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...