The Feedback is Pouring In and We are Off to California!

I'm just getting home now from the launch of the DVD here in the Pacific Northwest and already packing my bags to head down to California for a few premieres in Sacremento and the Bay Area. The Northwest tour began with the show at the MISSION THEATRE in downtown Portland. Thanks to the tremendous publicity efforts by ALDER CREEK we managed to sell out the vintage theatre with 304 people. I even had to deal with 20-30 people who were not allowed in because we had reached maximum capacity 15 minutes before the film was due to start! Portland was followed by standing room only events at SRK, Orcas Island, and ECOMARINE We had a great time and a big thanks goes out to all the hosts and sponsors of these events. It became clear by the end of the tour that Paul Kuthe's impressive big wave surfing gets the crowd going every night!


photo by Steve Rogers

As the premiere tour was kicking off in Portland, DVD's were moving through the postal system in search of eager kayakers all around the world. It has been awesome to come home to some many great comments in the Inbox. Here are a few...

The interesting thing about PH is it’s enjoyably mellow, west coast feel. You’ll want to put your feet up and enjoy a nice latte or maybe a choice micro-brew when you watch this one. You get the impression you could easily hang out with anyone on the DVD without feeling like you would’nt be welcomed. In some ways this is the best part of a DVD like this. Pacific Horizons invites the viewer to join in on some fun adventures with folks that quickly feel like friends. A pleasant break from the testosterone driven ego fests that are often part of many sports videos. Even with the rockin aspects of long boat surfing, sea kayaking as always takes on a unique, natural feel. Pacific Horizons is not only suitable and inspirational for any skill level paddler, but will also be enjoyable for the rest of the family as well.

-from DERRICK MAYOLETH'S REVIEW on KAYAK QUIXOTICA

First, let me say that your movie is outstanding! I'm a middle-aged east coast paddler, but the DVD makes me want to load up my kayak and head to the Northwest. You and your crew certainly captured the true essence of sea kayaking with wonderful videography and over-the-top locations. Many thanks for doing it right.

-from Robert Buford of the CHESAPEAKE PADDLERS ASSOCIATION

Bravo! Very well done. The shots were magnificent, the musical score was great (even for us AARP card-carrying paddlers), and the paddlers are awesome.

-from Linc Clay in Tallahasse, Flordia

So off to California for three more shows....

PENGUIN PADDLERS REDDING
Thursday December 13th 7 PM
3530 Railroad Ave
Redding, CA
(530) 244-3355

PENGUIN PADDLERS ROCKLIN
Saturday December 15th 7 PM
4381 Granite Drive
Rocklin, CA
(916) 624-7722

CALIFORNIA CANOE AND KAYAK
Monday December 17th 6:30
Oakland Retail Shop
409 Water Street
Jack London Square
Oakland, CA
(510) 893-7833

Pacific Horizons Premiere in Montreal, Quebec

Just as Lise-Anne and I hit the road for the Northwest DVD release and premiere tour, there will be a screening of Pacific Horizons in LA's hometown of Montreal on November 28th. CLICK HERE for more details, as space will be limited. Charles will have copies of the DVD on hand for sale!

DVD RELEASE AND FALL PREMIERE TOUR

Pacific Horizons has been completed and everyone's first peak at the DVD is just a few weeks away. 60 minutes of stunning images and great sea kayaking, plus a bunch of extras including a purely surfing segment, director's cut, and Justine Curgenven's teaser from her trip around Haida Gwaii with Shawna and Leon of BBB. I think eveyone is going to enjoy it and I'm sure it will inspire many! Here is what the cover looks like....the DVD label will be a suprise.



We have also locked in the dates for the northwest premiere tour. These events are going to be a lot of fun and an opportunity for those of you local to get out and get the very first DVD's available. We'll have some swag to give away and are looking forward to getting everyone out talking kayaking!

The West Coast Premiere/Portland
Hosted by ALDER CREEK CANOE AND KAYAK
Thursday November 29th 7:30PM
Mission Theatre
1624 NW Glissan
Portland, OR
Free Entry!

Seattle Premiere
Hosted by SEATTLE RAFT AND KAYAK
Friday November 30th 7:30PM
Seattle Raft and Kayak
7777 62nd Ave NE Building 11
Seattle, WA
Free Entry!

