Liquid Fusion Kayaking

Rough Water Safety

2012-02-10T08:38:00.000-08:00

When we were at the Lumpy Waters Symposium in Oregon, Jeff instructed a rough water safety class. Here's video with an interview with Jeff and some footage of the class.

Prevention, prevention, prevention is key!!!

Do It!!!

2012-01-13T07:00:00.001-08:00

If your new years resolutions are to get in shape, learn a new sport, improve your skills, or paddle more - let's do it!!! One of the best ways that we have found to stick to resolutions is to set a goal and to recruit a friend, training partner, or coach to work with you toward the goal.

Here are a couple of ideas for kayaking goals for 2012.

Make it FUN - What ever the goal or resolution. Find a way to make it fun and it will be more attainable. This is where recruiting a fun-loving friend, coworker, or family member will help.

Learn proper skills and technique. Some aspects of kayaking are intuitive; however, there are many nuances and tricks that one can learn that will make kayaking more efficient and more fun for paddlers of at any skills level. We (and many other instructors) often share tips on twitter, facebook, and in our blogs, but, the best way to develop proper technique is to work with an instructor or coach who can give instruction and feedback. Kayak symposiums are a great way to meet different coaches to find that right mentor. Two of our favorite west coast symposiums are the Golden Gate Sea Kayak Symposium in February and Lumpy Waters in October.

Try a new discipline of paddling. The skills that you learn with a different type of boat or paddle will improve your overall skills in all disciplines. If you like to paddle a sit on top kayak, take a sea kayak lesson in a decked sea kayak. If you like to sea kayak ocean rock gardens, try a whitewater river class or rock gardening in a whitewater kayak. Jeff and I are expanding our paddling skills this year to include Stand-Up Paddling (SUP).

Sea Kayaking - Pick a BCU Star Award to work toward. The BCU system is a well organized guide for skill progression. It gives a paddler a way to assess their skills and plan for improvement. Trainings and assessments are available throughout the US and in many other great kayaking destinations (Baja, anyone?). If you are new to the BCU, consider taking a 2 Star Assessment or 3 Star Sea Training this winter or spring. Here's a link to LFK's BCU schedule.
Whitewater River Kayaking - Make 2012 the year that you style the river rather than survive it. Perfect your eddy turns and ferries and dial your wave surfing by a few minutes of focused practice on each of your river trips. Either with a class or with friends, see who can ferry across the river with the fewest strokes or time each other on surfing waves.

Surf Kayaking - How about training for an event? The Santa Cruz Paddlefest is March 16-18. See some of the best kayak surfers in the world as well as have a chance to surf at Santa Cruz Steamer's Lane. Here's our video from 2011.

Have a Reliable Roll - For the safety of yourself and others, you need to have a reliable roll if you are paddling challenging waters. For most of us, this takes a lot of focused practice and often some good coaching. Often there is one little thing that we can do or focus on that will improve the success of our rolls. How do we find that one little thing? Usually it involves feedback from a coach or friend who analyzes your roll. That one little thing can be as simple as making sure you finish ( Creating a Reliable Roll by Phil and Mary Dereimer) or using an active leg drop (Shawna Franklin's tip in Adventure Kayak Magazine) or just relaxing and taking a moment to relax before rolling.

Improving your fitness - We of course advocate cross training. Cardiovascular training will make long paddles or slogs through a headwind easier. Hiking, mountain biking, and swimming are our favorite cardio exercises. Recruit a friend, family member, or coworker to power walk, hike, bike, or swim 2-3 days a week. Set a schedule with specific times and days and try to stick with it.

Strength and flexibility are equally important and will help with injury prevention. I am a reluctant yoga participant, but Jeff has been rallying me to regularly practice. We do our strength and flexibility workouts first thing in the morning so that they get done and we feel great the rest of the day. It is best to work with an instructor, but I have a hard time getting myself to the gym or studio and prefer to practice at home. My two favorite yoga workout dvd's are Yoga for Cyclists and Anna Levesque's Yoga for Kayaking.

Be prepared for emergencies - Prevention, prevention, prevention is our motto; however, it is important to be prepared for the unexpected. CPR and First Aid are a must for anyone. This year, we have recruited Sierra Rescue to come to the Mendocino Coast to teach a Wilderness First Aid Class for the outdoor enthusiasts in our area. If you are playing in whitewater, a swiftwater training is a must as well. If you have had training, rally your friends to practice scenarios and to maintain a dialog of contingency plans.

Part of our emergency preparations includes our OSB's (Oh Shit Bags). These are part of our kit on all kayaking trips and include essential first aid, communication, and repair materials.

Most important - DO IT and make it FUN!!!

2011

2011-12-31T05:19:00.000-08:00

Wow!!! What a year it has been with lots of fun adventures shared with lots of great folks. Thanks to all who came out and played with us in 2011.

We have reviewed our photo galleries and come up with our favorite photos of 2011. Here's a link to our 2011 gallery. Let us know what your favorites are and if we are missing any.

In my Woman on Water Blog, my summary of 2011 is titled "A Series of Unexpected Events." We definitely have some tricks up our gaskets for 2012 and are certain that some unexpected ones will occur.

Thanks for playing and we hope to see you on the water in 2012.

Christmas Bird Count

2011-12-18T16:23:00.000-08:00

For 112 years, bird enthusiasts have been participating in the Audubon's Christmas Bird Count. Last year was our first year participating as the Mendocino Coast Audubon Society organized a preliminary Fort Bragg Count. Of course we volunteered to count birds on the Noyo River which is only birdable by kayak. It was a fun challenge (link to our tale of last year's count).

This year our inland neighbors of Ukiah's Peregrine Audubon Society recruited us to kayak and count birds on the Russian River. We recruited our whitewater boating buddy and birder Jerry to join us as well as Geoff - a Ukiah area birder who helped us count on the Noyo last year.

Getting in the spirit of the season, we loaded up red and green whitewater kayaks. The red was an Eskimo Topo Duo which is a tandem whitewater kayak which Jeff would be paddling with Geoff in the front seat tallying the birds that we saw. The green was my Eskimo Kendo.

Of course, we truly felt the spirit of the season with frosty temperatures and ice in our boats as we met at the put-in at 7am.

We had never paddled this stretch of the Russian River and enjoyed the opportunity to enjoy its beauty. It was not an easy trip. It was a long day with 7 hours on the water which included picking our way through mazes of willows and strainers and portaging shallow areas to complete the 15.4 mile run. The water flow was only 167 cfs which was not particularly swift but the deeper water channels tended to be where the willows and alders grew and hung over the river making it potentially treacherous. Jeff of course makes it look easy as he maneuvers to avoid a strainer.

We were happy with our whitewater kayaks. Their flat bottoms take very little water to float, they are very maneuverable, and are narrow and low enough to squeeze through tight spots. In this photo, Jerry smiles for the camera as I squeeze through a tunnel of willows.

This wrapped raft shows the potential hazard of the willows and strainers of the run.

The character of the Russian River has changed over the years due to man's attempt to control her flow and meandering ways. In addition to identifying the birds that we saw, we tried to identify the hundreds of classic automobiles that form the banks of Russian.

We enjoyed the warmth of the sun but its position in the southern sky impeded our vision as we scanned for birds.

We didn't see any rare or unusual birds but enjoyed many of the common birds of the river including pairs of colorful wood ducks and lots of chattering kingfishers. The tandem kayak was key as it allowed Geoff to use his binoculars to get a good look at birds while Jeff held the boat in place. Jerry and I had a difficult time keeping our binoculars focused on a particular bird as the current pushed and spun our single kayaks.

It was fun to join up with the rest of the Ukiah area CBC participants at their evening compilation dinner. It was fun to share our results and tales of the day with the rest of the birders. It also made us a little bit bummed out that we will have to miss our local Fort Bragg CBC this year.

Out to Sea

2011-12-09T17:11:00.001-08:00

Just shy of her 100th birthday, Marion Osterloh made her final journey out to sea. Marian was an amazing woman - a teacher, actress, and writer. She taught for 27 years in the Chico area before retiring to the Mendocino Coast in the 70's. In 2003, she published a book Fate's a Fiddler about her life in Mexico City during and after the Mexican revolution. Marian was active in our local community and involved in many groups including Delta Kappa Gamma (an honorary service organization for women educators). I knew Marian through Delta Kappa Gamma.

Marian lived in a home on the bluffs above Seaside Beach. Marian's wishes were for her ashes to be taken out to sea off the coast of her Seaside home. Marian's good friend and fellow Delta Kappa Gamma member, Kathe, approached us about helping with Marian's last wishes.

Seaside beach is a beautiful county beach north of Fort Bragg. Occasionally we will see it in magazine and television ads. One of the beauties of Seaside Beach is its thunderous surf zone. Even with the calmest ocean conditions, there is always surf at Seaside. It is a surf zone that surfers want no part of and paddlers view with at with the upmost respect. We knew that it would have to be a small day to fulfill Marian's wishes.

On December 8, the day came. We had been having a stretch of uncommonly calm ocean conditions and the predictions were for another day of small seas. We loaded up the tandem sea kayaks and headed out. At Seaside, it was a gorgeous day - sunny, warm with thumping surf.

We got the tandem sea kayak to the water, and Jeff and Kathe headed out.

The local funeral home had packaged Marian's ashes in a biodegradable box specially for the occasion. Jeff helped Kathe secure the package in her lap as they prepared to launch into the surf zone.

Jeff coached Kathe on paddling through the surf zone. They would try to time their paddle-out to avoid waves breaking on top of them by waiting for lulls and hovering to let the waves break in front of them.

Kathe did great. Paddling or tucking as Jeff directed. As they made it through the first impact zone, a large set loomed on the horizon.

The virtues of speed and stability of our 18.5 foot tandem sea kayak were evident as Jeff and Kathe launched over waves. They reported being airbourne at least twice on their journey out to sea. They successfully made it past the surf zone and paddled about 500 yards offshore to put Marian's ashes to rest.

The return journey looked mellower for the most part with the exception of a tongue of a wave giving Kathe a saltwater facial.

Jeff and Kathe even surfed on their way back to shore.

Mission completed - feelings of exhilaration and relief swept over us as we felt the warmth of the sun and perhaps the tickle of Marian's laughter as she completed her on her final journey.

Rest in peace Marian.

LFK's Office Manager

2011-12-01T19:02:00.000-08:00

Meet Liquid Fusion Kayaking's office manager - Tom.

Bear gets a lot of glory being the shop manager and on-water dog instructor.

Tom wants you to know that a lot of behind the scenes work goes into operating a kayak business. It's not all fun and paddling - especially for the office manager. The home office of LFK is where most of the real work gets done.

One has to plan the curriculum for classes.

Do bookkeeping and website maintenance.

Inspect and take inventory of gear including kayaks.

Hunt for gophers and tend to the garden.

Of course, Tom's toughest job is managing personnel.

Tis the Season

2011-11-14T16:17:00.000-08:00

Planning for 2012 is well underway at LFK Headquarters.

Each year in November, we review our business plan and plan our upcoming year. For 2012 we are expanding some of our Mendocino Coast kayaking programs and creating new fun learning opportunities.

For 2012, we are excited to announce our Mendocino Waves and Caves Weekends. This weekend of rock gardening and sea cave kayaking fun is fashioned after the infamous Los Arboritos Whitewater Kayak Weekend that Jeff Laxier and Greg Knight used to lead for Aqua Adventures. Those that have paddled both Mendo and Arbo describe Mendo as "Arbo on steroids." Don't miss out - space is limited so register early to guarantee your spot.

Our Sunday Paddles are expanding for 2012 to include First Sunday Estuary Paddles, Second Sunday Sea Kayak Coastal Exploration, and Third Sunday Sea Kayak Rock Garden Exploration and Play. These paddles are guided by both Cate and Jeff and will run monthly April through September/October and are only $40/person.

In February, we are teaming up with Sierra Rescue to offer a Wilderness First Aid Course on the Mendocino Coast. Prevention, prevention, prevention is our motto, but it is good to know what to do when a medical emergency arises.

Whitewater river kayaking season is coming be sure to check out our line-up of whitewater kayaking classes for this winter on the rivers of Mendocino County.

Speaking of the season - give the gift of adventure this holiday season. We are offering special deals on Liquid Fusion Kayaking gift certificates for you to share with your family and friends. Choose from dry and mild or wet and wild or call us to make a custom gift certificate.

FUN, FUN, FUN - well all the computer and office time isn't so much fun, but we are very excited about sharing our 2012 adventures.

Mushroom Paddles

2011-11-02T14:29:00.000-07:00

They're HERE!!!

Our Mendocino mushroom season is in full swing just in time for the Mendocino Wine and Mushroom Festival.

Mendocino County is a hot spot for wild mushrooms. In the fall of 2007, a couple of our mountain biking friends gave the wild mushroom hunting bug to Jeff and I. We started learning the most common and easily identifiable choice edibles - hedgehogs and chantrelles.

In the fall of 2008, we were paddling the Noyo River and admiring the wild mushrooms when the idea of hosting mushroom paddles was born. We had been learning more about wild mushrooms by going on mushroom walks at the Mendocino Coast Botanical Gardens. We thought it would be fun to share our knowledge of mushrooms, kayaking, and the Noyo River.

We continued going on Mushroom walks and learning from our friends. For Christmas, Jeff got me David Arora's books Mushrooms Demystified and All that Rain Promises. I couldn't put the books down and ended up taking a semester course in at College of the Redwoods on Mushrooms of the North Coast. When mushroom season hits, our house became a science lab with counters and walls decorated with spore prints and drying samples. Most meals involve fresh mushrooms from the forest.
We are now heading into our 3rd fall of Mushroom Paddles on the Noyo River. We don't consider ourselves experts, but we sure do know a lot about our local wild mushrooms. Our tours have evolved into an on land mushroom ecology and identification lesson followed by a paddle on the river looking for wild mushrooms and enjoying fall scenery and migratory birds.

