A chat with… Casle Portner

Interview:
Peter Tranter

Photos:
Casle Portner

A chat with… Casle Portner

Give a big welcome to Casle Portner, the founder and co-admin of the world’s largest Facebook paddling group, ‘The Church of the Double-Bladed Paddle’. We ask Casle about her paddling journey and where the idea came from to bring together over 35,000 paddlers across the rivers, lakes and oceans of the planet. Take it away Casle…

Before we start, let our readers know a little about yourself, family, and background, etc.
I’m an Oregonian. The daughter and granddaughter of teachers, I’ve lived all but two years of my life in Oregon. My dad taught at a university in Tennessee for two years when I was a kid, and I have vivid memories of it and want to return.

I’ve been married for almost 44 years and have two sons and one grandson. I live in the Cascade foothills and have for 30 years. I’m dreaming of moving closer to the coast though. There are not a lot of good paddling waters close enough to me. 

Tell us about the start of your paddling journey.
I found I didn’t like canoeing with my husband much, and he must have agreed because he bought me a kayak 20 years ago next month. Then I had that first year of kayak crazy. Does everyone have that? I got laid off from a local library in June of that year and paddled every day in July. My first boat was a short wide Old Town Solitude, which was perfect for me. I didn’t have money or access to lessons, so this librarian got books and videos. Greg Barton, on VHS, taught me how to get into my kayak. I learned to manoeuvre my boat by picking up trash around the side of the lake. I paddled that short boat as hard and fast as I could for five years and got stronger in mind, body and spirit. Paddling changed everything about me. 

What motivated you to start paddling?
The first time I took my birthday kayak out on the water, I thought, “Oh! This is what I was meant to do.” It was a eureka moment for me. I’d been pretty sedentary, reading my weekends away. Paddling turned me into an explorer and had me going off by myself down rivers, driving around the NW checking out new paddling spots and even driving halfway across the country by myself to paddle a race. I wouldn’t have dreamed of doing those things before I had a paddle in my hand. Now paddle travel is all I dream of.   

Where’s your local paddling spot?
My tiny local reservoir, Silverton Reservoir, is the birthplace of the Church of the Double-Bladed Paddle, and I’ve paddled many miles there. The Willamette is my favourite local playground, and I’ve paddled almost the length of it over and over. 

Do you only kayak recreationally, or do you participate in competitive paddling?
I’ve only done a little bit of racing. I was invited to The South Dakota Kayak Challenge twice and paddled a few small local races. I do have a need for speed, so when I’m paddling recreationally, I’m racing myself if there’s no one else around. I very rarely float. If I see someone ahead of me on a river, I will catch up to them. Almost always. So I’m competitive that way, but there are limited racing opportunities on the west coast.

What gave you the idea to start the world’s largest FaceBook paddling group, and what was the initial purpose?
I met a few paddlers online in other groups, but I wanted to meet more paddlers from all over the world and see what they were up to. It’s worked a treat. I’m not sure what made Church grow the way it has. We’ve always been inclusive and worked hard on a culture of kindness, which seems rare on social media. There are so many people who skulk around the internet, finding fault with others. We learned to recognize them very quickly and excommunicate them. We embrace the whole judge not, lest ye be judged thing. Sometimes people don’t understand and judge us harshly, but they don’t have to. 

How time-consuming is running the FB group, and what help do you get from other paddlers?
Don’t tell anyone, but it’s very little work these days. It’s sort of self-policing. When folks get unruly, the rest of the congregation either talks them down or lets one of the admins know, and we’re quick to deal with the problem. Also, I’ve found I’m so fortunate in the co-admins of the group. They have so much that I’m lacking because I’m just a poser; I have no expertise, limited experience, I’ve never travelled, have hardly paddled whitewater, and can’t surf and don’t have the resources to hoard boats like some people. I am just passionate about paddling; I like to go fast, and I started a paddling group at the perfect time. The perfection of that time would include meeting Cat, who was perfectly social media savvy. She was clear that the group should not be a cult of personality. Sometimes that line is blurred now, and I wish she were here to re-ink it.  

