Winter Paddle at Cosumnes River Preserve.

After what feels like weeks of being cooped up in the house and shop I finally got some time to get out and explore one of my favorite local paddling spots. I used this trip as an excuse to test out the North Shore Atlantic that we just got in. Ron and I got to the Preserve at around 1:00PM and got on the water shortly after.

 Although it was cool outside the wind was flat calm and the paddling conditions were perfect.

Strait away from the launch we headed right under Franklin Blvd bridge. This leads you into some very skinny waters refereed to by kayakers as "The Back Door".  It's called that because it's a sneaky back way to get into Lost Slough without having to paddle miles to get there. Thats not to say that we didn't earn our paddle on this day. I had no idea what the tides were, and on this day nether of us cared because it was all about the adventure. Adventure it was. It was the lowest tides I have ever seen going through this area. Here is a pic of Ron hopping out of his kayak at the first portage. 

We stopped for a minute to scout out the area and enjoy the dense riparian forest. It was alive with the sounds of birds and critters all around. 

This is where we had to go next. 

Dispite what it looks like, the portage is all sandstone rock and not mud. 

 Here is a closer look at what we were about to paddle through.

After a few minutes we were back in our kayaks and moving on through tight skinny waters. The nice this is that enough kayakers use this passage every year that the black berries and low hanging branches are not really an issue.

Here I am seal launching into the next pool. 

 It wasn't to far until we got to the next low spot. 90% of the times I have been through here I have been able to just paddle right over this low section, but due to the super low tides that day we had to portage. Thankfully the ground is hard and flat which makes for and easy carry.

 Before to long at all Ron and I were back on the water. The slough opens up little by little as it winds through the surrounding wetlands. If you look real hard from I-5 you can actually see the slough we are paddling on. It goes right under the freeway.

An old boat that has been abandon for as long as I can remember. 

 After you go for about a 1/4 mile or so you go under I-5 and the slough continues to get bigger. You see signs of farming, and even the footings of an old bridge. After about 1/2 mile or so you get to a break in the dike. This is a great time to have a chart if you are unfamiliar with the area. You can go many directions here and its all beautiful paddling, but you want to make sure you know how to get back. There are a couple of loops you can make to get back to the preserve, but on this day we decided to keep right and explore a couple of back waters.

Here is the view from my cockpit as we paddled around Lost Slough. 

The water was mirror flat. 

After an hour or so of exploring we decided to head back to the launch and go grab lunch. The water had continued to ebb the whole time we paddled which made for an Epic Portage back to the Cosumnes.

The North Shore Atlantic is a dream to paddle. It's got the best cockpit fit out of any poly sea kayak I have been in. 

 Instead of hopping in and out of my kayak I decided to wade my kayak in the shallow water. Thank God for Kokatat Drysuits. This was my favorite parts of the day.

Full speed ahead. This is one of the areas we had to walk our boats through. Looks worse in the picture than I remember. 

Some very cool rock formations. 

I'm sure thankful for a friend like Ron, who is always up to join me on a paddling mission. 

I think Ron was happy to see the end of that Portage.  

 At the end of the portage, we headed back up to Franklin Blvd, seen above. I noticed a couple of old cars that had been exposed by the low tide. I have been here 100 times and I have never noticed these. It's always cool to see what kind of stuff is lurking under the delta waters.

 As we headed back to the ramp we spotted a bunch of birds up to the Cosumnes River so we decided to paddle a little bit longer in hopes to see some more wild life. I'm so glad we did. As we parked our kayaks in the tules we spotted a river otter who was diving and picking up clams. He just swam up river and we fallowed a few hundred feet back. It was a really cool site.

 A short while after this we decided to call it a day and head for lunch. We had packed a lot into a 2 and a half hour paddle. Before we left the preserve Ron wanted to show me this cool boardwalk that he goes to all the time to watch the Sand Hill Cranes fly in. It was so beautiful. You walk along the wetlands surrounded by thousands of birds of all different types. Huge flocks of cranes and geese flying over in formation. I'm so thankful to have a resource like the Cosumnes River Preserve so close to home for paddling and hiking.

 All and all we had a stellar day. It's hard to believe I was almost going to blow off going paddling to sit around the house and nap. It just goes to show that when you choose to be active and explore God's creation, there is always a reward. I hope this will encourage you to get out and explore. Here is California we are so spoiled to have great weather year around and we should take advantage of it. If you don't have a drysuit or a wetsuit for cooler days, buy one! You will never regret that decision. The very first time you have a day like this you will feel like it paid for itself.

Last stop Hunan House for all you can eat Mongolian BBQ! 