Each year has show us different weather patterns and different mushrooms on the Noyo. What mushrooms will we find on the river this year? Mushroom Paddles are November 5,6, and 12 so we will soon see.

Lumpy Waters 2011

2011-10-24T08:03:00.000-07:00

In the summer of 2010, the Lumpy Waters Symposium blipped on our radar. It is a kayak symposium on the Oregon Coast that features kayak instruction in surf and rock gardens. In 2010, we had already committed to going to the Traditional Arctic Kayak Symposium in Trinidad but penciled it onto our calendar for 2011.

This year at the Golden Gate Sea Kayak Symposium, Jeff coached with many of the Lumpy Waters coaches. We were stoked to be invited to come.

It was a super fun event. The weather and coastal conditions were ideal for lumpy waters - some surf and some wind.

The gathering of paddlers was ideal too - instructors who like to paddle and teach in rough water, surf zones, and rock gardens, and students who are willing to take some lumps and learn to paddle in these conditions.

It was a pleasure to work with top instructors. We enjoyed teaming with them to give the students the best possible learning experience. Courses that we taught included short boat surfing, rough water rescues, rock garden safety and rescue, advanced rock gardens and caving, and fun and feedback (sea kayaks in the surf).

The enthusiasm of the students, the camradery of the coaches and sharing our love of surf and rock garden paddling was invigorating. Huge kudos to Paul Kuthe and the crew from Alder Creek for putting together a great event. We are looking forward to next year but before that the Golden Gate Sea Kayak Symposium in February 2012.

Here's a link to Neil Shuman's photos of Lumpy Waters and a link to my photos from Rock Garden Safety and Rescue.

Lost and Found

2011-10-03T07:39:00.000-07:00

The Lost Coast is a rugged wilderness stretch of California's coastline. It is so rugged that California's Coastal Highway 1 bypasses it. Many travel from all over to backpack into its remote wilderness and to admire its dramatic scenery of sheer coastal cliffs, black sand beaches, old growth Douglas Fir trees, groves of Redwoods and SURF.

Clear days on the Mendocino Coast afford us views of the Lost Coast where the steep mountains meet the sea. Each time we drive north on Highway 1 before the road diverts inland, we pull over to admire this stretch of coastline and dream of exploring it. Our friend Hawk Martin of Humboats in Eureka has views of the northern portion of the Lost Coast from his home waters in Humboldt County. Many discussions have occurred among the 3 of us about sea kayaking and exploring along the the Lost Coast.

This fall we found ourselves carving out some time for a trip to the Lost Coast. This was a challenge as we work hard to keep our heads above water in a struggling economy. Days off mean no income. But days off also mean rejuvenation. This particular trip will also lead to more trips and possibly guided trips of the Lost Coast with Liquid Fusion Kayaking and Humboats.

Stay tuned for our photo gallery and more about our hiking and sea kayak exploration of the Lost Coast (no mountain biking on this trip - darn guess that we have to go back).

Coastal Cleanup Day

2011-09-19T06:36:00.000-07:00

The sun shone on us again for California Coastal Cleanup Day.

This was our 3rd year organizing an on-water cleanup of the Noyo River Estuary and Harbor. We had a great turn-out with 11 paddlers on the water and 5 rowers.

As usual, Jeff paddled the wood duck and towed a kayak garbage barge for us to empty into when our bags an boats got too heavy.

It was also great to have members of the Lost Coast Chapter of the Traditional Small Craft Association helping with the pick up too. Jim and Stan both rowed and towed garbage barges behind their craft and hauled a lot of the big stuff that didn't fit into our kayaks.

Jerry paddled a double kayak so that he could get some of the bigger items - a chimney pipe and a rusty old bicycle made it into his boat.

I don't have any photos but June hauled a microwave out of the muck which sat between my legs in the double that I was paddling.

It was a great day all around. The weather was perfect and we enjoyed company as we picked up trash. The good news is that there was less trash on the river than in the previous 2 years. We filled our dumpster but did not overflow it like last year.

Less trash meant for a speedy pick up and more time to enjoy a potluck BBQ at LFK Headquarters on the Noyo afterward. We will be adding this to our regular CA Coastal Cleanup Day routine. Mark you calendars for September 15, 2012.

Fall Kayaking on the Mendocino Coast

2011-09-12T09:17:00.000-07:00

The calendar doesn't say fall yet, but fall is practically here. On the Mendocino Coast, we generally get some of our best weather and ocean kayaking conditions in the fall which makes for great coastal exploration via sea kayak. In the summer months, we avoid kayaking into many of the sea caves to avoid disturbing nesting birds; however, the pelagic cormorants and pigeon guillemots have fledged from their nests around the cliffs and sea caves making them now accessible. Combined with calm ocean conditions and mild weather, fall is a perfect time to sea kayak on the Mendocino Coast.

We are transitioning to our fall/winter hours. In the fall and winter, reservations are necessary for all of our rentals, tours, classes, and lessons. Give us a ring. If you get our voicemail, please leave us a message. We will return your call and happily accommodate your interest in paddling with us. In the fall and winter months, we aren't in the office or at the shop as much. These are our training months where we refine our skills and explore new areas on the Mendocino Coast and beyond to include in our trips and classes (We know - its a tough job, but someone has to do it).

We are really excited about the positive momentum that continues to build for Liquid Fusion Kayaking. Recently we were mentioned in an article in the NY Times titled 36 hours on the Mendocino Coast. We also have been getting some great reviews on Trip Advisor and Yelp. Most exciting for us though, is YOU - checking out our website, reading our blog, following LFK on facebook, coming paddling with us, and sending your friends our way. Whether you enjoy our mild or wild side, we are stoked to share it with you on and off the water.

This fall, we are looking forward to helping sea kayakers develop their skills and earn their BCU Star Awards. If you are interested in developing a solid foundation of skills, be sure to check out our BCU Trainings and Assessmen ts.

In October, we will be loading up our truck with sea, whitewater, and surf kayaks to paddle and play in the surf and rock gardens of the Oregon Coast at the Lumpy Water s Symposium.

Don't worry though, we won't be gone for long as mushroom season will be upon us. In November, we will be having our Mushroom Paddles and sharing our knowledge of the fungi of our Mendocino coniferous rain forests. We have started doing our rain dances and are hoping for a bountiful year.

We are planning some exciting new programs for 2012 including sea, river, and surf kayaking instruction and tours. If you would like to be among the first to know about our new doings, contact us to be added to our email list.

August?!?

2011-08-10T07:46:00.000-07:00

We can't believe it is the 10th of August already. Where did July go?

I guess time flies when you are having fun, and we sure have been having fun. Here's what we've been up to -

Kayaking - our tracks to kayaks trips with the Skunk Train have been a lot of fun. Here's a review on trip advisor that one of our recent participants wrote. We also have been sharing the magic of the wildlife and peaceful beauty with visitors on our Noyo Mean ders and Sunset Bird Paddles.

We've also had some fun in the ocean with our whitewater of the sea trips and a little fun surfing some handmade wooden strip built sea kayaks. (Here's a link to photos on our facebook page of our evening at Chicken Point with these beauties).

Wildlife watching - Definitely a highlight of the summer has been all the Pacific Pond Turtles on the Noyo.

We've also been watching lots of baby birds who have just fledged (left the nest) on the Noyo River. Kingfishers in particular have been particularly active.

Exciting news is that yesterday the green heron pair across the river from our deck fledged 4 young. We are looking forward to watching them explore and learn the ways of the world over the next couple of days.

I have become quite enamored with "Hairy" a gartersnake who likes to lie in a crack in our deck and pop his head up and see what's going on - like a spy cam.

We are also having fun planning our fall line-up of classes and adventures. We just sent out our newsletter for fall. If you didn't receive it and would like to, call or email us so that we can put you on our email list for our quarterly newsletters.

Kayak Golf

2011-07-11T11:56:00.000-07:00

Fort Bragg, California has a Disc Golf Course so why not a Kayak Golf Course?

We were looking for some new kayak games and stumbled upon the WaterRipper. The WaterRipper is a ball designed for water play. On the WaterRipper website, there are lots of game ideas including kayak golf. Of course, we had to give it a try.

Using Chuckits, WaterRippers and all sorts of kayaks, we started messing around. So far, we have 4 holes on the Noyo River. Most of our holes are actually buoys, but we are working on some holes.

We are still working on developing our course and technique. Stop by and play a round.

Sunny, Happy Days

2011-07-06T07:42:00.001-07:00

We have been having the most amazing weather on the Mendocino Coast. Coastal conditions have been a little rough, but the weather on the Noyo River couldn't be much better - sunny, warm, with intermittent light breezes.

Fourth of July weekend is traditionally foggy on the Mendocino Coast. We usually get teaser bits of sunshine as the fog rolls in and out. I have heard that this was the case in some areas along the coast but all that we saw was SUNSHINE!

The sunshine of course motivates many to come kayaking. It was fun to share the sunny weather and a variety of adventures with both visitors and locals. We had many first time kayakers taking their first paddle strokes and enjoying the sheltered waters of the Noyo River.

On our Noyo River kayak tours, we were treated to wildlife sightings that included a newly fledged kestrel, harbor seals, osprey, nesting swallows, black-crowned night herons, deer, and even an otter made an appearance.

Many of our renters who meandered up the river got to see Pacific Pond Turtles basking in the sunshine.

For those that wanted a bit more adventure, we had a fun time sharing our Whitewater of the Sea kayaking adventure.

Word is that the long range forecast is more of the same . . .

Birding by Kayak

2011-06-28T16:16:00.000-07:00

On June 25, Liquid Fusion Kayaking and the Mendocino Coast Audubon Society (MCAS) teamed up to offer a birding by kayak trip on the Noyo River.

It turned out to be a fantastic day - warm and sunny with a great group of folks and lots of bird activity. Late spring/early summer is one of our favorite times of the year for birding because of all the nesting and breeding activity.

On our kayak birding trip, we were treated to lots of singing as well as observing some newly fledged belted kingfishers, common merganser ducklings, and an active osprey nest.

For those that missed the trip or those who can't wait until next year to do the trip again, stop by and bird with us from our deck over the Noyo River at Dolphin Isle Marina. Lately we have been enjoying Downy Woodpeckers, Chestnut-backed Chickadees, Anna's Hummingbirds, Wilson's Warblers, and Black-headed Grosbeaks in the alder tree over our deck. Or get out on the water and bird on one of our kayak tours or on one of our rental kayak s.

You can also check out our facebook page and our blog about birds and wildlife that we are seeing from our kayaks on the Noyo River and other Mendocino County waters including sea kayak trips in the ocean and whitewater trips on Rancheria Creek and the Russian and Eel Rivers.

Here is a link to our photo gallery from the day and a list of bird species from our trip (please comment if I missed any): Pelagic Cormorant, Double Crested Cormorant, Black-crowned Night Heron (juvenile), Green Heron, Great Blue Heron, Canada Goose, Mallard, Common Merganser, Red-shouldered Hawk, Osprey, Western Gull, Mourning Dove, Band-tailed Pigeon, Stellar's Jay, Anna's Hummingbird, Acorn Woodpecker, Belted Kingfisher, Violet-green Swallow, Barn Swallow, Cliff Swallow, Rough-legged Swallow, Pacific-slope Flycatcher, Western Wood-Peewee, Black Phoebe, Chestnut-backed Chickadee, Black-headed Grosbeak, Swainson's Thrush, Orange-crowned Warbler, Wilson's Warbler, House Finch, Purple Finch, Goldfinch, and Western Tanager.

Tour de Mendo - June 2011

2011-06-19T19:56:00.000-07:00

We love running Tour de Mendo trips. Each trip is different with different venues and different paddlers. The primary goal of the Tour de Mendo is to explore and play in kayaks along the Mendocino Coast - FUN, FUN, FUN!!!

Our most recent group of paddlers came from San Diego, Orange County, and LA. Of the 6 paddlers, only one had paddled the Mendocino Coast before with us so Day 1 was an instructional tour day. We launched from Liquid Fusion Kayaking headquarters on the Noyo River and headed out to the coast. Once in the ocean, we started with teaching (reviewing for some) the basics of kayaking in ocean rock gardens including safety and play.

And of course enjoyed lunch on a beach.

And lots of rock garden play.

Day 2 was a paddle out of Russian Gulch. This is probably one of the most spectacular stretches of the Mendocino Coast to explore by sea kayak. We explored many of the sea caves, tunnels, arches, and hidden coves as we paddled north to the Point Cabrillo Lighthouse.

It was an outstanding day with lots of wonder and awe as well as lots of play. Everyone's highlight of the day was negotiating some technical routes that through rock gardens with chaotic waters. It is super fun to lead a group of skilled paddlers through these tight, technical passages.

This year it was fun to have the group staying in the vacation rental at Dolphin Isle. It is a great space for a group of paddlers. A large private deck is perfect for drying gear and the location is within 50 yards of LFK headquarters.

It was also a great staging point for food preparation for an evening potluck and campfire at LFK.

We had a very special trip in mind for Day 3. It is definitely off the beaten paddle, and we were looking forward to having a group with the skills to share it with. However, the Fog Bug that has been plaguing our cameras decided to envelope us for the day. We shifted gears and decided to go paddle and play on the Noyo River.

It was a nice relaxing rest day for the group followed by our Eel River Paddle to the Sea presentation at Silver's at the Wharf.

We had been having unseasonably calm conditions. Wind and rough seas are typical for June so we were fortunate to have had a couple of calm days with small swells. Day 4 was more typical of spring paddling on the Mendocino Coast. The wind and the seas had kicked up. We enjoyed some really fun technical meandering along the Fort Bragg Coastline with a little bit of rock gardening and surfing play.

