Liquid Fusion Kayaking

Goldilocks Issues Revisited

This boat is too wide, this boat is too deep, this boat is sooo uncomfortable . . .

Last spring I fessed up to my Goldilocks ways in my blog and online. I stuck my neck out with some posts on forums in discussions of boats for small adults. Of course I was lambasted several times on paddling.net for voicing my opinion (by men of course) but also found many other women in the same too big boat as myself.

Almost a year later, Goldilocks has had several revelations:

1. Don’t expect others to understand my issues with boat design and fit. Everyone is in their own boat when it comes to this subject. I do feel for those with big feet as they seem to have as many if not more fit issues than us petite paddlers do.

2. YEAH DAGGER and WAVESPORT!!!! You guys got it!!! I was stoked last year to see that Confluence Watersports‘ new whitewater kayaks – the Dagger Axiom and Wavesport Diesel had sizes for all sizes of adults. I reserved judgement though until I had a chance to paddle both. Last week, I had the chance to paddle the Dagger Axiom 8.0 and the Wavesport Diesel 60 and was stoked that both fit and performed wonderfully. Now, I have the tough decision of which boat to choose and even tougher choice of what color.

3. Kudos to The River Store in Lotus, CA on the American River. They have an excellent selection of sizes and boats in their demo fleet and very helpful employees.

4. I still love my Eskimo Kendo Starlight. Solid German plastic and a petite 29 pounds. Not my choice for creeking but definitely a fun river runner and ocean rock gardening boat.

5. If the boats don’t fit, build your own. Skin on frame sea kayaks have captured my interest. I am in the finishing stages of building one for another petite paddler and am looking forward to starting on one for myself in the near future. Check out Brian Schulz of Cape Falcon Kayak boats and ideas on boat design.

Stay tuned to see if Goldilocks ends up with a new river runner and what color she chooses and for trials and tribulations of skin boat construction.

Sea kayak rock gardening on the Mendocino Coast.

We just celebrated our Second Annual Old Rasputin Paddle and declared this to be an annual event for those of us who love North Coast Brewing Company’s Old Rasputin and sea kayaking out of Fort Bragg, California – the home of North Coast Brewing Company and Liquid Fusion Kayaking.

In 2008, we celebrated the conclusion of our paddle with Old Rasputin XI which is North Coast’s barrel aged version of Old Rasputin celebrating its 11th anniversary and only sold at the brewery in Fort Bragg. This year, we

Jeff Laxier of Liquid Fusion Kayaking

followed suite with the even smoother and more delicious Old Rasputin XII. YUM!!!

December 2010 – Fort Bragg, CA – Old Rasputin Paddle III – Never Say Die!!!

Old Rasputin Paddle 2009

Felis catus noyo – subspecies of domestic cats specific to the Noyo Harbor of Fort Bragg, California. These cats generally have black and white or gray and white “tuxedo” markings and reside along Fort Bragg’s Noyo River. It is common to see them in the Noyo Harbor around the fisheries, but some appear to have migrated into the town of Fort Bragg and up the river. Several are regularly sighted in the vicinity of the river otters’ dens and shoreline tunnels. It is theorized that they have a symbiotic relationship with the river otters of the Noyo River.

Today, my friend Amy and I were kayaking up the Noyo River and discovered a Noyo Harbor Cat stranded on a log in the river. She was damp and shivering uncomfortably on the log. We figured that she must have lost her balance and fell down the steep bank.

The tide was rising and her log was soon to be submersed so we decided to attempt a rescue. We paddled next to her log and with the guidance of my paddle (I didn’t want to risk her putting holes in my drytop) coaxed her onto the deck of our kayak.

She cooperatively sat there while we paddled her to shore landing her on the bank (hopefully on the side with her home).

God speed kitty and be careful around steep river banks.

Check out our Mendocino Coast Sea Kayaking Video on You Tube.

Sea Kayaking on the Mendocino Coast

“No Name” ????

“No Name” is one of our favorite rock garden features in Fort Bragg’s Noyo Bay. Why is it called No Name? Well it is one of our favorite play spots so it needs a name, but we really haven’t settled on one.

Our rock garden features are often named for carnage like Angie’s Angst, Nick’s Nightmare, Brindle’s Bash or other distinguishing features like the Two Towers, The Canyon, First Rock, Sinkhole Cave, Keyhole Cave.

No Name has had minimal carnage but a lot of fun. Beginners have ridden their first ride on No Name and seasoned paddlers have experienced some of their biggest rides on No Name. We ride No Name in both our sea and whitewater sea kayaks. Last summer Jeff and I first rode No Name in a tandem sea kayak.

We are open to suggestions or No Name shall remain Nameless.

Forwards, Backwards, or Sideways . . . No Name . . . but always a great ride . . .

Here are the most recent photos of Liquid Fusion Kayaking’s new Fort Bragg home. Finding us has gotten easier as we have signs up. We are enjoying having friends from both near and far stop by to check out our new location.

We are continuing to look for a camp trailer to use as an office this winter when it rains. For now, we are enjoying sunshine, fresh air, and spectacular wildlife watching from our picnic table desk. Lately the kingfishers and merganser ducklings have been very active frequently diving for fish. The harlequin duck continues to linger. We enjoy his quirky presence but were hoping that he would migrate and bring back a mate.

If you happen to paddle by on the river, be sure to paddle by our deck to check out our “Creature Feature.” (blank in this photo – guess you will have to paddle by to see it).

Our windy days are more enjoyable tucked away back the Noyo River. I love watching and hearing the flags ripple in the wind instead of howling around our house.

