Interview, Journal

Karl Vollmer – Interview With Paddle Canada

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I couldn’t be prouder than I am of my son Karl . . . cybersecurity consultant, volunteer fireman, and sea /river kayaker.  The following was published on January 14, 2026, in Paddle Canada’s Instructor News.  [Edited for length]

Paddle Canada Sea kayak and river kayak instructor trainer in a dagger kayak paddling down a river in Canada

Welcome to 2026! Instructor POV is starting off the new year with one of our own. Karl Vollmer: level 2 sea kayak instructor trainer, advanced river kayak instructor trainer, chair of the PCC (Program Coordination Committee), chair of the river kayak program development committee, database manager, and general paddling powerhouse.

An integral character of Paddle Canada, Karl wears many hats to support paddling programming across Canada. We borrowed a few minutes out of his busy day to gain some insight into his love of paddling, how powerful play can be in the classroom, and finding your voice as an instructor.

Paddle Canada: Hey Karl, thanks for taking the time to be a part of our Instructor Series. We’re excited to hear all about your experience as a Paddle Canada Instructor so let’s dive right in. Give us an intro about yourself – what do you do and where do you do it?

Karl Vollmer: Thanks, I’ve been in Nova Scotia for almost 20 years now. I have an IT desk job by day, but spend my weekends and evenings on the water, and in the water. I work for Ontario Sea Kayak Center, Cape Lahave Adventures and Cloud 9 Adventures as a sea kayak guide and instructor. My true love is river kayaking. I run https://whitewaterns.ca and https://whitewaternb.ca. I have spent the last 15+ years trying to aggregate and make available all of the river beta and water level information for free to the community as a way to remove barriers to whitewater paddling in the Atlantic provinces. I’ve also recently picked up River SUP’ing which is a new challenge.

PC: What was your first paddling experience and what inspired you to become an instructor?

KV: My first paddling experience in memory is going over a lower overhead dam in a canoe as a small kid with my father. That experience has inspired me to have a better understanding of water and how it works. It has also driven me to help other people understand so that they can be safe, and have an amazing, positive time on the water. Being on the water in a Canoe, or Kayak or on a Sup should be a safe, positive and fun experience. I work as an instructor and guide to help make that happen for people.

KV 1

PC: How do you approach teaching brand new paddlers?

KV: Play. Recreational paddling to me is about being able to play, have fun, and experience the world, and places from a different perspective. I love being on the water, and having fun, so I try to enable that in the courses I teach. Creating a safe, inclusive but challenging environment where people can be themselves and find joy in a silly game, or accomplishing a challenging landing is very important to me.

KV 2 1

PC: What’s one challenge you’ve had to overcome as an Instructor?

KV: Finding my own voice, and way of teaching. I’ve worked with a large number of Instructors and each one has their perspective, and process. Understanding that having my own, different process isn’t wrong. In fact students get the most out of instructors, when they are themselves. When you’re passionate and love what you’re doing and can show that this is all about having fun, that excitement and joy is transferred to your students.

PC: What would you say to someone considering becoming a Paddle Canada Instructor?

KV: I think the most important thing when deciding if you want to be a Paddle Canada Instructor, is to look at your motivation. If you want to meet people where they are, as who they are and build them up to where they want to go with their paddling, then recreational Paddle Instruction is for you. Being a Paddle Canada Instructor, is not about you as the instructor, how many certifications you hold or how good of a paddler you are – It’s about how you can make space for people to find joy and play in recreational paddling.

KV 3

PC: The mic is yours! Any last words or parting thoughts?

KV: Paddle Canada to me is about enabling safe play, on and in the water. So get out there in whatever way makes you happy, peaks your curiosity or drives you to improve. If you find yourself getting excited enabling others to do the same, then a Paddle Canada Instructor course could be an amazing way for you to make that a bigger part of your life. I am thankful every day that I get to be on the water, and help others discover the joy of recreational paddling.

