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Boats and boaters: On the water

Roll with it

Beth Harrison

The Post and Courier

Dubside, an internationally known kayaker, demonstrates rolling techniques at the 2006 East Coast Canoe & Kayak Festival on James Island.

Imagine a paddler’s paradise. It’s a place where bright boats in a rainbow of colors float in a lake and where many more vessels wait on shore.

There are canoes and kayaks of every description, including sleek, needlelike racing kayaks and handcrafted beauties made of wood strips, plus every kind of sea kayak or recreational boat you can imagine. If you’re looking to buy a boat, comparison shopping doesn’t get any easier. You can hop in almost any kayak or canoe you see and paddle around the lake.

This paradise has enough on-water instruction by world-class kayak teachers to wear you out in just a couple of days. And there are off-water classes galore, on every topic from how to fix a hole in a fiberglass hull to how to squeeze all your camping gear into a kayak for a two-week expedition.

You can see paddlers roll their boats upside down, swap boats while still under water and then roll back up.

Best of all, this little slice of heaven is right in your own backyard at James Island County Park — and it’s coming April 18-20.

It’s the East Coast Canoe and Kayak Festival.

Legends of kayaking gather for several days at the festival, and you can pump them for information and soak up their knowledge. They include celebrities like Nigel Foster, whose kayak designs are well-known throughout the sea kayaking world, and whose teaching skills and expeditions take him around the globe. Foster, who is British and lives in Seattle, will crack you up with his quirky sense of humor and awe you with his outside-the-box approaches to teaching. He is joined at the festival by many other nomadic adventurers and elite paddlers who write books, produce videos, coach students, design boats, participate in competitions, lead expeditions and otherwise keep paddle sports alive and well.

To get you stoked for this year’s fun, my mind drifts back to festivals past. Here are some highlights:

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Michael Gray, an instructor, kayaking guide, author of an upcoming cookbook and founder of Uncommon Adventures, gave me a taste of backcountry gourmet cooking. Gray served up a class that was “30 percent less-serious than the average program,” mixing in lots of audience participation in the kitchen festivities and a hearty helping of belly laughs. I got to “stir” the batter for pineapple upside down cake by squishing and kneading a plastic bag containing the flour, eggs and other ingredients.

I never will forget Gray’s wild story about what happened to a head of cabbage that was inadvertently left in the bow hatch of his kayak for several months. If you attend any of his classes, ask him about that cabbage!

The best part of all? Gray invited us to sample the dishes we helped him put together, including my pineapple upside down cake. Yum!

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Introduction to Solo Freestyle Canoe class with paddling experts Karen Knight and Bob Foote. These two elite paddlers make canoeing a beautiful, graceful art form. I finally learned how to make a canoe go straight while paddling it solo. Quite a feat. After all, how many people can paddle a canoe straight with TWO people in the boat, let alone one? And I learned lots of other cool ways to make a canoe do exactly what I told it to.

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Russell Farrow, an adventurer and co-owner of Sweetwater Kayaks in St. Petersburg, Fla., taught me how to make my kayak respond with less effort. I racked up the style points by learning to carve graceful, effortless turns — working with the wind instead of against it.

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In Tom Nickels’ American Canoe Association Level 4 kayak class, I was out in the open ocean for a day, taking whatever Mother Nature could dish out. I practiced towing and rescuing other kayakers, doing surf launches and landings and honing other open-water skills with gung-ho fellow students amid diving pelicans and crashing waves. Nickels, by the way, is a former resident of Folly Beach and highly regarded sea kayaking coach who now hails from the Washington, D.C.-area.

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Michael Gray, the kayaking chef, also taught me the “re-enter and roll” technique. Did you know you can swim into a capsized, floating kayak, get yourself situated in the boat while it’s still upside down, then roll back up? It’s a self-rescue method that makes for a fun class and also provides material for good stories later over a frosty mug.

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I zipped around the lake in many types of kayaks, and paddled a model I liked so much that I eventually wound up ordering one a year later — a Current Designs Slipstream. Mine is Kevlar and fiberglass, with a white hull and a purple deck. It’s fast and it fits me just right.

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I watched an orange Coast Guard helicopter hover over the lake for a demonstration, plucking “survivors” from the water, securing them in the rescue basket and hoisting them to safety in no time flat. The deafening drone of the chopper and the powerful wind created by the rotors made a lasting impression as I witnessed the Coast Guard crew’s skill and precision. Maybe someday they will let me play victim so I can get a free helicopter ride.

