Paddling Planet

I recently spent some time up at UVic considering information exchange in a graphic format: mapping.  Ken Josephson is one of the sparkplugs behind the UVic-lead Community Mapping Initiative--an attempt to harness the power of crowd-sourcing in a mapping environment (check out the links page!).
The classes were intriguing, and lead me to think about the mass of information available in our blog. We've been paddling, and writing about, local waters for several years now, and I thought perhaps I could link our information into Google maps. So I've started the process, and this is what it looks like (depressingly few kayaking related icons available, though):


View Kayakyak Info Map in a larger map

Hayley Shepard is abandoning her attempt to kayak solo around South Georgia Island. Beset by a host of unexpected problems, she set-off 20 days behind schedule and simply ran out of time. A serious injury to a member of her support crew, a primary kayak smashed-up during transit and lousy weather conspired against her. Even the recent Chilean earthquake worked against her, making her efforts to change her airplane departure date due to her late start almost impossible.
But as she said on her blog, "A moment in Paradise is a moment well-lived and I am forever grateful for this opportunity despite the changes and unexpected outcome. That is a true adventure after all and it can be nothing less."
Let's hope the trip back is a little less challenging than the trip down.

Just got a media release from the Capital Regional District about their new land purchases, as reported earlier on Kayak Yak. The statement includes a call for assistance in funding -- if by any chance you're looking for a good investment to make for noble reasons, you could pay for a piece of this land for a CRD park or conservation. I'm just sayin'.
Here's the statement as sent to me by Anne Marie Marchi, an administrative clerk for the CRD:


Media Release
For Immediate Release March 4, 2010
Agreement in Principle for CRD Purchase of Regional Parks and Watershed Lands
Victoria, BC –
The Capital Regional District (CRD), The Land Conservancy (TLC) and Western Forest Products (WFP) have reached an agreement in principle for the CRD to acquire 2350 hectares of lands in the Jordan River, Sooke Potholes and Weeks Lake areas for recreation, conservation and watershed protection. The agreement, which includes over 3.5 km of shoreline from Jordan River to Sandcut Beach, will require the assistance of partners to help fund the acquisition.

The lands in question are being sold by Western Forest Products and lie within CRD boundaries. “The WFP lands are a subject of great interest to the Board and the agreement in principle generated significant discussion and support at the March 3 Special Board meeting.” said Geoff Young, CRD Board Chair. “I would like to acknowledge the hard work that JDF Electoral Area Director Mike Hicks has played in moving this process forward. Acquisition of these lands will help to further the CRD’s strategic priorities, protect our water supply in the Leech Watershed, conserve sensitive ecosystems and support recreation.”

“We recognize the public interest in these particular parcels, and we’re pleased to be making headway with the CRD towards keeping them available for public enjoyment” said Steve Frasher, President and Chief Executive Officer of Western Forest Products. “Our goal has been to make this a win-win for ourselves and for the CRD. We’re happy to see this taking shape.”

One of the CRD’s major land acquisition partners on this project is The Land Conservancy, which has stepped up with a strong commitment to raise the necessary funds to make this acquisition happen. “With this purchase we are going to add one of the last remaining pieces to the Sea to Sea Greenbelt,” said TLC Executive Director, Bill Turner. “To match the CRD Parks levy, TLC will reach out to its members and others in the community who understand how important it is to help make this purchase a reality.”

“The lands in both the Jordan River and Sooke Potholes areas have high recreation and conservation values,” said Regional Parks Chair Christopher Causton. “We are very interested in keeping them in public hands so that everyone both today and in the future can enjoy them.”

- 30 -

For further information please contact:
Gary Ley, Western Forest Products Tel: 604.685.5485 Cell: 604.787.5467 email
Bill Turner, Executive Director The Land Conservancy of BC Tel: 250.589.8024 email
Sheila Taylor, Manager, Community Relations Corporate Communications Tel: 250.360.3308 Cell: 250.216.4427 email

“This is Canoeing” is coming to a place near you …. if you live near Madison in Wisconsin, Llanberis, Queensferry or London anyway. Today I’m putting together last minute preparations for my presentation about ‘behind the scenes of “This Canoeing”‘ at the huge trade show that is Canoecopia, which takes place in Madison this weekend. I [...]

It’s the first day of the Golden Gate Sea Kayak Symposium’s BCU 4 Star Sea Leader Training. The tsunami from the massive Chilean 8.8 Richter earthquake is scheduled to arrive at the Golden Gate Bridge at 1326 today. Its amplitude has been raised from 2.5 to 3.5 feet at 1100. There’s no report on its period but one of the 4 Star Leader Training candidates has computed a wave propagation of hundreds of miles per hour based on the latitude differences from mid coast Chili to San Fran.

Our 10 paddlers were nervous about going outside the Golden Gate Bridge this morning, mostly because of reading last year’s article about the challenges those students experienced trying to return back up under the Bridge against a strong ebb tide; it took over an hour to get the whole group up 100 ft to slower waters. Now we are bouncing around under the Bridge as this year’s candidates are guiding an eyes-closed paddler through the bumpy water off Lime Point using only voice and sound.

Today the seas outside are a mild 9’ every 13 seconds, winds forecast SE 19-25 kn, water temp a comfy 58 F. Max ebb today will be at 1651 @ 5.9 kn – several hours from now. The sun has broken out which helps with the decision-making. Yesterday afternoon was punctuated with a 15 minute blow that obliterated all views with a driving hail and created the most extreme conditions organizer, Sean Morley, had seen at the small Yellow Bluff race around the corner. So our paddlers are edgy even without the demands of this course.

Gordon Brown from the Island of Skye in Scotland, and I are overseeing this year’s 4 Star Sea Leader training. We’ve asked the group of sea kayak leader trainees to decide what we should do about this Tsunami warning. As a first step the group has decided to return into the relative safety of San Francisco Bay with plenty of time before the Tsunami is scheduled to hit. It’s only a 10 minute paddle from the tidal streams of the North tower to the GGSKS headquarters at Fort Baker beach so we paddle over for lunch. We land at 1240 and spend 10+ minutes wondering what to do. The 4 Star Team, hungry, needing to pee, and under serious time pressure from the approaching Tsunami shuffles around, not sure what to do, even how to decide what to do. It’s a solid group of folks but few know each other. We notice that the neighboring USCG station has launched all 3 of their 47’ boats. The VHF radio is surprisingly quiet about any great danger. Other Symposium paddlers are sitting on the beach apparently without any worry. Our paddlers figure that the risk of a large wave is probably low, but that the exposure if a large tsunami rolled in would be very high. Some of our paddlers express concern.

None of us has any direct Tsunami experience. Gordon’s brother suffered through the 2004 Indonesian Tsunami on the island of Sri Lanka. Gordon and I would both like to be out in deep water in our kayaks. But the trainees don’t agree with this option and decide to carry all boats up onto the flat parade grounds of Fort Baker, a mere 10’ above the ebbing sea level. Do we tie the boats up? One paddler wants to climb high into the hills, another notes the heights of the old WW II fortifications. Some plot their running route if we see any big wave come up under the Golden Gate Bridge.

