“We allow engineers and scientists to convert nature into dollars and into goodies.  A river is a thing to be exploited, not treasured.  A lake is better as a repository of sewage than a fishery or canoe-way.  We are replacing a natural environment with a synthetic one.”  Justice William O. Doulas

River Rescue Training

What would you do if you turn over in your canoe or kayak and the current sweeps you downriver?  Would you know what to do if someone-else turned over in their canoe or kayak?  What rescue gear do you take along with you on a river outing?  In addition to first aid supplies, do you have a throw rope and know how to use it?  How would you un-pin a canoe or kayak?  What knots would you use?  If someone is hurt, do you know what to do?

Fully enjoying a river outing comes from two things.  First, being connected with the rhythms of the earth creates a sense of wellbeing.  Knowing what to do to rescue either you or someone-else, brings peace of mine.  Besides always wearing your PFD when out on the water, knowing what to do in a rescue situation is very important.

We have a new 3-hr. course you may want to take advantage of whether you paddle a canoe or a kayak.  It is called River Rescue for Beginners.  It is offered four times a year, Spring, Summer, Fall and Winter.  If interested, give us a call (336/260-6465) or send us an e-mail message (admin@hawrivercanoe.com).

Selling Used Boats

Perhaps the three most common questions we get asked are:  is it going to rain, am I going to get my feet wet and do you have any used canoes or kayaks for sale?  The answer to all three questions is YES.  There is always a 50-50 chance that it will rain.  It either will or it won’t.  Getting your feet wet is totally under your control.  Used boats are a fact of life.  We tend not to sell any of our fleet until after the end of the season; however, because we are in the paddling business, we are always coming across used boats.

Without getting into the “new” boat business, we have decided to offer used canoes, kayaks and stand up paddles boards in three ways.

1. Consignment – Bring us a used boat or board that you want to sell.  Let us know how much you want for it and we will put it on display either in our office or outside.  We will add a little to your asking price for our time and trouble.
2. Search Image – Let us know what kind of boat or board you want, and we will keep an eye out for one.  If we find one at a price where we can get a little for our time and effort, we will buy it for your required price.
3. You can either put down a deposit or buy one of our canoes, kayaks or stand up paddle boards now, but not take title to it until mid-November.  Keep in mind that the boat or board will be used by us until then.

“There is magic in the feel of a paddle and the movement of a canoe, a magic compounded of distance, adventure, solitude, and peace.” – Sigurd Olson, The Singing Wilderness, 1956

Radio Show

Recently, Joe Jacob, owner of The Haw River Canoe & Kayak Co., was interviewed by Sharon Hill on WCHL Radio (97.9 FM).  During the interview, he talks about the company, what is offered and why & how people enjoy paddling.  If interested in hearing the interview, click on http://chapelboro.com/topic/play_window.php?audioType=Episode&audiold=6289675.

Lending Library, Lectures & Advice

We have a pretty extensive lending library of books, videos and DVDs you might enjoy.  Topics cover canoeing, whitewater kayaking and sea kayaking.  Other references include trip planning for day and wilderness paddling trips, as well as various books on where to paddle throughout the southeast United States.

In addition to our lending library, we are available to offer free lectures on most topics involving paddling and wilderness adventures.  Let us know of a topic that interests you and we will see if it is of interest to others.  If it is, we will schedule an evening presentation.  If not, we will still provide information and advice in an informal setting.

Fall & Winter Extended Paddling Adventures

We are planning extended canoeing and sea kayaking adventures for the Fall of 2013 and the Winter of 2014 to such places as the Roanoke River Swamps of North Carolina, ACE Basin in South Carolina, Okefeenoke Swamp of Georgia, Horn Island off the coast of Mississippi and the Florida Keys.  The trips will be scheduled over various holidays so that you will be able to have an extended vacation of 7-9 days by only taking four days off from work.  If you would like to know more information about the trips, just give us a call at 336/260-6465 or send us an e-mail message to admin@hawrivercanoe.com.

“My family —- Homo sapiens —- was born of a planet in which every stone were a teacher and a teaching, every breeze a language, every lake a mirror, and every tree a ladder to infinity.  But we have worked so hard to redefine the world, turning all into a commodity, human-made or human-used, that to a large extent we have succeeded.  And now? … Now, all too often, life seems trivial and meaningless, precisely because we have so diligently removed or ignored all the meaning.” – Douglas Wood

Haw River Festival — Saturday, May 4^th, 4:00 – 8:00 p.m.
Saxapahaw, NC

Join the Haw River Assembly to kick off the Saturdays in Saxapahaw Summer Music Series and celebrate the Haw River!

 Free Canoe Rides for kids under 100 lbs. from 4-6 p.m.
River Monitoring from 4-6 p.m.
Silent Auction from 4-7 p.m.
Kayak Raffle at 7:30 p.m.   Deep Chatham at 5 p.m. at the Hay wagon stage

Live Music, Kayak Raffle, River Monitoring, Guided Canoe Rides for Kids 12 and under, environmental info, Farmer’s Market, Haw River T-shirts, Food Trucks and More!!!!

No admission charge, but donations gratefully accepted to support the projects of the Haw River Assembly.  Kayak Raffle tickets can be purchased at www.hawriver.org.

Festival followed by benefit concert at the Haw River Ballroom featuring Orquesta Gardel

Please note:  this information taken from the Haw River Assembly’s website.

