JORDAN LAKE, NC – Educational Event

On the eve of Memorial Day weekend, when the lake is likely to be pack full of visitors, non-profit groups hosted a media event at Jordan Lake. The groups spoke to their concerns of what happens to the lake if rules that have already been delayed that are intended to improve the water quality of the impaired waterway, are never implemented.  Speakers at the event were available for interview by several TV stations after the event.

The location provided a great view of the lake.  The event was coordinated by the NC Sierra Club, the Haw River Assembly, Environment North Carolina, and WakeUP Wake County.  

 Background information on the Jordan Lake Rules:

Jordan Lake is the drinking water resource for 300,000 North Carolinians.  Rapid population growth, expanding sprawl, and agricultural pollution have lead to dangerous levels of nitrogen and phosphorus pollution in the lake.  The Environmental Management Commission first adopted rules to clean up Jordan Lake in 2008.  In 2009, the legislature passed compromise legislation to reduce upstream pollution and clean up the lake. Upstream developers and municipalities continue to fight these rules while other communities complied in good faith.  The North Carolina Senate recently voted to eliminate the rules.  The House is now considering doing the same.

Note:  The above information was taken from a press release by Dustin Chicurel-Bayard, Communications Director for the North Carolina Sierra Club.

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.

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.

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!

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

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”.

“Some will tell you that creation ended when God created the earth in six days.  Those who tell you that have lost their connection to Nature where the life force shows itself every hour of every day and every season of every year” – Anonymous

American Spending on Outdoor Recreation Is a Major Driver to State Economies
Outdoor Industry Association Releases Economic Data for All 50 States

According to a press release by the Outdoor Industry Association® (OIA) economic impact of outdoor recreation demonstrates that outdoor recreation is an important driver of state economies, supporting jobs, businesses and communities. “Americans spend almost twice as much on outdoor recreation as they spend on pharmaceuticals each year, and outdoor recreation supports more than twice as many jobs as the oil and gas industry.”

Figures compiled for each of the 50 states indicate that with nearly 140 million Americans participating in outdoor activities each year, outdoor recreation is a larger and more critical sector of the American economy than most people realize.  “The outdoor industry can continue to generate jobs and be an economic driver in the United States if parks, waters and trails are managed as a system designed to sustain these economic dividends for America.”

–And you just thought that paddling was a way to relax and distress.  Little did you know that in your attempt to be a healthier person, you were actually contributing to a healthier economy?  If you would like to know more about OIA’s study, you can go to www.outdoorindustry.org/recreationeconomy.

A New Look to Our Office

It is amazing how a little paint (Is 6 gallons a little?) and a lot of imagination can turn a poorly lit office into a bright, fun place to be.  Thanks to Jake, Corey, Lawrence, Cassie and Katie, our office walls have been transformed into an outdoor scene complete with a running river, forest, mammals, fish, turtles and birds.  The ceiling is about to be transformed into the golden colors of the sun, not too unlike part of our logo.  If you are in the neighborhood, come take a look.  Who knows, if we aren’t finished, me just might put a paint brush in your hand and see what you come up with.

“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 in “Paddle Whispers”

Last weekend, we had over 20 folks come out on our first of three river clean ups for the year.  All in all, they collected over 20 large trash bags full of mostly plastic bottles and Styrofoam, 3 tires and a lawn chair.  I am sorry to say that in the brief 2-hours that they worked, they hardly touched on all the trash that can be found intermingled within riverbank vegetation.  They got the easy stuff and we are grateful because every little bit makes a difference.  If someone had gotten that six pack ring in the past, it would have made a big difference to this turtle.  

If you happen to be listening to WCHL radio (97.9 FM or 1360 AM) either this Saturday or Sunday at either 10:30 a.m. and 6:30 p.m. both days, you will hear us talk about The Haw River Canoe & Kayak Co.  If you do, please let us know what you think.

“Man is whole when he is in tune with the winds, the stars, and the hills . . . Being in tune with the universe is the entire secret.” – Supreme Court Justin, William O. Douglas

I intended for all of our blogs to be about nature, paddling, conservation, upcoming events and the Haw River, but I am diverging this time to brag about two people who work here at The Haw River Canoe & Kayak Co.; Jake Matheny and Lawrence Petersen.

Late in the day last Sunday, we received a call from a private paddler whose friend pinned a kayak in the Haw River and was calling for help.  She described where the incident had taken place and wanted to know where they might walk out.  They tried to free the kayak, but it was getting late, and they were not sure how far downriver their planned take-out was.  After her brief description of the area, we were able to tell her how far downriver she could go ashore and begin walking to the nearest residence and eventually the take-out.  We also described how her friend could safely ride on the back of her kayak so that the two of them could reach land.  Leaving the pinned kayak, the two women were able to make it to where we told them they would be able to walk out.  It did not take long to find someone at home to help them get to their car.

Lawrence was able to stay in communication with the two women, so he was aware that they were safe and the kayak was left behind.  After we closed up shop for the day, both he and Jake went to retrieve the kayak.  Jake threw a kayak and rescue gear into the back of his pickup truck and Lawrence led him the 9 miles are so to where Jake could gain access to the river.  Jake paddled upriver, got the kayak un-pinned just before dark and brought the kayak to our office.  The women will pick it up this coming weekend.

The reason I am writing about this is because I am so proud of who Lawrence and Jake are.  They didn’t have to go rescue the kayak.  They could have left that problem for the two women to solve.  The fact is they put themselves out because it was the right thing to do, not because somehow they would benefit.  If they were my sons, I could not be prouder.

“For me, and for thousands with similar inclinations, the most important passion of life is the overpowering desire to escape periodically from the clutches of a mechanistic civilization.  To us the enjoyment of solitude, complete independence, and the beauty of undefiled panoramas is absolutely essential to happiness.”

Where does a river begin?  My friend, Anne Cassebaum, in her book about the Haw River entitled Down Along the Haw:  The History of a North Carolina River wrote “in rain, falling rain.  A river is rain, cycled from earthly evaporation that started long ago from volcanic vapors and icy comets and asteroids melting in our atmosphere.”  Wow, imagine that.  What a gift from the Universe the Haw River is and we take it so for granted.

Anne, an Assistant Professor Emeritus at Elon University, spent many years hiking and paddling the 110 miles of the Haw River from its origin in two springs northwest of Greensboro, NC all the way to its confluence with the Deep River in Chatham County, NC.  She eventually condensed the 700 page manuscript describing her experiences to complete the 200+ page reference cited above.  For those of us who know the Haw River and some of the characters she met along her path, Anne’s book is a delight to read.  We highly recommend it.