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.

The official Mayor’s Cup Web site has not posted anything about last Sunday’s race yet, but we located this article from the NY Times Online that sums the unforeseen events of the day:

This report was originally published by the New York Times:

Kayak Race Called Off After Pileup in Hudson

By MICHAEL WILSON and COLIN MOYNIHAN
Published: October 19, 2008

A high-speed kayak race around Manhattan on Sunday morning turned into a marine rescue operation when four of the racers were ejected from their kayaks and swept by winds and strong currents that dashed them and their boats against a rusty barge moored near Battery Park, the police and racers said.

There were no serious injuries in the chain of accidents, which can best be likened to an automobile pileup on a highway. Racers said they lost control of their kayaks as they swerved or slowed to avoid a contestant who was being swept toward the barge. Other racers became so fatigued by the strong currents farther north in the Hudson River that they had to be helped out of the water.

The race, called the Mayor’s Cup New York City Kayak Championships, included more than 140 competitors, many racing sleek, lightweight kayaks known as surf skis. The narrow vessels are designed to travel extremely fast atop flat water. They are popular in areas with warm water, like California and Hawaii.

The water off Manhattan turned out to be more perilous than some of the kayakers had expected.

Sunday’s race looked promising at first, with a field that included racers from 12 countries, according to a race organizer on the Web site Surfski.info. The sunny morning seemed ideal for the race, a 27-mile circumnavigation of Manhattan, and the first group left the starting line, at North Cove Yacht Harbor at Battery Park City, about 10:30 a.m.

The wind picked up speed, however, and worked against the current to create a volatile chop, said Greg Porteus, a retired New York State trooper and the safety officer for the race. The currents in the river overtook several racers immediately after they turned north from the harbor, leaving them struggling to control their boats.

“It was a sequence of seemingly innocuous events that led up to a big event,� said Dr. Tim Burke, 40, a neurosurgeon who had traveled from Annapolis, Md., to compete.

He said the race was “pretty congested, pretty fierce,� and soon his paddle was accidentally knocked from his hand by another competitor. He said he pitched into the water and struggled to remount, a maneuver he had practiced many times, but the current drove him and his kayak toward the barge, which was moored and appeared to be carrying garbage.

“I looked up and it was right there,� Dr. Burke said. He slammed into the side of the barge and struggled for a handhold, finally grabbing a rubber tire tied to the hull, he said.

Another racer, Dr. Thomas R. Walek, 55, a plastic surgeon from Rhode Island, also fell off his surf ski in the pileup.

“I was getting pulled under,� he said. “It felt like you were drowning. I was having a lot of trouble just getting my head above water. Everything was moving so much faster than we appreciated.�

His kayak also slammed into the barge. It was unclear on Sunday how many racers capsized, but four were rescued by divers from the Fire Department, the Police Department and the Coast Guard, a spokesman for the Fire Department said.

Dr. Burke said his kayak was badly damaged, with its rudder broken off and holes punched in its side.

Other racers who had missed the accident were approaching the Harlem River when Mr. Porteus gave the order via loudspeaker and marine radio to stop the race.

“We had several people that were way out front and upset that the race had to be terminated,� Mr. Porteus said. “It was the right thing to do.�

He said that officials on his boat pulled two exhausted racers from their vessels near the George Washington Bridge.

An event organizer at the harbor declined to discuss the accident in detail, saying only that there were no substantial injuries.

The events of the day briefly rattled Dr. Burke, who said he generally enjoyed traveling rapidly through the waves in his surf ski. “It’s a good escape sport,� he said. “Very relaxing.�

We are very happy that no one was seriously injured in this kayak race!

While this race was for experienced paddlers, all kayakers and canoers should take note of how powerful and unpredictable mother nature can be, even if you’ve done all of your pre-race homework, and even if your event is professionally organized. The best thing any kayaker or canoer can do is be prepared!

