Liquid Fusion Kayaking

When Jeff taught for Aqua Adventures in San Diego, he had the good fortune of being introduced to the British Canoe Union (BCU). The BCU has developed a structured progression to guide and measure paddlers in their paddling skill progression. Paddlers can earn star awards in sea, whitewater, surf, and canoe. Star awards range from 1-5 star with 1 being introductory and 4 and 5 being advanced skills including leadership.

Jeff has been working toward keeping his coaching and star award certifications current. Jeff has BCU star awards in Sea, Canoe, and Surf and is a level 3 Sea Coach (one of only 2 in California). This weekend we held our first BCU events on the Mendocino Coast.

On Saturday was a fun 2 Star Assessment that involved basic paddling skills in a variety of craft. We used sea kayaks, whitewater river kayaks, and canoes as well as a variety of paddles.

The canoe portion of the day was the most challenging as most participants did not have much canoe or single paddle experience. It was also probably the most fun. We had an audience at times when we were purposefully flipping the canoes over.

On Sunday, we had a 3 Star Sea Training. From theory of navigation and first aid to strokes and rescue and recoveries, it was a full day of sea kayak training.

Flat water perfection drills had the paddlers fine tuning their edges and torso rotation through a variety of maneuvering skills.

Towing practice gave students the opportunity to try out different tow methods and work the kinks out of their gear.

It was great to have 2 days of focused skill work. All of the paddlers showed significant improvements in their skills and Jeff got to do what he loves – coaching. We are looking forward to offering more BCU training and assessments. Even those who are not interested in BCU star awards, it is a great way to practice and hone your skills.

Our next scheduled BCU event is a 3 Star Assessment on Saturday May 7. Please contact us if you are interested in our future BCU training and assessments.

Sometimes you surf waves and sometimes you get surfed.

The Mendocino Coast has been having epically gorgeous weather. The warm sunny days with little to no wind have been very inspiring to get out and play in the water. Kayak surfing has been on my mind as I decide if I am going to enter in one of the events at the Santa Cruz Kayak Surf Festival.

I just re-outfitted my mini-mako surf kayak and was looking for a mellow surf session to test out my new outfitting and get reacquainted with its slicy edges. Tuesday, one of our river kayaking friends meandered over the to the coast and met up with us to look for surf. The swell was relatively small for this time of the year at 5-7 feet but with a 13+ second period meant that there was some power behind it.

My favorite mellow surf beach was barely breaking so we moved on. With limited time, we headed to Hare Creek. Hare Creek is a tricky spot to surf. It is a beach break that changes quickly as the tide height lowers or drops. The outside can be a thumper and the inside can be confused with reflective waves. We have enjoyed some mellow sea kayak surf sessions there as well as some quality sinus clearing surf sessions.

Jeff and Jerry headed out as I watched a couple of sets go through. I am still learning to read the surf and find that it helps to watch it from shore before heading out. Today there were definitely some thumping sets coming through but also some appealing left shoulders on the inside.

I resigned myself to the inevitable sinus clearing of Hare Creek but wanted a couple of those spilling lefts. I settled into my surf kayak and paddled out. The slicey stern, planing hull, and rails on the boat contrast greatly with the bouncy, forgiving feel of my whitewater kayak. The crisp handling of the boat combined with the sunshine and cool splash of ocean water was exhilarating. I was ready to go surf some waves.

Just as I was getting to where that peeling wave was, I saw the next set approaching. It was one of the larger ones. Where my spilling wave was became the impact zone. I paddled hard and tried to punch through the wave but it wanted to remind me that I wasn’t in charge and tossed me like a rag doll. I tucked tight to the deck of my boat as it washed me about and surfed me toward shore. For a moment I thought, “Geeeezz . . . here we go again . . . another beat down session at Hare Creek.”

I erased the thought and rolled up and was faced with the freight train foam pile of the next wave of the set. I dug in and sprinted at it and over it. Alright, the big set had passed it was time to ride that left shoulder.

Or try to.

Arriving home after some pre-holiday travels, we were anxious for some boating close to home. We decided on an exploratory paddle of the South Fork of the Noyo River – a class 1 tributary of Fort Bragg’s Noyo River.

We have heard nightmare stories from locals trying to run this at flood stages. Our plan for the trip was to enjoy the scenery and wildlife. Being in a wooded area, log strainers are inevitable hazards so we chose a flow that would be high enough to float us down the river but mellow enough for us to limbo under logs and easily get in and out when necessary to portage obstacles.

Our journey entailed approximately 4 miles of paddling (and portaging) on the South Fork of the Noyo River followed by 4 miles down the Noyo River to our shop at Dolphin Isle Marina.

The trip met our expectations lots of log strainers and great scenery and wildlife watching. We limboed 12 logs and portaged numerous times.

Our favorite sitings of the trip were 6 Coho Salmon and numerous American Dippers. We came across a couple of the Department of Fish and Game surveyors wading the river and counting salmon. Talking to them, we discovered that the candy cane striped ribbons that we were seeing along the river were their markings of Coho Salmon sitings.