Vancouver Premiere
Hosted by ECOMARINE
Tuesday December 4th 7:30PM
Ecomarine
Granville Island
Vancouver, BC
Free Entry!

We will also be doing a showing in Olympia, on Orcas Island, and Bellingham. Those dates will be posted shortly.

We are going to Banff!

I just received the notice that Pacific Horizons was chosen as a finalist for the 2007 BANFF MOUNTAIN FILM FESTIVAL! Lise-Anne and I will be travelling to Alberta to present the film on the big screen Saturday November 3 and then it will play again in a smaller theater on Nov 4th. Banff is considered one of the most prestigious adventure film festivals in the world and has been a dream of mine for the past couple years. Needless to say we are excited to be a part of this years event and also have a shot at making the 2007 BANFF WORLD TOUR! This will kick off a series of premieres on the west coast and the release of the DVD. We will be posting information on the November release of the DVD and when and where it will be available here soon, as well as a complete list of West coast premiere dates.

Editing Away!

Well after arriving home safely from Peru, I have been working hard on editing Pacific Horizons every day. Well except a few days spent kayaking Tatlow Creek and a weekend with Lise-Anne and 13 others on the Clendenning River! Hardest part of working for yourself in the kayaking industry is not getting too distracted by going kayaking. Really though...we are moving full steam ahead on Pacifc Horizons and it is looking great. Here are some of the technical details of where things are at and what you can expect over the next couple months...

1. On September 15th we will be showing the world the first glimpse of Pacific Horizons at West Coast Sea Kayak Symposium The film festival edit is complete and that is what will be showing at Port Townsend.

2. The complete DVD will be available November 15th online and at your local retail store. We will have a complete list of retailers and distributors up on the site here soon.

3. We are just starting to put togther a West Coast film tour that will stretch from BC to California in November. If you are a retailer intersted in hosting a showing of the video and we have not contacted you, please contact us!

Stay tuned for more details!

Vancouver Island Paradise

I wanted to make sure I got something up on the blog before I left for Peru, so I figured I'd share a few pictures from the Bunsby Islands. For those of you who don't know...I'm leaving on a expedition to paddle the RIO HUALLAGA in Peru on July 10th. I'll come home from that trip and finish shooting and editing Pacific Horizons.

Back in May I got togther with the crew from BBB and headed out to the west coast of Vancouver Island. Shawna, Leon, Matt, and Djuna picked me up in Horshoe Bay and we rallied many hours on winding dirt roads, crammed into the BBB head executive vehicle, eventually arriving at Fair Harbor. Plan was to spend 6-7 days on the water, explore the Bunsby Islands, maybe head to the Brooks Peninsula, and play in the swell of the Pacific Ocean. I had been looking forward to the trip for some time, as it had been a couple years since Shawna, Leon, and I had been out on a real multi-day adventure and the first time I had done a coastal trip with Matt and Djuna. Like the week we did the tidal race tour, it felt good to go into the trip seeing a giant high pressure system engulfing the North island. May was a beauty here in the Northwest and we soaked it up on this trip.

The team less Shawna in Fair Harbor. We put on at about 6PM with a pretty big push to the first campsite.

photo by Shawna Franklin

The second day we pushed to get into the Bunsby Islands. The scenery was amazing and it was clear no one else was around. Pretty quiet this time of year.

photo by Shawna Franklin

A nice little play spot we found on our way to get drinking water!

photo by Shawna Franklin

Big part of coming to the Bunsby's was to have really good camping and lots of short day trips to play in swell. Here Djuna and Shawna are settling into the evening hours with some yoga.

photo by Matt Nelson

The tidepools around this campsite were incredible.

photo by Shawna Franklin

Ont the 3rd Day we got into some pretty solid wind and swell on the outside of the Bunsby's

photo by Shawna Franklin

Even though I was filming most of the time, I managed to do a bit of rock gardening.

photo by Shawna Franklin

Leon has just come through the same gap as the shot of me above. Timing is everything when rock gardening.

photo by Shawna Franklin

Working for the shot. I was shooting from above to capture the clear water.

photo by Shawna Franklin

The water was crystal clear.

photo by Shawna Franklin

Matt and Leon playing in the swell off the campite we had in the outer islands

photo by Shawna Franklin

We had 5 days of sun by the time this shot was taken. Very rare on the West coast of Vancouver Island in May.

photo by Shawna Franklin

I think people will really enjoy this part of the film. We captured some of the better rock gardening footage I have seen to date and saw tons of wildlife. Lots of big black bears, sea otters, and eagles. Hope everyone has an amazing July of kayaking!

