True paddlers are about doing. So, read on, paddler, and discover a new approach for your paddling and life

1. Leave No Trace
We wouldn’t insult you by preaching the positives of keeping your litter off riverbanks, but the impact you can make on ecosystems goes way beyond garbage. Among the basic principles of Leave No Trace: schedule your trip at times of reasonable river flows—if you have to bushwack out because the water level was too high, you are leaving a trace, and if you’re running the river it at a scrapey level, you’re scraping more than just rocks. You’re probably scraping away some delicate flora. Also, you can dump urine into the main current of many high-volume (more than 500 cfs) rivers. In low-volume rivers, scatter liquid waste 200 feet from water and away from camp and trails. Learn more about the LNT ethic at www.lnt.org.

2. Paddle Into Your 80s
When will you stop paddling? Hopefully, we’ll all be on the water until climate change soaks it all up. Here’s how you do it: drop out of the lustful lifestyle of excess. With a healthy diet and way of life, and a little luck, you could be paddling all that Polar Icecap meltwater in the year 2050! A recent Men’s Health article stated that eating raw vegetables, losing fat, having a large social network, and maintaining a positive outlook can add more than 20 years to your life. So ask yourself, what’s better? Paddling prowess for decades, or 3 a.m. street churros?

Check out realage.com and take a test to find out if you’re younger, older, or equal to your calendar age.

3. Adopt a River
Paddlers take pride in being arguably the most eco-conscious users of our nation’s waterways, but just talking about it is as pointless as John McCain campaigning in the Haight-Ashbury District. Too many rivers are laden with the flotsam of careless and ignorant polluters. A cleanup is a fun way to restore the purity of a river—even if your fellow paddlers weren’t the ones who put it there.

Check out American Rivers' website to find or organize a river cleanup.

4. Train for an Open-Water Race
Pick a race that is suitable for your skill and conditioning level, says two-time USA Surf Ski champion Greg Barton, then plot out the amount of time (hours per week) you can put toward training. “The goal is to maintain consistent training,” Barton says. The advantages you’ll gain for your regular paddling are improved fitness, more efficient technique, and the experience of pushing yourself through adversity (head winds, strong currents).

5. Win It
Making up lost time is difficult, so “the start is obviously an important part of the race,” says Barton, who also won two gold medals in the 1988 Olympic Games in the K-1 and K-2 1000-meter races. Barton also advises to maintain a consistent pace and leave a little bit in your reserve at the finish. If you’re trailing someone, but feel you’re a stronger paddler, follow his line and you’ll eventually catch him. If he’s stronger, however, you may have to take more chances and try to cut angles. Know the course, as well, to identify currents and eddies. “There’s an art to learning the strategy of racing,” Barton says. “Experience definitely helps.”

6. Get Into Yoga
Admit it. You’ve bragged to your friends about your “totally progressive” three-hour paddle sessions, but the part you’ve omitted was about the week you spent begging your girlfriend for a massage. And after three hours jammed into your boat, an unrefined, post-paddle stretching routine won’t unlock your kundalini (your reserve of untapped potential) the way yoga can. You’ll increase flexibility, core strength, and—some have said—your body’s ability to manage pain. Take a class. For a three-minute tutorial on how not to act, watch “The Inappropriate Yoga Guy."

Echo River Trips offers three nights of camping and yoga along the Wild and Scenic Rogue River in Oregon; Tofino Expeditions offers eight-day sea kayaking and yoga trips to Loretto.

7. Master Your Strokes
1.) The Duffek is the ultimate eddy-grabbing stroke. When performing a Duffek, think of your paddle as your hand. Reach into the eddy and pull your boat toward the power-face of your blade. Seems simple, but it takes practice. You can also use it to make corrections to your boat angle without seriously compromising speed. 2.) The forward stroke is the most fundamental aspect of whitewater kayaking and yet, many experts get it wrong. Here’s how to do it right: lean forward. Paddle goes in the water at your toe, it comes out at your hip. Pull by rotating your torso. The motion is similar to pulling the cord to start-up a push mower.

8. Make Your Own Energy Bars
These days, some energy bars taste better than chocolate chip mint ice cream. The reason: mass amounts of sugar. Good for the palate. Not so good for your insulin level, immune system, cholesterol level, etc. By making your own paddle snack, you can save lots of money, and monitor how much sugar and other ingredients you put in.