It’s now 1330. No huge tsunami has roared up under the bridge, we think we see some largish standing waves, but otherwise nothing happens! Nada. Later we hear that three 8 ft swells traveled well up inside against the ebb to Angel Island. Actually a lot happened, but it was personal to each of our 4 Star candidates. The best trainings have real challenges, people and conditions. Over this two day course in the wonderful swirling, coursing and breaking waves of this second GGSKS, all our paddlers are visibly maturing into more responsible paddlers. Several recite that the focus on guiding others improves their personal paddling performance. As the mind engages outside oneself, our spontaneous, creative, effective performance improves. It was rewarding for us, and invaluable to this 4 Star Team.

The whole GGSKS event offers this level of real world paddling. It’s not for beginners, but a superb training ground for the intermediate. The last two events have had outside swell ranges from five to nineteen feet, periods thirteen to eighteen seconds, tidal streams up to nearly six knots, warm rains, rich fogs and gorgeous sunny days. It’s a great group of paddlers out here, charged up and ready for the first rate set of coaches.

Courses include Rock Gardens, Combat Rescues, Riding the Tides, Advanced Boat Control, Practical Navigation, Coastal Nav and Tidal Planning, Traditional Paddling, Incident Management, Surf Zone, Forward Stroke and a smattering of ACA and BCU offerings. On Saturday night we all moved to San Fran’s Fishermans Wharf to listen to Freya Hoffmeister’s presentation of her 11 month, 8500 mile solo paddle around Australia, completed in December; she’s a force to be reckoned with. Other evening shows included Paddling California rivers and coast, a new surf video, Colorado’s Grey and Desolation Canyons by kayak, and the wonders of Newfoundland and Scotland.

You should seriously consider attending this first rate event in the future. Of all the Symposia I’ve attended, the GGSKS is one of the best in fun, beauty, conditions, coaches and community. The venue and sea state keep a paddler alive and aware. All paddlers and coaches bunk at the Marin Headlands National Park hostel, converted from a War II barracks. Coyotes cried and turkeys gobbled each evening from the redwood covered hills above the beautiful meadow-ed valley. The put-in is protected, basic and just feet from real tidal currents….and all the while we gaze out at majestic San Francisco perched on its hills. Alcatraz is a short paddle away. Pt Bonita with its booming rock gardens has plenty of action even for the Big Bad Dogs amongst us. Sign up early or you will miss out as the event hosted 100 paddlers. Next year is scheduled for Feb 18-20 with later ebb so we can spend more time outside the Golden Gate Bridge. Come paddle the beauty of San Francisco Bay next winter; it is the real deal.

Links for your interest:

San Francisco Bay Entrance chart http://sailvector.com/1823/San-Francisco-Entrance

San Fran Bay entrance Buoy 46026 http://www.ndbc.noaa.gov/station_page.php?station=46026

Golden Gate Bridge tidal chart http://www.mobilegeographics.com:81/locations/5545.html?y=2010&m=2&d=27

Tom Bergh founded Maine Island Kayak Co in 1986, lives on Peaks Island off Portland, ME, is a L4Sea coach, and been able to paddle many boats in many seas. He organizes the NE Intermediate Rough Water Symposium.

With a mate's stag do later in the day I thought it wise to paddle today rather than leave it till tomorrow where I might be slightly the worse for wear! Launching from the Sully YC slipway I paddled on a course to Steep Holm and let the last of the flood tide take me down to my intended target of Flat Holm which, at the moment, was obscured from view by Sully Island. On reaching the Lavernock

"Canadian TV star Rick Mercer filmed an upcoming episode at the Toronto Outdoor Adventure show, hopping into the paddling demo tank for a wet-exit lesson from instructor James Roberts of Learntokayak.ca. “It’s like adventure water boarding,” said Mercer after coming up for air and blowing his nose."

The brief kayak section was part of a larger report from the Toronto Outdoor Adventure show where he also did some stand-up paddling, scuba dived (scuba dove?) for the first time, and attempted to elude the Mantracker (yeah, like that could ever happen).

That clip is embedded here:


Another segment from the same episode which might be of interest to our readers was a segment on river ice rescues featuring the Toronto Police Marine Unit. That video is embedded here:

D'OH! I had meant to post about this MUCH sooner! The Long Island City Boathouse is having their annual benefit on Thursday, March 11th (tomorrow night, at the time I'm writing this) at the Foundry, half a block south of the Long Island City end of the Queensboro Bridge. Full info is available on licboathouse.org.

This event is personally & enthusiastically endorsed by Sebago clubmate Walter. He's one of the founding members & grand Poo-Bahs of the Sebago Cruising Committee & believe me, the Sebago Cruising Committee knows a thing or twenty-seven about having fun. If Walter says it's a good party, it's a good party!

Chris Paton (GL)	Tony Paradise (CA)	Chris Mitchell (US)
Richard (Cardiff) (UK)	Ignacio Wenley Palacios (ES)	Liz Arnold (US)
Iain Markinch (UK)	Duncan and Joan (CA)	Peter Ekström (SE)

• bisonblog – Apples iPad kommer att boosta e-handeln
  08 March 2010
• Google Alerts – kajak – kajak utanför Malmö?”>Sjöfartsverket – Kapsejsad kajak utanför Malmö?
  09 March 2010
• kajak utanför Malmö?”>Sjöfartsverket – Kapsejsad kajak utanför Malmö?
  09 March 2010
• kajak utanför Malmö?”>Sjöfartsverket – Kapsejsad kajak utanför Malmö?
  09 March 2010
• kajak utanför Malmö?”>Sjöfartsverket – Kapsejsad kajak utanför Malmö?
  09 March 2010
• Matälskaren – Ingen jävla Mors dag
  08 March 2010
• www.drmomma.org – peaceful parenting: Your Body within 1 Hour of Drinking Soda
  08 March 2010
• www.life.com – 30 Dumb Inventions – Photo Gallery, 30 Pictures – LIFE
  07 March 2010
• horisont kajak – Horisont kajak på båtmässan – mera bilder
  06 March 2010
• Frivillig enkelhet – Tillväxtens gränser
  20 January 2010
• Black and WTF – Thanks, Blake.
  05 March 2010
• Ekomuppen – Grönmålning
  05 March 2010
• Gizmodo: top – Official: iPad Launching Here April 3, Pre-Orders March 12 [Ipad]
  05 March 2010
• Fotofeber – Artiklar och lankar – Bilder i skärmdumpar omfattas av upphovsrätten
  05 March 2010
• Nätkoll.se – Så gick iTunes från 0 till 10 miljarder nedladdningar
  05 March 2010
• Moderskeppet.se – Intervju med Brutus Östling
  05 March 2010
• På slak lina – Varför var det ingen som berättade…
  04 March 2010
• sixx.se – Ett företags manifest inom social media — Next Generation Internet
  03 March 2010
• miss minimalist – Minimalist Philosophy: To Walk Away, Empty-Handed
  02 March 2010
• 365 saker du kan göra – #426 Lös problem åt företag
  01 March 2010
• Becoming Minimalist – eric lewis on minimalism
  02 March 2010
• Ulrika Gabriel Inspiratör – ÄR DU OFFER, ÖVERLEVARE ELLER LEVARE?
  01 March 2010

Liknande:

1. Surfski Spring Camp, 10-11 April 2010
2. SMHI Kustväder i iPhone
3. Apple iPad – jag vill ha en NU
4. Äntligen en tältnatt, den första 2010
5. Almanacka 2010
6. Skridskopremiär 2010 och lite skidor
7. Nyår 2009/2010 på Valö
8. God Jul & Gott Nytt 2010
9. Mest poppis senaste veckan, 30th March – 5th April 2009
10. Mest poppis senaste veckan, 23rd March – 29th March 2009

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Erik Wallgren på Nomado kom förbi och levererade en go utmaning. Han arrangerar ju Seamasters, en sån däringa bråttompaddeltävling  den 31 juli i Arkösund.

