tour of North America, the final chapter of which was Veracruz State, Mexico.

We has a super fired up young crew down in the jungle this wetseason. This trip was one of my all time greatest kayak trips with an amazing group of now, very close friends. The group rallied in from all corners of the globes, (Peru, Spain, the US, France Norway and Australia) we all had a common goal and that as to run as many big warm clean stouts as possible.

I will let the photos and video do the rest of the talking for now.

Thanks to the Savages for an amazing trip

Photo: Jules Domine

Photo:Mathias Eibre Fossum

Photo: Jules Domine

http://vimeo.com/31661265

Sahalie Falls!

Bobby Miller — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 18:24:00 -0500

The water rushed toward the lip of the falls, freefalling 80 feet into a short cove surrounded by rocks. Fear had overcome my body and yet there I was in the eddy above, about to paddle over the scariest drop of my life.... Typically, I like to write in a distinct style, an overtly egotistical and humorous character named the Dogg whose accomplishments fuel his descent over the craziest drops. However, I have decided to break character and give you a complete and honest account of one of the greatest accomplishments of my paddling career, running Sahalie Falls. The word Sahalie comes from the Chinook indians and means heaven or a high place. Sahalie Falls is an 80 foot waterfall on the McKenzie River in Oregon and certainly is a magical spot. The falls first gained fame near the turn of the century when Shannon Carroll took a successful plunge over the falls in what was, at that time, one of the highest waterfalls ever run in a kayak. Since that day, the height of the waterfalls being run has climbed but few have traveled to Sahalie to give this waterfall a try, and with good reason. Sahalie, aside from being tall, has a narrow lip that has serious potential for going off at the wrong point. In the center of the flow is a narrow blue highway of water that carries you cleanly off the falls. However, on the left and right are seams that threaten to alter your well laid plans and send you toward the rocks that lay on the side of the pool. On top of this, there is a twisty Class 4 approach with a series of ledges and holes and a major Class 5+ rapid immediately below. All of this creates one frightening sequence that is not to be taken lightly. None of the Portland locals had off work or had any interest in Sahalie Falls but luckily, I caught up with the Bomb Flow boys: Evan Garcia, Fred Norquist, and Ryan Lucas. They were interested in some waterfall action so my wife, Melissa, and I headed over with a borrowed Volvo (thanks Bryon!) and met up with them. I was pleased to be at such a drop with such an experienced group of waterfall huckers, arguably some of the best in the business. We gave a long and detailed scout, talking about lines, looking at different angles, and debating the odds of a successful run. Evan had run the drop before and, after a long discussion, decided he was going for it. I hadn't slept hardly at all the night before due to nerves and was terrified now staring at the falls. Still, I found myself putting my paddling gear on to also make a descent. Fred, Ryan, and Melissa got into position with safety and cameras. We took one last scout and ran the first approach drop. There was a tree blocking the second approach drop so we portaged and placed our boats at the eddy right above the lip. The falls looked 10 times more ferocious from the right bank due to the curler creating a deep depression that sent the water crashing down hard on the rocks below. One false move could be accompanied with dire consequences. Evan thankfully decided to go first with the confidence and purpose that I had expected from a paddler of his stature. He sailed over the falls and plunged cleanly into the pool below. At this point, standing all alone on the bank, it was me versus the falls. There was nothing left to do but to go out and execute the moves that I had performed millions of times throughout my long career of running Class 5. That certainty in my own abilities allowed me to overcome the intense sense of awe at the bohemoth that lay before me. I found myself climbing into my boat, a keen sense of determination in my heart and mind. I practiced my tuck one last time and began to peel out. As I was starting to exit the eddy, I didn't like my angle so I calmly backed myself into the eddy where I decided to restart. This time, I was right where I wanted to be. The approach was blind, not allowing the certitude of knowing that I was on line until I had begun to start over the slope toward the lip. I was pleased to see the blue highway right in front of me and I traveled down the slope and over the edge where an 80 foot freefall stood between me and the water below. I started into my tuck and fell for what seemed like forever before I felt my boat slice cleanly straight into the water below. After a quick roll, I was ecstatic to have overcome my fears and had a great run of the falls. I celebrated with my new friends and got into position for safety while Fred suited up and had his own successful run of the falls. What an incredible day! Sahalie Falls is the greatest single waterfall that I have ever run and, with the finest of lines, is certainly one of the most dangerous drops I have run as well. I was fortunate to be surrounded that day with friends who took the time to properly scout and set up safety to add a degree of control to an unpredictable variable. Paddling in the Pacific Northwest has created tremendous adventures and memories and this day ranks up there near the top of it all. Melissa and I have a baby girl due in April and have decided to name her Sahalie, in honor of our adventures in the Pacific Northwest.

