Leif and Natalie

I don't really know why, but it has started to piss me off when people refer to Skookumchuck as "Skooks". I have noticed this trend elsewhere in kayaking. The Upper Five is "Uppers," Pandora's Box is "Pandora's" (well, I guess that's not too bad), Bailey Creek is "Bailey's". I first heard John Rathwell call it "Skooks" as he was planning to go there after his visit to the Slave river. At the time I put it down to his inept usage of the English language. John frequently misuses apostrophes, so I figured his bizarre pluralization was a personal quirk. I figured they might even be related, since leaving out an apostrophe sometimes pluralizes the word that you left it out of. However, in the years since I have heard this same label over and over. This ends today. Never again shall anyone refer to this wave as "Skooks". I don't know how I will enforce that, but that was your warning. Watch it, wor

The Big South is truly a river that needs no introduction, so I won't give it one. There is a slideshow of all the photos at the end of the article. Here are a few of my favorites. Photo by Austin Woody Big South 2012 Evan starting it up with starter fluid. Big South 2012 Steezing it out a little. Photo by Austin Woody. Big South 2012 Photo by Evan Stafford. Big South 2012 Photo by Evan Stafford. Big South 2012 Evan keeping it between the lines. Big South 2012 Most of the crew cruises through Bonk. Photo by Austin Woody. Big South 2012 Evan makes it look like there's a lot of water in Meltdown. Big South 2012 Austin is snapping his paddle right at this very instant. Big South 2012 Snapped paddles don't give powerful boofs. Big South 2012 Evan with some wiggle room. Big South 2012 A leisurely back paddle after a successful run. Big South 2012 Me getting into some trouble. Big South 2012 Getting out of trouble. Photo by Evan Stafford. Big South