En liten, gnagande tävlingsidiot har börjat ta fäste. Kanske ska man anta utmaningen och testa Sprintern? Nog kommer jag att få rådäng, men det kan det kanske vara värt? Vad tycker ni?

Well, it was blowing a gale Tuesday afternoon when I got home after work and cleaning a vehicle for the Carshare Co-op. In keeping with my standard belief that when it's too windy to carry my kayak solo it's too windy to go paddling solo, I knew this wasn't the afternoon to go on the water. Heck, a full city block from the beach I could hear the waves pounding on the sand (even with my bum ears).
Instead of getting into my gear, I thought of how that beach is good for launching, but there's a tip that makes it even better: the best place to launch kayaks is at the boat ramp. There's no beach logs to trip over at that sandy ramp. I twisted my ankles on the logs many times before figuring that out.
There are other tips about local launch places that are worth sharing, and that strikes me as a good thought for a day when I'm not on the water. I'll think of a few more.
-Launching at Willows Beach at low tide means a long walk out to the water, but in summer there's the blue Kiwanis tearoom for a hot cuppa after the outing.
-Cordova Bay has a nice park with room to leave a few cars while you're on the water, but it's a steep climb from the beach up a paved path to the road. Motivate yourself for the climb with thoughts of going to Mattick's Farm, a mile or so north, for fresh vegetables.
-For restrooms, Island View Beach has great pit toilets (yes, that's not an oxymoron, there is such a thing). So does Coles Bay. These ones are well-made, and large enough to make it easy to change into or out of paddling gear.
-Telegraph Bay is in a call shadow and most cell phones can't get a signal from any tower here. You have to go over the hill to Arbutus Road, or out on the water outside the bay.
-When paddling at Elk Lake, be sure to bring a couple of bucks and go afterwards to the little restaurant at Hamsterly Beach, the building with the odd roof by the highway. Great place for a hot drink after practising rolling, wet exits, and rescues.
-When carrying boats from the parking lot at Beaver Lake down to the water, walk along the paved footpath instead of across the grass. In spring, the grassy slope is soggy and your feet will tear it to muddy shreds. In summer, the grassy slope is absolutely covered with picnic blankets and frisbees in motion.
-Esquimalt Lagoon is a good place to launch for a paddle into Esquimalt Harbour, but the bridge at one end of the peninsula is closed to vehicle traffic, and open only to bikes and pedestrians.
-There's a good little beach on Songhees land at the Inner Harbour. The developers were told by City Hall to keep public access to this beach open. Parking is free at this beach on Sundays. Use it or lose it! And while you're at it, go to the right along the shore and look at the place where there's talk of putting in a marina for 85-foot long yachts. Then send another note to City Hall.
That's enough for now. I'll think of some more soon.

On our final day of kayaking in Croatia, we did a tour that took us to 3 different islands: Ruda, Sipan and Lopud. It was a full day paddle, departing around 10am and returning at about 6pm. Altogether we paddled 12kms for the day and we joined by another couple, Matt from the UK and Melissa from Australia.

This day the weather was a little different. The day before it had been very windy, and the skies looked a little dark and foreboding. The winds were blowing offshore, so I knew the paddle back might be a bit of a struggle, so we opted to take a double instead of 2 singles. First we paddled to Ruda island to visit a small cave.

Then we paddled to Lopud, to a small village for a short lunch. Lopud is another island that has no roads or cars and is one of the few islands around that have sandy beaches. Apparantly, once a week a policeman visit there on a ferry, and asks the mayor "is everything ok?" Upon hearing there is no news, he returns back to the mainland.


After our lunch we paddled over to Šipan. The paddle over is a bit more open to the Adriatic Sea, and it was easy to tell that the wind had been blowing a lot the day before from the swell. Not enough for any concerns, but enough to have a bit of fun. The Aussies we were paddling with had only paddled once before, so I think they may have been a bit nervous........but not that nervous, as I looked over once and Matt had his snorkel on, and was leaning over the side to look into the water! His girlfriend had no idea that he was doing so and it almost tipped them over! LOL. It was pretty funny. Not a smart thing to do when there is a 1 to 2 metre swell. On the other island there was a really cool sea arch.

Then things got interesting. The closer we got to the island, the more the waves were banging up against the rocks. Our guide wanted to show us another sea cave that we could snorkel into, but warned us it might be a bit "dodgey" to land and get in there. So we landed on the rocks one at a time and as you can see from the pics it was not easy. But Marko did a great job of getting us out safely. Due to the high water and breaking waves, the entrance to the cave was barely visible. (pic 5435) and in that pic you can see the waves being pushed back out through the narrow opening. Marko explained that we would have to swim about 3ft under water and swim about 10ft in before surfacing inside the cave, or we'd risk getting slammed against the jagged rocks on the roof of the cave. So one by one we jumped into the water and swam into the cave. Matt cut his head on the roof of the cave, but nothing too serious. Angie wouldn't go in and stayed outside treading water. Inside was amazing, it opened up into 2 large rooms, with the water appearing all blue from the sand and sun. Once we got back out of the cave, we had to climb onto the rocks where our boats were in the crashing waves, which managed to knock Angie around like a pinball, suffering some minor scraps and bruises. It was then that Marko informed us that it was too rough to enter our kayaks the normal way, and we'd have to jump back into the water, and swim away from the shoreline and he would launch our kayaks out through the waves to us and we'd have to climb in from out there. Me and Ang have done this before, so it wasn't too bad, but for beginners like Matt and Melissa it was a bit of a struggle, and they almost capsized once, but managed ok in the end. Me and Ang were laughing wondering how the Newfoundland Kayak Club and the coast guard back home would feel about this, lol.

After all that excitement, we went to another village on Šipan from another lunch, and then headed back to the beach we departed from for a little snorkeling to finish our last day of paddling in Croatia.

Bra när sakerna har fler användningsområden
Mer finns på www.conceptualdevices.com

Via Webmastern.