Subscribing to this Site.

When I put the site up it appears that I did not get the correct code pasted into the blog for subscriptions. So anyone who subscribed to this site early on is most likely recieving "The Range Life" updates form the whitewater site that I contribute to. I appologize. Either way if you are interested in recieving emails when I have posted something new, glance over the the right and type in your email. I will be getting a post up soon about the trip to the Bunsby's. Ralph, Lannie, and Albert over at Coast Mountain Expeditions sent these shots along from the trip to Quadra. Some really cool ones that I thought I'd share...

I think the reflection of the boat in the water of this shot is really cool.

photo by Albert Keller

Dave White...intersting position to be in.

photo by Albert Keller

There is a pretty good sized whirlpool forming just downstream in this shot.

photo by Albert Keller

Love the late evening light on sea kayaking trips.

photo by Albert Keller

The Official Trailer is Here!

Just thought I would put a post up in regards to the trailer that I have posted. I hope everyone has been able to view it ok and that load times have not been too bad. I have posted a link in the sidebar as well. If for any reason you are having difficulty uploading it is probably because you need to download the latest version of quicktime. A really slow connection speed could also cause some trouble. Enjoy and let me know if you are having any troubles viewing!

Paddling with the Orca Whales

After we finished up the week of tidal race paddling, Lise-Anne and I headed straight for the San Juan Islands. It was a two-folded mission. First and most importantly we went to Orcas Island for Matt and Djuna'a wedding. So great to see these two spirits united and living such an amazing life on Orcas. They are now part of the team at Body Boat Blade and will be featured in the Bunsby Island segment of the film.

The second part of the mission was taking the inter-island ferry over to San Juan Island to paddle the west side in hopes of seeing some killer whales. We met up with our friends Pat and Dan from Mt. Vernon and Chris and Hillary from Bellingham. After a relaxing morning we put on the water, paddled out of Smallpox Bay and instantly encountered J-Pod heading North. The timing was incredible. We literally took 30 or 40 paddle strokes and we were seeing dorsal fins coming right at us.

Chris, Hillary, and me scanning the horizon line

photo by Dan Moose

J-Pod consists of about 24 whales and is the most commonly seen pod of whales in the San Juan Islands. The Center for Whale Research run by Ken Balcomb and his son Kelly Balcomb-Bartok has been studying these whales through photo identification for over 25 years.

One of the J-pod adult females just off the bow!

photo by Dan Moose

Filming the whales.

photo by Dan Moose

After a night in the rain, the weather cleared up fro an amazing paddle on Sunday. I got a chance to catch up with Kelly Balcomb-Bartok at Center for Whale Research for an interview and then we hit the water. The whales were rumored to be South at Eagle Point so we paddled South. No sightings, but we had a spectacular day on the water.

Lise-Anne and I paddling a double. Filming from the front of the double has provided some great angles for the film.

photo by Dan Moose

The team!

photo by Dan Moose

This is going to be a great segment in the film with a bunch of kayaking but also a lot of history and information on the killer whales. San Juan Island has become such a popular destination to come paddle with the whales, but there is a lot to know about these amazing mammals and their fragile state.

The Tidal Race Tour

For the last 6 months I had been planning a filming trip to some of British Columbia's biggest tidal races with a crew of young, up and coming sea paddlers out of Portland, Oregon.  I was setting my goals really high for this trip.  Aiming to produce some of the most impressive sea kayaking footage ever seen before with a unique blend of cameras and venues.  When May 13th arrived and all 7 of us were converging on Skookumchuck Narrows as a starting point, I could not have been any more stoked to see a giant high pressure system engulfing the Pacific Northwest.  Everything was coming together.  The team of Oregonians had mad it across the border safely, Lise-Anne and Steve Rogers joined the trip for additional camera support, the current speeds were growing all week, and the weather forecast pointed to sun, sun, and more sun.  These sort of trips take a lot of work to put together, but all the effort paid off.  The photos and film we came away with are truly some of the most stunning images I have seen.  I'm going to let some of the pictures tell the story for now and hopefully it will have everyone salivating for this segment in the film!

