After 20 years of kayaking, Steve and I were looking for something to do with our paddling skills, something that might have meaning and value beyond just the kayaking itself. Our kayaks had always been tools that allowed us to access places we couldn’t have gotten to otherwise but two decades in, we were asking ourselves what it was we wanted to do once we got to these isolated spots. The Ikkatsu Project has been an ongoing answer to that question and our development as citizen scientists and filmmakers has given us a whole new perspective on kayaking and why we do what we do.

We’ve been asked to be keynote presenters at Next Year’s Pacific Paddling Symposium on Vancouver Island, May 30-June 1, and are delighted to have the opportunity. It’s the second year of this kayak gathering and it promises to be an eclectic collection of some of the most skilled and informed paddlers on the go anywhere. To be able to give an account of where we’ve gone and what we’ve discovered as the Ikkatsu Project has evolved is always a pleasure; to be able to do so for fellow kayakers and to give examples of how paddlers can use their skills to assist in the efforts to bring about positive environmental change is even more rewarding.

More on this as the event gets closer. (If you’re a paddler looking to get a bump on your skill set and you’d like to get out on the water in an amazing and beautiful part of the west coast, you should reserve your spot as soon as you can. Hope to see you there.)