Eller varför inte en kudde…

Liknande:

1. Backup – lite fegt, men ganska bra
2. Ladda iPhone på en kobbe
3. Bokutlottning
4. Den nöjda fiskaren
5. Eastern Horizons DVD-utlottning
6. Björn Thomasson ritar surfski
7. Hur går det med bloggandet?
8. Googlekarta
9. Silverplånbok – silvertejp kan man ha till mycket
10. Mobilbilder

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Everglades Challenge news last updated 9:00 am WednesdayRead all the forum posts from the challengers [here].Zoom in on a WaterTribe map of their progress [here].Follow SPOT tracking data from SandyBottom [here].View collected WaterTribe photos and video [here]. Wednesday morning (3/10)SB is making great progress through the Everglades this morning. SPOT data indicates she left the Lostmans Five

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At the northern end of our bay there is an old Roman column standing on the reef. We pass it each time we go out between the rocks on our way north.


Most days there`s some bird sitting on the pole looking at us or for fish in the water or just sunning itself up there on its perch. I have been trying to photograph these birds whenever I see them. The trouble is that they don`t let me get close enough for a great photo, in fact when they hear my kayak, quietly as I paddle, they take flight.





Sometimes its lola swimming out to meet Rami who chases them away.



Today it was a Kingfishers chance to sit there, as I approached he flew away, hovered high up in the air but didn`t dive for any fish.

Il Campionato Italiano di Eskimo si avvicina e con piacere constatiamo che tutti gli enti sportivi che hanno inteso sostenere e promuovere la manifestazione nazionale hanno dato visibilità all'evento.
La F.I.C.K. ha inserito un articolo sulla pagina web del Comitato Federale Sport per tutti:
http://www.incanoa.it/news.asp?i=80703
La F.I.C.T. ha dedicato uno spazio sul calendario delle manifestazioni e sulla pagina di Pagaiando: http://www.canoa.org/
La UISP - Area Acquaviva ha segnalato la manifestazione sul proprio sito: http://www.acquaviva.org/aspx/Home.aspx
L'Associazione Sottocosta ha inserito programma e locandina sotto la voce "Attività-Eventi": http://www.sottocosta.it/
Canoaverde di Genova, tra gli organizzatori, ha richiamato l'evento nel Programma di attività 2010: http://www.canoaverde.org/
Anche tanti altri club ed associazioni hanno voluto dare risalto alla manifestazione nazionale e cogliamo l'occasione per ringraziare tutti coloro, singoli e gruppi, che hanno collaborato per la buona riuscita del Campionato Italiano di Eskimo 2010.

Via Erik & Pia på Kajak.nu kommer här ett tips om sjökort för Iphone. Jag tokgillar ju min Makalösa Manick, men kommer inte precis lämna sjökorten hemma i fortsättningen. Däremot kan Eniro hjälpa till med information som inte finns på kortet. Jag har kört Iphonen i mitt vattentäta Aquaboundfodral och det funkar fett.

Nu ska bara skaffas möjligheter till extra kräm, eftersom den har en tendens att ta slut vid intensivt brukande. Men det har ju redan Erik & Pia kollat på, så jag börjar där.

Axel mumlar lite cyniskt över min axel när han kollar in inlägget: “Smart med sjökort för iPhone när den inte ens tål minusgrader”. Smart unge Nu väntar jag bara på mjukt vatten och plusgrader!

Liknande:

1. Photomatix Light – HDR-pyssel
2. Vistorps hamn – skälderviken
3. Fin och sval morgon
4. Öppet vatten i Västersjön
5. Skidor hemomkring
6. Halvhårt vatten vid Kullaberg
7. Lördagsbilder 23 januari
8. Soffan & lite promenader
9. Trattkantareller
10. Skön oktobermorgon hemomkring

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The first version was a promo video to go on a page of Terra Santa Kayak Expedition's website. This full version is to give more information to people who're interested in kayaking in this excellent destination. There's also an article to come. I made these videos and wrote the article in exchange for a week kayaking in the Seychelles. Hope you like it!

Rough day at work, beautiful night, so I took a walk across the Manhattan Bridge to unwind a bit. I wish I'd brought my camera, I walked down Schermerhorn St (which I used to pronounce Schermermurmerhorm back when I used to change trains at Hoyt-Schermerhorn, mostly to disguise the fact that I have a heckuva time pronouncing "Schermerhorn") and there were such interesting windows along the way. There was a window where a lady was practicing her grand jetés. There was a window where there was a fabulous kitchen with a fabulous dinner party underway. It made me want to stop & join in...hmm, look, I could sometime. There was a window with a fabulous art place that looked like a grade-school art room. Only maybe for grown-ups. It made me want to stop & finger-paint. And then there was a window that was full of cakes. Good thing I'd already stopped in Chinatown for a bag of Chinese mini cakes, and was also trying to save room for fabulous grass-fed monster-carrot yukon-gold pot roast, heating up on the stove right now!

So nice that the weather's suddenly warm enough to make a little random ramblin' appealing. Tonight's was just shy of 4 miles.

Note on 3/10 - Who were the Shermerhorns? Check the comments! Thanks, O-docker!

Everglades Challenge news last updated at 11:30 pm TuesdayRead all the forum posts from the challengers [here].Zoom in on a WaterTribe map of their progress [here]. Follow SPOT tracking data from SandyBottom [here]. View collected WaterTribe photos and video [here]. Tuesday (3/9) 11:15 amSandyBottom began the day in the 10,000 islands region headed for CP2. She landed at Everglades City at about

The Pacific Ocean can always promise one thing… unpredictability, which of course means that participants at this year’s Golden Gate Sea Kayak Symposium shouldn’t have been surprised by the heavy rain, crazy wind and even the tsunami warning. The website for the event states, “Spring tides and powerful Pacific swells will ensure challenging conditions for even the most seasoned paddlers.” No kidding!

I arrived at the Marin Headlands Hostel the evening of February 25. Friendly and familiar faces surrounded me. That’s one of the things that I love about symposiums, they often feel like family reunions. The evening was relatively mellow. Coaches met with one another to discuss final plans for class formats. Duane Strosaker and I would be teaching a Greenland style class together on Friday and Sunday and spent some time working on the agenda.

Working with Duane was an absolute delight. We began our classes with a warm up, then Duane taught strokes, while I taught rolling, and in the afternoon we played in current and the famous Yellow Bluff tide race, which I had never before seen quite so “active.” Back at the hostel we worked with interested participants on rope gymnastics, a fitness and training program for Greenlanders when the weather is too cold to practice rolling a qajaq (the traditional spelling for kayak).

On Saturday I helped out with the Mastering Boat Control class, and enjoyed working with several instructors on skills that I am not used to teaching. The class had a strong emphasis on strokes, and students spent the morning figuring them out on flat water, and the afternoon using those same skills in the dynamics of wind, waves and current.

All in all, the event was a huge success. Thanks to Matt Palmariello and Sean Morley for pulling off an amazing symposium with a real emphasis on skill development. I look forward to next year’s event.

For more pictures, please visit the Gallery.

Tja, selv en havkajakroer er jo nødt til at gå på land indimellem - selv om vi ikke er meget for det! Men når det en sjælden gang sker, skal der (som regel) også bruges tøj til.

Da jeg bestilte et nyt tur-telt hos Vildmand for et stykke tid siden, faldt jeg på deres hjemmeside også over denne anorak. Jeg har længe villet have en ny yderskal og gerne som anorak. Selv om det er en smule mere besværlig at få en anorak af og på, i forhold til en lynlåsmodel, holder den bedre på varmen. Det er i hvert tilfælde min teori.