Eddyline Raven Review

The Eddyline Raven is the latest sea kayak design from the renowned boat builder from Burlington, Washington. (www.eddyline.com)

A couple of months ago, I got a call from the Headwaters Shop in Lodi, CA,(www.headwaterskayak.com) asking if I'd be interested in testing the latest Sea kayak from Eddyline, the Raven. The objective was to put the boat through its paces and give my honest feedback. Of course I jumped on the opportunity.  

"Sweet", I thought to myself, as I loaded the boat onto my car. I noticed right away, that it is very comfortable for a solo carry, thanks to Eddyline’s Carbonlite material. The kayak is extremely tough, yet light enough to handle by myself.

The build quality of the boat is top notch, but that is no surprise since Eddyline has been building first class kayaks for decades. Even though I do prefer function to looks, I had to admit that the Eddyline Raven is a very good looking boat, my wife called it outright 'sexy'. I hope she meant me, but I think she referred to the kayak.

  

 The cockpit fit was perfect for my 6ft1, 190 lbs frame without any extra outfitting. The generous keyhole was easy to get in and out of without hitting my shins. The cockpit combing appeared a little flimsy to me however after probably 100+ self reentries in various conditions, balancing exercise, sitting on the back deck etc. it was never an issue.

The seat was very comfortable, with multiple adjustment options to accommodate a variety of paddlers. I liked the placement of the thigh braces, and the back band was excellent, giving good lower back support and never got in the way during self-reentries. Legroom was great, plenty of space. I liked Seadog Foot braces, large enough to be comfortable and very easy to adjust while sitting in the kayak.

I couldn't wait to get the boat in the water.

After about 25 days of paddling in various conditions from calm to rough water, flat to 30 knot winds, paddling in tide races, strong currents, reflective waves, wind waves up to 3 feet, rock gardens and open water here's my impression of the boat:

The boat is extremely well balanced, very responsive and was a pure joy to paddle. I love the precision with which the boat can be maneuvered. It carves beautifully, both on flat water or on a wave. It very fast and accelerates well making It was easy to catch waves. The Raven tracks very well, AND turns very well. This kayak loves the rough stuff.

As an ACA Coastal Kayak Instructor I do focus a lot on paddling technique, and I was very impressed how easy even more complex technical moves could be accomplished. The Raven felt very intuitive, and lots of times I just had to look where I wanted to go, and it went there.

While the initial stability might feel a little tender for a novice, the secondary was excellent. Putting the boat on edge was a blast, very stable and reassuring. It is very responsive to hip/ knee movement, and was easy to turn even in fast currents and confused tide races. Aaaah, and it LOVES to surf. It was at times a little squirrely on take off, however even if you blew your angle a bit it would still come around. Its effortless to catch waves and just pure fun to surf. A very playful touring boat.

On a long bay paddle I noticed good tracking, good speed and very comfortable cockpit ergonomics. I could sit longer in this boat than in other ones without experiencing any discomfort.

The Raven paddled very well in any conditions encountered. It is certainly at home in bigger water. During the test period I paddled in winds up to 30 knots. With proper technique it was very predictable and easy to control, even on local lakes with strong winds but small waves. It was easy to hold a course abeam to the wind, and I never felt the need to drop the skeg. The Raven is simply the most balanced sea kayak I have ever paddled in windy conditions.

The little hatch on the front deck is very handy. I also liked the multiple recessed deck fittings. They allowed an easy customized outfitting of deck lines and bungees. A built in compass recess would have been nice (oh well I'm just used to my Brit boats..). Spare paddles can be carried forwards or aft, the day hatch was a little hard to close, but with a squirt of 303 it worked well. Front and back hatch had between a cup to a quart of water in it, after intensive rolling and recovery sessions. The other hatches were dry.

The Raven rolls effortless, and the low back deck makes climbing onboard easy. Great for self reentry techniques like the cowboy scramble, and reentry and roll, however I repeatedly managed to open the foot brace lever accidently, and lost contact with the foot braces. (good refinement exercise for perfecting your roll, not so good in a combat situation), a piece of duct tape to secure the lever took care of the problem.

Last but not least, storage space is pretty good for such a sporty boat. I'd say there's enough storage for trips up to one week. I do like the fairly spacious day hatch. I paddled the Raven with around 30lbs load and did not notice much change in performance vs. empty.

All in all the Eddyline Raven is a playful, highly responsive touring boat that gets from A to B fast and if you are into playing and exploring the coastline along the way, even better. If you like wind, waves, rough water and conditions too, you might as well stop looking, because the Raven is one sea kayak that does it all.

Thomas Schuebel

ACA Coastal Kayak Instructor

www.headwaterskayak.comwww.eddyline.comwww.eddyline.com