Whether you’re paddling your favorite lake or river, it is vital that you check the weather and water conditions before you put in. And as always - wear your life jacket. Kayaking is a great sport - fun for the whole family, no doubt - but all paddlers must be prepared for unforeseen changes in weather and conditions. Click here to read our Kayak and Canoe Safety page.

If you were a participant or spectactor and have a report on the NY Mayor’s Cup race, please send it to us, we’d love to get a few more points of view to publish here on BornToPaddle.com. Click here to use our contact form to send us your race report.

Happy and safe kayaking to all!

Here is more information and race perspective from the top finishers of last weekend’s Phatwater Challenge Kayak Race.

Reprinted here courtesy of the Natchez Democrat, originally published Sunday, October 12, 2008 and written by Krysten Oliphant

Woods Wins Phatwater Challenge - story and image courtesy of the Natchez Democrat

Woods wins Phatwater Challenge in record time

NATCHEZ — The Mighty Mississippi is one big river.

But it wasn’t big enough to stop nearly 150 people from racing 42.5 miles down the river in tiny boats.

Steve Woods of Durban, South Africa, finished the trip from Claiborne County Port Facility at Grand Gulf to the boat ramp at Natchez Under-the-Hill in 3:54:00, smashing the previous record of 4:16:55 set by Mike Herbert.

Herbert, of Rogers, Ark., finished third, besting his previous time with a mark of 3:55:50.

“When I started off from last year, I’d kind of seen what I had to do to beat (my time), and I put a lot of training in to achieve that,� Herbert said. “Even though I didn’t win the race, I was very happy to get in under four hours because that was one of my personal goals.�

Woods and his South African kayaking partner, Bevan Manson, finished within one second of each other after training together for two years.

The two flew neck-and-neck down the river for the duration of the race.

“We talk about what we’re going to do and how we’re going to do it, how we’re doing time wise and how things are going,� Manson said. “Also, we watch out for the other guys.�

Woods said he knew after about the first hour that he and his partner would finish at the four-hour mark, something that has never before been done in the seven years of the race.

He said it got difficult during the midpoint, when the sun came overhead, and he and Manson struggled a bit at the end of the race.

They misjudged the current, which nearly pushed them past the buoys marking the finish.

“That side was kind of strong,� Woods said. “I was trying to keep up, but at the end I ended up knocking the buoy. But I was also not all there. I had helium going out my ears. It was a bit of a tactical error, but it worked out.�

The two had another miscue early in the race that they thought might cost them precious time.

“There was an island, and it looked like all the good water was on the left,� Manson said. “But the local guy, Mike Herbert, he kept going right. It was quite late when we decided to go left. That probably cost us a couple minutes.�

Herbert and fourth-place finisher Erik Borgnes (3:56:00) saw the leaders pair up and decided to do the same, even though the two had never met.

The tactic worked well, as all four finished under the four-hour mark.

“It was kind of like tag-team kayaking out there,� Herbert said. “They were pecking their way and he was pecking his, and I kind of stuck with him.�

The South Africans have been training in Natchez for two weeks for the race and will now travel to New York City for a race around Manhattan Island.

They bought a 15-passenger van and have driven cross-country, from San Francisco to Natchez and now to the Northeast.

“It’s been awesome,� Woods said of his time in Mississippi. “We’ve been playing golf and tennis and 10-pin bowling. I just haven’t been fishing yet — next year.�

Herbert said he expects to be back next year. After 30 years of kayaking and three Olympic appearances, Phatwater is the only endurance race he does.

“I’ve not normally done anything over about two hours so this four-hour race is a new ballgame,� he said. “It’s pretty intense.�

Send us your race report! We’d love to hear about your last kayak, canoe or paddling race. Click here to send us your race report.

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Kayak Race Report: The 7th annual Phatwater Kayak Challenge, a 42.5 mile kayak and canoe race on the Mississippi River from Grand Gulf, near Port Gibson, to Natchez Under-The-Hill.