We returned to the Noyo Beach for some play in short boats (whitewater kayaks). This was an introduction to some members of the group and conditions had picked up so we kept things on the mellow side.

The Tour de Mendo is one of our favorite trips to guide. It is fun to share our backyard with a group of competent sea kayakers. This trip was special because it was the first one that Jeff and I got to guide together. We are looking forward to guiding more Tour de Mendo's together (If you want to join us, we have a couple of spaces left on our September Tour de Mendo's and offer custom/private trips).

Here is a link to our photo gallery from the trip.

Kayaking Sea Caves

2011-06-16T07:32:00.001-07:00

We get a lot of questions about kayaking in the Mendocino sea caves. Lately, we have gotten a few requests for knock your socks off photos of kayaking in Mendocino sea caves. I realized how few quality sea cave photos we had.

Part of the problem is our limitations shooting good photos in the lighting of sea caves. The low lighting and contrast of bright and dark are very hard to capture well with our waterproof point and shoot cameras. Also, the reflective tape of most sea kayakers' lifejackets and paddling gear reflects the flash. Many of our photos end up grainy or with freakish streaks in them.

If you have any tips for shooting in these conditions, please share them with us.

Wildlife Viewing by Kayak

2011-06-09T06:48:00.000-07:00

It is a great time to be on the Mendocino Coast. The wildflowers are blooming and the birds are singing. Of course we are biased, but we think it is a great time to be kayaking too.

The wildlife on the Noyo River has been quite busy. We are seeing birds carrying nesting material, feeding, hunting, caring for young, and even some mating. The turtles have been out sunning themselves on logs. There is a lot to see from shore and from our deck but to see it from the water is a whole different perspective.

Much of the habitat of the Noyo River is riparian meaning alongside a river. Riparian habitats tend to be rich wildlife zones. The vegetation of a riparian habitat is often dense so sometimes the best way to see it is to see if from the water. Here's a black crowned night heron tucked away in a fir tree along the river.

Everyone comments how they see things differently from the seat of a kayak on the water. It truly is a different perspective on the landscape. The wildlife often views us differently as well. They can feel threatened by us if we approach them. But if we exercise care by going slow, paddling parallel and avoiding looking directly at them, they are content to watch us paddle by. (Harbor seals in the water are a different story as they seem to like to follow us around).

Our Tracks to Kayaks Trip has been regularly seeing turtles.

Our Sunset Bird Paddles this week have been just spectacular. The evening lighting has been ethereal and everyone has enjoyed mellow meanders with lots of wildlife displays. We have had many first timers out that have become hooked on kayaking.

On last night's paddle we saw at least 3 green herons. We've been regularly seeing an adult across from our deck and suspect that there is a nest across from us in the thick vegetation. The green heron continues to be one of my all time favorite birds as it is the one that captured my interest in birding.

We haven't seen any fawns yet but expect to start seeing them soon. We had a pair of deer swim across the river in front of a family who had rented kayaks from us. They were so surprised. This photo is taken from our deck where the deer often swim across the river.

The 5 osprey nests within a 1/2 mile of our shop at Dolphin Isle have been very active. We are optimistic that we are going to be watching quite a few young ospreys in a couple of weeks.

It is definitely a busy time of the year. We hope that you get outside to enjoy it.

Black Oystercatcher Survey

2011-06-04T07:08:00.001-07:00

It was raining so we took Friday afternoon off to help out the Audubon Society with a black oystercatcher survey. I guess most people take a sunny afternoon off to go to the beach or something, but we live life a little out of the box.

The black oystercatcher is a species of concern. They are coastal birds that are almost prehistoric looking with their jet black bodies and bright red bills, pink legs, and glowing yellow eyes. They live on coastal rocks and feed on mollusks like mussels. With lots of rocky reefs and coastal rocks, the Mendocino Coast is a prime habitat for them. The California Audubon Society decided to organize a citizens in science project to survey the oystercatchers with special attention paid to nesting behaviors.

Of course kayaking is our favorite way to explore coastal rocks so we loaded up our sea kayaks and took them to Noyo Beach. Our survey area was Noyo Bay and the area just to the north and south to the southern headlands of Hare Creek. We had unbelievably calm ocean conditions. It was fun to meander through the rocky passages that are often inaccessible due to waves exploding through them. We had binoculars, our waterproof tablets, waterproof camera, and GPS.

We found 4 nesting pairs of oystercatchers in our survey. We knew of 2 of the pairs from watching them over previous years. We also saw quite a few Western gulls and pelagic cormorants sitting on nests in our survey area. We saw a common raven nest with 3 young as well as a couple of common ravens raid a couple of cormorant nests. The ravens swooped in and scared the brooding parent off the nest and rifled through the contents of the nest.

We haven't been out in our sea kayaks much so this was a great way to get some of the rust off our long boat skills before our June Tour de Mendo. We used our greenland paddles because they are stealthy and quiet for wildlife watching. Of course we had to surf a couple of waves at Hare Creek and ride a couple of pour-overs and slots. I took advantage of the south swell for a fantastic ride over a wash rock with a gorgeous cascading backside (Of course - Jeff didn't have a camera). Here's Jeff coming over Nick's Nightmare.

And Jeff blasting through Angie's Angst.

After our paddle, we drove up to Pomo Bluffs with our spotting scope to scope out several of the nests that we had seen. From on top of the headlands, we had a better vantage point to see the oystercatchers in their nests.

The Mendocino Coast Audubon had local birders covering most of the coastline during the 4 day survey period. It is great to see people rally to help out with these citizen science projects. We were happy to be able to help out with a portion.

7 Days a Week

2011-05-30T06:20:00.000-07:00

Memorial Day Weekend kicks off our summer season. This Memorial Day Weekend was gorgeous. Saturday morning's rain was beautiful, and there was lots of wildlife activity on the Noyo River. Sunday was warm and sunny. We could see the trees blowing sideways up on the ridges, but our paddlers were happy to enjoy the protected waters on the Noyo.

We had many first timers who now are hooked on kayaking. Maybe we should put a disclaimer in our waiver forms that kayaking may become addictive.

Everyone marveled at the beauty of the river.

Our shop at Dolphin Isle Marina in Fort Bragg will be open daily from now through Labor Day with a couple of exceptions. Being a 2 person operation has its benefits and limitations. Our paddlers get personalized service from us, but there are occasions when we can't be in two places at once. Be sure to call us for reservations to guarantee we have availability.

Our weekend hours are 9-6 and weekday hours 11-6. For those that want to get a paddle in outside of our business hours, call us to make reservations for a morning tour or rental or join us on our evening wildlife watching tour - LFK's Sunset Bird Paddle.

Where's Squeaky?

2011-05-26T08:28:00.000-07:00

Missing - a very handsome male harlequin duck. When he walks, he favors his left leg. Here's a photo of him.

He was last seen in April 15 (maybe he is fleeing the IRS) in the Noyo River near Fort Bragg, CA with a flock of mallards.

Squeaky is an odd duck that we have been watching for the past 4 years. We nicknamed him Squeaky because his calls sound like someone squeezing a rubber ducky. We suspect that he migrated north but who knows where he travels on his jaunts away from the Noyo.

We hope that he migrated north and found a mate and will return at the end of the breeding season. However with Squeaky, one never knows. Keep an eye out for him and let us know if you see him.

Low Water Run on the Eel

2011-05-18T08:18:00.000-07:00

The TO-DO list is huge at the moment as we get ready for Fort Bragg and Mendocino's summer visitors. But after spending a rainy Monday in the office, we had to get out and paddle.

Of course an inch or more of rain in Mendocino County often means WHITEWATER!!! So we packed up our whitewater kayaks and headed to the Eel River for what would probably be our last run on the Eel until next winter.

In winter in Mendocino County, the ground is usually very saturated with water. When we get a couple of inches of rain, a lot of it runs-off quickly into our local rivers. However, after having a couple of dry weeks in the spring, the vegetation and ground are thirsty and soak up spring rain showers. This results in less flow in the river than we would anticipate in the winter.

When we got to the put-in, the water level was very low - just runnable. It was fun to see the river at this level. The flow was slow so there was plenty of time to make moves as long as you weren't trying to dig your paddle into rocks. There wasn't quite enough water in the eddies to get a good purchase with a paddle to use the eddy to feed onto a surf wave. The guys definitely tried resulting in lots of clunking sounds of paddles on rocks, but they were successful and caught a few good waves.

I sat back and took photos and video of their antics as I enjoyed the greenery of spring and the intermittent showers. It was very exciting to see a wood duck with her brood of 11 ducklings (unfortunately I had technical issues with my camera and missed the shot).

A couple of the rapids were really boney at low water and others were really fun. My favorite was the trailer rapid which at normal flows is fast and furious with a couple of nasty hydraulics to avoid. At low water, the characteristic jumble of split rocks at the bottom was visible but was otherwise a completely different rapid. Where the nasty hydraulics usually churn were giant eddies. Instead of taking the freeway line past these monsters, we could zig-zag and eddy-hop along as we negotiated the elevation drop.

Maybe we will get another good spring rain for some more local whitewater boating, but if not we won't be kicking ourselves for missing the last run on the Eel of the year.

Teaching Kayaking on the Mendocino Coast

2011-05-15T14:41:00.000-07:00

From the classroom of College of the Redwoods to the protected waters of the Noyo River Estuary to the surf zone and rock gardens of the Mendocino Coast, Liquid Fusion Kayaking had a fun-filled weekend of teaching kayaking.

Jeff teamed up with the local unit of the Coast Guard Auxillary to offer a Paddlesmart class.

Cate was on the water teaching Essential Kayak Skills and Safety & Rescue in sea kayaks.

On Sunday, both teamed up for some surf zone teaching and play.

It is exciting sharing our love of the water and teaching the skills to make paddling more fun and safe. We love those "ahhh-haaaa" moments when our students develop new paddling skills or execute more challenging ones.

We are really excited about our teaching program gaining momentum. Check out our calendar for upcoming classes which include Kayak Surfing, Sea Kayak Rock Gardening, and Essential Kayak Skills. We also are so lucky to be able to use the beautiful swimming pool at the CV Starr Center in Fort Bragg for our private rolling lessons.

What's in the WATER?

2011-05-09T07:28:00.000-07:00

Spring has sprung on the Mendocino Coast. Last week, we enjoyed some very warm sunny days - shorts and tee-shirts for us in Fort Bragg!!!

The wildlife activity has been phenomenal. Jeff and I have had a hard time getting things done at our shop on the Noyo River because of all the busyness of the wildlife. Of most interest - What's in the WATER?

Deer -Did you know that deer are very proficient swimmers? We regularly see them swim across the Noyo River. On Saturday, this one swam across right in front of our deck. A pair swam across the river further up in front of a couple of our kayak renters.

Deer use their swimming skills for numerous reasons. These deer were swimming to cross the river to graze on the other side. Another reason that deer swim in salt water is to help with controlling fleas, ticks, and lice. Deer are also know to swim out to rocky islands to escape predators.

Whales - We saw several Pacific Gray Whales yesterday as we were paddling along the coastline of Mackerricher State Park. It is an amazing experience to see these giants surfacing and breaching in the swells as you paddle by. We didn't get any photos or videos but here is a link to a video from the weekend that our friend Michael took in Trinidad Bay (which is 3 hours north of us).

Ducklings and Goslings - We've been seeing lots of ducklings and goslings. Although, we aren't super excited that the Canada Geese nest here, their little ones sure are cute. My favorite ducklings are the common mergansers'. We haven't seen any yet but are optimistic that we will see them soon. These tiny little mallards are newly hatched.

Harbor Seals - many of our harbor seals have had their pups. Usually these little ones are sleeping on our off-shore rocky reefs this time of the year. We caught a glimpse of a few yesterday but stay away to avoid scaring them and to allow them to rest and gain weight.

Fish -We've been seeing lots of small fingerling size fish which means food for the local piscivores. River otters, harbor seals, osprey, cormorants, kingfishers, and herons have all been actively fishing.

Kayaks - Its a great time of the year to paddle and enjoy the warmth and energy of spring. When the winds make the ocean not so fun, the Noyo River is protected from the wind and is just delightful.

Of course what's been in the AIR and TREES too has been fascinating with lots of springtime bird activity. Their colorful breeding plummage and singing makes our sunny days sparkle.

Middle Fork of the Eel River

2011-05-07T17:53:00.000-07:00

Our Mountains to the Sea Paddle went too quickly and we weren't ready to head home yet. A detour on the way back to Fort Bragg to visit some good friends in Round Valley and the Middle Fork of the Eel River beckoned us.

The Middle Fork of the Eel River has been a whitewater kayaking destination of ours since last spring. Our friends had told us about it and I was curious about it after reading The River Stops Here - a fascinating tale of water history and politics.

Located in northeastern Mendocino County, the Middle Fork is the largest tributary of the Eel River. It drains the Yollo Bolly Mountains of Mendocino National Forest. This huge drainage flows mightily after rain storms but also flows a good bit of the spring due to snow melt.

Typically paddlers will do the 32 mile Middle Fork of the Eel River as an overnight trip. The first 24 miles is rated class II. The last 8 miles has rapids that range from class III to V depending upon the flow. With a fast current of 3500 cfs and the option to pull-out at mile 26, we decided to do the run in a day.

The evening before our run, our friend offered to show us the river from the air in his Cessna. What a treat!!!

From the air, he pointed out highlights and landmarks of the river as well as insight into the wildlife that we might see.

Our day paddling the Middle Fork was spectacular. Lots of snow melt water kept us moving along in the flat stretches and made for some boiling eddylines. The rocky gorge was one of our favorite sections with fun wave trains.

The scenery was gorgeous with all the wildflowers and greenery of spring and intriguing with a few unexpected sights like this wrapped canoe.

