A thick plush envelope arrived on my doormat a few days ago with a post mark that said “Buckingham Palace”. It’s my birthday soon but I’m pretty sure the Royal Household is not aware of that so I discounted the possibility of an early birthday card. 6 weeks ago, I got caught doing 47 mph in a 40 mph zone at 4am on my way to Heathrow airport and I haven’t been home to answer the police letters. Surely that oversight doesn’t require Royal intervention?… What could it be?
With some anticipation, I opened the seal, rushing but not wanting to rip the expensive envelope! And there it was, an invitation to tea with the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh for those involved in ‘Exploration and Adventure’. How exciting, and how strange all at once! I usually try to avoid the big city, preferring the wind to the traffic noise, & the hills to lots of people… but I am delighted to be invited and I shall find some suitable clothing and make my way to the Palace in time for tea & scones. Or maybe it’s champagne & canapes? Either way, thank you ma’am!
Cackle TV is selling a limited number of the new DVD, “Seakayak with Gordon Brown volume 2” which has just been released.
The DVD covers a range of different rescues performed by the charismatic Scottish Level 5 coach, both on flat water and in more challenging conditions. I saw a preview copy and was impressed with the amount of material covered and with the clear explanations of how to perform the rescues. The DVD is well structured and had a few new ideas in it which I hadn’t seen before. I first met Gordon 14 years ago when I had just started seakayaking. He was one of the instructors at the Jersey sea kayak symposium which I was attending and remember being impressed by his skills in a kayak and his coaching. Since then he’s set up his own company Skyak Adventures, where he coaches full time with his wife Morag.
The other part of the DVD is a journey to the beautiful islands of St Kilda off the NW coast of Scotland. St Kilda is right up there on the list of places that I’d like to kayak as there is something so majestic about the steep cliffs rising defiantly from the sea so far from any other landmass. The remoteness of the islands, the ancient buildings and the thousands of circling gannets add to the appeal. In the DVD, we see Gordon leading a group of paddlers on a tour of the islands with stunning scenery for a backdrop. We also learn something about the history of the island & see footage of the first kayak crossing to the islands by Hamish Gow, long before I was born!
You can watch the instruction intercut with the journey, or chose to watch one of the other by themselves. In total, there is over 2 hours of footage. I think it’s a compliment to the film that Barry and I sat down to watch it late at night when we were tired and watched it all in one go. Overall, I’d say if you want to learn more about rescues then this is a great DVD to buy.
In the bigger scheme of things, here at Cackle TV, we are committed to continue to produce our own quality DVDs and right now I am working on our first instructional DVD, “This is the Roll” which we aim to release before Christmas this year. Next year, there will also be a “This is the Sea 5” and an instructional DVD giving advice & tips to people who want to go on overnight seakayaking trips or longer expeditions. Over the last year or so, we’ve noticed that many people like to come to our webstore to see what DVDs are available so we’ve started to search out products that we like and to sell more of other people’s seakayaking and canoeing DVDs and books alongside our own. If this continues to be popular then we’ll continue to do it, and we may become more of a one-stop shop for people looking for kayaking DVDs for themselves of for presents. So please keep checking out the store and see what you can treat yourself, or a friend to!
The 6th UK Storm gathering lived up to it’s name with strong gusts filled with sea spray, and waves crashing into rocks and curling onto beaches. No-one could complain though….. they’d signed up for it!
Almost 100 people attended and about 20 coaches and instructors looked at the forecasts and wished it was just a little bit less windy! The landing and launching spot at Trearduur Bay was a little bit sheltered on some days and proved a popular spot for nipping in and out of the swell. I helped take a group into Trearduur Bay on Saturday and helped on a surf session at Rhosneigr on Sunday. It was great to see everyone getting stuck in and relishing the opportunity to get some rough water practice.
The evenings were fun – Barry provided an alternative introduction to all the coaches with some amusing photos, & on Saturday night Nick and Matt from Kayak Essentials put on a great fun quiz with a vaguely kayaking theme! The last round involved me and Kate Dufus blindfolded and having to identify various kayak-related objects using only our mouths! Jim Krawiecki was spreading rumors that we were fighting over mens underwear but I can assure you that if I’d known I was trying to identify Nick’s kayaking thermal trousers then I’d have let Kate win that round! Actually, she did win that round!
Guest coaches from abroad included Helen Wilson, Warren Parker & Paul Kuthe. I’ll be doing some filming with Paul on Saturday as I recently decided to release a “This is the Sea 5” next year! I’ve admired video of Paul remaining cool and collected in rough conditions and will enjoy capturing some of that myself.
Now I’m at my desk starting once more to edit “This is the Roll” with Cheri Perry & Turner Wilson. More on that later…
Feeling a little weary with jet lag after only 36hours back home, Barry and I met Axel at Porthdafarch beach this morning, and headed out to Penrhyn mawr tidal race. It was a fun few hours in quite a lumpy sea. Great to be home!
Axel has also written a blog with some photos of the day. And I somehow forgot to mention my 3 pop outs and resulting rolls! An exciting salty return home!
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