From time to time, I will plug commercial enterprises I deem worthy of your attention. Here’s my first find: CALIFORNIA KAYAKER MAGAZINE. Edited by Peter Donohue, the magazine centers on kayaking in California. From a first read it seems that northern California and sea kayaking comprise much of its content, which is fine with me.
Here’s a sample of what’s in the Fall 2010 issue, available at sea kayaking outlets today. It starts out with a nice how-to article on eddy turns by Bryant Burkhardt, complete with action series photos and illustrations. Next up is an informative article on leopard sharks by Matt Krizan, which includes several high-quality color photos to enhance Matt’s excellent writing. My favorite article was an interview with superkayaker Sean Morley. You’ll have to read it to find out about Sean’s many and varied accomplishments in the water world. In addition to other good articles, CAL KAYAKER also does product reviews. In the Fall edition, I was most attracted to a review of a DVD made by Helen Wilson called “Simplifying the Roll.” Now I simply must have that DVD.
In short, the magazine is chock full of kayaking stuff worth reading—like Chuck Graham’s destination feature on the Channel Islands. I’d pay good money for CAL KAYAKER, but guess what? It’s free. You can pick up your copy at most sea kayaking shops or can read the PDF version by going to www.calkayakermag.com. Erik the Red says “Check it out!”
Eric, this is an important resource — and it’s free. I especially like that it also comes as a downloadable PDF. Not that many people will be going into kayaking shops on a regular enough basis to get all the print issues.
Thanks for the plug! Much appreciated.
Plan is for the magazine to cover the entire state before long.
Oh – a further update on Sean Morely. Here is a blog post he did on the results of his Channel Islands expedition – http://www.phpaddlers.com/sean-morley/channel-islands-of-california-trip-report/ .
Peter
Editor, Publisher, and Janitor
You’re welcome, Peter. Keep up the good work!
Peter, I’m glad you’ll be extended the mag to include all of California. You’ll reach a wider audience, and some folks want to know about their options for the entire state.
Hmmm, now I’m thinking it would be nice if it covered Oregon too.
Perhaps CAL KAYAKER could do as WAVELENGTH (another good sea kayaking magazine) does, and that is specialize in a geographic area but also feature other areas from time to time. WAVELENGTH centers on the Pacific Northwest, specifically British Columbia, but could have an article on Norway. It keeps things interesting.
Just a thought.
Not looking to change the name from CALIFORNIA kayaker, but I do say in the Writer’s Guidelines that is on the web site that though California is the primary focus, but articles in places that Californian kayakers commonly go for vacation (so Baja, Oregon, Nevada, Hawaii, etc.) are all acceptable. Less likely to run the article on Norway…
On the other hand, John Kimantis is a nice guy and Wavelength is a decent product, so I definitely don’t want to infringe on what he is doing.
If Alder Creek or some of the other Oregon shops signed on to advertise, I would try to add some additional content that would be useful for them.
Peter
What a good read ! I’m not Californian, actually far from it (Aussie) but I found the Channel Islands National Park report interesting and the Helen Wilson & Sean Morley stories relevant. I’m a bit jealous of your gear shops but along with our strong dollar, its another incentive to visit. Also of interest to me was the story on leopard sharks as I recently had a close encounter with what I believe was a beautiful leopard shark. It was bigger and prettier than those in the magazine and swam straight to me in clean, deep water. Very special. Thanks for the link Eric.
I’m glad you like Cal Kayaker Mag, Tess. Having kayaked in the Channel Islands, I can tell you it’s a special place (and great for diving). I am interested in your leopard shark encounter. In 2 weeks or so I’ll post a blog on sharks. Stay tuned.