Journal

Plato’s Symposium vs. The Lust For Mud

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In an opinion piece about human dignity from The Guardian, January 14, 2026, titled Donald Trump Is waging war against the human conscience, columnist Osita Nwanevu had this to say about Plato’s Symposium.  ” . . . It is a tale about universal aspects of the human experience philosophers have examined in the service of understanding what it means to be a human being.

[Continued . . . ]

“This year marks the 250th anniversary of the American answer to it – the idea that human beings are equal, possessed of a universal dignity that entitles us to basic rights and a chance to flourish and prosper, whoever we may be. That idea has always had flag-waving enemies. And today, the latent belief of the nativists vying to make America great again is that there is nothing especially interesting or consequential about the American project.

[Continued . . .]

“Against the demands and best aspirations of civilization – western or any kind – they tell us the human being is a creature that yearns for nothing more than blood and soil, which is, of course, just mud. The lust for mud has taken up many guises in our history and has been many given names of late – neo-reaction, post-liberalism, fascism. But the name familiar to most is evil.

[Continued . . .]

“As many who have taken to the streets in protest have noted, the Trump administration’s assaults on liberty here at home are the kinds of abuses that spurred the revolution we will commemorate this year . . . The American project must and will succeed. Its enemies stand for too little. Our lives are worth too much.”

Note; The whole piece is well worth reading.

Journal

Power

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Power is not brute force and money; Power is in your spirit . . . It is in your relationship to the earth.

– Winona LaDuke

Winona LaDuke, Native American activist and environmentalist.  Green party candidate for Vice president, 1996 and  2000.  [Click on image to enlarge]
Journal

John Trudell – Heart taker

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John Trudell wrote and recorded this spoken piece in the early 1980’s after the loss of his wife and children in a suspicious fire.

[Click on Full Screen icon in the lower right corner to best appreciate the video]

From Wikipedia:  “John Trudell (February 15, 1946 – December 8, 2015) was a Native American author, poet, actor, musician, and political activist. He was the spokesperson for the Indians of All Tribes’ takeover of Alcatraz beginning in 1969, broadcasting as Radio Free Alcatraz. During most of the 1970s, he served as the chairman of the American Indian Movement based in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

“After his pregnant wife, three children, and mother-in-law were killed in 1979 in a suspicious fire at the home of his parents-in-law on the Shoshone-Paiute Tribes Duck Valley Indian reservation in Nevada, Trudell turned to writing, music and film as a second career.”

Photography

Chehalis Western Trail – Olympia, Washington

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Need to relax and reflect?  You could walk the  Chehalis Western Trail outside Olympia, WA, where this photo was taken by my daughter, Yukyo, on New Years Day, 2026.  The trail is the longest shared-use path for cyclists and hikers in the region.  It occupies an abandoned railroad corridor that was once used by the historic Weyerhaeuser-owned Chehalis Western Railroad.

Pond on the Chehalis Western Trail, Olympia, WA.

[Photo copyright symbol Emily Vollmer, Click on image to enlarge]

Journal, Photography

Chaco Canyon Road – NW New Mexico

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Chaco Canyon Road, looking south.

Where to go?  Toward an expansive horizon is always my first choice.  In the case of Chaco Canyon Road, the southern exit from Chaco Culture National Historic Park, it was 40+ miles of dirt road across the Navajo Reservation with the warning sign declaring, “Road not maintained, may be impassable to passenger cars.”  There are no structures, no signs of habitation the length of that road.  There are steep drops into and out of arroyos that flood with cloudbursts, as well as deeply rutted mud slumps that require 4WD to cross even in dry weather.  There are no guarantees.  But being alone with the unknown is a great way to get to know yourself.    [Photo copyright symbol Max Vollmer, Click on image to enlarge]

Journal

Where To Look?

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As I look out on the world, I see suffering, hardship, injustice, and violence borne of ignorance.  But I also see courage, kindness, sacrifice, and generosity that grows out of our shared experience as humans.   It has always been so.  It will always be so.  I choose to focus my attention and energy on what brings us together in community.  Whether that be a community of two, or twenty, of two hundred, or twenty million.