Back to Colombia

Mark Hentze — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 00:46:00 +0200

The Rio Chicamocha at sunrise, Santander, Colombia.

So after about ten hellish months in the states I just arrived in Colombia where I now have two Fluid Solo Expeditions and a return flight in April. The Colombian legend Kees Van Kuipers along with some of the rest of the Colombia Whitewater crew will be in Colombia for the next few months. Life is looking good at the moment. I have started a nonprofit organization called Colombia Whitewater. To raise funds to help establish the nonprofit organization Colombia Whitewater will be offering guided kayak trips and kayak instructions courses in Colombia during 2012. Please see www.colombiawhitewater.com for the schedule and more details. The guided trips and the kayak course will supply gear, including Fluid Kayaks.

Mark Hentze testing the Big Bang on Celestial Falls in Oregon.

At the moment the way I pay my bills and support my Colombian kayaking habit is as a Smokejumper in Redmond, Oregon. It is a cool job, but I do not get much time to paddle during the Northern Hemisphere summer months. I did, however, get my hands on a Big Bang and I have tested it out on a few rivers in Oregon. to date it is the best kayak I have ever paddled for the type of paddling that I like to do. I am not that big, about 70 kilos, and the Big Bang is a big boat designed for larger paddlers, but it performs well even when it is just me and no gear in the boat. The Big Bang has a displacement hull and feels faster than my Solo Expedition. The Big Bang is a little longer than the Solo Expedition, but still boofs well and turns quick enough to catch even the smallest of the micro eddies. I still paddle the Solo Expedition in Colombia, at least until I can get my Big Bang to Colombia, because it is just a little shorter and easier to travel with on the buses. For years the Solo Expeditions was my boat of choice because of how it handles steep creeks and big water and the hatch in the hull is perfect for storing rescue gear, cameras, and overnight gear. I have yet to break a Fluid kayak, but not because of lack of trying. The Fluid Solo Expedition and the Big Bang might be a kilo or two heavier than other kayaks on the market, but the extra weight is worth the durability especially if you are on a foreign kayaking mission. When I am paddling my Solo Expedition the only change that comes to mind is a little more volume. The Big Bang is a lot like the Solo Expedition, but with a little more volume. With the spacious volume in the hatch of the Big Bang I believe I could pack for at least 7 days on the river without support. The Big Bang is perhaps the perfect boat for the creek boater and expedition paddler. The new Bazooka might one up the Big Bang, we shall see.

-Mark Hentze

Meet Team Fluid North America's newest and youngest member, Ocoee Chapelle!

Bobby Miller — Sat, 19 Nov 2011 21:06:00 -0500

Recently, I sat down and interviewed Team Fluid North America's newest member, Ocoee Chapelle. He is an up and coming paddler so expect to see big things out of him in the coming years. Here is what he had to say. How old are you? I am 11 years old. How many years have you been paddling? I've been paddling for 7 years. How did you get started with kayaking? My family took me out kayaking one day and I enjoyed it. What is your favorite river? I really like the Ocoee River and I also really enjoyed the Upper Gauley at low water. What is your favorite Fluid boat and why? I paddle the small Detox. I like the way the boat works with the edges on the hull. I like how you can run creeks but still go playboating with it too! I like how it has a big back rest that is all connected with the seat, the outfitting is great! Tell me about a particularly fun trip you took this year. It was on the Stonycreek River. I like it because every rapid has play holes. There are also lots of nice boofs and micro-eddies. It has everything on it! It was also good because there weren't many people there and it was in the fall so the leaves were really pretty. Who is someone in the paddling community that you admire and why? I admire both of my brothers, Seth and Sean, because they've helped me get better at kayaking and never gave up on me, especially when I was learning to roll. They are always going paddling with fun people so I get to meet new people if I go along. Where would you most like to go to kayak? I would really like to go to the Ottawa River and other places in Canada because they look awesome and I've never been there before. What are your plans for 2012? Kayaking, kayaking, and more kayaking! I hope to take many weekend trips and do more exploring this year. I'd like to run some harder stuff like the Upper Yough.