Improve your skills in a sweep

Fall 2008

Skillset

This is an article from WaveLength Magazine, available in print in North America and globally on the web.

To download a pdf copy of the magazine click here: > DOWNLOAD

By John Kimantas

As I write this, all I have to show for being the new Wavelength editor is this one sentence.

And it couldn't feel more like home.

About ten years ago or so I was a fledgling paddler on a press tour of Discovery Island courtesy the now-defunct Oak Bay Beach Hotel. Alan Wilson, then-owner of Coast&Kayak Magazine, happened to be along for the ride as well. While being boated in comfort in a yacht on a particularly windy day across Plumper Passage, I remember chatting with Alan briefly about the amazingly light carbon fibre paddle he had along for the trip. I seem to recall telling him about how I was planning on buying my first kayak in the next few weeks.

Who would have thought, a decade later, here I'd be, inheriting Alan's legacy. And what an incredible decade it has been, all thanks to kayaking.

Wavelength couldn't be a better place to end up. My first stroke of luck was being transferred to Vancouver Island in 1993. I found myself in the midst of this outdoor recreation heaven, so naturally hiking, then kayaking, became my passion. In 2003 I took a chance by taking the summer off work to paddle the outer coast of Vancouver Island. Eighty-six days of paddling and a lot of research and writing later, I had a publisher for The Wild Coast, a guidebook for the west coast of Vancouver Island. Whitecap Books quickly asked if I'd like to explore the coast some more for some follow-up volumes. Who could refuse? So in subsequent years volumes 2 and 3 of The Wild Coast series were born. Then a series of coastal atlases.

With one more professional dream left to fulfill, a bit earlier this year I launched my own creation, Wild Coast Magazine (you can read it at www.wildcoastmagazine.com; astute readers may notice some Wild Coast traits creeping into Wavelength, for which I offer no apologies. I think the two magazines create a great family). Around the time the first Wild Coast Magazine came out I began an email exchange with Ron and Diana Mumford, the next owners of Coast&Kayak Magazine after Alan retired. A few more emails and a cup of coffee later we had a deal, and so here I am. Knowing what I know now about magazines, I must thank Alan, Ron and Diana for all the hard work in getting Wavelength where it is today. So it's with a bit of trepidation and a lot of excitement I'm putting my own thumbprint on Wavelength. First is the change of agenda for this issue, from warm-weather paddling to general interest. (Sorry, I had too many other stories to tell this issue. Watch for those articles soon.)

Some new things to watch for: more adventures; regular articles on ecology and conservation (two subjects close to my heart); a new Day Trip feature taking a practical approach on where to paddle (to eventually create a tapestry of trips across the continent); a look at amazing people (starting with Jon Bowermaster); a Health and Nutrition column (welcome Bruce!), and a new feature called Options, which looks one step beyond the regular kayaking milieu to outriggers, sails, whitewater, pedals or wherever else inventive minds take self-propelled watersports.

Of course, the many talented regular contributors to the magazine will remain Wavelength's backbone. Watch for something for just about any interest – from new gear to kayak fishing.

So welcome to the latest incarnation of Coast&Kayak Magazine. I have a feeling it's going to be my best kayaking trip yet.

- John Kimantas