Stop by and visit us sometime. It is best to call first though . . . we love our new location but are out on the water as much as possible enjoying some great paddling on the Noyo River and in ocean rock gardens and sea caves of the Mendocino Coast.

Dolphin Isle Site #46A – AKA Camp LFK. Here’s our first photo of the site before we got to work. There is a lot of potential and a lot of work to be done.

Day 1 We were fortunate to have some help getting started. Craig who works on my family’s farm in Pennsylvania was around to give us a hand. He and Jeff started with trimming some trees to improve the view of the river from the deck.
And then proceeded with leveling the site. I was the go-fer picking-up supplies. The guys were happy that I picked up some PBR for them in one of my supply runs.

Smiling worker – I guess Jeff was smiling that I brought him some PBR “Professional Boater’s Refreshment”, but he is very excited to have a physical location for our business. We worked hard this winter developing a business plan, creating new adventures, training on the water, and developing our marketing materials. Moving the business from our house to a physical location is an exciting step for us.

Day 2 Storage. We cleaned out the shed and hung shelves, and Jeff and Craig built the boat rack. Yeah!!! This means more space in our backyard at home for my garden. I will post a better photo of the kayak rack in my next post.

Today we also enjoyed a few moments on the deck watching the birds and wildlife. We watched a mamma merganser parading her 10 ducklings up river, barn and violet green swallows swooping and feeding over the river, the osprey and great blue heron fishing, and the black crowned night herons emerging for the evening. Of course, my favorite odd duck – the Harlequin continues to meander around on the Noyo.

View of the Noyo River from the deck of Camp LFK.

Last summer while kayaking on Fort Bragg’s Noyo River, a banner appeared stating “Breakfast, Lunch, Beer, Wine – Kayakers Welcome.” Of course we had to investigate and discovered the friendly, yummy, and affordable Deli at Dolphin Isle Marina.

Over the winter, we used the beach area at Dolphin Isle for launching and landing our kayaking classes and tours and discovered that Dolphin Isle has much more to offer kayakers than good, affordable food. Jeff and I of course love that it is one of those “off the beaten path” places. We have also discovered it to be one of the best areas for getting beginners started in kayaks and for those of us who like to hide from the wind and enjoy great birding and wildlife watching. The winding, meandering of the Noyo protects it from the wind and makes currents easily negotiable.

In addition to its tasty deli, diverse wildlife, and friendly paddling condition; Dolphin Isle also has a small marina and RV park. As our business picked up this spring, we were running more and more of our events at Dolphin Isle and started discussing possibilities of Dolphin Isle being Liquid Fusion Kayaking’s new home in Fort Bragg.

On May 1, we started running our tours from one of the marina boat slips.

But remember, I said that there was an RV park as well. Stay tuned for our June developments.

Over the weekend we paddled on Mendocino’s Big River for the Cancer Resource Center of Mendocino in their first Cancer Paddle. This was a new addition to their popular Big River Walk. Jeff and Bear paddled the MANGO TANGO (actually Jeff paddled and Bear enjoyed the ride). Craig and Jeff took turns paddling our canoe, and Sean and Maryanne paddled the RED TAMALE. As usual I was in my sea kayak and taking photos. It was fun to see KOZT‘s Teeth Richards on the river. I think he should have been helping the KOZT team out more on the return journey, but I guess that is one of the perks of being a mascot. The windy return journey up Big River made us happy that Fort Bragg’s protected Noyo River is our paddling home.

Sunset Bird Paddling and Noyo Meandering continue to be a popular afternoon and evening adventure. The river otters have been teasing us with brief encounters and the harbor seals have been delighting us with their curiosity. Last night, we saw 3 different species of herons within 100 yards of each other, a new brood of ducklings, and an osprey with a large fish.

And on the wildside . . .

We have been having calm coastal conditions with just enough swell to make for some rock gardening fun in whitewater kayaks. We have discovered a really fun “S” turn channel that can be used to link up some of our favorite features including “Nick’s Nighmare” and the “Sound Cave.” We ride “Nick’s Nighmare”, take the “S” Turn Channel, and then cruise into the “Sound Cave” which has a passage into the “Keyhole Cave”.

And yes, you may have noticed Jeff paddling with bare arms. It has been quite warm here. Fortunately there is plenty of cold water to cool-off with.

Some call it rock gardening or extreme ocean kayaking . . . we call it FUN!!! This weekend we had a blast sharing our Mendocino Coast kayaking playground with guests from all over the country. Wind swells created lots of whitewater for us to play on in our whitewater kayaks. We are really stoked with our new whitewater sit on top kayaks – Dagger Torrents. They are super stable yet very maneuverable and perfect for beginners.

Many of our guests were first time kayakers or had kayaked just a few times. We started each session with a kayaking lesson that included basic paddling and safety skills including capsize and recovery. One of our paddlers made up the funniest scenario/story as he paddled and capsized – unfortunately I didn’t catch it on video.

After some skill work, we started to play – starting small and then going BIG!!! It is fun that each feature that we play on has different options depending upon the paddler’s comfort level. And it is just as fun to sit and watch (or take photos as I did) as it is to ride the waves. Facial expressions are priceless.

As we played in the rock gardens, we were treated to displays of the brown pelicans flying north, osprey hunting for fish, sea lions cruising about, harbor seals checking us out, and other coastal birds (I am refraining from getting too birdy here). The sun was shining and the water was wet, wild, and refreshing.

Ahhh . . . life is good.