Great Outdoor Blog

You just never know who’s going to walk into Great Outdoor Provision Co. on Land Trust Day. This year, a customer lingered at the Coastal Land Trust’s exhibit and casually mentioned that his family ran a hog operation on their family farm.  We told him that the Coastal Land Trust actually had worked with several hog farmers, protecting streams along their farms through conservation easements. The customer, now interested, started asking about the tax benefits to landowners who donate conservation easements; and I was able to explain them to him. Then Jesica Blake, our Stewardship Director, joined the conversation, and asked him where his land was located—he said it was about 1,000 acres on the Northeast Cape Fear River. We told him that the Northeast Cape Fear River is one of the Coastal Land Trust’s priorities—we already have lots of protected land in this watershed.

The owner then offered to “eat his hat” if Jesica could tell him, right there, where his family land was located. Well, Jesica solved the riddle, but the customer didn’t eat his hat! But we do hope that we’ll be working with a GOPC customer and hog farmer later this year—to protect some critical land along the Northeast Cape Fear.

Camilla Herlevich
NC Coastal Land Trust

This just in from our friend Jon Bowermaster:

We screened our new, big, fun, informative, high-def film – TERRA ANTARCTICA, Rediscovering the Seventh Continent – this past weekend for the very first time, at the Blue Ocean Film Festival in Savannah, Georgia, and came away with some great review. Out of more than 200 films entered, TERRA ANTARCTICA – about our 2008 exploration of the Antarctic Peninsula by sea kayak, foot and small plane – was one of six chosen to compete for the “Best of Festival” prize and was ultimately named the best “Ocean Issues” film.

Given my interest in and commitment to exploring the world’s ocean and bringing back stories from it we couldn’t ask for a better honor than to be regarded as the film “that most effectively raises awareness and increases understanding about environmental and sustainability issues facing the oceans and its inhabitants.” That is exactly our goal. READ MORE

>> WATCH THE TRAILER

KEEP UP WITH JON AT JONBOWERMASTER.COM

Our Raleigh fishing guru, Jim, picked out a few winners for dad. Celebrate Father’s Day with a little love for his favorite outdoor sport!

$25-$85 – Fishing Apparel by Redington, Patagonia, Cloudveil & Columbia

$50-$100 – Chest Packs

$40-$50 – C & F Design Fly Boxes

$45 – Fly Tying Instructions – Contact your local shop

$40-$60 – Fly Assortments – Custom picked by our staff

$69-$99 – Fly Tying Kits

$50-$90 – Brodin Landing Nets

$50 – Wading Staff

$149-$189 – Costa Del Mar C-Mates (with bifocals to help dad see the fly!)

$149-$179 – Redington Red Cross Rod Combos

$169 – Fishpond Coyote Fly Tying Kit/Case

$175 – GOPC Fly Fishing Class

by Bill Mauney

Communication before launching – The group leader needs to make sure everyone thoroughly understands the following:

• The destination and course to steer (check all compasses for deviation and make sure they all agree)
• Rendezvous plans
• Possible alternative routes
• Escape routes
• The ”lead” paddler and his responsibilities
• The “sweep” paddler and his responsibilities
• The “rover” paddler and his responsibilities (if the group is large)
• Who your paddling partner is and your responsibility for him.
• Audible and visual signals for communication among paddlers
• Any prearranged special signals for this trip
• Channel(s) to communicate on for those carrying radios
• Emergency procedures

Tips for maintaining visual and audible contact with each other

• Never paddle directly behind your paddling partner in his blind spot.
• In high winds, paddle in a group echelon formation offset 30 degrees to windward.  (Example: If the group is paddling due North and the wind is blowing out of the East in a Westerly direction, the leader would be the paddler furthest downwind (or to the west), the next paddler would be to his right (East) to the side and rear, followed by all other paddlers in the same relative position.  The sweep would be the furthest to the East and the last paddler)  This allows paddlers to low brace into the waves in order to be able look over their right shoulder and watch or communicate with each other.  The leader and sweep and look straight along the line of paddlers, thus seeing all paddlers at once.

