Paddle Articles

CP Explorations - Half Moon Bay 2 Monterey

CP Explorations - Half Moon Bay 2 Monterey
Cali Paddler Explores Half Moon Bay Pigeon Point, Ano Nuevo, Davenport, Santa Cruz and Montery Bay in its recent adventure paddler.

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CP Explorations - Avila to Jalama (Vandenberg or Bust)

Enjoy this recap of the 2022 California Coastline Adventure Paddle from Avila to Jalama along the Vandenberg Air Force Base. We encounter sea life, unexpected changes in wind directions, paddle over naval disaster sites, and notch off 55 miles of rugged amazing coastline!

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Paddler Resources for Checking Conditions (wind, current, tide, storm)

Paddlers like to know ahead of time what they are getting into. Whether they are trying to avoid an opposing tide, really want to line up some winds for an epic downwind sleigh-ride, or are trying to avoid some big surf along local reefs and jettys. Below is a list of helpful apps and websites that paddlers can reference, submitted and used by....paddlers! Check back regularly to see what we have added. And if you know of one missing, please pass it along to us in the comments below, because we know there are many more great resources out there.

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CP Explorations - The Coronado Islands, BAJA California Mexico

Join Cali Paddler as they share a special journey to islands just beyond the border called the Coronado Islands. Close enough to see from the US but far enough to be a full day journey, these four islands were part of a special day on the water.

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Emergency Steering - DIY Rudder Cable Backup System for OCs and Surfskis

Emergency Steering Broken Rudder Cable Solution

Emergency steering device for broken rudder cable

There are times where we are out on our canoes and surf-skis and our rudder cable breaks. It happens. And a perfectly great day can turn bad real quick. There are many creative quick-fixes one can do, and we will discuss several of them at the end of the article. But there is one in particular we'd like to focus on that can really not only help you hold a line, but create the ability to turn in a semi-controlled manner. And the great thing is...you can dial in very quickly and easily, because it is installed and ready to use when the moment comes! Thank you to Cali Paddler Frank who took the time to craft and share this great write-up. Enjoy!

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VHF Radio Demystified – The most important part of your paddle safety kit

Paddle VHF Radio Demystified
Many of us have come to paddling, whether it be kayak, SUP, surf ski, OC1 or OC6, from backgrounds other than traditional boating like power boats or sailing. Because of this you may not be familiar with the venerable marine VHF radio that has been the mainstay of the boating community since 1950. Advances in electronics have shrunk the size and cost of the VHF radio to a small hand held device that can be bought for under $100. For these reasons a handheld marine VHF radio should be in everyone's safety kit.

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Downwinder Best Practices

Downwind Best Practices

Please take a look at these great lessons assembled by some really studly paddlers and ocean enthusiasts.

Remember...conditions are fun...until they aren't.

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CP Review - Nocqua Spectrum P2 Paddle Light System

Nocqua Spectrum P2
Any paddler who played with lite-brite as a kid is about to be pretty excited. Paddling at night is always ethereal. There is heightened awareness, added use of our senses, and it really kind of makes us feel like rebels. So with all of that in play, you figure having lights for safety is key. But also, why not have some lights on for fun? Well the Nocqua Spectrum P2 light system introduces a whole new level of paddle craft lighting. Check out the review that follows to see paddle illumination in a whole new light (yea we just wrote that).

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CP Review - Duk Gear Waterproof Floating Cell Phone Case

Duk Gear Review
Sometimes a product can be simple and do everything it needs to do. Reliably. And so far we feel the Duk Gear Waterproof Floating Cell Phone cases are a perfect example of that. Keep your phone handy, still take pictures, float if it falls in. And of course, keep your phone dry and protected. Oh, and not break the bank too would be nice!

The Duk Gear company, created when they saw way too many paddlers losing cell phones while paddling on a nearby lake, is US Based and a 1% for the Planet aligned company. So you know they care about their role in the environment as much as we do. We recently tested out two their flagship products with our cell-phone on numerous OC1 and SUP paddles. We were pleased with what we experienced.

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CP Explorations - Half Moon Bay, Bolinas and a whole lot of in between

CP Explorations - Half Moon Bay, Bolinas, Santa BarbaraEPIC Adventures for a Cause 2020 - originally was SC2SF but it really ended up being a random collection of crazy fun paddles. Come along for a recap of the fun.

Another year, another stretch of new coastline to explore in my forever quest to explore the entire California state. This year, the plan and finishing route were nothing alike. In fact, for the days and hours leading up to it, we almost didn’t even go. You see Santa Cruz was one of many areas dealing with major fires. Families evacuated, homes and state parks burned, roads closed, and air quality bad enough to cause people to avoid being outside at all. So you can imagine our struggle of going up to the area for what was originally supposed to be a three day paddle from San Francisco to Santa Cruz. Would we take hotels from evacuated families, crowd roads that were needed for emergency vehicles? Impose on folks in a time that people were struggling to keep positive. So for this Epic Adventure for a Cause, I want to direct people to the Red Cross for the cause. Please visit https://www.redcross.org/about-us/our-work/disaster-relief/wildfire-relief.html to see how you can help those impacted and even the first-responders.

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