We got to see lots of wildlife including several bears, a mamma bear and her 2 cubs, a coyote, wild pigs, wild horses, black-tailed deer, kestrels, and hawks. We couldn't believe how big some of the deer were. Of course, I enjoyed the common mergansers swimming in the class II rapids and was really excited to see a double-crested cormorant swimming and diving in a rapid.

It was a long day on the water. One of the highlights of the paddle was the Class IV rapid that we encountered before taking out. The rapid is called Skinny Chutes and was anything but skinny at this flow. It looked very different from the photos that we saw on CA Creeks.

It was a challenging rapid with moves to make and hazards to avoid. We scouted it and enjoyed running it (read my account of it on my woman on water blog). The trip took us exactly the 6 hours that we had estimated. Just as we were pulling off our paddling clothes and enjoying a TOB, our friend's mom arrived to pick us up.

Another GREAT day on the Eel River.

From the Mountains to the Sea

2011-04-26T08:49:00.000-07:00

We did it!!! From the mountains to the sea via the Eel River.

169 miles in 8 days in whitewater kayaks - 5 days of class II-IV whitewater and 3 days of class I.

It was a beautiful journey in the wilderness with lots of great wildlife sightings and FUN whitewater kayaking.

Stay tuned for photos and tales of the trip.

The Adventure has Begun . . .

2011-04-19T11:02:00.000-07:00

Paddle to the Sea

Our Eel River Expedition has begun. We are paddling the main fork of the Eel River from the its beginning whitewater stretches to the Pacific Ocean.

Yesterday, we began by paddling Pillsbury to Hearst.

Today we are at our friends house staging for the rest of our journey. We got some great photos yesterday which we will be posting with a full write up of the adventure when we return.

When will we return? We are estimating that the trip will take us from 7-14 days.

After today, we will be in the wilderness without phone or internet communication. Keep us in your thoughts and prayers. We look forward to sharing photos and stories of our adventure when we return.

For now - we are off to paddle to the sea.

Cache Creek Wilderness Run

2011-04-03T11:59:00.000-07:00

For the first time in 4 years, the Cache Creek Wilderness Run has been predictably running at a level that is fun for a day trip. When one of our paddling friends emailed about doing it on a day our calendar was clear, we jumped on the opportunity.

Clear Lake is over its capacity so they have been releasing over 3,000 cfs from the dam for the past week. Combined with flow from the North Fork, we estimated that our flow was approximately 3800 cfs.

As we met at the put-in, what to wear was the debate of the day. Being that we were embarking on an 18 mile wilderness run that hasn't been run (to our knowledge) in several years and that only 2 of the 4 of us had run it over 4 years ago, we weren't sure what to expect. Down trees and landslides can occur and greatly change the character of a run. We knew the flow was going to be swift with the dam release and looking at the flow coming down the creek at the take-out. Prudence would have us dressing for the worst case scenario and potential immersion. Most of the group opted for drysuits, but I went with my drytop and farmer jane. Eighty degrees and sunny are not my usual boating conditions so if I got hot, I wanted to be able to get wet.

This run is described as a class II(III) by American Whitewater and California Creeks. It is fun to look at the photos on the CA Creeks site which are at low water and over 3000 cfs lower than what we were running it. During our run, the "Big Rock" in Bill Tuthill's CA Creeks write-up was not visible creating a pour-over and large hydraulic.

As we launched, we were apprehensive about the possibility of down trees and strainer hazards in the muddy waters. The flow on the North Fork moved us along at a comfortable pace as we cautiously boat scouted blind turns and brushy channels.

We enjoyed the sweet sounds of western meadow larks singing and a slight warm breeze that rippled through the budding willows and alders. The landscape of steep open hillsides was quite different from the mossy forests of our typical Mendocino County wilderness runs.

Evidence of volcanic activity was evident in the geology. At one point, the creek cut through a bank of ashfall.

As we bobbed along the North Fork, we continuously scanned the trees and skies for bald eagles. We saw 2 driving to the put-in and hoped to see some more. At one point, the creek bank was not the usual rocks and trees but was built of old automobiles. The vegetation has grown around and through the cars. It is novel, but probably not the most environmentally conscious way for the property owner to stabilize the creek bank.

The character of the run changed significantly when we hit the main branch of Cache Creek (changed to the tune of about 3500 more cfs). The creek was definitely moving along at a good clip and above its regular channel and flowing through the trees and brush at its edges. Few eddies existed along its edges as did opportunities for landing. There was quite a bit of squirrelly water where water flowed over submerged rocks and where channels converged. The squirrelly waters of one of these convergences grabbed one of my edges and gave me a quick dunk.

All 4 of us enjoyed watching for birds. A pair of accipters had us debating between cooper's or sharp shinned hawks. We were delighted with siting of over 1/2 dozen bald eagles (like the photograph below, some were juveniles and weren't so bald).

The highlight of the day was seeing a bear and her cub. Unfortunately, I don't think that we were the highlight of their day as they appeared alarmed by our presence and galloped up the hillside.

The rapids on the run were quite rapid. The bigger ones were mostly giant wave trains with an occasional hydraulic to keep one on their toes. At this flow, we were flying along but one would expect that some might be fun to play on at a lower flow.

Not many wave surfing opportunities. Jeff happened to catch a photo of this wave as we breezed past it.

Knowing that it was an 18 mile run and not knowing what hazards we would come across on the river, we had expected it to be a long paddle. It ended up being the fastest 18 miles any of us had done on a river - we did it in 3 1/2 hours with a lunch break and a stretch break.

They are still releasing 3000 cfs from Clear Lake into Cache Creek and it is still runnable. A boating buddy of ours asked if we wanted to run it with him this week - we declined. We had a great day on the river and enjoyed the run but are looking forward to exploring some other local runs.

Santa Cruz Kayak Surf Contest 2011

2011-03-24T11:25:00.000-07:00

"Should have been here yesterday," was the quote of the day on Friday at Steamer's Lane in Santa Cruz, California as paddlers gathered for the 25th Santa Cruz Kayak Surf Contest.

Fortunately, we were there and enjoyed a beautiful sunny surf session on Thursday. After our surf session on Thursday, we went to the contest check in and pre-event party at Adventure Sports. Spirits were high as event participants enjoyed live music, bbq, and socializing. It was fun to see familiar faces and to meet other surf paddling enthusiasts.

Friday morning, we awoke to stormy conditions. The wind was blowing 20-30kts with stronger gusts, swell size was considerable, and it was raining sideways. Spectators were treated to the rain blowing right at them, and the competitors were treated to the wind blowing them off the waves and even sometimes toward the cliffs.

Jeff was competing in the high performance men's division in a field of 27 kayak surfers from around the world. Surfing Steamer's Lane is usually a treat but this weekend it was gnarly and bordered on dangerous for all but the most skilled paddlers.

On Saturday, many of the competitors couldn't successfully launch off the beach where an unofficial contest for best beat-down occurred. The participants who did make it off the beach had an arduous paddle out against the wind to get to their heat. Between conditions at the beach and the wind, many did not make it to their heats. Those who did make their heats were trying to catch the outer edges of the break and avoid carnage. I took a look at the conditions and didn't even suit up for battle - my story is on my woman on water blog titled "Skunked."

Despite the poor conditions there was some spectacular kayak surfing. The hull speed of the international class boats gave some of the best rides of the weekend. Photographing and videoing the event was a challenge with wind and rain driving right into the lenses. Of course Dominick LeMarie managed to get great shots as well as our fellow Bay Area Sea Kayaker Anders Landin. (Jeff is in Friday's photo sequences of Dominck's # 113-133 and Anders from #179-197).

Here is one of Anders' photos of Jeff -

Jeff commented that he was mostly in survival mode out there; however, he did manage to surf some waves and score points. He placed 14th which is quite respectable in the world class field of the men's high performance category.

Here's a YouTube Video of our footage from the event.

Whales, Waves, Whitewater and Wind

2011-03-05T06:49:00.000-08:00

Whales, waves, whitewater, and wind - sounds like March in Mendocino County.

The Pacific Gray Whales are migrating along the coast of California back to northern waters. They are returning from calving or mating in the lagoons and waters of Baja. We enjoyed a spectacular southerly migration in January and enjoyed regularly seeing several in February who appeared to be hanging out here. Just last week, we started noticing pods moving northward.

It is estimated that between 18,000 and 23,000 Pacific Gray Whales pass by the towns of Fort Bragg and Mendocino on their migration. Wow!!! That's a lot of whales!!! No wonder our area celebrates their migration each year with whale festivals.

We enjoy watching them from land and from sea. Of course a kayak is our favorite place to see them; however, waves, whitewater, and wind often have us playing elsewhere. The Point Cabrillo Lighthouse, Todd's Point, and Mackerricher State Park are our favorite terrestrial viewing points.

Speaking of waves, wind, and whitewater. Our coastal winds are supposed to settle down this afternoon, and we are hoping to find some surf. February had us in our sea kayaks a little more than usual, and we are feeling a little rusty in our surf kayaks. Regardless of whales, waves, whitewater, or wind, we need to get the rust-out and ready for the upcoming 25th annual Santa Cruz PaddleFest. If you are interested in kayak surfing, be sure to put this one on your calendar.

And whitewater dreaming we are. We haven't had quite enough rain to make one of our favorite Mendocino County whitewater runs - Rancheria Creek - runnable. (You Tube Video)

However, the Eel has been flowing. So much for kayak surfing focus, the Eel is calling my name this week, and Jeff is heading north to the Redding area to teach a whitewater class (and of course do a couple of runs while in the area).

Now if that darn wind would take a break so that we can get out for a surf. :)

Back to the Mendocino Coast

2011-02-24T07:28:00.000-08:00

Charts are spread across the kitchen table and photo galleries are zooming across our computer screens as Jeff and I reconnect after our separate paddling adventures over the past week. Of course our best adventure of the week happened when we both returned to the Mendocino Coast for a sweet sea kayak rock garden session with some special guests.

Jeff just returned from the Golden Gate Sea Kayak Symposium. He ventured down a few days early last week to take a BCU 4 Star Assessment (yes they were the group that was on the channel 5 news jumping off the sea wall). After the 4 Star Assessment, he was there for the weekend as an instructor in their rock gardening classes.

Jeff had a great time. He passed his BCU 4 Star Assessment, got to coach paddlers in around the rocks, reconnect with old friends, and meet new ones. We are both stoked that Jeff had the winning raffle ticket for a new drysuit of his choice from Kokatat. Thanks for all the suggestions and comments that it should be a women's size small; however, Kokatat just gave my drysuit some love and I am happy to wear it for another season.

Yes, last week was a drysuitless week for me as my suit was in the shop but not one that didn't see me on the water. My adventures included focused work on our 2010 books in preparation for tax season (not the funnest adventure), teaching private sea kayak lessons, and playing with the Gold Country Paddlers on the Eel River.

The 2 days on the Eel were fun as significant rainfall during the week had the river running at a moderately high level. On Saturday, we did the Outlet Creek to Dos Rios Run at about 4200 cfs which made for some big waves and big hydraulics. Here's Jerry the organizer of the weekend doing a little river surfing.

On Sunday, I joined the group for the Hearst Run - a 17 mile wilderness stretch. This is a Class II run with one Class III rapid that is known for good wildlife viewing. We were a chatty group and didn't see a lot of wildlife but it was a gorgeous paddle at a fun flow.

I was excited to get a photo of one of the wild boars that we saw trekking up the hillside.

I also got a photo of the remains of a Wenonah Canoe on the banks. Geee . . . no roads around. I hope that they didn't have to hike out.

The highlight of our week though was the unexpected guests that showed up at our house after the symposium. The guys had a great time paddling together and decided to indulge in a play day in the rock gardens of the Mendocino Coast on their way north. It was AWESOME to share our playground with such a talented group of paddlers. These guys definitely ROCK!!!

Dave White - P&H Team Paddler and Alder Creek Instructor

Matt Nelson - BCU Instructor and P&H Team Paddler

Bryant Burkhardt - Paddle California and instructor for California Canoe and Kayak

Paul Kuthe - Alder Creek Canoe and Kayak in Portland, OR

A week of good fun!!!

Here are links to photos:

Dominick Lemarie's Photo Galleries from GGSKS

Hearst Run

Eel River - Outlet Creek to Dos Rios

Mendocino Sea Kayak Rock Gardening

Paddle Your Sweetie!

2011-02-14T07:42:00.000-08:00

Tandem Paddling- couples either love it or hate it.

Jeff and I don't paddle tandem much but sure have fun when we do.

Happy Valentines Day!!! Take your sweetie out for a good paddling!

Back into the BCU

2011-02-07T20:55:00.000-08:00

When Jeff taught for Aqua Adventures in San Diego, he had the good fortune of being introduced to the British Canoe Union (BCU). The BCU has developed a structured progression to guide and measure paddlers in their paddling skill progression. Paddlers can earn star awards in sea, whitewater, surf, and canoe. Star awards range from 1-5 star with 1 being introductory and 4 and 5 being advanced skills including leadership.

Jeff has been working toward keeping his coaching and star award certifications current. Jeff has BCU star awards in Sea, Canoe, and Surf and is a level 3 Sea Coach (one of only 2 in California). This weekend we held our first BCU events on the Mendocino Coast.

On Saturday was a fun 2 Star Assessment that involved basic paddling skills in a variety of craft. We used sea kayaks, whitewater river kayaks, and canoes as well as a variety of paddles.

The canoe portion of the day was the most challenging as most participants did not have much canoe or single paddle experience. It was also probably the most fun. We had an audience at times when we were purposefully flipping the canoes over.

On Sunday, we had a 3 Star Sea Training. From theory of navigation and first aid to strokes and rescue and recoveries, it was a full day of sea kayak training.

Flat water perfection drills had the paddlers fine tuning their edges and torso rotation through a variety of maneuvering skills.

Towing practice gave students the opportunity to try out different tow methods and work the kinks out of their gear.

