SPRING 2015 COAST&KAYAK MAGAZINE 1

Our last issueas Coast&Kayak

Magazine. Here’s to a great past and a look

to the future. See page 3 for details

Spring 2015FREE onlineFREE at select locationsOr subscribe for home delivery

Volume 25, Issue 1

PM 4

1687

515

COAST&KAYAKMagazineThe magazine of Pacific coast adventures and recreation

A look back at 25 years of paddlingon the Pacific coast

Restrospectives

Editor’s pick: the locations around the world that made a lasting impression

Favourite places

2 COAST&KAYAK MAGAZINE SPRING 2015

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SPRING 2015 COAST&KAYAK MAGAZINE 3

The First (and Last) Word John Kimantas

Back in 2008, when I was kicking around for something to do after settling down from some kayaking adventures, I honed in on Wavelength Magazine as a good base for spending the last 20 years of my working life. It combined most of my interests in one tidy package. It seemed perfect.

That, of course, was immediately before the recession, and before the switch to social media marketing and the emergence of Google AdWords that knocked the socks off the magazine and publishing industries.

I can’t say I was deterred. I felt if my competitors suffered a drop in circulation that could only be good for Wavelength (soon to be Coast&Kayak Magazine), as our ‘free’ distribution model protected us from a drop in readership. There was also a plan for an East Coast edition. I felt if I could offer a national advertising package with more readers at a considerably lower cost than competitors, then only good things could result.

Well, the market changed again before that could happen. I won’t go into the details here, but anyone interested can check out the ‘News’ tab on www.coastandkayak.com and look up the open letters to the American Canoe Association and Paddle Canada. For online readers, the links are here and here.

I never wrote those letters to whine, and if they read that way I apologize. It was, in fact, to alert two large and influential organizations that if they meddle with businesses they are large enough to effectively kill the natural composition of that market. Bad things will happen.

In the fallout, however, there was a surprisingly encouraging side effect: the core of supporters who have stood with us are and are the smaller, regional operators who are the heart and soul of the Pacific paddlesports and adventure travel industries. They’ve supported Coast&Kayak for a reason – they know and love this region and see the value in it.

In assessing what to do when a kayaking magazine is pushed out of the kayaking industry, here was the answer. To a tee, every company advertising in this magazine is not a ‘brand name’ created solely to mass-market products. Rather, these are people who answer their own phones and do what they do for the love of what they do. Many – such as Delta Kayaks, Seaward, Nimbus, Salus – are defying the market and rooting themselves in their

home bases, producing locally, not to maximize profit but because they see this as a better way to conduct their business. The tour operators such as Bruce at the Paddlers Inn in the Broughtons, Chessi and Ben on Galiano, Adam in Powell River, Jay on Pender Island, Steve in Telegraph Cove, Ryan and Hilary in Baja, and so many more (sorry I can’t name you all) – they are all catering to kayakers for a love of what they do. The retailers are people who still own and operate their stores – Mary, Bob, Don, Richard, Brian – people who want to give the best and most interesting products at the best value. There is no corporate chain store represented here, just the owners you’re as likely to see on the water as behind the store counter.

Building a new magazine around this side of the industry is going to be a pleasure.

So the answer to a seemingly impossible market situation is going to be perfect, a place I will be happy to hang my hat for the next 20 years. The new manifestation of Coast&Kayak Magazine will be Wild Coast Magazine. It will focus on adventure travel and outdoor recreation on the Pacific coast, and of course primarily British Columbia – not so different from Coast&Kayak in that respect. Its reason for existing will be to inspire, educate and motivate people about the coast and everything it has to offer. It will explore the nooks and crannies and the ways to get you there. The magazine’s world will expand to include canoes, whitewater, foot, rope, bicycles, SUPs – any way that brings this world alive without destroying it. Yes, conservation will be a key theme.

The name of the magazine will be as perfect as the subject. Wild Coast is the name of the publishing company, the books that first inspired all of it and even the name of the boat that is the magazine’s office – the MV Wild Coast. Look for it when you’re out exploring. Drop in and say hello if you see us somewhere at anchor. Chances are it’s a working day for us, but your company will be welcome nonetheless.

