Author: admin

You may have noticed that a strange box has appeared on the top of the blog, which says ‘Twitter’ in it. A week ago, I didn’t know what “Twitter” was and I didn’t really care ( I’m getting old already!)! But then I got told that ‘twitter’ could automatically let people know if I was about to go on a kayaking trip, and provide a link to a ‘live map’ of the kayaking route. I signed up and have spent the last week or so working with “Sanoodi” and Derrick to work out the nitty gritty of it.

Today is a beautiful warm sunny day in Wales and when I got a phone call from a friend, I didn’t need much persuading to get out on the water – just to test the system out, of course!

The upshot is that as I’m kayaking somewhere, my position is uploaded live onto a website, superimposed on a map or an aerial photograph. Check out the map of the test paddle today – it’s amazingly detailed. You can even see where Jeff and I stopped for a play in the moving water. For those people who have better things to do than check up on my progress (!), you can look at the map at the end of the day and see where we kayaked, the total distance covered and the average speed. And, by the way, we were against the tide today – in both directions!!

How this works is quite simple – thanks to some very clever software – and the good news is that if you want to do the same thing, you can download the software you need for free from Sanoodi. You need a phone with a GPS in it – either a blackberry, an I-phone, a Nokia S-60, or a windows mobile phone. Then you can download a free copy of the SMap software from the Sanoodi website and upload your own tracks live to their website. Or go to wap.sanoodi.com from your phone. We have a blackberry because it has the best battery life.

Barry and I are planning a trip in the next few weeks which I’ll write more about soon – and we’ll be using the blackberry to give live updates of our position. To follow along, you don’t have to join twitter. Just check the blog and whenever we set off, you’ll see a link to the map of our route. If you want to join twitter, or you are already a member, then ‘follow’ CackleTV and you’ll automatically get the update everytime I go on a trip.

It actually felt like Spring this weekend. On Sunday, the surf on the Hells Mouth webcam was looking good and the sun was shining. Eve and I drove down the Llyn Peninsula with our surf kayaks in the van and had a great couple of hours getting wet and thrown around by the waves. Eve was rolling like a demon, recovering from front loops, back loops & washing machine rides! A great day to get excited about warmer weather and fun adventures to come!

Yesterday was a really big tidal range with a high tide of 9.7 metres in Liverpool. Perhaps more importantly for us, the low tide was REALLY LOW! Only 0.4metres… That meant that the standing waves at the Swellies in the Menai Straits should be really well formed and calling out to be surfed! The only problem was that action time, when the waves form was about 6.30pm — about the time it gets dark! But we couldn’t resist such a big tide. Barry also wanted to check out a different wave, a bit higher upstream from the ”Swellies wave’, which he’s only seen ‘working’ (i.e surfable) when the low tide is REALLY low. It was working well last night, with the tide tanking through there, making it hard to get onto the front wave. The traditional Swellies wave is still my favourite though, and on our way back, in near pitch dark, it was steep and powerful. It was a bit scary, to be honest, especially when we could only see each other if we were very close. After Barry capsized and rolled, which I didn’t see, we decided to get off the water, and go for a well deserved Pizza-and-a-Pint!

Cackle TV is going to sell and distribute the new seakayaking film “Eastern Horizons” in the UK. Europe & Australasia. Bryan Smith & his wife Lise-Anne Beyries from Reel Water Productions in Canada have been spent a lot of the last 18 months making this new entertaining seakayaking DVD, which is released this month.

The creators of “Pacific Horizons” (which is also available from CackleTV) moved over to North America’s east coast from Georgia to Newfoundland to bring you another inspirational and breathtaking sea kayaking adventure film. Eastern Horizons blends the rich history and culture of the sea with world class sea kayakers, idyllic destinations, incredible wildlife and compelling stories of people who’s lives are deeply connected to the Atlantic Ocean. From the rich marshes in North Carolina to the icebergs in Newfoundland and from the urban landscape of New York City to the remote fishing villages of the Magdalene Islands, this film is a must for everyone interested in the ocean.

You can read more about the film HERE, and you can now pre-order it from my website. The DVD should be available to ship on 25th March, or soon afterwards.

“Pacific Horizons”, “Eastern Horizons” and the “This is the Sea” series can also be purchased at a reduced price if you buy more than 1 DVD at a time – click here to go to the UK/ Europe / Australisia store. For example you can buy any 2 DVDs for £35.99, or any 3 DVDs for £52.99, with free shipping anywhere in the world.

“This is the Sea 4” is still doing well at film festivals. The South island circumnavigation film won second place for ‘best Adventure film’ at the Sheffield Adventure Film Festival recently. First place was awarded to ‘Solo’, the film about Andrew McAuley crossing the Tasman Sea.

In the US, “Eastern Horizons” is being launched by Bryan this weekend at Canoecopia.