It was great to have 2 days of focused skill work. All of the paddlers showed significant improvements in their skills and Jeff got to do what he loves - coaching. We are looking forward to offering more BCU training and assessments. Even those who are not interested in BCU star awards, it is a great way to practice and hone your skills.

Our next scheduled BCU event is a 3 Star Assessment on Saturday May 7. Please contact us if you are interested in our future BCU training and assessments.

LIFE Jackets Save Lives

2011-01-25T08:12:00.000-08:00

Last week on the Noyo River, we were preparing for a water safety class for a group of local stream surveyors. We watched a gentleman launch his brand new kayak onto the river. The stickers were still on it and the paddle. He was also wearing a brand new life jacket that appeared to be snug and well fitted.

It was a beautiful day. The river was calm and glassy with the sun just starting to penetrate through the trees. The kayak appeared to be stable, and we were stoked to see someone heading out to enjoy a gorgeous paddle on the Noyo.

Several hours later, we were on the water teaching our class and a neighbor across the river called us over. He asked if we would retrieve the kayak from a meadow up the river. He had just finished assisting the paddler into an ambulance.

The paddler capsized his kayak. The water temperature of the Noyo was 51 degrees. This individual was having some diabetic issues and became hypothermic in the chilly water. Fortunately there are a couple of houses along the river near where he capsized, and the residents were able to assist him and call for medical help.

We regularly see paddlers on the river paddling without life jackets or wearing them improperly. Fortunately the river is usually calm and most remain upright and in their boats. The water temperature of the Noyo rarely gets out of the 50 degree range so hypothermia is definitely a concern for anyone immersed in it for more than a few minutes.

We thought it would be a good time to share the video Cold Water Boot Camp to illustrate the effects of cold water on the body.

Fortunately, our the paddler on the Noyo River was ok. He had done 2 things right - wearing his life jacket properly and checking in at Dolphin Isle so that people knew to watch for him.

Special thanks to Stan and Jim of the Lost Coast Chapter of the Traditional Small Craft Association for towing the kayak back to Dolphin Isle for the paddler.

Modeling and Remodeling

2011-01-22T19:09:00.000-08:00

The Small Business Development Center (SBDC) interviewed and videoed us this morning for a series of videos that they are doing on small businesses that have used SBDC services to make their business successful. Jeff and I worked with our local SBDC - West Company when we were developing Liquid Fusion Kayaking on the Mendocino Coast.

Of course the funnest part was the paddling. Due to time constraints, we weren't able to get out to the ocean for them. However, we had fun in our whitewater kayaks messing around on the Noyo River. It will be fun to see the video after they produce it.

We began phase one of our location make-over. We are still figuring out if we are going to change the layout and how to get a better office set up at our location. Do we go with a camp trailer, a toy hauler, or a shed?

First on our list was reinforcing our rack and replacing a split 2X4 so we had to relocate all of our boats.

If you come by in the next couple of weeks, please excuse the mess.

Surfing the Fleet

2011-01-21T08:09:00.000-08:00

A couple of warm, sunny January days had us donning our wetsuits and surfing a variety of our sit on top surf kayaks. We enjoyed the simplicity of wearing only wetsuits and booties.

However by day, 3 we were pining for our high performance surf craft.

A sea kayak surf session was fun. We used the session to practice our combat rolls and to mess about with back surfing (urrrgh . . . still learning our new camera so not the best video clip).

This week, we were back at it in our whitewater kayaks.

The whitewater kayaks are super fun to play around in, simple to throw in the back of the truck, and versatile when good rock gardening opportunities occur.

But again, we found ourselves missing the fast planing hulls and crisp edges of our surf kayaks. Guess we are a bit spoiled.

Speaking of spoiled - Bear and Aften are enjoying our trips to the beach.

Surfing standing waves in our whitewater kayaks on the river is on this weekend's plan.

Whitewater of the Sea

2011-01-16T17:00:00.000-08:00

We have been intending to get a new kayak rock gardening video posted on youtube but have been paddling more and computing less (not a bad thing). With our Liquid Lounge Night at Silver's at the Wharf coming up, we knew that we had better get some computing done.

After many hours of reviewing a year's worth of funness and putting it into a video, here's what we came up with. Our local Mendocino Coast audience "ouuuuued and ahhhhhed". We hope that you enjoy it too.

Christmas Bird Count

2011-01-03T08:06:00.000-08:00

Life is not about the destination but the journey.

One of the things that we love about our natural world is that you often find what you aren't looking for. Yesterday, we participated in the Mendocino Coast Audubon Society's Christmas Bird Count. We found many things that we were looking for and were delighted with so much more.

This was the 111th year of the Christmas Bird Count and the first year for an organized count in Fort Bragg. We had over 50 birders canvasing areas in the Fort Bragg and Mendocino Areas. Of course, our area was the Noyo River which is only birdable by kayak.

We were stoked to challenge our birding skills and learn from other birders. We enjoyed seeing how many species we could find and identify but as usual enjoyed the journey as much as the goal. Common merganser or red-breasted merganser?

Our journey entailed 7.4 miles of paddling over 6 hours in the Noyo River Estuary. We started in the rain, but a rainbow and glimpses of blue sky had us optimistic of a nice day.

We enjoyed the birds and the beauty of the Noyo River. The river was flowing 650 cfs (cubic feet per second) which gave us plenty of water to get up the river and a nice downriver float. Unintentionally we ended up at the Skunk Train's 1st bridge on the Noyo River in time to see the train go by.

As we took a stretch break, we heard more traffic coming on the train tracks and got to see a parade of speeder cars heading east.

An unexpected wildlife siting of our paddle was a gray fox napping in on a sunny bank of the river. (It let me get a photo).

Oh - by the way, we counted 59 bird species on our paddle including 3 unique to the Fort Bragg Bird Count Species - any guesses which ones they were?

Return to Rancheria Creek

2010-12-30T07:58:00.000-08:00

When we returned home from Christmas with the family, our voicemail and email were full of messages from our whitewater paddling buddies. Rainfall Christmas day had all of our Mendocino County rivers flowing. Many were too flooded for fun whitewater but ahhhhh - our closest whitewater river run - Rancheria Creek was running at a playful level.

Nick, Chuck, Jeff and myself set out for a rainy day of play on Rancheria Creek.It was starting to rain and the forecast was for several inches of rain (enough to flood the river and to close the road), but time was on our side.

Last year, we ran Rancheria Creek numerous times for fun and then as research for an article for California Kayaker ( Winter 2010 Issue).

Approximately 500 cfs was a mellow flow with lots of fun eddies to catch and waves to surf. Steady rain kept the flow increasing. Glacial green water, mossy banks, wood ducks, herons, and dippers oooed and ahhhhed us as we played down the river. We saw 3 common mergansers and wondered if they were the same 3 that escorted us last year.

Horse Creek is always a beautiful spot to admire. Today, Jeff and Chuck had other ideas for the waterfall drop. Nick and I of course were up for the entertainment and to be team photographers.

First decent? Nick says that he has run Rancheria hundreds of times with many boaters commenting on running the Horse Creek waterfall but no one to his knowledge has.

As we paddled the rest of the river, I recalled our paddles from last year and tried to determine which was my favorite stretch. Running "The Ledge" and using it as a lunch/surf play spot is definitely a highlight as are some long class 2 rapids. However, I have decided that the aura of the creek - its mossy rocks, redwood lined gorges, and riparian/woodland wildlife are the highlight.

I wish (like most others who have run Rancheria Creek) that there was an earlier take-out option. Rancheria Creek loses its whitewater character and scenic appeal after it is joined by Indian Creek and becomes the Navarro River.

Today, we put a stick at the takeout at Hendy Woods to see how much the river rose while we paddled in the rain. It rose several inches during our paddle; however, over night it rose from 500 to 4,000 cfs which is a lot of water on a creek.

We have been having fun creating photo slideshows with captions. Here's a link to our December 2010 Rancheria Creek Slideshow.

Paddling Candy Cane Lane

2010-12-19T09:03:00.001-08:00

Arriving home after some pre-holiday travels, we were anxious for some boating close to home. We decided on an exploratory paddle of the South Fork of the Noyo River - a class 1 tributary of Fort Bragg's Noyo River.

We have heard nightmare stories from locals trying to run the Noyo's South Fork at flood stage. Our plan for the trip was to enjoy the scenery and wildlife. Being in a wooded area, log strainers are inevitable hazards so we chose a flow that would be high enough to float us down the river but mellow enough for us to limbo under logs and easily get in and out when necessary to portage obstacles.

Our journey entailed approximately 4 miles of paddling (and portaging) on the South Fork of the Noyo River followed by 4 miles down the Noyo River to our shop at Dolphin Isle Marina.

The trip met our expectations lots of log strainers and great scenery and wildlife watching. We limboed 12 logs and portaged numerous times.

Our favorite sitings of the trip were 6 Coho Salmon and numerous American Dippers. We came across a couple of the Department of Fish and Game surveyors wading the river and counting salmon. Talking to them, we discovered that the candy cane striped ribbons that we were seeing along the river were their markings of Coho Salmon sitings.

In addition to enjoying the scenery and wildlife, we realized that the run was a good preparation for our upcoming swiftwater safety class for the local fish surveyors.

Check out our photo gallery for an entertaining photo slideshow of our adventure.

November Notions

2010-11-26T08:22:00.000-08:00

Kayaking is our business but also our passion. We are feel very blessed to be able to do what we love professionally and to share our joy with others.

November is an interesting month for us in our business. The days are much shorter, and we are starting to see the first of our rain. We enjoy a slow-down in the daily hustle and bustle of the tourism part of business and use this time to review our business plan and plan for the upcoming year. It is also a good time for some professional development and some time away.

With our whitewater river season approaching, we felt it was time for a refresher on swift-water rescue. So we combined a little time away with swift-water rescue training on the Stanislaus River near Knights Ferry. We enjoyed the geology and poking around the historical landmarks from the California's Gold Rush. Not to mention, the fall weather was gorgeous and seeing the salmon laying eggs in the river was very exciting. Still can't believe that we didn't take any pictures.

The swift-water rescue training that we did was taught by Julie Munger of Sierra Rescue. It was a very physical and intense 2 days of training with simulated rescue scenarios. Julie's breadth of knowledge and experience was invaluable as she taught us the skills that we would need as boaters in rescue situations. The number one key though is PREVENTION. Through the class I gained a new appreciation for swimming on the river. Prior to the class, I had developed my swimming skills on the river out of necessity for when I swam out of my boat (grrrrr - which was too many times last season). My perspective has changed and I see the value and potential fun of swimming in the river. I do foresee some river board play in our future as well.

Developing our 2011 calendar has been super fun and exciting - of course- we are creating a calendar of funness for ourselves and others. But lots of time in the office on the computer isn't our favorite. Fortunately mushroom season is upon us so we have been motivated to get our tasks done so that we can get out into the forest in search of treasures - boletes, chantrelles, candy caps . . . YUM!!!

Speaking of mushrooms, it was an honor to have our Mushroom Paddles featured in the November Issue of Sunset Magazine. So I guess our foraging in the forest falls into the professional development and training category. It is really awesome to be able to do what you love.

Thanks to all of our friends, family, and customers for sharing the magic with us.

Fall Whitewater Run on the Trinity River

2010-10-22T06:48:00.000-07:00

After a 5 month hiatus from whitewater river kayaking, we closed Liquid Fusion Kayaking for a couple of days of "professional development."
We were heading north to attend the Traditional Arctic Kayak Symposi um (TAKS) in Trinidad and managed to sneak away from the coast for a couple of days to go to the Trinity River. The flow was holding consistently at 575 cfs so we did " The Slot" run which is a Class III run from just below Pigeon Point to Big Flat.

This was our first run on the Trinity and we were stoked to have a local paddler share the run with us.

Our whitewater kayaks felt comfortable and seemed happy to be getting onto the water. The water temperature was very cold but the fall air was warm, and we rolled frequently (some of us not necessarily on purpose) to cool off.

One of the highlights of the run was seeing a steelhead launch itself up the Hell Hole Rapid. He didn't make it but it was a spectacular display of this mighty fish and his efforts to reach his spawning ground. Too bad we didn't get a photo of it but this is a photo of the rapid that he was trying to go up.

We also enjoyed seeing a bald eagle as that is not a regular sighting for us on the Mendocino Coast.

The run was just beautiful. Fall colors, the whitewater rapids, and surrounding scenery made for some beautiful photos and ahhhhhh moments.

Many ahhhh moments occurred on the river as well as we worked the rust out of our whitewater kayaking skills. I am working on the timing and coordination of my boof stroke.

Jeff took most of the photos and videos of the run as we only had one camera with us and he is much more competent at paddling and shooting on the river. Does anyone know the name of this plant?

Our time on the river went by much too fast, and we are longing for more whitewater river kayaking. We were delighted to return to home to the Mendocino Coast with rain in the long range forecast.

Traditional Arctic Kayak Symposium

2010-10-19T18:38:00.000-07:00

Last weekend, we journeyed off the Mendocino Coast with our sea kayaks and greenland paddles and headed to Trinidad, California for the Traditional Arctic Kayak Symposium (TAKS). Beautiful weather, calm wind and ocean conditions, and an eclectic gathering of sea kayakers interested in traditional kayaking made for a fun weekend.

The ocean was very calm and allowed for mellow paddling around and between the rocks of Trinidad Bay.

We fit 9 kayaks in this particular slot. Bob in his beautiful stitch and glue wooden kayak was very happy to have my plastic Avocet as a buffer between his boat and the rocks.

A pair of harlequin ducks added to the color of the weekend.

John Peterson of Shaman Kayaks organized the event. His kayaks are truely works of art. It was fun to see several of them on the water this weekend.

Greenland skill demonstrations included rolling and bracing. Jeff and I thought that the resting brace position looked great for an on water nap.

