Chine bLog - 7. Destinations & Voyages

Great traditional rowing boat video on the Fogo Island Punt Race

nospam@example.com (Tim) — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 20:36:25 +0100

Many thanks to Chris Partridge over at Rowing for Pleasure for highlighting the Fogo Island Punt Race, a 20-mile open-ocean race in traditional wooden rowing boats. Wow. I love the seriously traditional specs for race boats. For those not up on Canadian Maritime geography, Fogo Island is off the Northern side of Newfoundland, Canada. Chris embedded the video below, which is a really nice story of the race and the boats.

Incidentally, if you want more of a flavor of Fogo Island - or, in fact, if you are in the Chine bLog mindset at all - you MUST go grab yourself a copy of the song "A Boat Like Gideon Brown" off Newfoundland band Great Big Sea's great album "Sea of No Cares." Just do it. You will not regret it unless you only like death metal.

A great morning of paddling at Piscataway Creek, MD

nospam@example.com (Tim) — Sun, 21 Sep 2008 21:45:34 +0200

I was able to get out on the water this AM, which was, needless to say, a very good thing. I set my kayak in Piscataway Creek, MD, a Potomac tributary several miles downriver from DC. I've been there a few times and am always impressed with it. I dropped the boat in the water in thick fog and September chill. I paddled along the northern shore - it is a wide, shallow tidal bay at that point. It was beautiful and still the pictures can't really do it justice.

Gradually the fog burned off. I headed up the true creek for a while. There was lots of bird life back in there - I got buzzed by a great blue heron at one point - and few signs of people after a few houses by the mouth. A great morning on the water.

Launch site: Fort Washington Marina, Fort Washington, MD.

Cuttyhunk for Memorial Day - boats, but no boating

nospam@example.com (Tim) — Wed, 28 May 2008 22:09:50 +0200

I got out to Cuttyhunk Island for Memorial Day to open the house there. No boats to play with, but I did get a chance to snap a few pics. Enjoy!

The sea was angry that day, my friends...

nospam@example.com (Tim) — Tue, 27 Nov 2007 22:15:50 +0100

... well, it was a little miffed... Some pictures from a Thanksgiving eve outing to Pemaquid Point, Maine, a fantastic spot for a clamor.

Northern Forest Canoe Trail benefit auction

nospam@example.com (Tim) — Thu, 08 Nov 2007 21:08:40 +0100

I mentioned the Northern Forest Canoe Trail a bit ago. I see in Paddling.net's newsletter today that they are holding a benefit auction online. Check it out.

Boats of Lake Malawi (Lake Nyasa), Africa

nospam@example.com (Tim) — Wed, 03 Oct 2007 22:06:19 +0200

We bloggers tend to pay a great deal of attention to our web stats - page views, visitors, visits, etc. It is a tangible validation that somebody is paying attention. Or, in my case, 50-75 somebodies a month, pretty consistently (you know who you are). One area I am always eager to see is the geographic location of visitors. A visitor from a new country - even just one person - is such an exciting and exotic touch-point. It sends me looking for more on a theretofore less known land

Tonight was no different, and tonights treat was a visit from Malawi, in Southern Africa. Why so interesting, it being land-locked and all? Ah, but it sits astride Lake Malawi (also Lake Nyasa), one of the largest lakes in Africa (in fact, 9th largest in the world). I figure any large body of water must be navigated, and I was curious to see what kinds of boats one would find there. There weren't many sources to find, but I did get a couple good glimpses via Vintage Africa Safari's site.

Click to enlarge

It appears that the boats are a mix of pirogue-type flat-bottomed canoes and dugout canoes. The dugouts are interesting in that they are shorter and more enclosed than others I have seen. They appear to keep more of the top of the log, giving the boats pronounced tumblehome and not a ton of room for the crew. It would be fascinating to know more about why this is the case - the nature of available wood? Something about the fishing techniques on the lake? Custom? Please comment if you can add any insight here.

By the way, Malawi looks beautiful and the lake appears to have some small boat touring going on. Add this one to the list...

Location: Monkey Bay, Malawi

Excellent paddling - Summer vacation at Cuttyhunk Island

nospam@example.com (Tim) — Thu, 30 Aug 2007 23:04:00 +0200

Ah, and so comes to an end our Summer vacation, but what a good one it was. Highlights included some excellent paddling, as seen in the pictures below:

You can also see these plotted on a map.

More from Cuttyhunk - treats in the harbor

nospam@example.com (Tim) — Thu, 30 Aug 2007 23:03:50 +0200

One nice thing about knocking around Cuttyhunk is that there are usually a modest number of boats worth ogling. Here are a few choice ones from the trip:

And while I am thinking longingly of destinations... The Northern Forest Canoe Trail

nospam@example.com (Tim) — Tue, 07 Aug 2007 13:15:22 +0200

The American Rivers blog found this enticing idea - The Northern Forest Canoe Trail, a paddling trail from upstate New York to Northern Maine using traditional routes.

On my list - paddling Baja

nospam@example.com (Tim) — Tue, 07 Aug 2007 13:00:19 +0200

In case you haven't tried it yet, among the benefits of Paddling.net's newsletter is the weekly dollop if insiration in the form of a paddling photo of the week. Some are predictably generic (another sunset over the bow of a canoe / kayak, anyone?), but some are nice. Here is a recent favorite of mine, from Baja California. Mmm-mmm-mmm - got to get there.

And more - the Vietnam Wooden Boat Foundation

nospam@example.com (Tim) — Thu, 01 Feb 2007 20:30:00 +0100

WoodenBoat was also good enough to highlight the Vietnam Wooden Boat Foundation, which is:

Dedicated to preserving the maritime history of Vietnam with an emphasis on the art, craft, lore, and history of traditional Vietnamese wooden boat building.