In addition to enjoying the scenery and wildlife, we realize that the run was a good preparation for our upcoming swiftwater safety class for the local fish surveyors. Check out our photo gallery for an entertaining slideshow of our adventure.

This week when I was grabbing paddles to take to our Monday night pool session at the CV Starr Center, I grabbed a stick (not a greenland paddle but a hockey stick). Peter Donohue, editor of California Kayaker, inspired the idea this summer. Here’s a video of my first attempt at the hockey stick roll.

After I loaded this onto YouTube, I discovered that some paddlers in the Olypmic Kayak Club have already rolled with a hockey stick. They call it the Canadian Emergency Paddle Roll.

Pretty fun, eh?

The sun was shining on us as we joined forces with the Lost Coast Chapter of the Traditional Small Craft Association to clean up Fort Bragg’s Noyo River. We could not have asked for a more beautiful day.

Of course being water folks, we kayaked and rowed to locations to retrieve trash and retrieved quite a bit (over 800 pounds).

It is amazing how many little plastic wrappers accumulate in our our waters – ziplocs, chip bags, and wrapper from candy. Thanks to Jim and Jim for their efforts in collecting those annoying little bits of trash.

Lin donned some gloves and waded in to retrieve a toilet that someone had dumped into the river.

Jeff turned one our our recreational tandem kayaks into a garbage barge, and Stan and Selby towed an old rowboat garbage boat as well.

Speaking of towing . . . we have another story to share from the day. Stay tuned for the Towing of the Vrrroooom, Vrrroooom.

Kayaking in Mendocino Sea Caves

Imagine 4 days of sea kayaking among the rock gardens and sea caves of the ruggedly beautiful Mendocino Coast. Yes, many come to the Mendocino Coast to sea kayak and have paddled stretches of the rock gardens and sea caves but few have done a Tour de Mendo Liquid Fusion Kayaking Style.

Jane enjoying the Mendocino Coast scenery.

Congratulations to a group of paddlers from San Diego who just completed a Liquid Fusion Kayaking Tour de Mendo.

Dennis paddles through the window arch.

What makes a Liquid Fusion Kayaking Tour de Mendo different from others sea kayak tours of the Mendocino Coast? We have an intimate local knowledge of the Mendocino Coast because we live, paddle, and play here. We know those special off the beaten paddle places (and the best spots for great food and live music). We instruct and challenge paddlers to improve their skills and paddling repertoire while paddling with us – be it paddling a whitewater kayak, surfing a kayak, or tossing a greenland paddle in their hands.

Jon threads his sea kayak through a labrynth of rock gardens.

Unfortunately, I had to hold down the shop for most of the Tour de Mendo, but it was fun to get their perspective of each day’s adventure. They marveled over their exploration of intricate networks of rock gardens and sea caves and told stories of fun rides through surge channels and pour overs and moments when Jeff and the sea challenged their skills. This crew was definitely up for the challenge.

Dennis sea kayak rock gardening.

P2 on the Wave

I did get to paddle with them one morning for a whitewater kayak rock gardening session in Noyo Bay and look forward to joining them in the fall of 2011.

C2 Flushes out of the Toilet Bowl

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

Here’s our latest video creation Outdoor Adventures in Fort Bragg, California featuring some of our land and sea adventures in our home of Fort Bragg on the Mendocino Coast of California. Of course, we feature kayaking but also some of our other favorite activities on the coast and in the forest including abalone diving, mountain biking, and more.

A special thanks to Brent Reitz – master instructor of the Forward Stroke – for allowing us to use Single Care as our main song. If you have taken one of Brent’s Forward Stroke Clinics, you probably have immensely improved your forward stroke and probably heard him rock-out on the harmonica. Here’s a link to his group – Bad Habits.

We hope that you enjoy the video – we sure had fun making it.

Fall weather is upon us in all of its beauty. Colorful evening skies, spectacular reflections on the water, falling leaves, warm sunny days, and the beginnings of winter migration are delighting us as well as our kayaking guests.

Jeff and I have been enjoying the leaves falling and lazily drifting in the Noyo River. Windy days have been gusting and blowing much of the Mendocino Coast, but we’ve been lazily enjoying warm, sunny afternoons on the Noyo River.

While we have been enjoying our meandering paddles of the Noyo River, we have been actively planning for 2010 and beyond. We will soon be unveiling our new tours, classes, and rental program . . . and other creations and events of funness.

Here we are in the home office of Liquid Fusion Kayaking.

As we are still planning, please let us know if you have any suggestions or requests.

Liquid Fusion Kayaking has gone to the dogs.

Bear and Aften the kayaking dogs of LFK have convinced us to host a Dog Paddle for all of their friends and to benefit the Mendocino Coast Dog Park. We will be hosting our first (hopefully to become annual) Noyo River Dog Paddle on October 11 from 1-3pm at Dolphin Isle Marina. We have special canine life jackets for paddling pooches and a special tour planned for them and their owners and friends. The Dolphin Isle Deli will have specials on hot dogs and other tasty treats for people and pups.


Hair Putter the canine ambassador for Mendocino County enjoyed his first kayak lesson with us last week and will be joining us for the Dog Paddle.