Author: Justine

  • The Future – This is the Sea 4?


    I know “This is the Sea 3” isn’t quite out yet, but plans are already underway to get some footage for dare I say it, ‘This is the Sea 4’ !? ( The title is to be confirmed, but there WILL be another Cackle TV seakayaking DVD in the next 12 – 24 months!)

    In fact, Alun & I fly to San Diego next week to do some filming with some very good kayak fishing guys, including Jim Sammons.
    I’m excited about that as I know very little about ‘proper’ kayak fishing and I’ve wanted to film it for ages. (I have caught the odd fish with my hand line trailed behind my kayak but I think it’s more luck that judgement!) If you live near San Diego then I’m giving a presentation ( with Jim Sammons & Jock Bradey) on Saturday 3rd March and showing a sneak preview chapter from ‘This is the Sea 3’. If that’s not enough to whet your appetite then there’s wine & Cheese aswell. Contact Aqua Adventures if you’re interested.

    We then drive to Baja with Jen Kleck from Aqua Adventures, and some of the Johnson Outdoor pro paddlers to camp & do some rock hopping & rough water paddling. I’m told that Jock Bradley will be putting down his camera and taking up his wooden spoon to produce some fine foods!

    Next is Canoecopia & the launch of “This is the Sea 3”. Lendal are hiring a bar and a band on 10th March in Madison and we’re showing the world premiere of ‘This is the Sea 3’. DVDs will be on sale at Canoecopia from Friday 9th March, and at other shops around the world from Saturday 10th March. I’ll be around all weekend to sign copies ( and giving some presentations).

    In late March, Alun and I head to Australia for the New South Wales Canoe Club’s annual “Rock N Roll” event. After that we plan to paddle in the Nadge Wildernes Area of NSW with Laurie Geoghegan and others, followed by an attempted crossing of the Bass Strait to Tasmania. We’ll cross to the East side of Tassie via a chain of islands. The total distance is about 370km and the longest hop is 67km, which I think will be my longest open crossing so far.

    We’ll be home in May & June, then in July we fly back to the West coast of the States. This time we are delighted to be attempting to circumnavigate Haida Gwaii ( The Queen Charlotte Islands ) with our good friends and very talented paddlers Shawna Franklin & Leon Sommes. We hope to paddle back to mainland Canada afterwards making the total journey around this remote, wild and beaufiul island chain around 1000km. I’ll write more about all of these trips as they approach and I hope to have regular blog updates of all of them as they progress. And I’ll have my cameras with me, of course!

    (The photo is obviously nothing to do with any of this! It’s Alun Biking in Scotland last weekend as we enjoyed 3 days of biking and hiking)

  • "Kayaks of Greenland" Book available


    A few copies of Harvey Golden’s “Kayaks of Greenland” book have landed in Wales. As far as I know Cackle TV is the only company selling this book in the UK. We’ll be selling them for £35 each ( the retail price is $69 in the US ). Unfortunately it’s a big heavy book ( almost 2 kilos of pure quality! ), which I think will cost £4.78 to post by parcel post within the UK, and more within Europe. I’m happy to post them to anyone if they are prepared to pay the postage on top of this.

    I will take some to the Fort William Film Festival with me this weekend, and take some to the Outdoor Show in Birmingham in March, so if you would like one without paying the postage then please come and find me!!

    For more info on the book, see

    http://www.traditionalkayaks.com/KOG.html

  • "This is the Sea 3" cover

    Here’s the final cover of “This is the Sea 3”. You’ve probably already seen the front.

    I’m driving up to Fort William tomorrow to talk in the Fort William Mountain Film Festival. Myself and Patrick Winterton will be giving a seakayaking presentation on the Sunday evening. I’ll be showing a sneak preview from ‘the Falls of Lora’ footage which I think will go down well!

  • Support Fund for Andrew’s family

    The New South Wales canoe club have set up a trust fund for Andrew McAuley’s family, following his tragic disappearance less than 100km short of his 1,500km solo crossing to New Zealand. If you would like to donate something to help his wife Vicky, and 3 year old son Finlay then the details are below.

    I will be donating a percentage of sales from “This is the Sea 3” to the fund, partly because this DVD contains the story of Andrew’s recent 800km journey down the Antarctic peninsula, which he filmed. For every DVD sold I’ll give US$1.50 to Andrew’s family.

    With sad timing, this documentary of Andrew’s Antarctic expedition won “best paddling adventure travel story” at it’s world premiere at the Reel Film Festival in Canada last Saturday. The film “Epics in Ice – An Antarctic Kayaking Odyssey” is a fantastic story, where Andrew’s love of exploration and wild places really shows through. The film festival is now on tour across Canada in over 30 different venues. The organisers, Rapid Media, have said they’ll tell people how they can donate at each event.

    Here are the details,

    Andrew McAuley Support Fund
    To make a donation, please electronically transfer funds to:

    Account name: Andrew McAuley
    Bank: Commonwealth Bank of Australia
    BSB: 062505
    Account: 10184059
    SWIFT: CTBAAU2S (for international transfers)

    If you find a wire transfer too cumbersome, you can go to the NSW Sea Kayak Club’s web site and make an online donation using your credit card:

    http://www.nswseakayaker.asn.au/