Simple recipe: 1½ cups granola, ¼ cup honey, ? cup chopped nuts, 1 egg; compress into 8x8 cooking pan and bake for 20 minutes. Press into bars after it cools. No refined sugar, no high fructose corn syrup, no trans fat, no added salt. Makes 12 bars.

9. Repair a Gel Coat
The first year of owning a new fiberglass beauty is a lot like the first 12 months of parenting; it’s a yearlong set of psychological rollers symbolizing deep-rooted emotions ranging from extreme pride to utter paranoia. Then, you relax a bit, and before you know it, your lovely sea kayak bashes into a submerged rock. There goes a chunk of gel coat. Fortunately, if you’re handy enough to repair the base of a ski, you can fix a damaged gel coat and protect the structural integrity of your glass goddess.

You can find repair kits at most local paddling and marine shops. There are also numerous kits online, such as Oak Orchard Canoe's. Tip: apply the gel coat with a one-inch, fine-bristle paint brush.

10. Back Ferry a Canoe
You and your wife may not have the need to back ferry on your backyard run that you’ve paddled a thousand times, but when you go to the Allagash this summer, are you really going to be able to spin your gear-laden canoe 180 degrees and forward-ferry to get a better scout of Chase Rapids? An efficient back ferry will buy you some time to evaluate what lies downstream while keeping your eyes on it.

Tip: Use a reverse J stroke to maintain a straight line.

11. Build Your Own Boat
Constructing your own craft is one of those projects that rewards patience. But you might not reap the fruits of that virtue until you’ve completed the project. In those in-between times, remember that few if any owners of homemade boats have ever said, “I wish I never built this.” If, however, your past handyman experiences have gone something like this: measure twice, cut too much, cuss even more, grab a new piece, then spare yourself the turmoil and inquire locally for a how-to class.

One such seminar for building cedar-strip canoes in the Minneapolis area is offered through The Northwest Canoe Company. Or, pick up a copy of Nick Schade’s The Strip-Built Sea Kayak.

12. Think Big
We’re only approaching the midway point of 2008. That means you have at least six months to dream up something huge, and then plan and prepare for it before the year ends. The worst that can happen is that you’ll have the most fulfilling experience of your life. Whether you drop 30-footers or slowly J stroke along the calm shoreline, an awaiting challenge will break you, hurt you, and stir doubt in you, but in the end reward you like nothing else you’ll ever do. So go see the Northern Lights. Run the Grand Canyon of the Stikine. Or simply cross that choppy lake. Whatever you do, do it better than before. Do it now.

Ohio State University psychology professor Richard Petty says merely nodding your head up and down will give you more confidence in what you think. As for shaking it? You guessed it. You lose confidence. It makes you wonder about your own body language when you day dream about something on your personal Life List.

13. Share the Love
Where would you be if not for that mentor, or mentors, who connected you to paddlesports? Somewhere along the way—perhaps after you swore off this hideous sport after your umpteenth swim—someone showed you that one little technique, complimented your improvement, or just kept you in the group. And as a result, you kept paddling. Better. Now it’s time for you to be the guru who brings along a struggling paddler and make him realize the height of his potential.

Take an instructor certification or advanced-teaching course through the ACA.

14. Set up a Z Pulley
While guides who work sections with wrap-happy rapids can set up Z pullies in their sleep, many paddlers will never use it. The ones who do will tell you how important it is to know this skill in a pinch. “When you need to use one, chances are good that you need it right now, and don’t have time to wait for someone else who might know it,” says Robin Pope, chair of the ACA Safety Education and Instruction Committee. Knowing this system could save some of your gear, or possibly someone’s life and you don’t want to be flustered when someone’s life is on the line. Action-hero moments aside, “Even if you never use it on the river,” Pope says, “it can help pull your car out of a muddy take-out.”

Take a swiftwater rescue course with an ACA-certified instructor. It is an easy skill to forget, so make sure you practice setting it up after you learn it. You can use small pulleys and twine from a hardware store and to set mini Z-drags on your desk if you don’t have the space to rig the real deal at home.

