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August, 2006
Paddler of the Month: Nathan St. Saviour
By Nick Callanan
NAME: Nathan St. Saviour
AGE: 23
HOMETOWN: I grew up in Baldwin ME but now I mostly live out of my Toyota Tacoma.
FAMILY: I've got an older brother Adam who lives in Washington State and my folks still live in Baldwin.
EDUCATION: I graduated in 2005 from Green Mountain College in Vermont with a degree of Commercial Recreation Management.
FAVORITE KAYAKER(s): I like kayaking with any one that will go and I am always looking for more people that will drop everything to hit a good water level. So give me a call at 776 0578 if your looking for someone to boat with. I am willing to go just about anywhere at any time if there is good water.
FAVORITE NON-KAYAKING ATHLETE GROWING UP: I was into baseball and I liked Ken Griffey, Jr. But if I knew how much fun kayaking was then I would have definitely spent my spring time on the water instead of on the
baseball field.
FAVORITE FIVE RIVERS: The Penobscot for it's great play and diverse rapids, Kennebec for the Madison wave and the upper gorge is ok too, Saco because between Steep Falls and Limington you can paddle different features no mater what the level is, the St Lauwrence because Canada rocks and the waves are monstrous, and the Gauley in West Virginia because it's just so ridiculously fun.
DREAM TRIP: To Africa for a couple months to experience the native culture and paddle the huge waters of the White Nile and the Zambezi Rivers.
WHAT DO YOU WANT TO BE WHEN YOU GROW UP AND WHY?: A skier and kayaker with some sort of job that lets me ski and kayak most of the time.
PROPS TO: Larry Seidl for taking me to lots of great kayaking spots and showing me how to get that big air. Nick Callanan because you got the vision for No
Umbrella and you're making it happen
BOATS OWNED: Prijon Hurricane Dagger G force and a Perception Java
DREAM JOB: I think getting a big trust fund would be much better than any job but since I have no such luck, I would have to say being a pro paddler and skier.
WORST RIVER TRIP EVER: I Really have a hard time having a bad time on the river but if I had to pick a trip it would be a creak called the Meadow in NY. It was actually a fun trip but was my most painful kayaking experience. I ran a triple drop and did the last two drops on my head and then got a beat-down in the hydraulic formed by the third drop. I scraped off part of my cheek, broke my nose and may have fractured my eye socket but the worst part about the injury was that I got an infection from the dirty farm land spring run off. I'm still not sure why I got that infection because I though for sure that the excessive drinking I did that night would have cured all my ailments.
BEST RIVER TRIP EVER: I have had tons of epic experiences on the water since I started kayaking and the one that came into my head was a 24 hour Madison
session I did this past June. It was a window of the perfect level for the Madison wave and I was paddling with Chris Hull and Larry Seidl. There were many
other paddlers that came and paddled a reasonable amount of time but the three of us took it to the extreme with our session. It started with an evening surf that went until well after dark. We slept in the woods beside the water and were surfing again by 7 am. That day we kayaked for more than 12 hours stopping
only for a brief food break. I have boated in excess many times before but this time made me the most tired.
I have paddled 24 miles of whitewater in a day, I have boated for more than a month of consecutive days and I have had a 17 hour day of boating. And none of
them compared to the way I felt after this day. For those of you that have kayaked on a big playboating feature know how much it works you. This must have been the best day I have had boating because I worked myself the hardest on it.
WORDS OF WISDOM FOR OTHER BOATERS: When the water is flowing good, drop what you're doing to hit it because the flow won't wait for you. Most everything you have to do will be right where you left it when you get back from the river.
Email nick [at] noumbrella [dot] com with your questions, comments and concerns.
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