Min kone har en ældre klassisk grøn model fra Pinewood, som jeg var lidt lun på - indtil jeg så denne camouflagegrønne model til kun kr. 599,-. Den er meget enkel, med en stor lomme på brystet og et par små lommer i siden. De er ikke store nok til at kunne bruges til at varme hænderne i, men på den anden side er jeg heller ikke typen der ofte går med hænderne i lommerne. Hvis det er kold vælger jeg altid at have handsker på. Der er selvfølgelig hætte i ellers var det jo ikke en anorak. 

Modellen her hedder Surplus Extreme Smock og denne farvekombination hedder woodland. Anorakken fås, ud over i denne farvekombination, også i ensfarvet olivengrøn eller sort og i ørkencamouflage.Anorakken er i åndbart materiale som er vind og vandafvisendt - hvad det lige præcist dækker over har jeg ikke testet endnu. Men mon ikke der kommer en blæsende regnvejrsdag eller to her hen over foråret, så jeg får mulighed for at få det testet?

As a Great Lakes Surf Kayak enthusiast, I am fortunate enough to make it out to California once a year. I usually beg, borrow, or rent a surf kayak and head off on my own to a local break. This year I decided to be a little more organized. I contacted Sean Morley of River and Ocean Kayaking I have had plenty of sea kayaking instruction, but literally no surf kayaking instruction. I’ve never had anyone look at what I was doing to see if I could do it any better. I’ve watched lots of Youtube videos and a few surf videos and then I always watch what boardies are doing when I go out. They tend to have good positioning instincts and are invaluable for good information on where to take off. But good instruction is key to being effective in a shorter amount of time.

Sean Morley, who is an amazing sea kayaker as seen in Justine Curgenven’s This is the Sea II, is also a competitive surf kayaker. Sean was world masters champion in 2007 in the HP (high performance category) in Mundaka of the Basque region of Spain, as well as placing in many other competitions. His wife Gina is also a world reknown surf kayaking champion.

Sean having organized the massively successful Golden Gate Sea Kayak Symposium, only the week before graciously drove down to Davenport Landing to meet me on Saturday morning. After looking at the large, but lumpy waves at Davenport Landing Sean suggested driving down to Moss Landing south of Santa Cruz. Having run the gauntlet at Davenport Landing in 2007, I was not anxious to go back there on a big day to get tossed over the rocks. Little did I know this would happen anyway.

We drove down to Moss Landing. There were at least six other surf kayakers in the parking lot along with a lot of other boardies. Sean got me situated in his Murky Waters Agua Libre. We headed out onto the beach break. Sean gave some great instructions on positioning, and how to use different waves for different purposes. For the wave at Moss landing, Sean advised to stay high on the wave, rather than dropping in to the bottom right away, and to run it down the line until it started to close out and then, in his words, “smack the lip” and pop off the shoulder. It took quite a few missed take-offs, one swim, and a few poor wave selection to get it. And then finally while Sean was in the white water paddling back out, I hit it, dropped in, and rather than dropping down to the bottom of the wave, as is my instinct, I grabbed a wave, hung high near the lip and screamed down the line until it started to close out, I dropped down into a bottom turn and was wiped out by the foam pile, but I had done it. I got a whoo-hoo from Sean. He came over and advised next time when the wave starts to close out to flatten out my hull and accelerate at the crest, in order to fly right off of it.

Here Chris Harvey has the boat presented flat to the wave face despite moving laterally along it, he is using his paddle downwave for support.

This is a difficult concept to grasp without actually seeing it. The general instinct is to hold the rail into the wave face so that the boat has grip, you can use your paddle for support as is shown below. .

This is completely counter intuitive, but the boat when flat will accelerate harder due to more planing surface and less resistance, and it allows the paddler to launch off the lip and get airborne.

This day was full of lessons like this. I would launch off of a wave, wipe out, then get washed in, paddle back out to try again. Sean would offer advice about boat positioning, how to sink the tail for takeoff, bunny hop over foam piles, all sorts of stuff that I had seen, but didn’t know what it was.

We came back after lunch to see a windblown swell with a lot of “juice” in Sean’s words left in it. I tried out Sean’s IC boat the Salsa to limited effectiveness. I had tons of hull speed, but with no fins, you are left to rails, edging and paddle strokes to control your boat. I managed to catch a lot of waves and then wound up surfing backwards on a lot of them. As I edged I usually found myself upside down before I hit the sweet spot on the rail. I really loved that getting off the beach was easier with no fins, but it was a totally different, looser experience to surf an IC boat.

Day 2 began at Davenport Landing. It looked blown out and small from the beach. But the forecast said 6-7 foot swell. Sean and I suited up and paddled out on flat water to the outer part of the break that was closer to the deep water channel. My stomach was clenched in knots knowing that if I had a bad wipeout with a swim, a dashing on the rocks might be on the menu. I surfed way deep and close to the channel so I could shoot left and be out of the path of the waves headed over the table of rock. I caught one or two short rides like this until Sean urged me further towards the point and into deeper water. We waited for quite a while and then Sean would shout “outside” once every few minutes. Outside meaning a larger than average wave was going to breaking right where we would be sitting if we didn’t move it. So I would paddle like hell and then climb a ten foot face praying to God I would make it before it started to curl. I saw Sean dig his tail in and catch one of these monsters and scream along to the outside into deep water.

I plucked up my courage dug in and paddled for one, leaning way forward to weight the bow, following the advice to stay high on the wave rather than dropping way down, I angled my takeoff to the right. I dropped in and screamed right at what seemed like the speed of light, and there just never seemed to be an end to the wave, it just kept spilling and spilling as a mountain of a swell finally closed out behind me. Unluckily the foam pile caught me, and drove my rail under and I wiped out. I rolled up into the foam pile and surfed off into the deep water channel. It was definitely the fastest I’ve had a surf kayak moving on a wave. The power of Pacific swell really can’t be compared to short period slop on Lake Michigan, though it humbles me to say it. As I looked out by the point I could see small mountains of swell crashing in to the rocks. Needless to say I paddled back out to catch another one.

Sean and I paddled a bit further out to the point. I was caught inside on another huge wave, I could do nothing but run with it, so I turned and paddled like hell. Unfortunately the nose of my boat dug in and I was cartwheeling in towards the rocks with wild abandon. I managed to roll up into the foam pile, and then surf laterally off the rocks into deep water.

I caught one more ride like the first, and then paddled back out. Until I heard Sean shout outside again. This time, with a bit of advice I weighted the boat back and then paddled like hell to run with it, the boat managed to stay upright and I was merely surfing wildly out of control but upright. I got my wits about me and began carving right like the dickens away from the cliff wall. I wasn’t going to make it, I was too far inside. I started looking for a good place to bring the boat in without damaging it, I spotted a beach along the cliffs where it looked like I could hike back to the main beach. I dropped a hanging draw as I was surfed in to stay off the rocks and then steered away from the rocks and popped out on the beach. Sean was probably relieved to see me and his boat in one piece when he surfed in to see how I was. We decided to call it a day as the surf wasn’t getting any better. He was probably never happier to see a student roll up and stay in his boat.