7th Annual Phatwater Kayak Challenge on the Mississippi River

This year, this charity event for the Natchez Adams County Humane Society, was held on October 11th 2008.

This race is a big happening, The USCG closes the Mississippi River to commerce for the Phatwater, from the start until 7 hours later. If you don’t think it’s a big deal, just wait until you see the barge traffic passing under the Natchez Bridge as the river is reopened. Our thanks to the Coasties and to all the safety boaters, staff and volunteers that made this years Phatwater a great event.

Once only a local event, 3 paddlers from South Africa were roiling the waters of the Mississippi with two fighting it out to the phinish. The 4 hour barrier was shattered with a one second difference between first and second place. Steve Woods and Bevan Manson phinished first and second, respectively, one second apart, at 3:54:00 and 3:54:01.  Mike Herbert chased Steve and Bevan down a minute later for a third place phinish, with Erik Borgnes phinishing fourth; all four top phinishers making the 4 hour barrier little more than an historical footnote, with the first solo paddler eclipsing the 4 hour mark taking home a $2000 cash prize. It just cannot get cooler then that.

But don’t let these phast Phatwater phinish times, hold you back from participating… times ranges from the phantastic 3:54:00 to 6:50:54. Completion of this grueling event is an accomplishment in itself, and many compete just to beat their own times from prior years.

The Phatwater is a BornToPaddle.com race favorite, the organizers, volunteers and competitors friendly and the event well organized. Our BTP entry missed a “Sub-V� Swiss army knife by a scant 8 minutes and 15 seconds. However, there is always next year, which by the way will be the 8th annual Phatwater Kayak Challenge and will be held on October 10th 2009.

Have you recently completed a kayak or canoe race or event? Send us a race report! We’re here to share the latest and greatest kayak, canoe and paddle news with the entire paddling community! Click here to send us your kayak or canoe race or event report, or let us know about an upcoming race or event.

Tennessee River Blueway Canoe and Kayak Race

The BornToPaddle.com team had a great showing (two 1st place finishes and two 2nd place finishes) at the 2008 Tennessee River Blueway Canoe and Kayak Race this past weekend in Chattanooga, TN.

The event, staged by Outdoor Chattanooga, suffered a bit in attendance this year. We can only assume that the gas shortage of middle Tennessee played a large part. Estimated attendance was about 30 paddlers, down from about 50 paddlers last year.

The course was changed this year from a point-to-point to an out-and-back. There were also two courses available this year, a two mile loop and a six mile loop, and a slew of categories. Door prizes included some great looking PFDs courtesy of Rock Creek Outfitters, a local Chattanooga outdoor shop. We were a bit disappointed that there was no paddlers-only raffles, as quite a few paddlers walked away empty handed (unless you call a frisbee or a water bottle a door prize), while spectators and volunteers seemed to do quite well in the give-aways.

Paddler’s did receive a useful mini dry bag and carabiner. First place winners got a certificate and Blueway T-Shirt, second and third placers got a certificate. Everyone enjoyed a free BBQ lunch, and they even remembered us vegetarians - thanks!

For anyone not familiar with kayaking and canoeing opportunities in Chattanooga, this race is a good intro to the area and to the Tennessee River. Chattanooga has done an excellent job with their downtown river area. The river is easily accessible to paddlers from a variety of put-ins and plenty of nearby parking on both sides of the river.

The river itself is quite beautiful from the shore, but to truly appreciate it you need to get in it with your canoe or kayak. McClellan/Audubon Island, in the center of the river closest to Ross’s Landing in downtown, is a great place to pull over for a rest and check out the wide array of bird life. There are several paddling destinations along the river, so day and overnight paddles are possible along the 26 miles that comprise the Tennessee River Gorge. Find out more about the Tennessee River Gorge by clicking here.

Have you paddled Chattanooga or the Tennessee River? Click here to let us know about your trip!