A tool to take along on kayak, canoe, paddle, boat, hiking, backpacking and other adventure trips that could save your life.

We found this story on line from the St. Petersburg Times (FL) about a kayaker who used the new SPOT satellite messaging device to get himself rescued from a bad situation.

“When sea kayaker Derek Crook set out to circumnavigate Tasmania earlier this year, the Canadian adventurer knew the dangers involved. Midway through his 36-day expedition, a rouge wave flipped his kayak and left him fighting for his life on an offshore reef.

Luckily, Crook was able to grab hold of his kayak and trigger a small, handheld satellite messaging device that transmitted his Global Positioning System coordinates to authorities on the mainland…”

SPOT is not only a great idea for all boaters and paddlers, but also for hikers, backpackers, mountain climbers and anyone who tends to venture off the beaten path. SPOT lives on when cell phones die! The device weighs just 7 ounces and includes the following features:

• Ask for help: Request help from friends and family at your exact location.
• Check in: Let contacts know where you are and that you’re okay.
• Track progress: Send and save your location and allow contacts to track your progress using Google Mapsâ„¢.
• Alert 9-1-1: Dispatch emergency responders to your exact location.

If you’re looking for a holiday gift for your favorite kayaker, you’ll hit a home run with SPOT.

Bass Pro Shops carry SPOT Satellite Messenger Personal Tracker and SPOT accessories, click here to learn more about SPOT.

***Take advantage of a $50 rebate when you purchase SPOT between now and December 31, 2008. Click here for more details.

Here’s the whole story from the St. Pete Times, or click here to read it on line:

(reprinted courtesy of the St. Petersburg Times and TampaBay.com)

Satellite tracking device delivers help in an emergency or sends a jab to those schmoes at the office

By Terry Tomalin, Times Outdoors Editor

When sea kayaker Derek Crook set out to circumnavigate Tasmania earlier this year, the Canadian adventurer knew the dangers involved. Midway through his 36-day expedition, a rouge wave flipped his kayak and left him fighting for his life on an offshore reef.

Luckily, Crook was able to grab hold of his kayak and trigger a small, handheld satellite messaging device that transmitted his Global Positioning System coordinates to authorities on the mainland. He was plucked from the water by locals as a helicopter arrived. Suffering from hypothermia, Crook was transported by air to the nearest hospital by paramedics. Without that immediate medical care, Crook is convinced he would have died.

A lifesaver

The National Association for Search and Rescue estimates that more than 50,000 search-and-rescue missions are initiated each year. These missions involve everything from U.S. Coast Guard helicopters searching for overdue boaters to Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission officers in four-wheel drive vehicles scouring state forests for lost hunters. The Satellite Personal Tracker (SPOT) system removes the guesswork by providing GPS coordinates to narrow the location to within 20 feet.

In many cases, authorities are not notified that there is a problem until it is too late. In the winter months, with low temperatures, boaters don’t stand much chance of survival if they float in the water for more than a few hours. In December 2003, four men who went fishing in Tampa Bay died after their boat took on water and they had no way to signal authorities.

Most big offshore boats carry Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacons (EPIRBs), but these devices are often heavy and expensive, putting them out of reach for many sportsman.

Lightweight and affordable

If technology has advanced so much that a television can be the size of a cell phone, than a satellite messaging device can be made small enough, inexpensive enough and light enough for Joe the Angler. The new SPOT unit retails for just $149.95. And more likely than that latest cell phone, the SPOT can save your life.

Many outdoorsmen are under the mistaken impression that a cell phone can work as an emergency backup system. But anybody who spends any time paddling or hiking the wildest regions of this state will tell you that cell phones don’t work in the wilderness.

The SPOT has four simple functions. First, you can hit Alert 9-1-1, which dispatches emergency responders to your location. Second, you can check in with prearranged contacts and let them know where you are and that you are all right. Third, you can request help from family or friends at your exact location (this will come in handy next time I lock the keys in the truck on a kayaking trip.) And lastly, SPOT will save and send your location out so friends can actually track your progress using Google Maps.

The fine print

But piece of mind comes with a price. The SPOT has an annual subscription plan (similar to that of your cell phone or Blackberry) to keep you wired.

Check out more useful kayak, canoe and paddle gifts by clicking here to go to our Great Gifts for Paddlers Page.

Well, as much as we hate to admit it, for many of us, it’s getting near time to put up the kayak and canoe for the winter.

If you’re lucky enough to live in a warmer region you may not need to put up your boat just yet, or at all. But there will be times when you’ll want to store your boat for a while, so this post will be equally helpful to you.

There are several ways to store your kayak when the paddling season ends. You can hang them on straps, stand them upright, store them upside down, or on their side. But there are some pre-storage steps you need to do first, whichever way you choose to store your kayak.

When preparing to store your kayak:

• Wash it, especially if you paddle in salt water. Make sure to dry it completely.
• Cover the cockpit with a cockpit cover to keep bugs and other pests from making your kayak their home.
• Avoid sun and weather. This will help keep your kayak’s hull from deforming, cracking, or fading.
• Store your kayak off the ground. This will protect your kayak from moisture and extreme temperature changes.

To protect your kayak from the elements store indoors like a garage, basement, shed etc. If you do not have room to store indoors than store under a shelter or overhang.