I can buy into that. They seem to be small, but ambitious. They are collecting and publishing information and also seem to be intent on making some sawdust on both sides of the Pacific. And there are some really interesting boats to preserve.

One project is to build a boat called a Ghe Nang in Vietnam and bring it over here. I like this boat - it looks great and, according to the foundation, was known as the fastest of all Vietnamese sailboats. Interesting rig description too:

It was double ended and had a slotted stem-post forward which held a removable centerboard, and a slotted stern post aft which held a removable rudder. It fished using driftnets secured to booms set fore and aft. The centerboard and rudder were raised out of the water during fishing operations and when beaching the boat. Another unique feature was that the hulls were typically made from woven bamboo attached to a top wood frame. Woven bamboo hulls are common in central Vietnam.

Their web site includes photos of a number of other types of boats. A taste:

Nice boat AND nice scenery...

An inland boat, sure, but nice...

Ha Long needs to go on my "to visit" list...

Location: Hai Phong, Vietnam

Captain John Smith Chesapeake National Historic Trail coming into being

nospam@example.com (Tim) — Fri, 12 Jan 2007 17:29:00 +0100

The same e-mail from American Rivers that I referenced last night also announced the official creation, courtesy of the pen of George W. Bush, of the Captain John Smith Chesapeake National Historic Trail, a water trial in the Chesapeake commemorating the English explorer of the Mid-Atlantic. These trails are great. They are designed for small craft, generally non-motorized at that, and provide a lower-risk way for people in these boats to explore and appreciate a body of water. I have kayaked a small piece of the Maine Island Trail Association's water trail along that gorgeous coast and looked longingly at end of the one in the Everglades and in each case the concept is a no-brainer. You take a beautiful waterway, guide people through while letting them go at their own pace in their own way, and provide enough shore access to let the people get a sense of the coast. Maybe this is too tame for the intrepid adventurer, but for folks just messing about, perfection.

The Chesapeake screams out for one of these, and now it is getting one. There are gazillions of little steams and marshes one can poke into in a small boat and see the Bay in action. Since there are not as many ways to do this from shore as one might think, the trail will be a great way to open more of the Bay to small boaters and add to the value of small boating in this region. It will also generally add to the level of low-impact recreation and, hopefully, help people understand the Bay's importance for conservation. I think the trail is a huge win.

Friends of the John Smith Trail seems to have some info on the proposed trail. No map of the trail exists that I could find, though the National Parks Service does provide a map of Smith's voyages.

The Parks Service outlines the following concept for the trail:

John Smith conducted two major voyages around the Chesapeake Bay during the summer of 1608, both starting from Jamestown and heading down the James River into the Bay. On the first voyage he traveled north along the eastern shore, exploring the mouth of the Pocomoke River and traveling some distance up the Nanticoke River. He continued north on the bay as far as present-day Baltimore and the Patapsco River, then headed south along the western shore, exploring the Potomac (Patawomeck) and some of its tributaries to a point north of present-day Washington, DC, before returning to Jamestown. On the second voyage, Smith went straight up the Bay to the mouth of the Susquehanna and present-day Havre de Grace, exploring the Patuxent and Rappahannock Rivers on his return trip southward. The proposed trail would be a circuit of the Bay, with river extensions, combining the routes of these two historic voyages and other explorations of the James and York Rivers in 1607-1609.

I Look forward to its inauguration.

By the way, I just have to chastise American Rivers on one point. In their e-newsletter they include the following passage:

In 1607, Captain John Smith became the first to explore more than 3,000 miles of the Chesapeake Bay and its connecting rivers. Now, 400 years later, you can recreate his epic journey.

First? Come on, gang. Did Pocahontas and company fall from the sky after the Jamestown landing? Sorry to quibble, but an organization like this can't make that statement in 2006.

Postcard from Vietnam - literally - a panorama of traditional boats

nospam@example.com (Tim) — Tue, 07 Nov 2006 21:36:37 +0100

My sister recently went to Vietnam and sent us this great postcard:

This is apparently a floating market, and, while no doubt somewhat touristy, this is still a country with emerging tourist infrastructure - its probably not too far off traditional maritime life. I like that there's quite a diversity of boats, with small pole / oar powered "launches" and larger power boats, all of which appear to be wooden. Give me one of those little canoes like that one in dead center and let me poke around that anchorage - that would be cool. There are probably some interesting boatbuilding techniques and traditions there - use of bamboo, for instance. Always good to be reminded of the numerous maritime cultures out there in the world and how each has approached the water given its needs and available materials. Here's hoping that these traditions don't get squashed as this country develops.

Location: Can Tho, Vietnam

More from Rare - traditional dugout canoes for Honduran ecotourism

nospam@example.com (Tim) — Wed, 04 Oct 2006 23:12:57 +0200

My new client, Rare, who had a project I blogged about recently, has redone their web site and now includes, among many other nice features, some nice photos from its work supporting an ecotourism venture in Honduras. Such work is always exciting because it tends to be such a win-win-win-etc. proposition. One highlight of this story, in my mind, are pictures of tours in traditional dugout canoes they call pipantes. They are gorgeous boats - long and low and exquisitely carved. They seem tender as heck, but in the right hands... they clearly are not reserved for flat water. I love that this venture is incorporating traditional boats into its larger offering. Not only will this preserve the craft of building these boats boat it also introduces visitors to the great boating skills the people of the region must possess.

Check out La Ruta Moskitia for more info - this looks like another venture worth supporting.

Location: Cusuna, Honduras

Kayaking the magical waters of China

nospam@example.com (Tim) — Wed, 04 Oct 2006 22:10:48 +0200

I loved this piece about kayaking the Li River in the region around Guilin in China. This one is high on my to-do list.