Editor’s note: Our featured poet, Katie Whalen, age 14, is the daughter of Tsunami Ranger Dave Whalen. We are reprinting her poem with her permission. Thank you, Katie. Rhythm by Katie Whalen The warmth of the sun-beaten rock soaks into my skin. My legs dangle off the edge. Thirty feet below me I gaze upon the pebbles […]
Sea Kayaking People
Rhode Island – The Ocean State: Personal Reflections of a Sea Kayaker
by Tony Moore Editor’s note: Tony Moore lives in Jamestown, R.I. with his wife Aline. He has been diving and spearfishing for almost 50 years and has been kayaking since 1997. Tony is also a certified Water Safety Instructor (American Red Cross). He coordinates several RICKA (Rhode Island Canoe & Kayaking Association) paddles every year, usually rock garden trips. He is a […]
Who’s Your Sea Kayaking Mentor?
men’tor, n. (from Mentor, the friend and counselor of Odysseus and Telmachus) a wise and faithful counselor (Webster’s New Twentieth Century Dictionary) Everyone needs a mentor, especially when undertaking a new and challenging endeavor. The Tsunami Rangers have mentored many sea kayakers. Tsunami Ranger Eric Soares introduced me to extreme sea kayaking in 1996. […]
Eric Soares 8/1/53 – 2/1/12 RIP
Editor’s note: Eric wrote this poem in November, 1971. The picture of Vishnu was in his computer files. I kept his original punctuation. Adieu, Adieu I’m a success story What are you? I’ve accomplished everything I’ve nothing to do. You’ve got time to live and time to learn You must experience getting burned. Life is […]
Meet The Ocean Dragons!
One of the most exciting things to happen this year was receiving an order from The Ocean Dragons, an extreme sea kayaking team from Galicia, Spain. Oscar Alvarez, aka “Fugy”, sent me an email. In it he described finding a copy of the Tsunami Ranger’s Anthology in a rare bookstore while on a visit to the […]
Steve Sinclair – Storm Sea Skier and Legendary Sea Kayaker
by Will Nordby Editor’s note: Will Nordby recently completed his career as a broadcast and print photo-journalist based in the Bay Area. He started kayaking in 1973 and has traveled along the coasts of Alaska and British Columbia in addition to the Caribbean, Central America, and South Pacific. His articles have appeared in various magazines […]
A Sea Kayaker Goes Home to the Sea
“Follow The Spirits and Chase Those Demons” (An old Tsunami saying) On Saturday May 19, 2012, the family and friends of Eric Soares said good-bye and scattered his ashes as he had requested in the Pacific Ocean at Pillar Point, California. It was a beautiful day. At around 11:00 Saturday morning about 25 kayakers gathered […]
In Honor of Eric Soares, 1953-2012
Eric Soares – husband, father, brother, son, and good friend to so many people – passed away on February 1, 2012, of a sudden cardiac event at Stanford Hospital while awaiting surgery to repair an aortic aneurysm. Eric was a great individual. His strong personality and his desire to live life to the fullest left […]
Derek C. Hutchinson: a living sea kayaking legend
(note to my readers: This post begins an occasional tribute to individuals who have made major contributions to sea kayaking) Derek Hutchinson could be called the father of modern sea kayaking for his paddling prowess, long distance journeys, kayak designs, his entertaining talks and advanced bracing classes worldwide. To me, he earns the title by […]
Confessions of an Aging Mariner: a more-or-less true tale of loss and redemption on the low seas
By Moulton Avery (editor’s note: This week, east coast paddling legend Moulton Avery, aka Captain Cold Shock, for his expertise on cold water ailments and what to do about them, reflects on sea kayaking and the joys of aging. Enjoy!) Ah, personal image, that great deceiver. A decade and a half seems like a hell […]
A Tsunami Ranger Ties the Knot
Some people have the impression that Tsunami Rangers are freewheeling pirates who flit from anemone to anemone with reckless abandon. But that image is blatantly false! We take the matrimonial plunge with love and hope just as other people do. A case in point: Last Sunday evening (June 5th, 2011) Tsunami Ranger Don Kiesling tied […]
THE RAVEN’S GIFT, by Jon Turk – A Review
Can you judge a book by its cover? No. You can’t. Gazing at the cover of sea kayaking adventurer Jon Turk’s The Raven’s Gift (2009), I envisioned a tale of an arduous sea trek along the icy coast of Kamchatka. And Jon did kayak there. But that’s not what the book is about. The book […]