 WOW!  SPRING BURST OUT THIS PAST WEEK

Unless you hate wildflowers, you have noticed that the redbuds and dogwoods are popping out all over.  It is like the trees were so tired of winter that they couldn’t help but burst out in flower as soon as it got a little warmer.  Birds, too, seem to be a little early.  Our guests are seeing lots of great blue herons, ospreys, cormorants and bald eagles.

Water levels are good.  Water is warming up.  Air temperatures are still a little cool.  What a wonderful time to be alive and out in nature!

“The nation behaves well if it treats its natural resources as assets which It must turn over to the next generation increased, and not impaired, in value” – President Theodore Roosevelt

YEE- HAW! RIVER PADDLE SLATED FOR MAY 11TH

2013 marks the sixth year of the Yee-Haw! River Paddle.  This year the Haw River Partnership is happy to once again be working with the community of Saxapahaw for a day-long celebration of the Haw River.  The format is undergoing a slight change this year, eliminating the shuttles needed in previous years.  All paddlers will start simultaneously with a shotgun start on Saxapahaw Lake.  The racers will then begin their 5 or 10 mile race, while paddlers participating in the Fun Paddle can paddle upriver and return at their own pace.  The event will conclude in the late afternoon, just in time for participants to enjoy Saturdays at Saxapahaw in downtown Saxapahaw.  The event will have live music, food and vendors and is a great end to a day on the river.  The Yee-Haw! River Paddle is the Partnership’s largest fundraising event of the year.  Full event details and registration are available at www.thehaw.org/yeehaw.

The Haw River Partnership is a cooperative effort on the part of Alamance & Chatham Counties and the Cities of Burlington, Graham, Haw River, Pittsboro and Swepsonville to acquire land along the Haw River for both a paddle trail and a walking trail.  Their efforts to date have done an amazing job in establishing put-ins and take-outs all up and down the river.  If the Partnership has a motto, it is “Conservation through Recreation”.

JOIN THE “5280 CLUB” TO ADOPT A MILE OF HAW RIVER TRAIL

Spring is the time of year when we all begin venturing outdoors to hit the trails.  Its is also the time of year when the Haw River Trail Partnership makes its annual fundraising push to secure the future of those trails.  With tightening budgets and dwindling grant programs, finding funds to acquire and build trails is an increasingly difficult job.  So this year the Partnership is trying a new approach.  Rather than relying on large donors and shrinking grant programs, it is asking for support from the people who use and enjoy our trails, the public.

The new fundraising initiative is called the “5280 Club”, so named because the Partnership is asking community members to sponsor 5280 feet, or one mile, of Haw River Trail.  By joining the 5280 Club for $100 you will be sponsoring 5280 feet of Haw River Trail for one year.  Thanks to the support already received from Haw River Trail Partnership member governments, overhead costs are covered. That means 100% of your support will go directly to acquiring and building new sections of the Haw River Trail.  To acknowledge your support, a plaque will be placed at the access leading to the mile of Haw River Trail you choose.  In addition, the Partnership is offering one FREE 2013 Yee-Haw River Paddle registration for each mile sponsored.  Visit www.thehaw.org to choose your mile and make payment, or send in a check payable to “Haw River Trail” to 3916 R.D. Coleman Road, Burlington, NC 27215.  If you are mailing your payment, in the memo line, please indicate which mile of the Haw River Trail you would like to sponsor. Thank you for supporting the Haw River Trail, and please let us know if you have any questions.

Please note:  this blog is a modification of the Spring edition of the “Mouth of the Haw”, the newsletter of the Haw River Trail Partnership

“To see the world in a grain of sand, and heaven in a wildflower, to hold infinity in the palm of your hand, eternity in an hour” – William Blake

The Health of our Nation’s Waterways

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency says more than half of rivers and streams in the United States are in such unhealthy shape they cannot adequately support aquatic life.  EPA sampling found more than 55 percent of waterways tested were in poor condition, compared to just 21 percent in good health. The most widespread cause was pollution fueled by human activity, with high levels of phosphorus — a component of fertilizers, pesticides and detergents — found in 40 percent of rivers and streams.

There are a couple of tributaries in the Haw River Watershed that are impaired according to EPA standards.  That is why the State of North Carolina passed the Jordan Lake rules; i.e., Jordan Lake was receiving too much nutrients from upriver.  The next time you think about adding fertilizer to your lawn or purchasing laundry detergent with added phosphorus, please think twice.  There are other creatures that share this planet with us that need our good stewardship.

By the way, the Clean Water Act was passed over 40 years ago.  It aimed at making all of our waterways drinkable, swimmable and fishable.  Why hasn’t that happened?  In the name of jobs and the economy, we allow development to pass on the price of pollution clean-up to current and future generations to pay while a few benefit financially now.

River Clean-up Results

We conduct three river clean-ups each year where we provide canoes for free to volunteers willing to pick up trash out of the river and along the river banks.  The first clean-up of the year is always held in conjunction with the Haw River Assembly’s Clean-Up-A-Thon.  Joining with our team of 15 volunteers picking up 20 bags of trash and 3 tires upriver of Saxapahaw, was a total of 17 other teams with 303 volunteers that picked up 720 bags of trash, 167 tires and lots of big and weird junk.  Some crazy stuff retrieved from the river included a Jeep panel, Easy Bake oven, purple bowling ball, front end of truck, mailbox door and leopard skin underwear!

By the way, most of those trash bags contained plastic bottles, Styrofoam chunks and cans.  It is pretty amazing when you think of all the energy and raw materials that are wasted by our “throw-away society”.