Cowichan River Trip - By Sea Kayak

Father (age 77) and son (age 49) take on the Cowichan River on Vancouver Island, BC. After having explored the lower half of the river by float tube with his sister Nancy the day before, Mike determines 'how hard can it be' and decides with his dad, Doug, to kayak the upper part of the river putting in just below Skutz falls. The thermo-formed plastic boats by Delta Kayaks were put through their paces resulting in a few bangs, dents and cracks. At 14.5 ft, these boats are too long for the river and too short for the ocean - PERFECT! We had a wonderful trip together although we ended up having to call the trip short due to taking on water through the cracks. Out of cell phone range, we relied on Doug's Ham Radio to save the day and relay a message for an alternate pickup site. Lots of drama resulted when the message was relayed with the word 'distress' included! Nothing like causing a bit of panic in the family!
The video is LONG so if you want to skip to the action highlight, go to the 8:00 mark...

[@BradMajorsMusic]

LOL @ 8:14 mark ... glad it all worked out but the whole thing way VERY funny to watch . Keep on keepin on

[@bowrudder899]

I'm glad you guys survived! You get the Boy Scout swimming merit badge for that one. ;-)

[@TheAncientBiker]

Well I'm glad you both survived although somewhat surprised. Ever thought of some training, buying a kayaking crash helmet and a spray deck?

[@BelevichAB]

We also go sea kayaking on mountain rivers. There are some dangers - due to the worst handling, but in general I consider it safe. We don't walk on thresholds. which have a category. What do you think about security?

[@wadepatton2433]

Thanks for the video, good summation, and shortcut to the action.
I was curious about sea kayak action on a river. I paddle tamer rivers (living far inland) but am going to make a sea kayak to have something much faster than my SOT. Then I'll decide how much fishing I want to do or what compromises to make between stable/seaworthy to continue to chase fishes and such.
The whole West Greenland thing has me captivated, I'll be learning to roll, but I don't care to roll where I would need a helmet-as in that river.
Yay, amateur radio gets mentioned. I'm a ham too. de W1ADE

[@carewser]

That must have been a bit scary when the kayak tipped over

[@JeanMarcAguilar]

Cela me fait mal au cœur pour les kayaks

[@escapewithjay]

what were your kayaks made of? fiberglass?

[@Vylkeer]

escape with jay I’m pretty sure those were both Deltas. I have a 12.10 and they’re all made of ABS. That’s why I would never use it in whitewaters. Not only because they’re meant for sea / flat water but also because they’re not made of polyethylene which is kind of a must for whitewater kayaking. I can understand someone using a Tsunami 125 or a Stratos 12.5 for whitewater use but not those.

[@BelevichAB]

@@Vylkeer I use Zephir 155 and Alhemy 14 for plain white water. It's fun.

[@mikedriscoll5689]

Looked like quite the challenging run! Did both kayaks develop leaks and were they repairable?

[@chappie7123]

You should probably buy helmets

[@bobmarshall7565]

One more adventure video ruined by awful music ! Thumb down !