I walked away in sheer awe of Sean’s surfing ability. He would drop in on a massive wave drop down the line and the fly off the lip getting air like a kid on a skateboard ramp. He was undisputed master of his domain. He was doing this on small waves as well as large ones. I certainly aspire to one tenth the competence he demonstrates unconsciously. He was gracious with his praise and pointed out quite a few of my weak spots. Hopefully I represented the midwest well. While the Great Lakes certainly doesn’t have massive 13 second period swell, we can surf the waves of our lakes and build our skills within spectrum where we can at least paddle out and catch a wave without disgrace.

I highly recommend heading out to San Francisco for either Surf Kayaking or Sea Kayak Coaching with Sean Morley. His experience with moving water and racing make him an invaluable resource for your paddling. I hope to make it out to the Golden Gate Symposium Next year too!

This is a picture of Sean Morley catching serious air off a wave in a competition

The circumnavigation of Sicily won’t be this time. Progress has been much too slow, and the time I have will not allow us to recover the delay. We’ve done about 125km in a week, and we’ve only just made it to the north side of the island.

Another purpose of the journey, for me, was to see some of my Sicilian friends, mostly in the area of Palermo and Trapani, but the progress we’ve been doing until now, and the weather forecast for the coming days, make it unlikely that we’ll even make it to Palermo in time to see my friends there.

In the end it seems the better choice to stop here, and take the train to see my friends and a bit of Palermo and surroundings.

One embarks on a journey for a reason, but continuing the journey in kayak will not bring the experience I was looking for. In that case plans should be changed.

ARCATA, Calif., (March 9, 2010) – Madison will soon be abuzz with paddlesports junkies as the annual Canoecopia exhibition takes over the Alliant Energy Center on March 12-14. Kokatat, the 38-year old independent paddlewear manufacturer, is a presenting sponsor of Canoecopia and will have staff members on-hand to answer consumers’ questions and showcase its sponsored athletes through a variety of paddlesports’ presentations.

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Il periplo della Sicilia non si fa questa volta. Il progresso è stato troppo lento, e il tempo disponibile non permette di ricuperare. In una settimana abbiamo fatto sui 125km, e siamo appena arrivati sulla costa nord dell’isola.

Un altro scopo del viaggio, per me, era di rivedere tanti amici siciliani, soprattutto nel palermitano e nel trapanese, ma con la velocità fino ad ora, e il tempo previsto per i prossimi giorni, non è nemmeno tanto probabile che arriveremo a Palermo in tempo per poter vedere i miei amici in zona.

A fin dei conto mi risulta meglio fermarsi qui, ed andare in treno a trovare gli amici e vedere un po’ di Palermo e dintorni.

Un viaggio si fa per delle ragioni, ma continuando questo viaggio in kayak non mi consente più di ottenere quella esperienza che cercavo. In quel caso i piani si cambiano.

Adventure Kayak magazine's blog recently published a list they describe as "a completely arbitrary, shamelessly biased and utterly made-up list of the 10 best places to live for sea kayaking." You can't get more definitive than that.
It mentions a number of places like Portland, San Fransisco and San Diego on the west coast, and Halifax and New York on the east coast as well as some inland spots like Parry Sound, Ontario, hometown of Bobby Orr, the greatest hockey player ever! Now I have two reasons to visit there! But I digress.
Which city did Adventure Kayak list as number one? Our hometown Victoria, BC, which they describe as "...infamously home to the 'newly wed and nearly dead,' Victoria residents happily spend their in-between years sea kayaking. If you can get over the skyrocketing real estate prices this pocket-sized city may have the highest per capita coastline and beauty quotient in Canada if not the world."
Couldn't agree more. Now if only they'd stop telling everyone else about us....

The good new is that I got out for a short paddle today. Lovely ice formations and fog were the setting. I have other pics, but photo shop may have died on my computer.
On the other hand, the vacation did little to refresh me or, for that matter, cheer me up. The fog today was appropriate and symbolic. I do not know when it is supposed to clear.

Paddle safe...
DS

The great thing about camping and paddling is that there are so many items that you can either make or “upgrade” yourself.

The website, Instructables is a fantastic resource for the tinkerer. The site is great as they give step by step instructions for almost anything under the sun. A while back I covered their awesome instructions on how to your own computer out of a stuffed beaver. We are talking about very practical stuff here!

Below is a list of interesting items related to camping, canoeing or kayaking:

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After a yummy meal last night of pasta alfredo with shrimp and scallops (KW was still talking about it this afternoon!) the tough hall is about to begin. Winds have shifted and are now Southerlies, running about 7-10 knots with sporadic light rain.

KB is still paddling with KneadingWater, Seiche and SandyBottom and has reserved Lost Mans Place chickee for this evening. Wednesday will require approximately a 40 mile paddle to Shark River chickee and then about 30 miles to Flamingo on Thursday. If weather and her shoulder holds, a Friday arrival in Key Largo shouldn't be a problem.

No signs yet of gators!

I’ve been impatiently waiting to see reviews of “This is Canoeing” start to appear on the internet. While the DVD isn’t ‘out’ until Friday, I sent review copies to magazines and websites and sent copies to the people featured in the DVD. These reviews have started to appear. Here is a review from the current [...]

Sjökort för iPhone har funnits tidigare, men nu kommer Eniro med ett nytt program som förutom vanligt sjökort kan visa en del annan info:

Eniro på sjön är ett snabbt och enkelt hjälpmedel för dig som är på sjön. Genom kameran, kompassen och GPSen i din iPhone 3GS kan du snabbt se var restauranger, varv, gästhamnar, med mera finns i förhållande till var du är.

Genom att hålla upp telefonen framför dig visas information om vad som finns runt omkring dig i telefonens kameraskärm. Allt ovanpå en karta så att du snabbt och lätt kan följa var du är.

Kul grej. Smidigt att den kombinerar kamera, gps och kompass för extra information. Den funkar bara med 3GS verkar det som, så inte med min gamla 3G

Hämtas här

Liknande:

1. SMHI Kustväder i iPhone
2. Ladda iPhone på en kobbe
3. iPhone – program man inte kan vara utan
4. Nästan tårögd
5. Geocaching vid Västersjön
6. Sjökort i iPhone
7. Sjökort hos Eniro
8. Testar från iphone
9. Rädda liv med hjälp av telefonen
10. Direkt från iPhone

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Despite the title, this DVD is not about canoeing, it’s about canoeists, the people who canoe. A major part of Justine Curgenven’s documentary-making skill has been to find the right characters and these chosen individuals are relaxed, quirky, interesting and utterly captivated by their chosen sport. It’s obvious Justine likes them and they both like and trust her. The results are quality

Right, enough childhood trauma new & old, let's talk about carrots again. I actually sent this picture to the Ditmas Park blog, because they always like reports on what's going on at our great little Cortelyou Greenmarket.

