Curgenven. Of course, Curgenven wasn’t the first to make a sea kayak film, but she was one of the first to mount cameras on the boats and send paddlers—herself among them—out in tidal races. We were no longer watching paddlers from shore; we were right
there paddling and hooting down the waves with them. This is the Sea presented a different vision of sea kayaking. The film
inspired countless paddlers to think about sea kayaking as more than just a mode of transportation or an activity for calm waters. Among them were other filmmakers, notably Bryan Smith who took produc- tion and cinematography to a whole new level with his films, Pacific Horizons and Eastern Horizons. “Bryan Smith and Justine Curgenven’s DVDs were a major influence
in the creation of The Hurricane Riders,” says Gloag. “I’ve lost count how many times I’ve watched Pacific Horizons. One of THR’s goals was to share rough water paddling—an amazing and visually stunning aspect of sea kayaking—with as many people as possible. Through YouTube,THR has reached over 115,000 people around the world.”
Too Much of a Good Thing? W
ith popularity and interest at an all time high, some fear that rough water paddling could tarnish the overall appeal of sea
kayaking. “My concern is that this image of sea kayaking will dominate and
scare folks away from the sport,” says Michael Pardy, instructor, guide and owner of SKILS paddling school. Sea kayakers need only look to their river cousins to see how a simi-
lar scenario played out in whitewater kayaking in the mid-90s. The whitewater community became gripped by a hot new craze called play- boating. It looked fantastic in print, so an eager media helped prolifer- ate the idea that you had to be out in the biggest, baddest whitewater to have fun. Unfortunately, the sport’s gnarly image had an unintended effect. Over the next 10 years, new whitewater paddler participation dropped significantly. “One related concern,” continues Pardy, “is the potential shift away
from touring-oriented training toward rough water paddling.” Overall, he sees this departure from sea kayaking’s roots as a “mixed blessing.” Keith Wikle disagrees, “I think the popularity of rough water sea
kayaking can only be a good thing. It means that more people are ex- cited about paddling and pushing their comfort levels a bit.” He says sea kayaking needs to shake its reputation for being “a lame sport for old graybeards in Tilley hats.” “The more we excite people about sea kayaking’s dynamic potential,
the better.” Gloag echoes Wikle’s sentiments, “I have learned more techniques
paddling Skookumchuck [tidal race] than I ever thought were possible in a sea kayak. I am the paddler I am today because of rough water.”
On the Horizon T
he next five years will no doubt witness some big changes in the world of rough water paddling. Expect the combination of more
participation and increased media awareness to produce innovators and leaders who will take it to a whole new level. “Twenty years ago, just sea kayaking was exciting. Now, that’s not
enough,” says Pardy. “We see this trend in nearly every adventure sport—skiing, climbing, cycling and surfing have all fostered specialized sub-disciplines, along with their associated iconography, idols and tools.” —continued on page 46
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