{"id":38973,"date":"2026-03-05T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-03-05T17:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/community.nrs.com\/duct-tape\/?p=38973"},"modified":"2026-03-02T12:58:20","modified_gmt":"2026-03-02T20:58:20","slug":"riverbound-the-storybook-has-just-begun","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/community.nrs.com\/duct-tape\/2026\/03\/05\/riverbound-the-storybook-has-just-begun\/","title":{"rendered":"RiverBound &#8211; The storybook has just begun"},"content":{"rendered":"<blockquote><p>&#8220;I&#8217;m Yak, and I used to live the dream, and chase rivers all over the world.&#8221; &#8211; Yak Vandam<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>After a canyoning accident left guide and expert kayaker Brent &#8216;Yak&#8217; Vandam a paraplegic, the rivers and sports that once defined his life felt impossibly far away. Six years later, packrafting appeared on his radar\u2014offering a new way to get back on the water, and Yak, once again, was all in.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\"  width=\"970\" height=\"546\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/vnot0KfXpxc?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>In the thundering rapids of the Upper Buller Gorge on New Zealand\u2019s South Island, Yak puts himself, and the craft, to the test. More than just a boat, the packraft represents possibility: a versatile tool helping expand who gets to run rivers, and how. For Yak, it&#8217;s a way back to the water, and more importantly, a way back to himself.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">Don&#8217;t miss <em>Riverbound \u2013 The storybook has just begun. Now on YouTube.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">***<\/p>\n<p><strong>Featuring:<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/yakonwheels\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Brent &#8216;Yak&#8217; Vandam<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.deaneparker.nz\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Deane Parker<\/a>, Tina Grove, Jared Capey, Corine Pontbriand<br \/>\n<strong>DOP:<\/strong> Dylan Gerschwitz<br \/>\n<strong>Producer:<\/strong> Deane Parker<br \/>\n<strong>With thanks to:<\/strong> NRS, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.furtherfaster.co.nz\/?srsltid=AfmBOoqrq8HlJlWjxjm8kA0Qcio-lmWwUbFGN0MgLYioUzV7Oc3pc9L7\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Further Faster<\/a>, Alpacka Raft, Aqua Bound paddles, Lumix NZ, Packrafting Queenstown, Blue Duck Packrafting, Riverside Campground\u2014Murchison.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;I&#8217;m Yak, and I used to live the dream, and chase rivers all over the world.&#8221; &#8211; Yak Vandam After a canyoning accident left guide&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":21,"featured_media":38977,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[680,339],"tags":[620,695,807,452,352,806,805,32],"class_list":["post-38973","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-guide-stories","category-nrs-culture","tag-buller-river","tag-guide","tag-guide-stories","tag-new-zealand","tag-packrafting","tag-paraplegic","tag-riverbound-film","tag-whitewater","post-grid"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>RiverBound - The storybook has just begun | Duct Tape Diaries | NRS<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"In Riverbound, former guide and kayaker \u2018Yak\u2019 Vandam returns to the river six years after a life-changing accident\u2014by packraft.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/community.nrs.com\/duct-tape\/2026\/03\/05\/riverbound-the-storybook-has-just-begun\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Duct Tape Diaries | RiverBound - Full film\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In Riverbound, former guide and kayaker \u2018Yak\u2019 Vandam returns to the river six years after a life-changing accident\u2014by packraft.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/community.nrs.com\/duct-tape\/2026\/03\/05\/riverbound-the-storybook-has-just-begun\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Duct Tape Diaries\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/nrsweb\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-03-05T17:00:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/d2kl15j267vxtq.cloudfront.net\/duct-tape\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/02114049\/Yak-16x9-1.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1800\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1013\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"NRS Staff\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@nrsweb\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@nrsweb\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"NRS Staff\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/community.nrs.com\\\/duct-tape\\\/2026\\\/03\\\/05\\\/riverbound-the-storybook-has-just-begun\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/community.nrs.com\\\/duct-tape\\\/2026\\\/03\\\/05\\\/riverbound-the-storybook-has-just-begun\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"NRS Staff\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/community.nrs.com\\\/duct-tape\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/675a6b3093818733d2480ba16d61967b\"},\"headline\":\"RiverBound &#8211; 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