They posted it & before too long, a commenter had provided some fascinating trivia about this type of carrot. It's called a "Red Core Chantenay" and as it turns out, I bet most of you have tried this exact kind of carrot. Learn why in Comment #5!

BTW, I think the reason that that bugged me so much is that there was a certain extreme low point that I hit in high school, after we left Hawaii. Mostly I did a very very good job of hiding how homesick I was, but oh god, this one day it all just broke loose. In gym class, of all the idiotic places.

I look back on that & the one thing that I still can't figure out to this day is -

Where were all the grown-ups?

So I guess I read about a kid ending up getting put in a bad situation that the grown-ups should've maybe seen coming - it hits a few zillion nerves.

I really do hope the kid is too young to get it.

Il Campionato Italiano di Eskimo 2010 vede in acqua per la prima volta insieme canoisti fluviali e marini che useranno per le diverse specialità vari modelli di kayak forniti dagli sponsor della manifestazione.
I kayak saranno utilizzati sia per le selezioni che per le prove in acqua: la vasca della piscina, infatti, sarà divisa in due zone distinte e mentre gli atleti si cimenteranno con le varie discipline, curiosi ed appassionati potranno dedicarsi al kayak test con le tante imbarcazioni disponibili.

Pardon me while I get political for one post.

I ran across a story that really bugged me today on a friend's Facebook page today.

The story was about a Denver Catholic school that kicked out a preschooler because his parents are a lesbian couple.

Now, I claim to be a good couscous-nibbling chardonnay-sipping big-city lib'rul here on this blog occasionally, and according to that self-stereotype, you'd think I'd automatically say the lesbian parents were the good guys (or women as it was) and the bad old Church was the bad guy.

But instead, I just found myself thinking "Poor kid. Why weren't any of the adults watching out for him? Somebody should've known better!"

I'm very much in favor of gay rights (including marriage, I think it's incredibly unfair that TQ & I could set up that legal partnership known as marriage anytime we wanted to when we've never even lived in the same city, while friends of mine who've been in serious, loving, committed, living-under-the-same-roof relationships for years and years and years can't). But still...well, here's the rant I left on poor Peter's facebook page:

Hm. Went back, reread the article, find myself feeling very very sorry for the kid & wondering which set of adults was most responsible - the parents, the school admin, or church higher-ups.

Leaving aside the shoulds & should-nots & looking at what is - the fact is that a church that runs a school gets a certain say in how that school is run & who gets to go there. Another fact is that Catholic Church is anti-gay. I know plenty of completely gay-friendly Catholics, but the institution is NOT.

Clearly, it seems like whoever was responsible for the ultimate decision to kick the kid out chose to disregard the well-being of a child, which is a shame.

But on the other hand, I find myself thinking along rather similar lines as Michael's 2nd comment* - albeit with a different spin -

Why on earth would a gay couple entrust their child's welfare to such an institution?

Seems implausible that they would've just tried to pull a fast one. There would've been interviews, meetings, all sorts of preliminaries where their relationship should have become obvious. So either they deliberately hid it - which seems implausible, why would a gay couple effectively re-closet themselves to get their kid accepted to a school? What kind of message would that be for them to give their kid? - OR - more plausible - the administration at the school thought it was OK for them to wink at their own rules.**

Maybe they looked at it as civil (or ecumenical) disobedience - but is performing an act of civil disobedience that puts a child's welfare at risk OK?

Maybe better for the adults work to change the rules (if that's what they believe should happen) before they put kids in a potentially dodgy situation.

*Michael is a Catholic who was sticking up for his church's right to run their school by their own rules. I think that's fair, even if I don't think the rules are.

**Found a little more info in a related article when I got home tonight -
1. the child is a preschooler - is that young enough that he might not really get what's going on & bounce back without any major issues? Hope so.
2. It does sound like at least some of the staff were surprised & upset about the decision - I would have thought they might have suspected that this might be an issue, but then I don't know much about internal politics in the Catholic church. Still, "We didn't think" isn't always the best excuse in the world.

Il Campionato Italiano di Eskimo 2010 si aprirà sabato 13 marzo alle ore 15.00. Il programma è stato pensato per favorire la partecipazione alla manifestazione nazionale di canoisti sia fluviali che marini e prevede momenti comuni di incontro e socializzazione.
Sabato 13 marzo
Ore 15 - apertura della manifestazione sportiva e consegna dei gadget a tutti gli iscritti
Ore 16 - gare fluviali nelle discipline dell'eskimo in velocità
Ore 20 - cena in compagnia (a prezzo convenzionato su prenotazione)
Domenica 14 marzo
Ore 10 - gare marine nella disciplina dell'eskimo groenlandese
Ore 13 - premiazione e consegna di medaglie, coppe e premi ai primi classificati
Ore 14 - pranzo in compagnia e saluti
Nelle due giornate di manifestazione sarà possibile testare in acqua i vari kayak esposti.
Lo spazio verde antistante la piscina sarà occupato dagli stand espositivi di costruttori e produttori
Negli ambienti circostanti la vasca sarà possibile visitare una mostra fotografica ed un originale esposizione di t-shirt.
La palestra limitrofa alla struttura sportiva sarà messa a disposizione dei partecipanti per il pernottamento del sabato al costo simbolico di 3,00 euro a persona (materassino e sacco a pelo propri).
Sarà garantita l'assistenza qualificata a bordo vasca e la presenza di personale medico della Croce Rossa per l'intera durata del Campionato.
Ingresso gratuito agli spalti per gli spettatori.


This is the programm of the Italian Championship of Eskimo and Greenland Roll:
Saturday 13rd March
3 PM - Presentation and welcome
4 PM - White water kayak competitions
9 PM - Dinner all togheter
Sunday 14th March
10 AM - Sea kayak competitions
13 AM - Awards for the best kayakers
14 AM - Luch all togheter
Sponsor stands, kayak tests, photographic space.
Night in the gymnasium for 3,00 euros each.
Medical assistance and free entry.

The Canadian Outdoor Equipment Co. is proud to present a great opportunity to learn about water safety and cold-water rescue. Our friends at The Peel Police Marine Unit have offered to demonstrate the skills needed to perform a cold-water rescue and how to prevent an accident from happening in the first place. They will cover all aspects related to water safety and carry out live demonstrations.

It is the perfect learning experience for anyone spending time near water or on ice. Paddlers, snowmobilers, skaters, campers and even dog walkers are welcome.

This FREE presentation will take place at the Peel Police Marine head quarters located at 135 Lakefront Promenade Mississauga on March 13th. Presentation will start at noon and end at about 3pm. Following the event everyone is invited to head over to The Canadian Outdoor Equipment Co. at 199 Lakeshore Rd east Mississauga.

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… I’ve been doing my best not to be dull recently and have enjoying the fine weather of the  last week. I’ve been mixing my days between work and pleasure. It’s weeks like this where I really appreciate living in North Wales and being so close to fantastic playgrounds for many different disciplines. On Friday [...]

