Archive for the ‘Uncategorized’ Category

I’m excited to have got my hands on some fabulous ‘Axel-packs’ – which in my opinion are the BEST map cases for seakayaking ever made!

I’ve used one exclusively on trips for about 8 years – ever since they were invented. I’ve even been known to keep my passport in there because I trusted it’s waterproof-ness so much. Designed by Axel Schoevers, the map cases are usually snapped up as quickly as Axel can make them. We managed to prise a few off him last time he was in Wales & have a limited supply in the shop.

Made from a sturdy plastic and sealed by a removable slide-off tube at one end, you can roll the plastic around the tube before sealing it, to make the map case  your desired size – depending on the size of your maps or charts. Clips on both ends of the  map case allow you to attach it to your decklines.

The map cases are £29.95 each plus shipping at cost price (£2.20 in the UK). Say goodbye to soggy maps! See them in the new shop!

We have a new webshop! And it’s about time really! I can still remember roughly botching together my first ‘website’ with a fairly blank page containing a paypal button to buy ‘This is the Sea’ DVD. Not long afterwards, kayaker and webmaster Derrick Mayoleth saw my pitiful effort and offered to design a professional site. He’s been doing that job ever since & I’m very grateful for his talents. More recently, I’ve been adding more products to the webshop, including over 50 digital downloads & I realised I’d outgrown the existing patchwork of paypal buttons. This time I’m hugely indebted to Axel Schoevers, a Dutch paddling friend who is clever with computers. Luckily for me, Axel was upgrading his own webstore & hugely helped me to do mine.

There are still 2 stores –  a North & South American store with NTSC DVDs & a UK/ Europe / Australia store with PAL DVDs.  Now downloads are integrated into both stores, & in multiple currencies. Most of you will be able to shop in your own currency – so you can see how much you’ll be spending right from the start. If you can’t read this in English, I hope you have found the option to translate the website into dozens of languages (at the top of each shop page, & in the sidebar on the other pages). You can ‘like’ a product on Facebook, email it to a friend or write a review on the website. So please get involved!

You can now search the store for a film by keyword, or chose just to look at sea kayaking or canoeing films. You can even search the downloads by ‘expedition films’, ‘instructional films’, ‘action’ or ‘destination’.

“This is the Roll” is also now available as a digital download. You can buy the whole film, or just the films about the rolls you are interested in learning.

There are a few other new products. I’ll blog about them separately later on or take a look and see for yourself. Meanwhile, I’ve got my fingers and toes crossed that there aren’t too many mistakes in the 93 different products that I’ve put into the store! If you spot something then please drop us a line and let us know. Otherwise, I hope you find the store easier to use.

I’m selling my Explorer kayak that safely carried me around the South island of New Zealand & around the Mediterranean island of Sardinia. Other than these 2 trips, the kayak has rarely been used and it’s in very good condition. The few nicks and scratches have been fixed & all the hatches are dry. As you can see, it’s got a light blue deck, black hull, red seam & red keel strip.

£1,500 o.n.o.

The kayak in in North Wales if anyone wants to come and have a look, or take it out for a spin.

I’d also sell my leopard print Explorer – which is in less good condition but is rather unusual!

£1,300 ono.

My copy of the latest Adventure Kayak magazine recently hit the doormat. I was especially excited to read this issue as I knew they were covering a lot of stories about rolling, especially Greenland style rolling. Editor Virginia Marshall writes about her experiences at one of the biggest Greenland style meets & interviews the stars of “This is the Roll” Cheri & Turner about the 3 rolls that we cover in the DVD. Cheri is described as a dark eyed blonde in a little black tuilik, which I quite enjoyed! And Turner is credited on the cover with predicting the future. That’s impressive even for someone with such a wise-looking beard!

“This is the Roll” has a brief review, along with Greenland-style kit.

Adventure Kayak is published in Canada 4 times a year by Rapid Media – on paper and digitally. You can read the whole latest issue of the magazine on-line right here!

Another good paddling magazine “Ocean Paddler” is offering new 2 year subscribers a free copy of “This is the Roll”. You get 12 print subscription for £60, or 12 digital subscriptions for £30 – both with a free DVD worth £20! Check out the offer here on the OP website.

Meanwhile in blogs, another humorous and very positive review of “This is the Roll” can be read here on Dave O’s “The Lake is the Boss” blog.