By Robert Nissenbaum and Graton Gathright Editor’s note: We wrote about Robert and Graton in our recent post on the NSSKA Rescue Rodeo. This month, they’ve put together an article on their training day with a regulation Search and Rescue team from Skagit Bay, WA, a day that went from practice rescues to the real deal. […]
Sea kayaking activities
Navigation, Tides, and Currents in Deception Pass
Editor’s Note: Deb Volturno is a Coastal Kayaking Level 5 Instructor Trainer Educator, American Canoe Association, and a Surf Kayaking Level 4 Instructor Trainer Educator, American Canoe Association. Marty Mayock is a Coastal Kayaking Level 3 Instructor, American Canoe Association. On April 24 I took a class from Capt. (Deb) Tortuga. Not only Captain of the Tsunami […]
The Value of Rescue Practice – Cold Water Rescue Rodeo With NSSKA
By Moulton Avery and Nancy Soares Editor’s note: This March I was privileged to join the North Sound Sea Kayak Association (NSSKA) for a rescue rodeo in 42-degree water at Lake Stevens in Washington State. It was awesome! Robert Nissenbaum, Chief Instigator, led the hour-long introduction on land. There were lots of good questions and an […]
Tsunami Ranger Retreat 2.0 – October 2021
Everything changes, and to both survive and thrive, adaptation is imperative. In 2020, Covid 19 brought changes to the Tsunami Rangers, not least in that for the first time in over 30 years, we didn’t hold our annual retreat. That was a bummer, but we adapted. In 2021 a fully vaccinated Ranger crew met in […]
Meet the Rangers! – Jeff Laxier
Editor’s note: This is the next in our Meet the Rangers series. Enjoy! And thanks to all the Rangers who contributed photos to this post. Vice Admiral Jim Kakuk: Jeff is a blend of kayaker, explorer, teacher and great camping companion. A natural in his kayak and a good diver and fisherman, you can count on Jeff […]
Prepping for the CAL 100
Editor’s Note: Thanks to instructors Jason Montelongo and Jeff Kay and to all the paddlers who went down the river with me. It was a new experience and a very enjoyable one! Thanks too to Tom (canoeist) and John (sea kayaker) who offered support for our first day of instruction. What is the Cal 100? Actually, […]
Meet the Rangers! – Cate Hawthorne
Editor’s Note: Thanks so much to all the Rangers who participated in writing this post. Another team effort in the bag! Happy New Year, everyone! Lt. JG Nancy Soares: For years there were no women Rangers. Then John Lull sponsored Deb Volturno, who took her test in 1996. For a long time after that, no […]
Salute the Sea! Propitiating the Ocean for Enhanced Sea Kayaking
Sailors are notoriously superstitious. Just as there are no atheists in the trenches of war, there are no atheists in the storm troughs of the sea. Something about the ocean, its vastness, its depths, its many unknowns, cues an ancient, ancestral response in the human breast. In a way, when we launch our boats it’s […]
September Love – A Tsunami Retreat Retrospective
Editor’s note: Thanks to Michael Powers, Steven King, and Jim Kakuk for their photos of past retreats! Thanks also to Dave, Don, Eric, Misha, Steve, Deb, Paula, Scott, Jeff, Cate, Dennis, Michael, Gordon, and Jim who are all represented in these photographs. What a team! The Rogue Valley was blazing and whole neighborhoods vanishing in […]
Rolling on the Rogue! A Women’s Whitewater Clinic
Editor’s Note: This post covers the Womxn’s Holistic Paddling Clinic offered by California Women’s Watersport Collective in tandem with Sundance Kayak School of Galice in the Rogue Valley of Oregon that took place on June 18 – 21 this year. 2020 is my third year attending this event, and I’m so glad I showed up! […]
A Study in Brown – Waste in the Wilderness
Editor’s Note: With apologies to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (A Study in Scarlet) and gratitude to my son Nick Wantz who came up with our title we bring you a discussion of poop in the wilderness. As more and more people adventure farther afield the subject of how to handle the growing quantity of human […]
Playing in Tide Rips With A Sea Kayak
by John Lull Editor’s note: It’s great to have another article by our talented Tsunami Ranger John Lull. Welcome back, John! Thanks for the informative post and for the awesome photos, taken from the Golden Gate bridge by your lovely wife June Legler. Thanks, June! It’s an exciting experience to sit in the eddy just outside […]
