By Mary Fairchild Although it is possible to ride storm surf, tidal bores, and swell, what provides us with ‘the finest waves to ride’ is swell arriving on a suitable beach. Nigel Foster (1) During the first week of April, I was fortunate to be a part of Gini Callahan’s first sea kayak surf camp…
Tag: Sea Kayaking
International Sea Kayak Guide Snubs Registered Maine Guides: American Canoe Association’s Cover-up
By Mary Fairchild This was my favorite play area from my 2011 guided Coastal Maine trip (2011 report). The sea kayaking community needs, perhaps most of all, to guard against any shift from safety to one of recognition and getting paid. Known as “Ocean Camp Maine,” my second guided trip to Maine, September 2013, was set up quite differently…
Sea Kayaking Narragansett Bay: Native American Footpaths and Soul Freedom
By Mary Fairchild (Mfairlady.com) Audubon Society George B. Parker Woodland, Coventry, Rhode Island. “Williams(Roger), lacking the resources… got about by canoe, sometimes likely with a sail rigged…Canoeing, even in protected bays meant confronting sometimes breaking surf and routinely strong currents, heavy swells, whitecaps, and wind; occasional exposure to open ocean increased the danger exponentially.” (4; Barry, p….
Kayaking the Apostle Islands: Kennedys, Native Americans, Religion, and Myth
By Mary Fairchild Paddling around Eagle Island, 2009; the island is protected by Critical Species Natural Area. Last fall, on September 24th, Chequamegon Bay JFK Day marked Kennedy’s visit to the Apostle Islands area thirty years ago (Sept. 24, 1963). Chequamegon was applied to the region by traders and missionaries which derives from a Chippewa(Ojibwe) word, shagwaumikong, meaning soft beaver dam….
Surfing My First Hole at Piers Gorge
By Mary Fairchild Sara Hartman, Ron Laird, Mary Fairchild, Alex Reily, Walter Afable, and Ryan Rushton; Terminal Surfer; July 26, 2013; 1800 CFS. Picture courtesy: Kat Kulchinski. Intentional hole and wave surfing are the bulk of what river runners call play. It means stopping at a river feature and exploring what it has to offer….
Adaptive Paddling: Drawing a Line in the Sand
By Mary Fairchild Bay Cliff Health Camp “Camp Yes I Can” tucked up in beautiful Big Bay, Michigan on Lake Superior. Sam Crowley and Nancy Uschold of Sea Kayak Specialists, in nearby Marquette, have been a part of the Bay Cliff Health Camp kayaking program since 1994. In September they will be teaching a 4-day ACA…