If you do not have a shelter you can build a very simple one using a weather resistant tarp. You will want to hang the tarp over your kayak. Do not wrap or cover your kayak with the tarp because this may promote moisture and mold.

You can hang your kayak from straps or place it on sawhorses. You will want to support your kayak and distribute the weight evenly at several points along the length. You can use straps or cradles to distribute weight evenly.

Your other kayak, canoe and paddling equipment will need some pre-storage care as well, so:

• Don’t forget to clean and dry your life vest ( PFD), paddles, accessories, and store in a cool, dry, place. You can hang them or store them flat.

IMPORTANT! Protect your kayak against theft:

If you are storing you kayak outside, find a spot that is hidden from view. You don’t want to make it easy for someone to just carry it off. You may want to consider locking your kayak to heavy/non movable objects using a cable and lock.

If you need some of the essentials we’ve talked about in this article, here are a couple of links to reputable kayak, canoe and paddling gear dealers:

Kayak Cockpit Covers can be found at Altrec.com, just click this link to browse their selection.

Boaters World offers a simple $10.99 tarp, click here to take a look at it and see if it will work for you.

If you have any tips for our readers about storing a canoe, kayak or other paddling gear, please let us know by either leaving a comment on this post or clicking here to use our handy contact form.

He’s the first paddler to complete the whole thing – 631 miles!

Ardie Olson first paddler to complete the Alabama Scenic River Trail (photo courtesy ASRT)

It took Ardie Olson from Cummings, Georgia just 12 days to kayak the entirety of the Alabama Scenic River Trail (ASRT). The trail is 631 miles and Ardie also had to cross six tough portages.

ASRT members donated $1,000 as prize money, which Ardie accepted at the end of his trip and then immediately donated back to the trail association. Ardie sounds like not just a great paddler, but a great person as well.

The crew here at BornToPaddle.com would like to join with all paddlers in congratulating Ardie! Great job!

Click here to find out more about the Alabama Scenic River Trail

Click here to find more places to paddle in Alabama

Have a favorite place to paddle or a story of a record-breaking paddle? Comment on this article or Click Here to use our Handy Contact Form and tell us all about it!

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More about Ardie’s journey:
Courtesy, Press Register
Click here to read the original article or just keep reading:

Georgia kayaker finishes 631-mile journey down the Alabama Scenic River Trail
Georgia man first to complete Alabama Scenic River Trail
Thursday, October 23, 2008
By RYAN DEZEMBER
Staff Reporter

GULF SHORES - With a stiff wind at his back, Ardie Olson paddled south from Weeks Bay, across the mouth of Bon Secour Bay and west along the Fort Morgan peninsula on Wednesday to complete a 12-day, 631-mile journey in which he became the first person to kayak the Alabama Scenic River Trail.

A 47-year-old from Cumming, Ga., with an interest in endurance sports, Olson said he was merely seeking a challenge.

To reward his accomplishment, however, the Alabama Scenic River Trail Association gave Olson $1,000.

Olson told tourism officials, who met him at Fort Morgan with a foamboard check, that he’d decided to donate the money back to the trail.

Waiting for his wife, Sherry, a lawyer who is also his boss, to pick him up, Olson gave little sign that he had been paddling a kayak from sunup to sundown for nearly two weeks, let alone that he’d been spending nights in the woods most of that time.

“I had plenty of food and six to eight hours of sleep a night,” he said. “Other than not having a bath in a week, I’m good.”

The Alabama Scenic River Trail is the longest single-state river trail in the nation. It follows seven rivers and two creeks, crosses nine lakes, encounters nine dams, cuts through the second-largest delta in the nation, hugs the Eastern Shore of Mobile Bay and winds up at historic Fort Morgan on the cusp of the Gulf of Mexico.

Olson began his journey amidst autumnal hues in the southern piedmont and ended it gliding beneath wisps of Spanish moss, around cypress knees and past alligators in the subtropical environs of the Mobile-Tensaw Delta.

“It was nice to see the landscape change,” he said. “Sometimes, in the car, you go by and don’t notice that.”

Olson pushed off into Weiss Lake near the Georgia state line on Oct. 10. After a mere five days he had made it to Montgomery, about halfway through his journey. All told, he traveled at a clip of better than 52cm HALF miles a day.

Made of Kevlar, Olson’s 20-foot kayak weighs about 28 pounds and accommodated about 30 pounds of food, water and camping gear, he said.

And what sort of snacks does one pack for a 631-mile kayak trip?

“I’ve been eating Little Debbies, Rice Krispie treats and honey buns,” he said. “It seems odd, but they’ve got lots of calories, and that’s what I’m looking for.”

Aside from the blustery last day on the bay, Olson said his roughest moments came early on, when he had to carry his gear around one dam after another.

Highlights, he said, included passing through the three U.S. Corps of Engineers lock systems along the way, being immersed in total wilderness for days at a time, and a Delta stretch about 10 miles north of the bay that he found particularly accommodating to paddlers and rich with alligators, deer, hogs and bald eagles.

Have a favorite place to paddle or a story of a record-breaking paddle? Comment on this article or Click Here to use our Handy Contact Form and tell us all about it!