I suspect many hard-core sea kayakers will be disappointed. But I hope the vast majority of you stay with us as we make the transition. It wasn’t planned. It wasn’t the vision. But it’s still going to be a great place to be.

- John Kimantaseditor@coastandkayak.com

A goodbye, but also an introduction

A sunrise or a sunset? You decide.

SPRING 2015 COAST&KAYAK MAGAZINE 3

4 COAST&KAYAK MAGAZINE SPRING 2015

Fall/Winter 2014 Volume 24, Number 3 PM No. 41687515

A product of:Wild Coast Publishing

PO Box 24, Stn ANanaimo, B.C., Canada, V9R 5K4

Ph: 1-866-984-6437 • Fax: 1-866-654-1937Email: kayak@coastandkayak.comWebsite: www.coastandkayak.com

Physical address: Aboard the MV Wild Coast, Somewhere on the Pacific Ocean

The world’s only magazine published from aboard a boat (that we know of, anyway).

© 2015. Copyright is retained on all material (text, photos and graphics) in this magazine. No reproduction is allowed of any material in any form, print or electronic, for any purpose,

except with the permission of Wild Coast Publishing.Some elements in maps in this magazine are reproduced with

the permission of Natural Resources Canada 2010, courtesy of the Atlas of Canada. Also, our thanks to Geobase for some

elements that may appear on Coast&Kayak maps.

COAST&KAYAK MAGAZINE is an independent magazine available free at hundreds of print distribution sites (paddling shops, outdoor stores, paddling clubs, marinas, events, etc.), and globally on the web.

General queries: kayak@coastandkayak.comEditorial: editor@coastandkayak.comAdvertising: kayak@coastandkayak.com

This is the last edition of Coast&Kayak Magazine under that name and the last with the primary focus on sea kayaking. The Summer 2015 edition will switch to the name Wild Coast Magazine with a more broad outdoor recreation/adventure travel focus. See page 3 for more details. This means there will be only two magazines in 2015, whereas subscribers signed up for three. Those who paid by cheque or credit card will have subscriptions extended to receive the number of magazines purchased. For those who have paid by the Paypal $5 automatic renewal option, it’s a bit more complex. If you choose to cancel the renewal option, you will still receive three magazine. But we hope you stay with us as we transform, as subscribers are an essential component to continuing to publish. We do not receive ACA or Paddle Canada subsidies nor Heritage Canada Aid to Publishers grants. The $5 subscription was designed to enable us to qualify for the Aid to Publishers program, but we do not qualify yet. In other words, your continued support of a subscription during a difficult time is crucial to us. Thanks for sticking with us if you can! If you have questions or concerns, please email us:kayak@coastandkayak.com

Online: www.coastandkayak.com

Coast&Kayak Magazine is dedicated to making self-propelled coastal exploration fun and accessible. Safety and travel

information is provided to augment pre-existing safety and knowledge. A safety course and proper equipment are advised

before any exploration on water. See a list of paddling instruction locations at www.coastandkayak.com

Contact Us:

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Inside

Unforgettable images 20

Downhill both ways 30

Answering the call 43

John Dowd 6

Brian Henry 10

Other views 18

Wayne Horodowich 14

Retrospectives

As part of the goodbye edition, Coast&Kayak editor John Kimantas felt it appropriate to dig into his own archives to pick out some of the most remarkable images from his years of kayaking on the coast. Some go back to the days of slide film, but the memories remain as strong as ever.

Surge Narrows has a frightening reputation for the hazards of rocks, strong tidal streams and whirlpools, but if managed wisely it can make for a remarkable day’s trip assisted the entire way by current. Alan Dunham shares his considerable knowledge of what’s involved to create a potentially leisurely 50-kilometre outing.

All it took was one kayaking trip to give John O’Malley the bug, which for him meant having to build a cedar strip kayak. Follow John’s story for an idea of what’s involved in doing it right and making it beautifully.

Mary BayesChris Ladner

Liam McNeill

For this special final issue, Coast&Kayak Magazine looks back on the history of kayaking on the Pacific coast through differing lenses.