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Impacts of the Big Calgary Flood 2013 – A Story from a TRAK Owner

August 11, 2013

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Doug Miller and his children during the Clean-Up Calgary Flood 2013

We are often humbled by the shear power of mother nature, and specifically of water. In Alberta this June, we have experienced an epic example of that. The flood waters reached unprecedented levels, causing everything from minor damage to complete disastrous scenarios in certain parts of Calgary and communities like High River, Alberta and right through the city of Calgary. It will take years to recover. At TRAK, this flood was ‘close to home’….almost literally in our backyard. Here is a story from one of our TRAK owners, Doug Miller. We’re so happy that Doug & his family are ok, and have a great spirit to move forward and rebuild their home. Thankfully, he will also be back on the water (in his kayak) soon. We enjoyed getting Doug back…set up 100%!

Letter Received from Doug Miller – August 8, 2013

I have to share a recent experience I had with TRAK that exemplifies their commitment to customer service. 

Calgary has recently experienced the worst flooding in roughly 100 years. The basement and main floor of my house were hit hard. It’s tough to gauge the magnitude of loss when a flood strikes.  You can cope with losing a furnace or a dishwasher or a couch but the loss of personal items like kid’s paintings, photos or family heirlooms are harder to deal with.  Luckily for me most personal items were saved. My TRAK kayak was among my losses but I hoped to salvage it. 

The kayak was stored in my garage. The flood brought seven feet of water into the garage but what was worse was the mud and silt that came along.  Needless to say the entire pack was covered in a gross mixture of water, mud and silt. I lay out the various parts to dry but I was unable to clean the interior of the kayak’s skin. I was also concerned about the integrity of the jacks as they had been crusted with mud and I wasn’t sure if they were still functional. The pack was very dirty and I had dislodged a ball joint from the aluminum stern frame in my haste to unpack the kayak. 

I called Nolin with TRAK and asked him if he could fix the ball joint and check the jacks to ensure they were functioning properly.  He told me to bring in the kayak and they would fix it up. That was an understatement. In about a week I got a call from Nolin saying the kayak was ready. The kayak had been thoroughly cleaned by Gion, a long-term colleague of Nolin’s.  Two jacks and a couple of ribs and the entire stern frame were replaced and to top things off, the restored kayak was delivered to me in a new pack.  And best of all free of charge. 

What can I say? 

Thanks again Nolin and Gion. I’m impressed and I hope others are too. 

Doug Miller




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