Visual Signals – The American Whitewater Association

• STOP – Hold your paddle over your head horizontally and pump up and down as if doing a press in weightlifting.
• All Clear – Hold the paddle vertical with the blade facing those you are communicating with.  If the preferred course is straight ahead, keep the paddle vertical.  To signal the direction of a preferred course other than straight ahead, lower the paddle from the “All Clear” vertical position by 45 degrees toward the preferred course.  NEVER point the paddle towards a hazard.
• Help – The person in need of emergency assistance raises his paddle vertically with the blade facing flat towards those he is communicating with for maximum visibility. The paddle is waved 45 degrees to one side and then 45 degrees to the other side, continuing to wave back and forth until assistance arrives. This visual signal can be combined with an audible signal of three long blasts on a whistle at regular intervals.
• I’m OK – If you are OK and not hurt, pat yourself on the top of your head repeatedly while extending your elbow outward toward the side.

Audible Signals – Whistle or air horn

• ONE BLAST – Look at me!!! Notice me!!! This can be a warning to other boat traffic or a signal for your paddling partners to look at you.
• TWO BLASTS – Conference, wait up, let’s get together.
• THREE BLASTS – HELP! Emergency assistance is needed from anyone close by. During the day, this audible signal can be combined with the paddle visual signal for help described above. At night, substitute the paddle signal with three flashs from your flashlight at regular intervals.

Radio Communications

Marine VHF Radio

• If you carry a Marine VHF radio, you must follow the Federal Communications Commission’s rules.
• You are not required to obtain an FCC license to operate a standard Marine VHF radio, but you are required to follow the FCC protocol and etiquette for proper radio use.
• If the radio is on board, you must continuously monitor channel 16, the hailing and emergency channel, or alternatively channel 9, the boaters’ calling channel when not transmitting or receiving on other channels.  All kayakers in your group carrying VHF radios should agree on which of those two channels they will monitor.
• Hailing another kayaker or vessel is done on either channel 16 or 9, then quickly switch to another authorized channel to carry on your conversation. The rules and channel options are discussed in detail on the FCC and USCG websites below.
• Distress Call Procedures
  1. Make sure radio is on
  2. Select Channel 16
  3. Press/Hold the transmit button
  4. Clearly say: MAYDAY. MAYDAY. MAYDAY.
  5. Also give:
     • Vessel Name and/or Description
     • Position and/or Location
     • Nature of Emergency
     • Number of People on Board
     • Release transmit button
     • Wait for 10 seconds – If no response Repeat “MAYDAY” Call.

• False Distress Alerts – It is unlawful to intentionally transmit a false distress alert, or to unintentionally transmit a false distress alert without taking steps to cancel that alert.
• For further information:
  • FCC — 1-888 CALL FCC or http://www.fcc.gov/wtb
  • United States Coast Guard – : http://www.navcen.uscg.gov/marcomms

• Family Radio Service – FRS “walkie-talkie” type radios work well among a group of paddlers.  No license is required.  Be sure to carry your radio in a waterproof dry bag designed for electronics, if it is not a submersible unit.
• Radio communication is an ideal way to communicate on the water, but visual and audible signals do not require batteries and are simple to send and to receive.

Read More in our Coastal Paddling Series

Scout Appreciation Week 2009 was a great success.  Thanks to our sponsors MSR, Therm-A-Rest & Osprey we were able to award 16 Summer Camp Scholarships, a total value of $2000.  Last week the winners of our Summer Scout Camp Scholarship received the announcement of their award. The response from parents and their Scouts has been a great gift to those of us here at Great Outdoor Provision Co.  We wanted to share this note from one of the winners.  Thanks to you, our loyal customers, for helping to make adventure available to children across North Carolina.

Mark your calendar for June 27, 2009!

The Great American Backyard Campout provides an opportunity for everyone to relive — or to experience for the first time — how much fun it is to spend a night sleeping under the stars and enjoying the sounds of nature.

Held each June, the Great American Backyard Campout is a national event that encourages individuals, youth, friends and families to camp out together for one night.

Each year the number of campers has steadily grown. The locations and types of campsites vary from family campouts in the backyard to public campsites with 30 or more community members. In previous years, campers have ranged in age from 3 months to 99 years old and have come from all areas of the United States.