15. Read a Tidal Chart
Grounding your hull in the muddy shallows of a tidal basin is certainly not the easiest way to learn the importance of tidal charts. So practice reading a tidal chart, even on days when you know you won’t need to use it. Rather, just observe how the character of the water changes along with the predicted ebb and flow. This will give you a base of knowledge for longer trips in unfamiliar water—times when you will need a chart.

Log on to www.tidesandcurrents.noaa.gov for a broad compilation of tidal and weather information, including a selection of charts.

16. Be a Rescue Hero
Want to meet people of the opposite sex? Rescue them. Given, the hand signals and gear will make you feel awkward. Patting the top of your head to see if someone is okay is worse than asking, “So, do you come to this river often?” Outside of a boat, a wetsuit just looks like a pair of tights, but hey, it worked for Spiderman. No matter how ridiculous you feel, if you pull off the rescue you will always look like a champ.

Get safety and rescue training from the ACA to become a certified action hero.

17. Practice Self-Rescues in a Sea Kayak
True, you could go years without needing to self-rescue, but don’t get lackadaisical about practicing it. Get a group of friends to commit to working on self-rescues. Watch each other. Advise each other. And if you do this in conditions where a capsize could happen, even better.

18. Pay Off a Foreign Cop
Bribing an officer of the law in a foreign country is a delicate balance, but here’s a start: “Always bring a map and a mirror with you—so you know where you are and what you look like,” says Kelly Clinton, a veteran river sage, who’s used that piece of pricey advice more than once. Also, never forget the fact that YOU ARE IN A FOREIGN COUNTRY, and Napoleonic Law (guilty until proven innocent) is possibly the standard. First off, ensure the cop is just looking for some extra bucks rather than legitimately wanting to arrest you. Once you have gauged this, it is just like bartering for a product—except instead of scoring a ceramic donkey, you’ll score your freedom. If you offer too much, they might assume you’re rich and automatically demand more. If you offer too little, you can offend the officer’s sensibilities and end up in jail. To keep the value of local currency into account, lead with the cost of two meals at a middle-of-the-road restaurant in the area in which you are traveling. Establish a maximum bribe (they will usually bid you up). And when you hit that max, fake panic and say, “This is it. Now, I don’t even know how I’m going to get home.” Show them your wallet, which holds just $10 because you previously dispersed the rest of your money in other places, such as your socks, shoes, etc. When they accept your bribe, thank them for their injustice, because let’s face it, YOU ARE IN A FOREIGN COUNTRY.

19. Seal Launch
Why seal launch? Because you can’t always count on a nice trail to take you to the river and you might have no other choice. Because it’s easier to snap on your skirt when you’re on land than when waves are splashing into your cockpit. When practicing, however, remember the water into which you are launching is probably not aerated, like the base of a waterfall. The impact, as a result, is going to be more severe. So don’t land flat. Also remember you don’t have natural momentum sending you off the lip, so you might over-rotate and land on your belly. Avoid both by practicing on smaller launch spots, such as a dock.

Read Eric Jackson’s Know-How article in the July/August 2006 issue of Paddler.

20. Feed 20 Hungry Paddlers
Two large Dutch Oven (D.O.) lasagnas can feed 20 hungry paddlers from the Sasquatch family. Throw a D.O. peach cobbler in there, and you will have some seriously satiated Yeti. The myth that cooking with a D.O. involves some sort of magic is perpetuated by people who want to seem cooler because they cook with D.O.s. It’s actually as simple as cooking gets. Put whatever you want to cook in the D.O. as if it is a baking pan. Put five to 10 coals on the bottom, depending on the size of the D.O. The amount of coals you place on the bottom of the D.O. doesn’t matter as much as the amount you place on the top. Place a solid ring of coals around the outer edge of the lid, and don’t open it until you can smell what is cooking inside (that usually means it’s done).

Expand your D.O. repertoire.

21. Know Your Knots
In this age of cam-strap proliferation, mastery of tying knots has fallen the way of the portable CD player. But a time will surely come when you won’t have enough straps, and there, in the back of your car, you’ll find your old pal, the rope, dutifully waiting to be contorted into a trucker’s hitch. Will you be able to do it?

Tip: Truckers’ hitches are notoriously hard to pull out, especially with older, rougher ropes. Add another twist or two to make it slip easier.

Check out netknots.com for a full list of knots for paddlers.

