Tumpline NEWS | CONSERVATION | EVENTS | TRIPS | HERITAGE | CANOES |
Get up! Stand up!
PHOTO: JON “SHAGGY” MCLAUGHLIN
[ conservation ]
The Nurdle
Hurdle
SMALL PLASTICS,
BIG IMPACTS
Paddlers across North America are discovering more than shells along the natural shorelines of interior lakes, wild rivers and expansive oceans. Birds and fish, meanwhile, are find- ing more to eat than just insects. The translucent pebble that is catching everyone’s attention is the building block of all modern plastics and a cur- rent ecological disaster—the nurdle. Most nurdles are born in the south-
ern United States where natural gas and petroleum are engineered into small white pellets about the size of BBs. Fifty million tons of these poly- mer pearls are sold and shipped via trains, trucks and boats to be melted and made into everything from blue canoe barrels to polyurethane wa- ter shoes. During transport, many nurdles escape into the environment, where they make up 10 per cent of all throwaway flotsam. Nurdles are indestructible—every
ounce produced is still on the planet today. Increasingly, they’re found along remote waterways such as Lake Superior and in the bellies of fish and birds. Even more alarming, the per- vasive nurdle readily absorbs toxic chemicals such as PCBs, which bio-ac- cumulate in the food chain, wreaking havoc on ecosystems. The solution? Stop discharge from industrial facilities by demanding greater legislation so that our great- grandchildren may not have to ca- noe in a soup of toxic nurdles. In the meantime, help in a local shoreline
cleanup. —Jonathan Pratt
[ news ]
N
ever stand up in a canoe. It’s one of the golden rules of canoeing, right? Te ex-
plosive growth of stand up paddling (SUP) has many canoeists thinking that this myth couldn’t be further from the truth, as single- bladers from across North America are dis- covering that canoes are a perfect—and of- ten overlooked—craft for SUP. SUP is not just a surfing sport. It’s espe-
cially popular among flatwater enthusiasts from weekend warriors to fitness racers. SUP strokes involve the whole body, making it a great core workout, while also building balance by working smaller muscles in the feet and legs. “I was amazed the first time I stood up and paddled my canoe with a SUP paddle,” says Bruce Bergstrom, owner of Sawyer Paddles & Oars. “Te ease, power, length of stroke and stability one gains by standing is remarkable.” Standing lets you see both deeper into the
water and further downstream. Te strokes for stand up canoeing are essentially the same as for solo canoeing—Js, pries, draws and cross strokes all can be done standing, and with a far greater range of motion and power than when sitting or kneeling. Top open canoeist Mark Scriver takes a
SUP paddle on trips and paddles half the time standing up. “On big, wide and some- times shallow rivers where you’re looking for the best channel, it’s easier to use a SUP paddle and remain standing than to stand up, look, sit down and paddle.” In 2009, founder of Stride SUP, Luke Hop-
kins, and his brother Ty competed against 48 other canoes in a three-mile race down
[ eVents ]
Full event schedule at
www.canoerootsmag. com
MAY 14–16
CANOE 10 The New Canadian Canoe Symposium
Palmer Rapids, ON
www.canoerootsmag.com
MAY 21–23
Single Blade Symposium 7
Palmer Rapids, ON
www.rapidmag.com
18
EARLY SUMMER 2010
the ease, power, length of stroke and stability one gains by standing is remarkable
Virginia’s New River. Luke and Ty tandem paddled standing up, negotiating class II–III rapids and winning the
race...by a long shot! Even Luke was surprised: “I was shocked by the performance and power using a long paddle. Our strokes were eight feet long and had so much power behind them.” Standing up in a canoe is actually nothing
new…ever heard of canoe poling? Anglers and hunters have long been standing up to pole and paddle through southern bayous. When it comes to canoe fishing, Guillaume Chassé of Esquif Canoes thinks standing up is the only way to go, “Stand up canoeing is the best way for an angler to cast his line, and it’s easier to haul in your catch.” As the sport of SUP on boards continues
to gain popularity worldwide, stand up ca- noeing has nowhere to go but, well…UP! Te biggest hurdle is getting people to try it. As Clay Feeter, publisher of Stand Up Journal, says, “Standing up and flexing your legs and back becomes so easy and understandable once the newcomer gives it a try. But you don’t get it until you try it. Getting people to feel it is the next step.”
JON “SHAGGY” MCLAUGHLIN paddled 148 miles of the Northern Forest Canoe Trail across the Adirondacks from Old Forge to Plattsburgh, New York. He paddled the entire route standing up in his canoe.
MAY 21–23
Adirondack Paddlefest
Old Forge, NY
www.mountainmanoutdoors.com
JUNE 11–13
Maine Canoe Symposium
Bridgton, ME
www.mainecanoesymposium.org
JUNE 26
National Canoe Day
Locations across Canada
www.nationalcanoeday.net
JULY 14–18
Wooden Canoe Heritage Association Annual Assembly
Rindge, NH
www.wcha.org
PHOTO: JONATHAN PRATT
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