The ferry in Howe Sound heading for the Sunshine Coast just North of Vancouver, BC.

photo by Steve Rogers

The team less Lise-Anne and Steve.  From right to left...Bryan Smith, Nick Jacob, Paul Kuthe, Richard Davis, and Dave White.

photo by Steve Rogers

Nick Jacob taking in the scenery.

photo by Steve Rogers

Nick Jacob sliding onto the glassy wave at Skooks.

photo by Steve Rogers

Dave White carving it up on the top wave at Skooks.

photo by Steve Rogers

Lise-Anne Beyries taking to the long boat quite well.  My wife, soul mate, and ultimate partner.  This film would not happen without her help and support!

photo by Steve Rogers

The newest member of our family and water tribe.  Chuya...finding some space in my pile of gear.

photo by Steve Rogers

Lise-Anne and I getting the young guns of Portland to share their story.

photo by Steve Rogers

Setting up the boat mount camera system

photo by Steve Rogers


Paul Kuthe was absolutely ripping it up at Skooks...here he is getting his carve on.

photo by Steve Rogers

He also was not afraid to drop into the froth on Day 2 when the wave got quite a bit bigger.

photo by Steve Rogers

Nick was not too shy at Skooks either...I was glad to be the guy filming this time!

photo by Steve Rogers

So fun to be paddling with sea paddlers who have this much skill.  A clear example of how talented an in control these guys were on the wave.  We went for 4, but I think 3 was the most we got onto the top wave at Skookumchuck.

photo by Steve Rogers

Special thanks to Laurie and Tom at High Tide Water Taxi for giving us just enough boat time to capture some incredible new angles at Skookumchuck.

photo by Steve Rogers

From Skooks we headed North to Quadra Island via three ferries.  The first in the series at 6:30am.

photo by Steve Rogers

Lise-Anne and Paul checking out the water off Quadra...don't think I have ever seen water this clear before.

photo by Steve Rogers

The inter tidal life was mind blowing.  With so many tidal races around Quadra all the critters are very well fed.

photo by Steve Rogers

The seaweed was glowing.

photo by Steve Rogers

The plush set-up at Discovery Islands Lodge that we based out of for 4 days.

photo by Steve Rogers

Richard Davis carving it up on one of the best waves I have ever seen for a sea kayak.  Just a random wave below one of the bigger races.

photo by Steve Rogers

Nick Jacob on that same wave.  It started as a perfect glassy wave with shoulders on both sides and eventually got steep with a solid foam pile.

photo by Steve Rogers

Paul Kuthe sliding of the right side of it once the current speed was getting close to 10 knots

photo by Steve Rogers

Paul just about to get engulfed by the break.

photo by Steve Rogers

The weather was still absolutely stunning 5 days into the trip.

photo by Steve Rogers

The guys waiting for the big wave of the trip to settle down to a manageable level.

photo by Steve Rogers

While I would not quite consider this a friendly level, the young guns showed me how it was done.  Paul Kuthe dropping into a huge wave.

photo by Steve Rogers

Dave White carving out of the pile.

photo by Steve Rogers

Nick Jacob starting to feel the wave in it's ultimate zone

photo by Steve Rogers

I was lucky enough to talk Lise-Anne into running video for a few surfs on quite possibly the best wave I have ever surfed in a long boat.

photo by Steve Rogers

Soooooooo smooth and fast...paradise.

photo by Steve Rogers

On the final day Ralph from Discovery Islands Lodge helped us with a bit of filming and then offered to take a few of us back.  Lise-Anne, Steve and I took the ride home, while the young guns paddles two hours back to the lodge.  

photo by Steve Rogers

This trip was everything I could have ever imagined.  These pictures are just the beginning.  The film will showcase all the paddlers, venues, and adventure.