22. Break Into a Car
Thwump! “Oh no! Where are your keys?” “In the car.” “Where’s your cellphone?” “In the car.” All the doors are locked, and you can’t even call a locksmith. You could break a window, but that would be like using a high-powered nail gun to repair a birch-bark canoe. Better yet, find a spot on your vehicle to hide your key or learn to use a few handy MacGyver-like tools (wood wedge, coat hanger, blunt object) and save your window, and your paddling trip.

23. Circumvent the Grand Canyon Permit System
No, we’re not suggesting you use a dead person’s identity to work around the permit system (see “He Uses Dead People”, May/June ’07). We are saying you should hitch a ride on someone else’s permit. You can make yourself more marketable as a Grand companion in several ways. One is to learn how to guide Class V. People intimidated by Lava will be happy to hand you the oars if you can legitimately use terms like, “We need to ferry left for our lives to escape that manky lateral!” Another is to buy an expensive piece of equipment that is very Grand Canyon specific. It will be easier (and cheaper) for a permit holder to invite you than it will be to hunt down and buy the Eco Safe Expedition Toilet ($174.95). To sweeten the pot, bring a large ammo can that goes with the toilet—they are more difficult to get these days, however, because U.S. troops are using them in the Middle East. And always smile when you paddle. You never know who you are going to see on the river, and who has a permit on the way. One grumpy face can seal your impression as a sour paddler on a future Grand Canyoner.

24. Bombproof Your Off-Side Roll
It’s easier for right-handers to roll on their right side, and for southpaws to roll on their left. Correct? Maybe not. It’s certainly simpler to fall back on your bomber on-side roll, but you’ll be safer if you can roll on either side.

Work on it with a friend. You might be surprised how coordinated you are on the opposite side and how easily you pop back up.

25. Practice Paddling P.R.
Regardless of your clothing choice, personal appearance, or linguistic skills, you are always going to stand out if you are paddling abroad. The reason: ‘That crazy boat.’ This is especially true in areas that don’t see many paddlers at all. So while you are boating, do us all a favor—smile often. It’s a universal sign of happiness and will perpetuate a view that, regardless of our background, paddlers are an easy breed to have around. Like language, boating ethics, logistics, and signals can change drastically in different countries. Don’t assert that your way is best; just enjoy what may seem like total shuttle carnage as another part of the cultural experience.

For a humorous way to check your perspective read William Lederer and Eugene Burdick’s 1958 novel, The Ugly American.

26. Land Those Lunkers
If you thought fishing was just for the type of guy who gives fishing lures for Mother’s Day gifts (“Look honey! I got you some earrings!”), perhaps you’ve never been hungry in the backcountry. Aside from the satisfaction of self-sufficiency a la Richard Proenneke (you remember PBS’s Alone in the Wilderness), there may come a time when you have no other choice for food. Or maybe five straight nights of freeze-dried lasagna has backed up your plumbing.

Pick up a copy of Preparing Fish & Wild Game.

27. Swim
Not just laps in a pool, but in an actual rapid. Pick a safe line, have reliable people on safety, and ready, set, go. Not only will it be as fun as any other part of your day on the river, it will give you a better understanding of moving water and help you get over the fear threshold. Keep your feet up to avoid snagging your foot. You already know to wear a PFD and helmet.

For an inspirational read, pick up We Swam the Grand Canyon: The True Story of a Cheap Vacation That Got a Little Out of Hand by Bill Beer.

28. Ride Shotgun in a Floatplane
Traveling doesn’t get a lot more off the beaten path than being in a single-prop that’s flying toward a mountainside—while battling rogue winds—and then bank-turning between two craggy peaks. If you’re taking a floatplane trip, it means you’re going somewhere remote. Which means you’re flipping open the first page of an unforgettable chapter in your life. And after releasing your orangutan grip on the vomit bag, you’ll never complain about a mid-winter landing at O’Hare again.

Black Sheep Aviation is based in Whitehorse, Yukon, and services northern British Columbia, Alaska, and the Northwest Territories. “You fly between mountain peaks and land on a very tiny lake,” canoe savant Cliff Jacobson says of his trip to the Snake River. “It is awesome.”