Wolfgang Brinck paddles over in an Aleutian Kayak sporting an Aleutian hat. Wolfgang is the author of The Aleutian Kayak and teaches skin on frame kayak building in the San Franscisco Bay area.

Despite the roll or drown motto of paddlers dedicated to greenland paddling techniques, Dan and Andrew demonstrate a rescue and recovery of a swamped boat.

Our friend John Henry observes the lunch break from the deck of Jeff's kayak before going back into his drybag.

We paddled around Trinidad Head - home of the Smack Wall. We paused for a couple of rides on the refractive waves that come off of the Smack Wall. Here's a link to Ralph Johnson's video of Tony's wild ride on the Smack Wall.

Cheri Perry and Turner of Kayak Ways and Jeff of Liquid Fusion Kayaking held a surf zone training and practice session at college beach. Here is Marcella of the local kayak club Explore North Coast catching a wave.

Admiring the handmade kayaks and listening to presentations on the history of kayaking and kayak designs provided much food for thought over the weekend. Here is a photo of Andrew paddling a baidarka into the surf zone. Much debate ensued over the weekend of the unique bow design of the Aleutian kayaks. Any ideas?

I left my skin on frame kayak at home. It would have been fun to have in the surf zone and rock garden and definitely would have been an object of curiosity and critique as it is not a long pointy greenland kayak.

California Coastal Cleanup Day 2010

2010-09-27T15:46:00.000-07:00

The sun was shining on us as we joined forces with the Lost Coast Chapter of the Traditional Small Craft Association to clean up Fort Bragg's Noyo River. We could not have asked for a more beautiful day.

Of course being water folks, we kayaked and rowed to locations to retrieve trash and retrieved quite a bit (over 800 pounds).

It is amazing how many little plastic wrappers accumulate in our our waters - ziplocs, chip bags, and wrapper from candy. Thanks to Jim and Jim for their efforts in collecting those annoying little bits of trash.

Lin donned some gloves and waded in to retrieve a toilet that someone had dumped into the river.

Jeff turned one our our recreational tandem kayaks into a garbage barge, and Stan and Selby towed an old rowboat garbage boat as well.

Speaking of towing . . . we have another story to share from the day. Stay tuned for the Towing of the Vrrroooom, Vrrroooom.

End of a Foggy Mendocino Summer

2010-09-17T07:33:00.000-07:00

Fall is almost upon us on the Mendocino Coast. Our tomatoes are finally getting some sun and our first rain of the season is predicted. Yes, we get excited about rain which in Mendocino County means mushrooms and whitewater kayaking.

After a super busy summer with lots of visitors joining us kayaking; we are enjoying quieter days, the late summer weather, and calm coastal paddling conditions. Many of the old time fishermen tell us that these calm ocean conditions with lots of fog used to be the norm for our ocean in the summer.

We are enjoying our relatively calm seas and are planning some special trips for the fall of 2011 including a Tour de Mendo with new twists. One of our recent exploratory paddles involved a beach launch at one of our most picturesque Mendocino Coast beaches followed by paddling around giant sea stacks and headlands with sea caves that were interconnected by tunnels. Any guesses where we were? No, it is not Russian Gulch, Elk, or Van Damme.

Jeff and I are also cleaning out the gear closet and kayak rack and having a sale. We borrowed Marna of Kayak Zak's idea of a kayak yard sale and put our own spin on it to make it an online yard sale. Check it out and see if there is any kayaks or gear that you need.

We are offering lots of fall kayaking classes for beginning through advanced paddlers. Monday night, our Introduction to Kayaking Class starts at the Mendocino Park and Rec. CV Starr Pool. Next weekend as the Bay Area Sea Kayakers visit, we are offering several kayak rock gardening classes including our specialty - Whitewater of the Sea.

In October, we are preparing for birthday celebrations as both Jeff and I celebrate birthdays in October. Lots of play in short boats is likely to be in store (kayak surfing and rock gardening). We are also looking forward to attending the Traditional Arctic Kayak Sy mposium just to the north of us in Trinidad, CA.

Planning for 2011 is in the works . . . more Tracks to Kayaks, regular kay ak surfing instruction, winter and spring whitewater classes in Mendocino County and beyond . . . are a few more goodies that we are adding in for 2011. If you have a special group, trip, or event that you would like to plan for 2011 - let us know.

September's Second Sunday

2010-09-13T07:33:00.000-07:00

Beneath a blanket of fog, we ventured in our sea kayaks to paddle and explore a section of the Mendocino Coast on our monthly Second Sunday Paddle. Each month on the second Sunday, we are guiding and playing along different stretches of the coast. Giving our students and visitors a chance to apply their sea kayak skills to the rugged Mendocino Coast.

This foggy morning, the sirens of the sea must have been slumbering . The ocean was calm allowing for safe passages through many sea caves and arches.

We encountered some abalone divers in zodiaks and marveled at how close to the rocks with harbor seals they passed without disturbing the seals. We are very cautious and turned around in a couple of channels to avoid scaring the seals. It is amazing how they seem to be threatened by us in our non-motorized craft while they are complacent about the growling 2 stroke motors. I guess that since they have a long history of being hunted by kayak, wariness has become programed into their DNA.

The visibility when we launched was less than 100 yards; however, the fog receded as the morning went on and was long forgotten when we landed.

Anyone recognize this bridge?

Dog Days of Summer

2010-07-26T08:04:00.000-07:00

Many visitors to the Mendocino Coast have been discovering us at our off the beaten path location up the Noyo River. Much to their delight, they have found the sun hiding back the Noyo River with us. As the temperatures rise inland, the coastal fog tends to suck in on the coast but often we are just beyond that misty fog line enjoying warm, sunny days.

Our visitors have also been intrigued by our skin on frame kayak building endeavors. The skin on frame kayaks that we are building are inspired by traditional building methods but adapted for modern materials and recreational purposes. We are building wooden frames which involves steaming and bending wood and lashing and pegging the wood together to create a frame which will be covered by a skin. The skins for kayaks traditionally were made from the hides of walrus or seals. Instead, we are using ballistic nylon or canvas for the skins.

I just finished my skin on frame kayak and hope to put it into the water today. My skin on frame was adapted from Brian Shultz's Cape Falcon F-1. I am hoping that it will become my multipurpose sea kayak.

Jeff and I are currently designing a new skin on frame kayak. The boat that Jeff and I are designing is going to be a tandem recreational kayak that we will be able to use on Noyo River tours including our Tracks to Kayaks adventure.

Our Tracks to Kayaks adventure with the Skunk Train has been a lot of fun. In the morning, Jeff loads the kayaks on a flatbed car that is pulled by a speeder and follows the train.

Guests board the train at the train depot in Fort Bragg and enjoy the 22 mile journey through the redwoods to Northspur. On their journey to Northspur, they are immersed in logging and railroad history. At Northspur, they can get off the train and enjoy a picnic lunch. On the return journey, the train stops before it its final crossing of the Noyo River and journey through Tunnel #1. This is where the Noyo River becomes an estuary and we meet our guests to paddle down the river.

Riding an ebbing tide, visitors easily meander down the Noyo River. We are using our new recreational kayaks which are all shiny and new as well as comfortable and stable.

Paddlers get to cruise by Pacific Pond Turtles who are sunning themselves on logs in the river as well as harbor seals schooling fish, deer resting along the banks, and kingfishers and cormorants diving for fish. Many newly fledged birds are spending time along the river learning the ways of the world outside of their nests.

After a 2.5 mile jaunt, the tracks to kayaks participants arrive at our shop at Dolphin Isle Marina where they meet the Surf Motel shuttle bus which takes them back to the Skunk Train Depot. For those staying at the Surf Motel, they can enjoy the privilege of a shuttle from the motel to the train in the morning and back to the motel in the afternoon - not to mention they get to stay among the beautiful gardens of the Surf Motel.

We are stoked to be able to work with 2 other Fort Bragg businesses to bring a fun and unique adventure to Fort Bragg.
Where does the expression dog days of summer come from? How about working like a dog? As I write this, Bear is lying at my feet and Aften is lying in a patch of sun on the floor. If that is working, I want that job - well maybe not. Pinch me - kayaking, studying and watching wildlife, tinkering around with building kayaks, and getting to share all of this with others is a pretty sweet job (life).

Mendocino Green

2010-07-10T08:03:00.000-07:00

Fort Bragg's Noyo River Valley continues to be a lush green - complete with an algae growth that give the river a gorgeous greenish hue. Here is a slideshow of photos taken this week by a couple of kayakers on the Noyo River

A green heron has been meandering about the Noyo River below our deck. We haven't gotten a good photo of it yet but here is one from last spring (notice that the Green Heron isn't so green).

The kelp is rapidly growing with all of the warm, sunny days that we had last week. Some is green, some brown, some red, and some is even iridescent. I had a boy on one of our Noyo River Kayak Tours pick up a handful of green eel grass and find a couple of eels slithering about. This guy thought that the kelp tasted better than spinach.

Of course anyone would be green with envy over the custom sea kayak trip that Jo and Sam got to take with us this week. We explored tons of sea caves and tunnels and even rode a few waves on the stretch of the Mendocino Coast north of Russian Gulch.

My new skin on frame kayak is in progress and it has been fun to share the progress with visitors to our shop as well as those paddling by on the river. I am contemplating coloring it green.

Tour de Mendo - The Ultimate of Mendocino Coast Sea Kayaking

2010-06-25T14:42:00.000-07:00

Imagine 4 days of sea kayaking among the rock gardens and sea caves of the ruggedly beautiful Mendocino Coast. Yes, many come to the Mendocino Coast to sea kayak and have paddled stretches of the rock gardens and sea caves but few have done a Tour de Mendo Liquid Fusion Kayaking Style.

Congratulations to a group of paddlers from San Diego who just completed a Liquid Fusion Kayaking Tour de Mendo.
What makes a Liquid Fusion Kayaking Tour de Mendo different from others sea kayak tours of the Mendocino Coast? We have an intimate local knowledge of the Mendocino Coast because we live, paddle, and play here. We know those special off the beaten paddle places (and the best spots for great food and live music). We instruct and challenge paddlers to improve their skills and paddling repertoire while paddling with us - be it paddling a whitewater kayak, surfing a kayak, or tossing a greenland paddle in their hands.

Unfortunately, I had to hold down the shop for most of the Tour de Mendo, but it was fun to get their perspective of each day's adventure. They marveled over their exploration of intricate networks of rock gardens and sea caves and told stories of fun rides through surge channels and pour overs and moments when Jeff and the sea challenged their skills. This crew was definitely up for the challenge.

I did get to paddle with them one morning for a whitewater kayak rock gardening session in Noyo Bay and look forward to joining them in the fall of 2011.

New Kayaks for our Mendocino Coast Kayaking Adventures

2010-05-25T08:50:00.000-07:00

It is so fun and exciting to get new kayaks. They are so colorful and hold so much potential for FUN.

Most of the kayaks that we ordered this year are for rentals on Fort Bragg's Noyo River and our new Tracks to Kayaks adventure.

Of course a couple of whitewater kayaks made their way onto the order. We ordered a new Dagger Torrent for our Whitewater of the Sea adventure,

and I got a Wavesport Diesel for exploring and playing on whitewater rivers.

Jeff and I have been enjoying sharing the wooden kayak that we built. Everyone has loved how smooth and easily it paddles.

Rain = Whitewater = FUN!!!

2010-05-10T09:17:00.000-07:00

It's raining, its pouring, whitewater kayakers are snoring and dreaming of more whitewater kayaking adventures on our local Mendocino County waterways.

Last week, we enjoyed 4 glorious days of warm weather and whitewater kayaking on the Eel River in northeastern Mendocino County. We ran the Class III Outlet Creek to Dos Rios stretch at flows of 900-1900 - executing crisp eddy turns, playing in hydraulics, and surfing waves.

A local photographer meandered out to shoot us in action. Check out his photoblog.

We are doing our rain dance and getting excited about more river time.

Of course Simpler Times is an LFK Eel River Tradition.

Return of the Osprey

2010-04-30T09:59:00.000-07:00

Kayaking on the waterways of the Mendocino Coast always seems so quiet in the winter time without the presence of the osprey. We enjoy the variety and color of our migratory ducks but miss our summer resident raptors. We know that spring is here when they return to their nests in March and April and start their ritual mating behaviors.

We love kayaking and watching the osprey on their nests along the Noyo River. They dazzle us with their spectacular aerial dives from 30-100 into the water to snag a fish (sometimes 2).

Within a mile of our shop, there are 3 active nests (including one right above us on the ridge). Last year, we enjoyed watching the male osprey dive from the Eucalyptus tree by our deck. He is very accurate and seems to be a good provider for his family. One evening I watched him have 5 successful dives in less than 2 hours.

Last year, one of the osprey pairs built a new nest across from the Noyo Boat Basin. We were skeptical of its construction, but they successfully fledged 2 young from the nest.

While the osprey were enjoying their winter in South America, one of our winter storms blew down the nest.

When they returned this spring, they selected a new snag and diligently built a new nest. It was amazing how fast they constructed it.

I had been watching the construction without my camera and slipped out this week in my sea kayak to get some photos. I missed the diving mating ritual of this pair but as timing would have it - they decided to mate during my photo shoot of the new nest.

We are looking forward to another season of watching the osprey on the Noyo River from our kayaks.

A Wooden Kayak

2010-04-13T07:29:00.000-07:00

After, four months and fourteen days, the FB Wood Duck 12 is completed and launched. We started the project with naive hopes of a quick build but life happens. It rained and there were rivers to run, I stepped away to take a class, visitors came to the Mendocino Coast for us to take kayaking, and we actually have a non-kayaking life.