Is Church of the Double-Bladed Paddle contained to FB? Are you planning to expand on other social media sites or the web, and if not, why not?
Lawrence (Champ) Carter started on Instagram. There are some stunning images on there; however, I’m not familiar enough with the platform to be of much help with that. I wouldn’t mind if there were a better social media site for Church, as I have mixed feelings about Facebook. It has allowed me to create the group and meet thousands of paddlers, so I am grateful for it, but it feels less active than it used to be. I sometimes wonder what someone with more brains and initiative could have done with Church, but it’s never been about making money, but about community. It’s a good community. 

Are you well-recognized in the paddling community in North America, or can you still slip under the radar?
Ah… I look like the grandmother I am. So most often, people are surprised to meet me and learn about the group or that I am the founder of it. Once, on my way home from the SDKC, a man stopped me in a rest area parking lot and asked, “This is random, but are you Casle?” He’d been following the race updates that Cat Severson posted the day before and was keeping an eye out for me as he headed to Montana. I can’t go anywhere. LOL.  

Which gives you a bigger buzz, touring, sea kayaking, canoeing, SUP or is it all about being on the water with fellow paddlers?
The biggest buzz is moving fast downriver alone or with one other fast paddler. I’ve only been on the ocean a few times and would love to go again, but I always want to do that with people who know much more than me.  

If you could capture just one ‘feel good’ moment in your times of paddling – which would it be and why?
I think paddling is all about those feel-good moments, and capturing and remembering them is a strength and a comfort when you can’t get on the water and your soul is yearning to be afloat. So I have a ton of them. But… taking kids paddling is my favourite thing. I am a children’s librarian, and for our Summer Reading Program, one of the prizes in our draw was a kayak trip with me. Kids got ten chances at a variety of prizes. I didn’t tell them, but if they put all ten tickets in the kayak trip bucket, they got to go no matter what. One year I took 29 kids and parents kayaking in one day. At the end of that day, my friend who helped said that he couldn’t think of a better way to spend a day. I couldn’t either.

Which stretch or body of water anywhere in the world would be on your bucket list, and why it flicks your switch?
If I have to narrow it down, a solo down a long river, probably the Missouri. I think the solitude, the time alone with no one waiting for me, would be a rare peace I’ve never had. I also want to paddle in Chile and Thailand and spend lots more time paddling off Vancouver Island.

Where’s the furthest you’ve travelled to meet another Church member?
I don’t know if this counts, but I was planning my first trip to Long Island for a family event. I had two days to spend in New York City, so I posted at Church and asked if anyone could take me paddling. Alex Arevalo said he could. I wasn’t in the city for an hour before I was on the subway alone, heading to meet a stranger and paddle. It was probably the most spectacular paddle I’ve had so far, paddling the length of Manhattan and returning to the boathouse long after dark. I also flew to Kauai to paddle the Napali Coast, but the weather didn’t cooperate. I hope to go back someday.

My Church of the Double-Bladed Paddle dream is to put a boat on my car, pack my bags and hit the road, touring the US and meeting and paddling with Church members. Then, going out of the country to Australia, Norway, and South America. I have been fortunate to meet so many paddlers online, but I’d like to see if they’re real!

Do you have any favourite conditions for paddling, or are you happy with whatever Mother Nature bowls your way on the day?
I’m an Oregonian, so I have rain in my veins. But before I was a paddler, summer was my least favourite season. It couldn’t be more different now. I even quit a great job to work in a school to have summers off.  

What’s the most enjoyable encounter with wildlife you’ve had whilst paddling?
Early morning, I broke camp on the Willamette and was going around a bend in the river, and I startled an otter who jumped in the river and popped up just next to my kayak with the most curious look on its face. I laughed for the next mile of paddling and laugh still when I think of it. I’ve also paddled with whales a few times and watched a sea lion battle an octopus.  

In the UK, much work is undertaken by British Canoeing to bring more women into the sport; what’s being done in North America?
I don’t know; most of the paddlers I know are women.

Have you ever been scared, and if not – what would it take?
I was out on Detroit Lake in the Oregon Cascades. It gets crazy wind in the afternoons. I set out into the wind, which wasn’t bad, but I wasn’t very experienced and thought it’d be great when I turned around to get a push from the wind. Turning the boat around was frightening, and once it was behind me, it wasn’t friendly at all. I quickly learned how to use a rudder that day (it had cobwebs on it). I had my whistle out of the pocket of my life jacket; that’s how scared I was. I was lucky that I’d been paddling for a few years obsessively and was very strong.