29. Vacation on $2K or Less
Talk to someone who has lived on an outdoor guide’s salary about the places they have traveled. No, they weren’t able to spend six months in Chile because they guided Bill Gates down the Salmon; it’s because they have mastered the art of “dirt-bagging” while traveling. And besides, some of the best local foods are from street vendors, and the cheapest hostels usually have the most “local flair.” While your stomach may pay the price, your wallet will thank you, and you can big league your friends with stories of cow brain street tacos in Mexico City.

Lonely Planet has a travel forum that can offer invaluable tips on top travel values.

30. Wear a Head Net—With Panache!
Few things are more appealing to the opposite sex than the confident stride of a man wearing a new head net. Whether you’re in midtown Manhattan or midstream Missinaibi, the only thing landing on your face will be the lips of yet another passionate female unable to resist the lure of a welt-free mug.

31. Organize the Lillydipper Olympics
With all the importance placed on technique and performance, don’t forget to have recess once in awhile. Sometimes, you have to just play. Paddler contributor Mike McCrea often organizes a group of canoeists to participate in the annual Lillydipper Games. Contestants compete in such events as the Bow Only Race and the Stand and Deliver Poling Competition. It doesn’t matter how good your friends are. Getting people out of their comfort zones can be pleasing and amusing. “I think the best part of it is seeing people smiling and laughing. The simple joy of it. Plus, the amusement of watching people screw up.”

Tips: “You need to offer contestants prizes, even if it’s stupid $2 swag stuff,” says McCrea. “After everybody did it and realized how much fun it was, they said, ‘Let’s do it again.’ There’s something about swag.”

32. Pole
Unless you’ve got Yao Ming in the bow, you’re going to experience times when it would be to your advantage to stand up and see what’s downstream. Or, maybe you’ll have difficulty getting your paddle blade to catch any water on a bony, late-summer river trip. So, stand up and pole. It takes some balance, but it’s nothing many paddlers can’t get the hang of with some practice, determination, and a bit of humility. It’s so much fun, you’ll start looking for situations in which to pole.

Traditional paddles are outfitted with a metal shoe (looks more like a cake-decorating tool than what you’d wear on your foot) to help you gain purchase on the riverbed. Find more information and gear at poleandpaddle.com.

33. Recycle Your Plastic Boat
Some old plastic boats, alas, can’t be sold again, and simply taking them to the dump is an option best left unexplored. Plastic doesn’t biodegrade. Instead, it photodegrades, breaking down by sunlight into smaller pieces of plastic that can take hundreds of years to go away. High-Density Polyethylene (HDPE) and Low-Density Polyethylene (LDPE), plastics from which many boats are built, can be recycled.

Contact the organizers of a local paddling event and help them coordinate and market a boat-recycle campaign. Or, contact your local paddlesports shop to see if they recycle old boats. California Canoe & Kayak, with three Northern California shops, recycles boats. Also, log on to www.recycle.net to learn more about recycling plastic.

34. Take Wilderness First Aid
Let’s say you’re on a remote river and you’ve separated your shoulder. Your choices for administering the riverside shoulder-reinsertion procedure are a) the guy who says he did it to his high-school wrestling teammate, or b) the guy who grew up on a farm and once delivered a cow. Before committing to No. 12 on the 35 For Life list, have your crew commit to a Wilderness First Aid class and improve your odds of living to tell about your Think-Big adventure.

Go to your local paddle shop, or do a web search, to find a course near you. For a Cliff’s Notes version, read Wilderness First Aid, published by NOLS. The book, however, will be immensely more useful after you’ve taken a class.

35. Plan an Expedition
An expedition means something different to Oceans 8 trip leader Jon Bowermaster than it does to John Q. Paddler who has a week out of the office. Regardless of your skill level or how you define the word expedition, venturing on one promises to push you beyond your comfort zone and usually test your mettle/problem-solving skills/social skills.

You don’t want a Lord of the Flies-style mutiny in the wild, so make sure you choose the right crew. Before you start rounding up paddlers, think of how they handle stress and adapt to ever-changing circumstances that can break an expedition. Having an expert in certain areas (assessing weather, route-finding, local knowledge) is also valuable.

For an in-depth look, check out Expedition Kayaking by Derek Hutchinson or Cliff Jacobson’s Expedition Canoeing.

Originally published, Paddler May-June 2008