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When the sun went down over the lake, I drenched myself in gnat repellent and joined a crowd perched on bleachers to take in a wonderful show on the water. Karen Knight and Bob Foote performed a dreamy sort of ballet on the water in canoes, set to music. Their incredible feats included standing the canoes on end, spinning them around like tops and heeling the boats way over on their sides — all while looking extremely graceful, poised and polished — and apparently without getting a single drop of water on them.

Greenland paddling expert Dubside performed an incredible rolling demonstration. He goes by one name only, is proud of not owning a car and dresses in his signature black. He has taught traditional paddling techniques all over the U.S., Canada, and Europe and has competed in the Greenland National Kayaking Championships. Dubside performed feats such holding a lighted candle while rolling his kayak using only his hands. And of course, the candle never went out. He also rolled his kayak using common household objects such as garden rakes and brooms instead of a paddle.

So go ahead and immerse yourself in all this event has to offer. Right here in Charleston County. Make a checklist of the classes you want to take, call ahead and register.

You will be amazed.

Friday, April 18

6-9:30 a.m. Sunrise marsh kayak tour with Coastal Expeditions

8 a.m.-noon Exhibitor registration area open

8 a.m.-5 p.m. Participant registration area and used boat sale area open

9 a.m.-5 p.m. Exhibit area open

9 a.m.-5 p.m. Master class instruction

1:30-4 p.m. Smart start for the beginning paddler (Every half-hour at Beach B, free for registered participants)

1:30-4 p.m. Classroom instruction

1:30-5 p.m. H20utfitters instruction

5-6 p.m. Social hour at Edisto Hall

5:30-8 p.m. Participant registration at Edisto Hall

6-8 p.m. Barbecue dinner at Edisto Hall (preregistration required

8-9 p.m. Featured speaker: Pacific Horizons by Bryan Smith

Saturday, April 19

6-9 a.m. Sunrise harbor tour with Lowcountry Paddlers

6-9:30 a.m. Sunrise marsh kayak tour with Coastal Expeditions

6 30-7:30 a.m. Fitness paddle with Epic Kayaks (Meets at master class instruction area)

6:45-7:30 a.m. Yoga with Karen Knight at Edisto Hall

7-8:30 a.m. Breakfast at Edisto Hall (Preregistration required)

8 a.m.-5 p.m. Participant registration area and used boat sale area open

8:30-4:30 p.m. H20utfitters instruction (Classes meet at H20utfitters exhibit site)

9 a.m.-noon Smart start for the beginning paddler (Every half-hour at Beach B, free for registered participants)

9 a.m.-4 p.m. Kids Camp sessions

9 a.m.-5 p.m. Exhibit area open

9 a.m.-5 p.m. Master class instruction

9 a.m.-5 p.m. Classroom instruction

11:30 a.m.-1 p.m. Lunch

1-5 p.m. Smart Start for the Beginning Paddler (Every half-hour at Beach B, free for registered participants)

5-6 p.m. Live bluegrass music with Radio Pirates

5:30-8:30 p.m. Sunset harbor tour with Charleston County Parks

6-7:30 p.m. Lowcountry boil at Edisto Hall (Preregistration required)

7:30-8 p.m. Greenland rope gymnastics with Dubside (demo area)

8-10 p.m. Interpretive canoe and kayak exhibition (demo area)

Sunday, April 20

6-9 a.m. Sunrise harbor tour with Sea Yakers

6-9:30 a.m. Sunrise marsh kayak tour with Coastal Expeditions

6:30-7:30 a.m. Fitness paddle with Epic Kayaks (Meets at master class instruction area)

6:45-7:30 a.m. Yoga with Karen Knight at Edisto Hall

7-8:30 a.m. Breakfast at Edisto Hall (Preregistration required)

8 a.m.-4 p.m. Participant Registration Area & Used Boat Sale Area Open

9 a.m.-noon Smart start for the beginning paddler (Every half-hour at Beach B, free for registered participants)

9 a.m.-3:30 p.m. Kids Camp sessions

9 a.m.-4 p.m. Exhibit area open

8:30 a.m.-4 p.m. Master class instruction

9 a.m.-3:30 p.m. Classroom instruction

9 a.m.-3 p.m. H20utfitters instruction (Classes meet at H20utfitters exhibit site)

11:30 a.m. Kids’ cardboard canoe race

11 30 a.m.-1 p.m. Lunch

1-4 p.m. Smart Start for the Beginning Paddler (Every half-hour at Beach B - free for registered participants)

For more information, visit www.ccprc.com