Everglades Challenge news last updated at 11:00 om MondayRead all the forum posts from the challengers [here].Zoom in on a WaterTribe map of their progress [here]. Follow SPOT tracking data from SandyBottom [here]. View collected WaterTribe photos and video [here]. Sunday (3/7)SandyBottom paddled 67 miles on Saturday and 50 miles on Sunday. Sunday night, SandyBottom was one of several challengers

The kayak of the Angmagssalik Eskimo is not only a wonder of efficiency, but a veritable artistic triumph. It is the perfect canoe. Each detail has evolved till it has reached perfection. The kayak, like a race horse, is a thing of infinite beauty. When the Quest first reached Greenland, we saw the natives in their kayaks throwing their harpoons with consummate grace; and later we saw them, dressed in waterproof coats, rolling the kayak right over in the water. They fell over on one side, and with a dexterous movement of the paddle appeared again on the other. We appreciated then the skill of this, as a trick, but it was not till we had had personal experience that we realized the importance, indeed the necessity, of being able to perform this strange evolution.

Watkins realized that it would be impossible for us to hunt seals in the summer unless we learned to use a kayak. Furthermore, should we succeed in this, we would be able to support ourselves on journeys along the coast, instead of having to carry a vast amount of food and impedimenta. Europeans had learned to go in a kayak before; in fact Nansen and Johansen had depended on them in that memorable journey to Franz Josef Land after the Fram had been frozen into the North Polar Ocean. But it was generally thought impossible that a European could learn to hunt seals from a kayak, or to roll it in the Eskimo fashion.

Back at the beginning of February, we took the great road north again past Buchaille Etive Mor, 1022m, and through the dark recesses of Glen Coe beyond.At Loch Linnhe we turned south and entered the lands of Appin which were controlled by the bold fortress of...Castle Stalker sitting on its little island. On the bigger island of Shuna beyond, you can just see the tiny remains of its rather

I woke last Saturday thinking that somehow I had slept through the remainder of winter straight to summer. The sun was warm, sky blue, birds chirping, and the forecast promised a high of 60°F. This seemed the perfect excuse to try out a mounting system for the camcorders I had constructed . Although with such [...]

Reposted from The Skillet Creek Journal - Outdoor lovers from all over the mid-west will be gathering in Madison, Wisconsin this weekend, March 12 – 14, 2010, for Canoecopia, the world’s largest paddle sports expo. Hosted by Rutabaga of Madison, Canoecopia features hundreds of vendors from the outdoor industry and 3 days of presentations [...]

British Pathé, ett imponerande arkiv av historiskt filmmaterial, har mycket från de brittiska polarexpeditionerna från förra sekelskiftet och framåt.

En filmsnutt som jag fastnade för är denna: Greenland´s Icy Mountains No. 4 från 1932. Kapten Bartlett (som seglade med Peary) kommer med skonaren Morrisey till Grönland och möter eskimåer som paddlar, rollar, dansar och poserar.

Filmsnutten är drygt 2 minuter lång. Det som fascinerar mig kommer efter ca 47 sekunder – ett gäng grönländska jägare i sina kajaker som paddlar förbi. Titta på paddeltekniken: hög frekvens och en mjuk organisk motorik som signalerar hög verkningsgrad och minimal energiåtgång. Inte en muskel rör sig i onödan. Inga vattenkaskader efter paddeln, mycket lite kölvatten. Paddlarna ser ut att kunna hålla den farten i timmar.

Man kan fundera över om den höga frekvensen kan vara något överdriven – bildfrekvensen stämmer inte alltid från gamla kameror. Men de där speedade gamla filmerna kom ofta från handvevade kameror där kameramannen själv styrde hastigheten. Men Pathékameror från 30 talet drevs av fjädermotor med reglerad filmmatning, och bildfrekvensen hade hittat en standard – och tittar man på andra sekvenser: folk som springer på berget, den lille grabben som hoppar ombord mm finns ingen antydan till frekvensfel.

Så vad jag ser är ett fantastiskt flyt i paddeltagen som jag mycket sällan sett i andra sammanhang. När jag granskar paddelbladens rörelse får jag samma känsla som när jag ser ett 500-meterslopp i en olympisk final – samma kombination av flyt och micropaus/accelerationsfas i en dynamisk rörelse, men här använd till energisnål uthållighet istället för maximalt effektuttag under kort tid. En uppvisning att både imponeras och inspireras av…

How awesome is this prototype for the Astral Ninja LE3 PFD?



It’s a limited edition version of their Greenjacket and is scheduled to ship towards the end of March. Better hurry as it won’t be around for much longer.




More info: astralbuoyancy.com

Winter appears to be on the way out for another year in my area. Normally I wouldn't be saying that for another six weeks or so, but this year abnormally warm temperatures have been with us since the end of January. Looking at the lake ice today, I'd say it's melting fast. I could be paddling on the lake by the end of the month if current conditions persist. That would be two to three weeks earlier than usual.


In the meantime, there have been things to do! I repeated my snowshoe climb of Mt Megantic again. Conditions were similar to last year, although the melt was underway from bottom to top of the mountain. This mountain has one of Canada's biggest observatories at the summit. Sadly peasants like me don't get to observe the cosmic wonders available to viewers inside the building, but just the naked eye will provide quite the view at this altitude.


This last photo is my way of saying 'Goodbye winter, goodbye'!

It's time to get serious.

I have been checking out the route and adding up the kilometres. Before calculating in any detours or back-paddling to avoid huge whales the kilometre total still stands at approximately 450km.

I have been looking into interesting variations on the route and emergency contingency plans should the weather or ice demand them. The most interesting variation is a portage of 3km (multiplied by the number of times I walk it!) to get from one fjord into another. I can pack the Kodiak into a large backpack and carry it overland to put in at a hunter's cabin opposite two huge glaciers. Jane and I visited this area a few years ago and walked the portage route. We didn't carry anything though. Jean-Luc Grossmann and his team portaged it on their 2007 expedition. I saw them off from Uummannaq that summer and wished I was going with them - this summer I will follow at least part of their paddle wake!

Jean-Luc's expedition comprised 4 guys in hardshell boats, paddling 600km over 45 days. I will be one guy, one folding boat and about 450km in about 30 days. I just hope I can take pictures at least half as good as Jean-Luc's!

Back to the drawing board ... I am also confident that I can get on the water at midnight on the 22nd June. Leaving Uummannaq and paddling an easy 8km over to Stor Øen. When I was reading a lot of desert literature in my late teens I came across a passage describing how nomads began long journeys by travelling just a very short distance the first night. In the event that they forgot anything when they struck camp, they could easily return for it. Whereas I don't intend to forget anything, I really like the camp on Stor Øen! Good memories of summer trips.

I will then paddle on to Umanatsiaq on Ikerasak island and then on, and on and on ...

I had been hoping for a day like this, one of those that remind us spring is around the corner, it’s time to shake off the hibernation and seek out of doors activities. 

Warm sun at the house didn’t quite prepare me for a sea breeze at The Landing but I should have known; it’s March. Surprisingly the water was not that cold all things considered as Carl and I jumped on the boards and headed out for some exercise. The breeze and chop didn’t slow us much as we headed over to the rocks off of Brigg’s, wind swell pushing through made for some fun close in. Small waves pushed us to shore. Carl ripping it up, me…I chose a more sedate course in. 

I need more days like this.