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On 21-23 rd July I am working at a Women’s Sea kayak Festival on the Scottish Isle of Bute, alongside top paddlers & coaches Carol Lang & Kate Duffus. The fantabulous Sarah Outen will also be coming up for the Sunday night and Monday of the Festival & will give a talk about her looping-the-planet adventures on Sunday night. I’m really looking forward to hearing more about her looping-the-planet adventures over the last year & trying to get some idea of just how frightening it must have been to be caught in a typhoon in her rowing boat off Japan.

The sea kayak festival was fully booked but there have been 2 cancellations, so if you fancy coming along (and you are female!)  then get in touch with the organiser, Roddy of Kayak Bute.

I’ve just found out that Lesley Mackay & Pam Forsyth will be teaching a fun introduction to Greenland-style rolling on the Monday morning – it’s looking like a great event!

Yesterday Barry and I enjoyed a lively paddle around ‘the Stacks’ – one of my favourite all-time paddles. There was a pleasant amount of swell, making darting between rocks & through channels fun & interesting, without having your heart-in-your-mouth. Barry took some nice photos of me in North Stack although my photos of him in South Stack were pretty rubbish!

John Willacy is imminently due to finish his paddle around Great Britain – perhaps today. Congratulations to him. It will be a new record – but perhaps not for long?

A month or so ago, I was asked by Canoe & Kayak magazine in the US to nominate people for their annual awards competition. I was 1 of about 30 paddlers, film makers & writers they asked to provide names for paddler of the year, expedition of the year and film of the year. From those names they selected their shortlist which the public can vote on.

I would like to point out that I didn’t nominate myself or “This is the Roll“, but some other people did put me forward on account of paddling around Tierra del Fuego with Barry & paddling from England to France, & Russia to Japan with Sarah Outen. So I’m honoured to have been shortlisted for ‘Female Paddler of the Year‘. It’s very flattering to be nominated, but also quite strange to be in a ‘competition’, especially one that I didn’t enter! I’m up against Freya Hoffmeister, Emily Jackson & Adriene Levknecht – all very worthy recipients. You can read more about what everyone has done in the last year on the website.

If you have got good eyesight you might be able to read the female nominations here but if you want to vote for any of the categories then check out the CK Awards website here. I’ll be making sure my mum sees the link!

Kevin Callan is one of North America’s best known canoeists, authors & personalities. I had the pleasure of meeting Kevin while filming for “This is Canoeing” DVD & he’s incredibly funny, kind & genuine. He also loves wilderness & is passionate about sharing that love with as many people as possible. His DVD, “Wilderness Quest” sets out to inspire people with beautiful shots to get out into that wilderness; both to enjoy it and to help protect it. It’s set in one of Canada’s largest & most famous provincial parks, Quetico with plenty of breath-taking views.

There is a beautiful sequence of Kevin paddling at night under a full moon to the haunting sound of loons calling which made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up!  The DVD is full of information about the Park with snippets of advice from Kevin on things like removing ticks. But mostly it’s a celebration of wilderness, with Kevin’s take on it as well as interviews from dozens of visitors about what being self-sufficient in a wild and beautiful place means to them. And of course, no Kevin Callan production would be complete without lots of gags & misadventures. You will be giggling your way through a lot of it. A recommended buy for canoeists & people interested in wilderness travel or visiting Quetico Park.  Buy it in our store for £15.99.

For lovers of the single blade, we also have ‘Canoe Movie 2′, ‘This is Canoeing’ and ‘Canoeing’ book by Ray Goodwin in the new store!

Buy all 3 canoeing DVDs and save 25% with the discount code ‘3dvd’ at checkout. That’s a saving of almost £14.

(this code works for ANY 3 DVDs).