My year end in the "other job", something I do when I can't be "on the water".

Enjoy.

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/multimedia/pov/Photos-of-the-Year---Phil-Hossack-112420204.html

Paddle Canada Course #43825

A new Crop

Manitoba hosted it's first Level 1 Sea Kayak Instructor program over the past Thanksgiving Weekend.

Doug Alderson


Senior Instructor Trainer Doug Alderson was gracious enough to spend the holiday overseeing the program and then finalizing my mentorship, awarding my Level 1 IT status.


The four Level 1 Instructor Candidates!

Scott Palmer

Jamie Hilland

Lori Neufeld

Mick Lautt


Here's the video....

...new IT in town.


Go Get'm

Not just recreational....

Morning Mist rises off Black Island on the way to he nets.

Deer Island, Lake Winnipeg October 2009.




Harvey Bushie and his crew of Ojibwe Fishers work the
wintry waters of Lake Winnipeg last fall.


At the nets, Deer Island

Damn the weather....

The forecast said wet all week, and then showers again Saturday night.
Sunday though, turned into a paddler's dream as a pair of groups headed out and around Elk Island, one clockwise, the other counter, to a rendezvous for lunch half way.

Eagles Soared, (Golden and Bald), deer roamed, Ravens gathered
and bears explored our beach before we landed.

Footprints in the sand (big and small)

The horizon...., it just took the morning off

 Sangeeta searches for a horizon off Victoria Beach near Elk Island

Headed home.

While I'm at it.....

.....just because this is my favorite image from 2009.....

See my post too, from February, 2008..."Pelican Alley".


Enjoy!

The Day Job.....

Some of you have wondered if I paddle for a living......nope.

That's for fun.

Remember this moment?

Sure you do.....
  
I'm a photojournalist.

I filed nearly 300 finished images from Vancouver last month, 
of course not all were published. 
 
Here's a video with a few of those images from the "day job".

 The Vancouver Olympics were a lot of work, and ya.....
......a whole lotta fun.

More paddling to come as the season's about to start here again soon!!
We'll be running a Paddle Canada Level 1 Instructor's course here in June, and another Level 2 program later in the summer.....SUMMER, not late fall this year.

Enjoy.

Fall Voyage

Late October.

In the last voyage of the 2009 season, the Manitoba Research Consortium's Ship "Namao" reels in Environment Canada's weather buoys before freeze up on Lake Winnipeg south basin and Narrows.

Video here.

Captain and charts early morning departure.

Brave and Crazy

Paddle Canada Level 2 2009

Dan prepares to launch from a challenging "put in" on the Rice RIver.

Late October, two days on the Winnipeg River, three days on the bottom of Lake Winnipeg's Kasakeemisekak Archepelligo.

Paddle Canada instructor's Phil Hossack and Mick Lautt several Ojibway fisher's from Hollow Water First Nations and a lot of smiles.

That pretty much sums up the second ever Paddle Canada level 2 program run here in Manitoba.




Mick get's up close and personal frying pickerel.

(And one evening lesson for Mick on pan frying fresh pickerel cheeks the traditional way!)

Here's the pictures as proof!

Level 2 enters Lake Winnipeg's Kasakeemisekak Archepelligo.


Enjoy.

Here's the video!




Ok where'd we come from, how'd we get here and just where exactly, are we?

To the "MOUTH OF THE RICE"...

OK, let's get serious now.

Samantha Page launches her VW into the depths of the winter road to the Rice River

Elk Island is a grand day trip, but sometimes one needs more of a challenge.....a drive up the winter road to the Rice River about 40 kms north of Hollow Water on the East shore of Lake Winnipeg was challenge enough for four of us in June last year. At least the last 30 km of the drive.....the "winter road" part.


Gloria becomes one with sky and water

After that it was clear sailing with three balmy days of calm weather and one night of thunder. Paddles out to the middle of the Lake between Black and Deer Islands, shore lunches and even a little rock scrambling on a mid channel rock that's not often accessable calm summer waters were the exception to the rule....

Sven Scrambles


Deer Island shore lunch

Samantha Page, Sven Hafemeister, Gloria Koop and I enjoyed it all.

Left to right, Phil Hossack, Gloria Koop, Sven Hafemiester and Samantha Page (front)

If you decide to go, please be sure your vehicle is up to the trip, the winter road should only be driven when conditions are ideal......not like we did.

Enjoy.

Stay tuned for more from Lake WInnipeg's East shore and the Kasakeemisekak Archepelligo.