Learn more at nwf.org/backyardcampout

After graduating from high school, our oldest son is preparing to visit Peru on a mission trip. Prior to departure he is taking another adventure into the world of the Center for Disease Control and the local health department. It was a bit of a learning curve so we thought it would be helpful to share some of the resources.

While swine flu is dominating the headlines, the CDC has us reading about mosquito-borne diseases, including malaria and yellow fever.  We learned a great deal from the local travel-medicine specialists at PassPort Health. They have several offices in the Triangle and can be found at http://www.passporthealthusa.com/triangle.

Some folks throw caution to the wind and consider the risk just part of the adventure. But failing to receive proper immunizations can cost you your health. The vaccinations for our son were just over $200 but we feel that it is money well spent. Below are a few resources that we found helpful in planning to travel abroad. Feel free to call our shops and ask one of our staff for more information.

• www.cdc.gov/travel
• www.passporthealthusa.com
• World Disease Map (PDF)

Tickets to the Triangle Land Conservancy’s Green Jamboree are still available! Join us June 20, 3-7 p.m. at the Irvin Farm for an exuberant celebration of conservation!

June is Eat Local Month and Green Jamboree will be an Eat Local event, with Lip Service Catering providing a delicious, locally grown picnic dinner. For the adults in the crowd, we’ve got locally brewed libations from Carolina Brewery. For the kids in the crowd — OK, adults too! — we’ll be offering frozen treats from everybody’s local favorites: Maple View Farm ice cream and Locopops! (We’ll be selling the Locopops for 2 bucks a pop as a fundraiser for TLC.)

You can’t eat the music, but longtime local favorites The Bluegrass Experience will sustain you with their diverse menu of good music thoughtfully arranged and well-performed.

Activities throughout the day will engage you in learning more about the natural world—-and teach you a few things about how you can Live Green at Home.

Buy tickets and find out more www.greenjamboree.org

Tickets: Adults: $10 online/$15 the day of the event. Children 12 and under are admitted free.

The Friends of the Mountains to Sea Trail will host a basic Trail Building workshop to be taught by the Appalachian Trail Conservancy.  This class is free of charge and for future FMST Task Force leaders and people that wish to advance their trail building skills.  This class is limited to 45 people on a first come first serve basis across the state of North Carolina.  Sign up will open on June 11th and you can send an email to Jeff Brewer at jdbrewer@bellsouth.net to register for the class.

Friday – July 10, 2009 – Rolling View State Recreation Area – Shelter 13 from 6:00 to 8:45 PM

Saturday – July 11, 2009 – North Regional Library – Highway 98 from 9:30 AM to 4:00 PM. Field work will also take place on Saturday morning on the MST at Falls Lake in Durham County.

The course material covers trail flagging, tread work, erosion control, and how to work safely with trail building tools.

Participants will provide their own dinner on Friday night and their own lunch on Saturday. Great Outdoor Provision Co. will supply breakfast on Saturday morning.  Participants are asked to wear old clothes and prepare to perform trail work on Saturday AM on the MST at Falls Lake.  Participants are responsible for all meals and their own lodging/camping. Campsites are available at Rolling View State Recreation Area for those that are interested. You must RSVP for this event.

Sincerely,

Jeff Brewer

by Gwen (Charlotte Staff)

Today I took the Hobie Mirage Revolution out for a quick spin in the Atlantic off of Hilton Head Isle. Just like standard sit-on-top kayaks, the Revolution is a blast in the surf and super stable but with the added benefit of having pedals. Once I paddled out in deeper water, I deployed the rudder with a simple pull of the down cable and off I went using the Mirage drive pedals. Returning to the beach was an easy event too, I just turned the rudder lever until I did a U-turn back to the beach. A few steering inputs with the rudder and I was lined up for a perfect straight in run. Once I was closer to the beach I kicked one foot forward to tuck the Mirage fins under the kayak, picked up my paddle and surfed the kayak onto the beach.

Next time I’m definitely taking my fishing equipment to see if I can hook a fish big enough that I will have to utter that famous line from Jaws…”You’re gonna need a bigger boat.”