What’s your most embarrassing moment?
I have no shame. LOL

Are there any issues that stop you from sleeping at night?
Global warming. Racists. Gun violence. Greed. Cats in the bed. The normal stuff. I used to be upset and have sleepless nights about Church issues, but that doesn’t ever happen anymore.  

Any fellow paddler you would like to interview and why?
There are so many, but here are two for you. Dianne Chellew from Australia is a world champion racer with enough resilience for ten people. I would love to sit down with her and hear her stories. I have met Steve and Kate Dawson, champion racers from down under, but I’d sure like to hear more of their stories. Janet Sullens Moreland would be cool to talk with. I met Susan Conrad and was dazzled by the light shining from her. Freya Hoffmeister is a goddess of paddling, and I have met her, but I was a speechless fan girl. She is the most badass paddler on the planet, and I’ll argue about that with anyone.  

Besides kayaking, what else do you do for a living?
I’m a librarian but without a library. I currently work at a Montessori school with 4th, 5th and 6th graders, and I get to read to them, so it’s worth getting up every day.  

What do you do to relax?
I do some embroidery and other needle arts. I also read a lot.  

Where do you see yourself in 20 years?
I’ll be in my 80s, so I’ll still be paddling.

Name one thing we can do as paddlers to improve our
rivers and their environment.
Two things. I can’t narrow it down to one, and you can’t make me. Number one. We vote for people who value the planet over profit. Number two, we clean up whenever we paddle and let children see us doing that.

Quickies…

Who would it be if you could paddle with anyone, dead or alive?
I’d like to paddle with Barack Obama.  

Which famous person would you like to watch playing you in a film?
Joan Plowright. I don’t know why; I just like her. 

Pick two celebrities to be your parents.
As human and flawed as they were, I’ll stick with my parents.  

Do you have a mentor?
I don’t have a paddling mentor. I’ve learned so much from so many people. But in terms of Church of the Double-Bladed Paddle and social media, I couldn’t have had a better teacher than Cat Severson. Church wouldn’t be what it is without her guidance and wisdom. I still miss her every day, and when a problem comes up at Church, I think, what would cat do? Sometimes the answers come to me. She was smart and tough and so so funny.  

An ideal night out for you is?
Paddling in the moonlight. Or wine tasting with my boys, who find me quite funny when I’ve had a little wine. 

What one luxury item would you take with you on a desert island?
I need a really good bed.  

What would you prepare for us if we came to your house for dinner?
Probably stroganoff, I don’t cook much, but my stroganoff is excellent. And berries. The best strawberries in the world grow in my hills, and wild huckleberries, we haunt the forests in late summer and bring home gallons of huckleberries. 

What’s in your fridge right now?
Lots of leftovers. Spaghetti, Tandoori Chicken. My husband is the cook. 

Who are your kayaking/canoeing/SUP buddies?
I don’t paddle with anyone regularly anymore. It’s so much less complicated to go by myself. But sometimes, having someone to meet up with will get me out of the house. A group of my friends have all ended up in Florence, Oregon. They’re paddling together often, and I love to paddle with them, but I don’t get to often enough. I am scheming a way to move there. 

Favourite music?
I love the blues. Taj Mahal is my favourite, and the last two times I saw him, I paddled to the Waterfront Blues Festival in Portland and danced in my kayak. Bluegrass is my favourite paddling music.

Favourite film?
My dad taught film at university, so I grew up watching the best films. Night of the Hunter has to be my favourite. Two kids rowing away to escape from scary Robert Mitchum down a river at night. It’s a beautiful black-and-white masterpiece. 

What three words would you use to describe yourself?
Paddler, librarian, grandmother

If you could be a wild animal – what would it be?
A water ouzel, of course. They call them American Dippers, but I prefer water ouzel, and I’d love to be one.

Any final shout-outs to friends, supporters and sponsors?
Of course, the group’s admins, a more fine group of intelligent, kind, wise, unselfish people, can’t be found. And a shout out to the whole congregation, who continue to surprise and delight me.

I don’t have any sponsors, though I sometimes get pro deals because of Church. Is it sponsoring when RPC made me three beautiful custom wing paddles for free? Kayak Pro also sent me a free rack. I like that kind of sponsorship. I need a kayak ergometer (and a bigger house to put it in), plus Stellar gave me a pro deal on my S18R.

Casle would like to point out that she’s wearing a PFD in all photos, but she mostly uses a belt inflatable so you can’t see it.