river signals
Range on the suburban Sackville River. Is there such a thing as the right to paddle? Under what circumstances can governments close rivers to recreational navigation? Please do keep us posted on developments in the Hog's Back Falls case.
Dusan Soudek Halifax, NS
Fledgling Magazine Loses Spirit I have been a subscriber since the second issue and enjoy Rapid Magazine immensely. Lately though, a disturbing trend is emerging and I would like to bring it to your attention. Rapid is growing up with the sport, moving its coverage, opinions and features up towards an elite level at roughly the same pace as pad- dling expertise would for a paddler who was a novice when you were in your infancy as a fledgling magazine. This trend satisfies existing readers but it makes you indistinguishable from other similar publications, which have reached the same point. What made Rapid great was its ability to capture the spirit of paddling—the sense of wonder inherent to the places paddling touch- es—but is lost as expertise and proficiency increase and technique replaces nature. Also, in your boat reviews, Rapid used to avoid a narrow test focus in accordance with manufacturer billing in favour of a more bal- anced approach across all skill levels. In my opinion, the Wave Sport Ace (I now own a 5.1) fell victim to that omission. For all those who still paddle for its spiritual side the boat is unbelievably fast and stable as a river runner, super retentive as a surfer and reasonably comfortable.
I hope you will take some of this into con- sideration. I do not believe the world needs just another paddling magazine under a different name; it does however need Rapid Magazine for all those, like my little son, who otherwise might never get the spiritual side of the sport. Ralf Meyer Rockland, ON
Thanks Ralf. I think the key is understanding that the spirit of paddling is different for every- one. And to help us, in “2 Cents” [pg 61] we asked paddlers their thoughts on the spirit of paddling. Please don’t wait for us; take your lit- tle son to the river.
Private Collection I picked up your CanoeRoots edition and enjoyed the article, “Bill Mason Wilderness Artist”. I have the book collection of Bill's art- work but to the best of my knowledge I have not seen this work before. I would like to know if it is, or will be available in prints and where can I secure one? I imagine if this is to be kept
as a one of a kind original the Mason family has it in their possession. If it is in Merrickville, please advise. I enjoyed CanoeRoots.
Thank you, Rick Martin
We passed your question to the author Ken Buck.
“The pictures in the article marked, “private collection” are not owned by the Masons, although they still possess a large body of works not seen by the public. The artwork in Canoescapes represents only a part of Bill Mason's work, especially his later work. In my book Bill Mason; Wilderness Artist I am attempting to assemble representative pieces of Bill's art which tell his story as an artist in its entirety.”
Ken Buck
RESPONSE TO “RAFT RANT” What can you say about such a narrow- minded attitude about rafts and rafters in your Spring 2002 edition? I was tempted to say “Wilderness Tours has been continually rafting the Ottawa since 1974, long before many pad- dlers were even born.” But I won’t! I will point out however, the benefits of raft- ing to the boating community. The most obvi- ous is river access. Wilderness Tours makes our take out road available at no charge to boaters using Farmer Blacks land. Owl Rafting provides a put-in at no charge. But more importantly, rafters’ greatest contribution is in preserving rivers. Allow me to pass on com- ments from David Brown of America Outdoors and Ric Careless from BC’s Wilderness Tourism Association:
“Outfitters and private boaters worked together on the Ocoee River to preserve recre- ation flows and are currently working together to obtain reliable flows on the upper Ocoee River. Private boaters and outfitters worked together on the Gauley River to preserve that resource by stopping an U.S. Army Corps of Engineers project to be constructed in the canyon. Rafting companies have been princi- ples in the designation and saving of Wild and Scenic Rivers throughout the U.S., most notably on the Tuolomne, Chattooga, Clavey, Middle Fork of the Salmon, Rogue and many more. Without rafting, the Kennebec, Dead, Sacandaga, Pigeon, Hudson, Arkansas and many other rivers would not have recreational flows from hydroelectric dams. In Canada, the North American Rafting Industry was instru- mental in protecting the Tatshenshini.” Unfortunately, inflammatory articles like Raft Rant divide user groups who should be work- ing together to protect rivers and access.
Joe Kowalski Wilderness Tours fall2002 5
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