News & Musings

“¿Estás bien? Are you okay?” the kayaker asked me as I entered the eddy clinging to the rock walls. I realized that my face was set in a grimace. “Yeah, I’m fine. It’s just my first time in a kayak on this river.” “I could tell. Your paddling is fine, but your face gives you away. You should relax, and smile.” With that he paddled off, and I was left to ponder what I knew to be true. I had arrived the day before in San Rafael (part of the province of Mendoza, Argentina), and had immediately set out to see the Atuel River in a ducky—being a new kayaker with an inconsistent roll, I like to know what I am getting into before committing to a hard-shell. The commercial section of the Atuel is a beautiful six-mile stretch of…

I have been settling into winter with my middle school students.  As winter takes a firm hand on the weather, I still desire to paddle even in the cold. I crave my kayaking community. At the same time my students are working on some poetry for a contest on “Love What’s Real: The Gender Revolution.” Kayaking is real for me. For the contest, they are learning about Emma Watson’s He for She campaign presented at the United Nations, and Malala Yousafzai’s You Me We message in her speech after winning the Nobel Peace Prize. Malala was shot by the Taliban for trying to go to school. Emma and Malala’s wise words encouraged me to reflect on how we support each other in paddle sports and what we stand for as a larger paddling community. For me, I have been competing,…

The 30th annual Santa Cruz Paddlefest officially kicks off Friday with surfing heats for kayaks and stand up paddleboards at Cowell Beach and Steamer Lane. As far as conditions are concerned, the weekend will be perfect for spectators and surfers alike… Conditions are so good that contestants aren’t waiting until the weekend to get in the water. Many have put in hours of practice leading up to the event and several received a few greatly appreciated tips at the two new women’s clinics affiliated with the contest… “We’ve seen that giving women the opportunity to paddle alongside other women in a non-competitive environment helps them improve faster. There’s no ego or intimidation, so they actually charge harder…” Read the full article in the Santa Cruz Sentinel by Haven Livingston here: Divisions Multiply at Santa Cruz Paddlefest

When Melissa suggested I write a post on learning to kayak surf and my decision to enter Santa Cruz Paddlefest, I wanted to wait until after the competition, “What if I don’t do that well?” Then, I proceeded to feel like a jerk because life is all about the journey, right?  So here it is, my journey from barely competent and hardly confident in the surf to competing in Santa Cruz Paddlefest 2016. Fake It Till You Make It I would like to take this opportunity to make a confession.  When I decided to pursue my American Canoe Association (ACA) Level 4 Open Water Coastal Kayaking Instructor Certification, I could count on one hand the number of times I had kayaked in surf.  For those unfamiliar with the ACA instructor criteria for sea kayaking, a Level 4 instructor candidate must demonstrate…

I was stoked. Strong. Confident. Happy. I finally felt recovered from a very difficult period- tragic accidents which had taken a few close friends from this world, injury and heartbreak had left an empty space in my life. But now things were again on the upswing. I had a lovely husband, had rehabbed my shoulder, practiced yoga and kayaked daily and owned a successful photography business. Feeling on my game and like myself again, I returned to Chile to paddle, visit friends and show Hubs around a place on this Earth that I adored. Once again I had life by the short and curlies. Then it happened. On the third lap down the Rio Palguin that day, I landed funky off a 20-footer and felt an electric shock surge through my shoulder, one that I unfortunately had an intimate relationship…

Here you will find a simple guide to balancing your macronutrients so you can feel optimal and empowered in all your water sports! A little insight on optimal nutrition… This is not a guide toting how supplementation, such as ATP Ignite (cellular energy boost), boosts your athletic performance. This is a guide asking you ladies to get back to whole foods eating – and a lot of it! When I see women in my office they are often times cramming so much into every day that they lack the time to be present with their eating. Given a 24-hour dietary recall, where patients walk through breakfast, lunch and dinner, along with snacks from the day prior, more often than not, I get replies of a skipped breakfast here, a bag of almonds for lunch there and …oh wait, water!? We’re…

In November 2015, California Women’s Watersport Collective hosted a Women’s 2-Day Surf Kayak Clinic in Marin County, CA. The combination of an all-star line-up of instructors, ideal conditions and a group of students that charged hard from dawn til dusk made for one outstanding weekend! Enjoy our video from the event: watch here   All images and words copyright California Women’s Watersport Collective 2015  

In an article for Misadventures online magazine, whitewater and sea kayaker, Laura Zulliger, discusses how one all-female kayaking collective in California is propelling women’s leadership both on and off the water. “If you can inspire women to be confident on the water, that will translate into other areas of their lives. In turn, if they feel good about something that they’re doing, they’ll want to pass that on to someone else”… Read the full article by Laura Zulliger here: Women on Water – Misadventures Magazine  

An argument for boating with less experienced boaters “If you want to do any sport better you usually want to do it with someone who is better than you, right? They push you, show you a better way to deal with a crux move, make you a better whatever you are trying to be. But what if it turns out that boating with people less skilled than you has the potential to make you a better boater as well?”… Read the full article by Hilde Schweitzer here: Taking the Lead – Jackson Kayak Author Hilde Schweitzer lives in Coloma, California and has over 3 decades of guiding people in rafts, paddle boats, and kayaks on the Grand Canyon.   She currently working on hydro relicensing representing private boater interests on de-watered reaches.

On November 7-8, 2015, California Women’s Watersport Collective hosted a Women’s 2-Day Surf Kayak & SUP Clinic in Marin County, California. The combination of an all-star line-up of instructors, ideal conditions, good weather and a group of students that charged hard from dawn til dusk made for one outstanding weekend! Devon Barker-Hicks, Gina Morley, Teresa “Tree” Rogerson and Kelly Marie Henry, the instructors for the event, shared their years of knowledge, experience and expertise with eight eager women of varying paddling experience for two full days of instruction and coaching out on the waves. Student, Sophia Sotelo, perfectly articulated what every woman was feeling at the event, “We all have this same goal- just to have fun with other women, in a fantastic venue, doing something that’s our passion. What’s not to love? It’s supportive, friendly…there’s no ego going on…

Whitewater kayaking is no easy thing. The very nature of the sport is defined by its challenges: fast-moving current, low-oxygen environment, rocks and trees abounding, all with one’s legs strapped into a big piece of plastic. It is enough to make the sport feel nigh on inaccessible to the air-loving, doubt-infused mortals of the world. I have since learned, however, that while all of this may be true of whitewater kayaking, it is not the only truth. To quote the incomparable masteress of the sport Melissa DeMarie: “If kayaking were easy, we wouldn’t feel like such badasses for doing it.” And that is correct. One may not feel like a badass, exactly, swimming in a no-name rapid on C to G (the Class II section of the South Fork American River), but to even get to the point where one…

Haven Livingston, a biologist, paddler and freelance writer for the “Adventure Sports Journal”, recently interviewed Melissa DeMarie, Program Director and Co-Founder of California Women’s Watersport Collective, about the origins and future of the organization. Click the link below to read the article in the August/September edition: Women Who Rock the Boat – Adventure Sports Journal