At the end of the summer, Jeff and I saw how recreational kayaks made kayaking enjoyable and accessible to individuals who didn't need the performance of a sea kayak and couldn't get comfortable on a sit on top kayak. Performance sea kayaks are efficient and easy after a bit of instruciton and time in the seat but aren't easy for the occasional paddler. Sit on top kayaks are easy but are a wet ride for our chilly 52-54 degree waters and aren't the most ergonomical for many body types.

Seeing the need to add recreational kayaks to our fleet that were comfortable and user friendly, Jeff and I began researching what was available. The recreational kayaks that we were finding to be comfortable and easy to use were the "sit in" type with large cockpits and designed to be very stable.

At the time, Jeff and I also were toying with the idea of doing some kayak building. Thus, the idea was born to build a recreational kayak that anyone could enjoy paddling.

We selected Chesapeake Light Craft's Wood Duck 12 for this purpose. Stability for a large range of paddlers and ease of construction were our two main factors for choosing the Wood Duck 12. The third being that it has an elegant shape.

After launching the FB Wood Duck, we have decided that it is definitely the elegant, stable craft that we were looking for. Of course we put it through the measures, including seeing if we could tip it over and roll it back up. It took quite a bit of effort to tip it over, and Jeff was able to roll it back up. It definitley is a stay upright and enjoy the day type of kayak.

For those interested in the building process of the Wood Duck, here is a link to our photos of the construction process.

Needless to say that after 4 months and fourteen days, we only built one so stay tuned to see what other additions will be in our fleet soon.

We are all smiles that this project is completed!!!

Paddling Downstream

2010-04-03T08:09:00.000-07:00

Jeff and I have been hard at work getting ready for Liquid Fusion Kayaking's spring and summer kayaking events on the Mendocino Coast. We've had several spring cleaning projects going on including cleaning out our shed, putting up new shelves, touching up the paint, making minor boat and gear repairs, and attending to business matters.

Spring has definitely sprung!!! We have been enjoying gray whale migration and the return of the osprey that nest on the Noyo River. Songbirds have begun arriving and are starting to sing from the newly leaved trees along the river.

We have started playing about in our sea kayaks and begrudgingly admit that our local whitewater river kayaking season is almost over.

We were surprised and excited this week to get significant rains which prompted us to take a day off. We celebrated our spring rains with a warm, sunny paddle down Rancheria Creek.

Rancheria Creek is the primary tributary of the Navarro River. It is classified as a Class II+ wilderness run.

It was a mellow day with enough water to "run" the creek but the flow was mellow enough to just relax and meander downstream. We enjoyed gliding through the class II rapids, admiring the greenery and wildlife.

I was stoked again to see a handsome male wood duck as well as my favorite river running (swimming) ducks - common mergansers.

More rain is in the forecast so we may hold on to our Mendocino whitewater kayaking season a bit longer - paddling downstream. YEAH!!!

Launch of the Petrel

2010-02-28T07:42:00.001-08:00

Building your own kayak is a labor of love. Seeing someone's hand built kayak on the water or even on the roof racks of their vehicle always causes us to stop and look. Our paddling buddy John just completed his strip built Guillemot Petrel. Needless to say it is beautiful, but now it is time to get that beauty on the water.

Yesterday, we celebrated the launching of John's Petrel with Bruce and Georgianna from Humboldt County. Bruce and Georgianna have the wooden boat and paddle bug. Georgianna carves her own Greenland-Style paddles. Bruce paddles a wooden kayak and wing paddle that he designed and built himself. Jeff and I paddled our plastic Valley Avocets - maybe someday we will be sporting our own craftmanship on the water.

We launched from Caspar Beach and paddled through the bay past the outside reef into the ocean (the group was hoping to watch for whales). John's first strokes in the Petrel were in the surf zone. The boat glided with minimal effort through the water and out into the bay. Conditions were rough with 10-12 foot seas with 2-4 foot wind waves and whitecaps. Nevertheless, John and the Petrel looked at home on the water.

"Like its bird namesake the Petrel kayak is at home at sea where it can dance among the waves." - Nick Schade - designer of the Petrel.

It was a short paddle due to my aversion to paddling on warm, sunny days (actually my pining for a mountain bike ride). However some nice surf waves at Caspar Beach prolonged the paddle as Jeff and I enjoyed gliding on some green faces in our 16 foot sea kayaks.

Winter Kayaking in Mendocino County

2010-01-31T07:15:00.000-08:00

The Mendocino Coast is seeing a rock'n and rolling winter. The rains are beautiful and replenishing our water supply. The ocean has been rocking with giganitic swells that send waves crashing through our usually calm and protected bays. It is spectacular to watch the power of the ocean as 30+ foot waves roll over everything in their path.

Winter is a good time for us to go with the flow (literally). Winter rains make our North Coast rivers fun for white water kayaking. We have been paddling two of our Mendocino County favorites, the Eel River and Rancheria Cr eek, and are looking forward to more as our winter rains continue.

While the ocean has been rocking, we have been rolling and playing games in Fort Bragg's new aquatic facility. Beginner and experienced paddlers have been enjoying the comfort of 79 degree water to learn and practice eskimo rolling and other kayak skills.

We have started tossing the polo ball about and are preparing for our Kayak Polo and Games Class in February.

Surf has been up - WAY UP on some days. In between days of whitewater kayaking, we have been scouting the surf and finding some fun waves. We are contemplating a trip to Santa Cruz at the end of March to complete in the 24th A nnual Santa Cruz Kayak Surf Festival.

With all of this winter kayaking, we haven't been in the office much. We are excited about 2010. New for 2010 is our Tracks to Kayaks Adventure with the Skunk Train and our Discover Kayaking class. We are also increasing our sea kayak tours and classes to include monthly sea kayak tours of the Mendocino Coast on the second Sunday of the month and sea kayak rock gardening classes. Check out our calendar to see what we have going on.

4 for 4

2010-01-05T07:57:00.000-08:00

4 Days into the New Year - 4 Great Days Kayaking in 4 Different Mendocino County Waterways

January 1 - Noyo Bay* - ocean rock gardening in whitewater kayak - a Liqui d Fusion Kayaking Tradition

January 2 - Noyo River* - sea kayak touring with visitors from New York and San Francisco

January 3 - Eel River - whitewater kayaking

January 4 - CV Starr Community Center* - swimming pool eskimo roll practice

*Best part - 3 of these 4 great spots are less than 1.5 miles from our home in Fort Bragg, CA.

Where shall we paddle today?

Paddling Upstream

2009-12-31T18:17:00.000-08:00

Sending out the old and bringing in the new this New Years Eve, we paddled up the Noyo River from our shop at Dolphin Cove. A 7.1 high tide and about 48 cfs flow enabled us to paddle further than we have ever paddled before. We had our GPS unit in hand as we started working on our 2010 project of mapping points of interest on the Noyo River.

Paddling upstream is work as the proverbial saying goes. The tide had turned on us and our next winter storm system was sending us some gusty winds. But what we love about the Noyo was true. The tide was negotiable (early in its ebb), and Noyo River Valley protected us from the majority of the wind enabling us to enjoy the river's scenery and wildlife and reflect on 2009.

2009 was a building year for our business on the Mendocino Coast. Much like paddling upstream, we worked hard but enjoyed the process and journey (mostly). We did a lot of building/producing/creating in 2009 starting with our first video productions which we posted on YouTube. Part of the pride and joy of Liquid Fusion Kayaking for us is that it is our business, We enjoy the variety and challenge of being jack of all trades (and master of none).

Creation projects of 2009 included a few more videos, our rack cards (wait till you see the 2010 revision which we just got printed), WWW Paddle Mendocino Presentation, an article in July/Aug edition of the American Whitewater Journal, a kayak program for Fort Bragg's new aquatic center, and our new "Wet and Wild - Kayaking ROCKS!!!" rock gardening tour - to name a few.

Building projects for 2009 included rebuilding our website and then building kayak storage racks, fences, signs, ect for our new location at Dolphin Isle Marina.

Whew - lots of work - but lots of fun and special moments.

We are excited about 2010 which is off to a great start already!!!

Land and Sea Adventures in Fort Bragg, California

2009-12-06T08:11:00.000-08:00

Here's our latest video creation on YouTube featuring some of our land and sea adventures in our home of Fort Bragg on the Mendocino Coast of California. Of course, we feature kayaking but also some of our other favorite activities on the coast and in the forest including abalone diving, mountain biking, and more.

A special thanks to Brent Reitz - master instructor of the Forward Stroke - for allowing us to use Single Care as our main song. If you have taken one of Brent's Forward Stroke Clinics, you probably have immensely improved your forward stroke and probably heard him rock-out on the harmonica. Here's a link to his group - Bad Habits.

We hope that you enjoy the video - we sure had fun making it.

Into the Forest

2009-11-30T07:11:00.000-08:00

Fly Agaric Mushrooms on the Mendocino Coast

Guess we should change our voicemail and sign outside of our shop from we are on the water to we are in the forest. Fall and winter is one of our favorite times of the year for hiking and mountain biking in the forests of Mendocino County. We have lots of great singletrack trails for mountain biking and lots of colorful and choice edible mushrooms in the forest.

Ride thru Tree

We are still paddling and enjoying the colorful migratory ducks that are visiting us for the winter on the Noyo. On Saturday in addition to the mallards, harlequin duck, green-winged teals, and 40+ buffleheads; we enjoyed watching a colorful wood duck drake.

Bufflehead drakes on the Noyo River

Our mushroom paddles were a lot of fun. We started the paddles with a short lesson on the basics of mushroom identification followed by looking at and identifying the wild mushrooms growing along the Noyo. Finding a King Bolete growing along the river was very exciting. (especially for a boletivore like me - no I didn't pick it).

Finding a King Bolete on a Noyo River Mushroom Paddle

We just finished our first session of Intro to Kayaking at Fort Bragg's new aquatic and recreation facility - the CV Starr Community Center. It is beautiful!!! We are enjoying drop in kayak night on Mondays for eskimo roll practice and kayak fun and games until January 11 when our new Intro to Kayaking Class begins.

Eskimo Rolling in the pool of CV Starr Aquatic Center in Fort Bragg, CA

Hmmm . . . wood ducks on the Noyo? I bet we write more on this subject in the future. Stay tuned.

Paddling Cats n Dogs

2009-10-23T09:25:00.000-07:00

Bear coaches dogs on how to paddle.

Bear and Aften paddling in their new life jackets.

Emma on her first paddle.

A Kayaking Noyo Harbor Cat? Check out Tail of a Noyo Harbor Cat.

Fall Kayaking on the Mendocino Coast

2009-10-08T12:30:00.000-07:00

Fall weather is upon us in all of its beauty. Colorful evening skies, spectacular reflections on the water, falling leaves, warm sunny days, and the beginnings of winter migration are delighting us as well as our kayaking guests.

Jeff and I have been enjoying the leaves falling and lazily drifting in the Noyo River. Windy days have been gusting and blowing much of the Mendocino Coast, but we've been lazily enjoying warm, sunny afternoons on the Noyo River.

While we have been enjoying our meandering paddles of the Noyo River, we have been actively planning for 2010 and beyond. We will soon be unveiling our new tours, classes, and rental program . . . and other creations and events of funness.

Here we are in the home office of Liquid Fusion Kayaking.

As we are still planning, please let us know if you have any suggestions or requests.

Gone to the Dogs

2009-10-04T19:23:00.000-07:00

Liquid Fusion Kayaking has gone to the dogs.

Bear and Aften the kayaking dogs of LFK have convinced us to host a Dog Paddle for all of their friends and to benefit the Mendocino Coast Dog Park. We will be hosting our first (hopefully to become annual) Noyo River Dog Paddle on October 11 from 1-3pm at Dolphin Isle Marina. We have special canine life jackets for paddling pooches and a special tour planned for them and their owners and friends. The Dolphin Isle Deli will have specials on hot dogs and other tasty treats for people and pups.

Hair Putter the canine ambassador for Mendocino County enjoyed his first kayak lesson with us last week and will be joining us for the Dog Paddle.

Early Rain

2009-09-14T13:22:00.000-07:00

Talk of El Nino brings numerous speculations to the California Coast. Will we get a rainy winter?

Yesterday, we had the first rain of the season on the Mendocino Coast. It started just as we were getting ready to launch. It sprinkled then showered, and we commented that it might settle the dust. Moments later, it began to rain.

Excitement built throughout the afternoon paddle. The rain was warm and hope of a good winter warmed us further. In Mendocino County, rain means wild mushrooms and whitewater river kayaking.

Stay posted as we hope to be enjoying both mushrooms and whitewater this fall and winter. Our Mushroom Kayak Tour was mentioned in Oprah's magazine in a feature article about food festivals. And yes, we will be venturing off of the coast this winter to paddle the whitewater creeks and rivers of Mendocino County.

"We are out on the Water"

2009-08-07T17:50:00.000-07:00

If you stopped by our Fort Bragg location at Dolphin Isle this week, you are likely to see "We are out on the Water" posted on our gate.

WOW!!! We have been having the best stretch of weather and some of the nicest people to share it with . Sunshine, new birds, lots of active wildlife, glassy waters . . . makes kayaking on the Mendocino Coast all the sweeter.

Birds as usual are on my brain as I admire the gull chicks growing big on "First Rock" in Noyo Bay, the black turnstones on the shoreline, common loons swimming about with their heads tucked under the surface. The osprey have probably been a highlight for many of our guests. We watch and as they hover and then dive for a fish. After bringing it up, they shake their feathers out and circle before heading to their perch or nest.

My highlight has been seeing oystercatcher chicks. These guys are so well camouflaged that we rarely see them. Can you see the chick in this photo? If so, sign in and leave us a comment.

Kelp forests and kelp horns, jelly fish, sea urchins, sea stars, and sea caves have dazzled us all on our coastal paddles. Yes, we are back to our antics of making kelp horns. I share my french horn lessons from elementary school with the recipients of my kelp horns . . . make a tight embouchure to produce a clear sound.

Jeff and I have enjoyed sharing kayak adventures with families and friends from near and far. Jeff enjoyed a super fun tour of Caspar Bay with Michael who lives in Caspar and wanted to kayak in Caspar Bay for his 65th Birthday. We have had numerous local friends kayaking with us as well as some passing through. Some whitewater paddling friends from San Diego joined us for a rock gardening session this week that was definitely on the WILD side.

If you are perusing our blog, I hope that you are enjoying our posts and having as amazing a summer as we are. Leave us a comment if you can see the oystercatcher chick.

Ducks in a Row

2009-08-01T19:56:00.000-07:00

August is an exciting and busy month for us on the Mendocino Coast and beyond. We have lots of adventures planned to share our passion for kayaking and the natural world. In Fort Bragg, we are continuing to make improvements to our Dolphin Isle Location. Check out my wildlife fact photo cards on the deck.

And Eric's gate.

We have some exciting custom adventures planned this month. Saturday, we had an all day coastal exploration of the Fort Bragg Coastline. The group explored sea caves in tandem sea kayaks and meandered among the rocky channels leading up to Glass Beach. Of course a lunch break at Glass Beach was in store with beachcombing for shells and sea glass.

We are also excited about guiding a special wet and wild kayaking birthday celebration for some friends in Caspar.

Beyond the Mendocino Coast, we are preparing to present at the Bay Area Sea Kayakers' August general meeting, and Jeff is preparing for a week of kayaking instruction and fun at the Lower Columbia Kayak Round-up.

As we get our ducks in a row for a busy month, our mother ducks on the Noyo River continue to line up their little ones. The number of ducklings on the Noyo River has been amazing this year with many late hatchlings. Today we saw another brand new set of mallard ducklings. They are sooo fuzzy and cute. It is neat to see them in all stages of their development. This is the proud new mamma getting all of her little ducks in a row.

In my last blog, I mentioned the shyness of our river otters. Ha! - they beg to differ with that comment and have been quite present lately. The kits have been playing around quite a bit - but definitely not in a row. I actually got a few photos of them.

Sea World Fort Bragg

2009-07-26T22:41:00.000-07:00

Often people will compare one of our Mendocino Coast kayaking experiences to Disneyland. Lately Sea World has been the comparison. The herring and sardines are running on the Noyo River, and we are enjoying spectacular wildlife displays. Our visitors are also enjoying an escape from the fog as our Noyo River location is outside of the fog belt. This afternoon, we enjoyed a journey up the river wearing t-shirts.
Both the harbor seals and sea lions have been actively schooling fish on the river. It is pretty awesome to see the sea lions as they porpoise about in the river chasing the fish. The harbor seals are a bit more subdued by equally enjoyable. Jeff and I enjoyed our dinner one evening on the deck watching the show. Here the team from Visit Mendocino Count y checking out the wildlife from our deck.

Yesterday, the osprey who likes to perch in the Eucalyptus by our deck was 3 for 3 in diving for fish. I saw a different osprey snatch 2 fish from the river in one dive. This evening, a juvenile loon was enjoying some fishing time on the river. The great egrets must have heard about the plethora of fish on the Noyo as they have shown up this week. Jeff saw 4 of them this afternoon on the river.

The merganser ducklings are growing fast and the older set is just about the same size as their mother. We have several sets of late mallard ducklings that are so cute and fuzzy. The new gull chicks are starting to stretch out their wings, and we expect them to be fledging soon. It is amazing how fast they grow and develop, but they are still so far from reaching adulthood.

My odd duck - the harlequin- continues to hang around. We suspect that he is an old bird who has enjoyed wintering on the Noyo and now has selected it as his retirement community. Birders and wildlife enthusiasts continue to enjoy his presence. The mallard drakes don't appear to mind his company either.

Our otters continue to be on the shy side. I regularly see them but they are elusive to many of our guests. Perhaps they have gotten to know me and pop up to say hi but are still wary of many people as a survival skill from years ago when they were hunted. Did you know that a group of otters is called a romp? Seems fitting.

The new born fawns have not been shy and seem quite curious about us as we quietly float by.

It has been really fun to share these wildlife experiences with all ages and many first time paddlers. Kayaking has its roots in hunting wildlife, today we are using it as a vehicle to appreciate it.

"No Name"

2009-07-21T08:56:00.000-07:00

"No Name" ????

"No Name" is one of our favorite rock garden features in Fort Bragg's Noyo Bay. Why is it called No Name? Well it is one of our favorite play spots so it needs a name, but we really haven't settled on one.

Our rock garden features are often named for carnage like Angie's Angst, Nick's Nightmare, Brindle's Bash or other distinguishing features like the Two Towers, The Canyon, First Rock, Sinkhole Cave, Keyhole Cave.

No Name has had minimal carnage but a lot of fun. Beginners have ridden their first ride on No Name and seasoned paddlers have experienced some of their biggest rides on No Name. We ride No Name in both our sea and whitewater sea kayaks. Last summer Jeff and I first rode No Name in a tandem sea kayak.

We are open to suggestions or No Name shall remain Nameless.

Forwards, Backwards, or Sideways . . . No Name . . . but always a great ride . . .

Dolphin Isle Developments

2009-07-09T08:14:00.000-07:00

Here are the most recent photos of Liquid Fusion Kayaking's new Fort Bragg home. Finding us has gotten easier as we have signs up. We are enjoying having friends from both near and far stop by to check out our new location.

We are continuing to look for a camp trailer to use as an office this winter when it rains. For now, we are enjoying sunshine, fresh air, and spectacular wildlife watching from our picnic table desk. Lately the kingfishers and merganser ducklings have been very active frequently diving for fish. The harlequin duck continues to linger. We enjoy his quirky presence but were hoping that he would migrate and bring back a mate.

If you happen to paddle by on the river, be sure to paddle by our deck to check out our "Creature Feature." (blank in this photo - guess you will have to paddle by to see it).

Our windy days are more enjoyable tucked away back the Noyo River. I love watching and hearing the flags ripple in the wind instead of howling around our house.

Stop by and visit us sometime. It is best to call first though . . . we love our new location but are out on the water as much as possible enjoying some great paddling on the Noyo River and in ocean rock gardens and sea caves of the Mendocino Coast.

Simpler Times

2009-07-07T18:51:00.000-07:00

Yeap . . . we decided to take a day off from paddling. Off to a favorite swimming hole on the Eel River we went with the dogs, some friends, and non paddling toys.

Bear swam and swam and swam while Aften basked in the sun and waded. We jumped off the rocks, snorkeled, tossed a football, lounged in the sun, and enjoyed Simpler Times.

Life is Good!

Liquid Fusion Kayaking's New Fort Bragg Home

2009-06-13T14:03:00.000-07:00

Dolphin Isle Site #46A - AKA Camp LFK. Here's our first photo of the site before we got to work. There is a lot of potential and a lot of work to be done.

Day 1 We were fortunate to have some help getting started. Craig who works on my family's farm in Pennsylvania was around to give us a hand. He and Jeff started with trimming some trees to improve the view of the river from the deck.
And then proceeded with leveling the site. I was the go-fer picking-up supplies. The guys were happy that I picked up some PBR for them in one of my supply runs.

Smiling worker - I guess Jeff was smiling that I brought him some PBR "Professional Boater's Refreshment", but he is very excited to have a physical location for our business. We worked hard this winter developing a business plan, creating new adventures, training on the water, and developing our marketing materials. Moving the business from our house to a physical location is an exciting step for us.

Day 2 Storage. We cleaned out the shed and hung shelves, and Jeff and Craig built the boat rack. Yeah!!! This means more space in our backyard at home for my garden. I will post a better photo of the kayak rack in my next post.

Today we also enjoyed a few moments on the deck watching the birds and wildlife. We watched a mamma merganser parading her 10 ducklings up river, barn and violet green swallows swooping and feeding over the river, the osprey and great blue heron fishing, and the black crowned night herons emerging for the evening. Of course, my favorite odd duck - the Harlequin continues to meander around on the Noyo.

View of the Noyo River from the deck of Camp LFK.

Kayakers Welcome!!!

2009-06-13T13:08:00.000-07:00

Last summer while kayaking on Fort Bragg's Noyo River, a banner appeared stating "Breakfast, Lunch, Beer, Wine - Kayakers Welcome." Of course we had to investigate and discovered the friendly, yummy, and affordable Deli at Dolphin Isle Marina.

Over the winter, we used the beach area at Dolphin Isle for launching and landing our kayaking classes and tours and discovered that Dolphin Isle has much more to offer kayakers than good, affordable food. Jeff and I of course love that it is one of those "off the beaten path" places. We have also discovered it to be one of the best areas for getting beginners started in kayaks and for those of us who like to hide from the wind and enjoy great birding and wildlife watching. The winding, meandering of the Noyo protects it from the wind and makes currents easily negotiable.

In addition to its tasty deli, diverse wildlife, and friendly paddling condition; Dolphin Isle also has a small marina and RV park. As our business picked up this spring, we were running more and more of our events at Dolphin Isle and started discussing possibilities of Dolphin Isle being Liquid Fusion Kayaking's new home in Fort Bragg.

On May 1, we started running our tours from one of the marina boat slips.

But remember, I said that there was an RV park as well. Stay tuned for our June developments.

From mild to wild . . . Kayaking on the Mendocino Coast

2009-06-10T11:12:00.000-07:00

Over the weekend we paddled on Mendocino's Big River for the Cancer Resource Center of Mendocino in their first Cancer Paddle. This was a new addition to their popular Big River Walk. Jeff and Bear paddled the MANGO TANGO (actually Jeff paddled and Bear enjoyed the ride). Craig and Jeff took turns paddling our canoe, and Sean and Maryanne paddled the RED TAMALE. As usual I was in my sea kayak and taking photos. It was fun to see KOZT's Teeth Richards on the river. I think he should have been helping the KOZT team out more on the return journey, but I guess that is one of the perks of being a mascot. The windy return journey up Big River made us happy that Fort Bragg's protected Noyo River is our paddling home.

Sunset Bird Paddling and Noyo Meandering continue to be a popular afternoon and evening adventure. The river otters have been teasing us with brief encounters and the harbor seals have been delighting us with their curiosity. Last night, we saw 3 different species of herons within 100 yards of each other, a new brood of ducklings, and an osprey with a large fish.

And on the wildside . . .

We have been having calm coastal conditions with just enough swell to make for some rock gardening fun in whitewater kayaks. We have discovered a really fun "S" turn channel that can be used to link up some of our favorite features including "Nick's Nighmare" and the "Sound Cave." We ride "Nick's Nighmare", take the "S" Turn Channel, and then cruise into the "Sound Cave" which has a passage into the "Keyhole Cave".

And yes, you may have noticed Jeff paddling with bare arms. It has been quite warm here. Fortunately there is plenty of cold water to cool-off with.

Birds on the Brain II

2009-05-30T09:42:00.000-07:00

Yes, I continue to have birds on the brain. Yesterday, I was admiring the cormorant chicks at the Point Cabrillo Lighthouse after helping with the Point Cabrillo Breeding Birds Survey then I went to write my woman on water blog which ended up being a banter about birds. Yesterday afternoon, I was bringing gear off of the line in our back yard, and Osprey flew over me at low altitude (about 25 feet) with a nice size salmon in her talons. I was hoping for a dropsy but no such luck. I hope that she enjoyed her salmon dinner.

Prior to meeting my guests for a Sunset Bird Paddle, I warmed up on the Noyo with my greenland paddle and found myself birding again. I was stoked to have a few moments with my camera and am excited to share my shots with you. Yes, I photographed the male harlequin again and got a couple of great shots of a handsome great blue heron in breeding plummage.My favorite photo though is of the merganser and her ducklings - in this photo one was riding on mom's back.

The swallows have been very active feeding and chittering away along the river. I had several great viewings of 3 barn swallows - close enough to see the irridescence shimmer in their blue feathers. There are a bunch of violet green swallows swooping about but elluding my camera.

And of course the mamma mallards had to parade their little ones around the marina just before we launched on our sunset bird paddle. They brought them past us in the water and then for a walk on a log floating next to the dock.

Who knows what we will see next.

Wet & Wild - Mendocino Coast Kayaking ROCKS!!!

2009-05-26T07:52:00.000-07:00

Some call it rock gardening or extreme ocean kayaking . . . we call it FUN!!! This weekend we had a blast sharing our Mendocino Coast kayaking playground with guests from all over the country. Wind swells created lots of whitewater for us to play on in our whitewater kayaks. We are really stoked with our new whitewater sit on top kayaks - Dagger Torrents. They are super stable yet very maneuverable and perfect for beginners.

Many of our guests were first time kayakers or had kayaked just a few times. We started each session with a kayaking lesson that included basic paddling and safety skills including capsize and recovery. One of our paddlers made up the funniest scenario/story as he paddled and capsized - unfortunately I didn't catch it on video.

After some skill work, we started to play - starting small and then going BIG!!! It is fun that each feature that we play on has different options depending upon the paddler's comfort level. And it is just as fun to sit and watch (or take photos as I did) as it is to ride the waves. Facial expressions are priceless.

As we played in the rock gardens, we were treated to displays of the brown pelicans flying north, osprey hunting for fish, sea lions cruising about, harbor seals checking us out, and other coastal birds (I am refraining from getting too birdy here). The sun was shining and the water was wet, wild, and refreshing.

Ahhh . . . life is good.

New Photo Gallery

2009-05-19T09:55:00.000-07:00

Here's one of my favorite photos. I took it while sea kayaking on the Mendocino Coast just outside of Fort Bragg's Noyo Bay.

This photo is in our new photo gallery which includes photos and videos of our kayaking, Mendocino Coast, wildlife, and other adventures.

I hope that you will enjoy my labor of love.