Archive for the ‘Uncategorized’ Category

I always love going to “the Skerries”, off Anglesey. This time of year is particularly exciting because I know I’ll be greeted by a cloud of loud squaking artic & common terns. Every year they come back to the island to nest. We were lucky enough to be invited up to the lighthouse where the bird warden’s stay to get a closer look at the hundreds of birds who are sitting on eggs – some of them just a few centimetres from the path. It was wise to have a hat on, and even wiser to hold something else above your head as a few people got pecked by defensive birds. One drew a spot of blood on Barry’s head – even through his hat.

FOR A LIMITED TIME, CACKLE TV is selling a new seakayaking instructional DVD from Level 5 BCU coach Nick Cunliffe.

Nick is a friend and excellent coach. In 2009, Justine and Nick kayaked from Wales to Ireland together across the Irish sea in a record time of under 12 hours. This is his 2nd DVD and is full of great information for intermediate/ improving seakayakers. It clearly shows what to do with your kayak, body position and blade to get your kayak to do what you want in wind, waves & tidal races.

Almost all of the footage is shot by kayaker and filmmaker Matt Giblin, although they also use some great footage of Nick on the front wave at the impressive “Falls of Lora” tidal race in Scotland, which was shot for “This is the Sea 3″. They use a 2 minute sequence of Nick surfing the wave which wasn’t shown in it’s entirety in ‘This is the Sea 3′, then provide analysis of how to surf and stay on the wave.

If you want to see more of Nick (and others) surfing the “Falls of Lora” we are offering a special deal with purchases of ‘the Seakayak Essentials’ DVD. When you buy the DVD from us, you can buy the 15 minute digital download “Scottish Tidal Races” for just £1. This fantastic film is usually £2.49, so you save over 50%. (We will send you a link to download the film separately).

The DVD contains over 100 minutes of HD footage and heaps of information. It’s also got great tips for coaches on how to teach these techniques.

Buy it in our store…. or right here!

We have both PAL and NTSC copies available so will send the one that will work in your country.

It’s been a while since I was assessed for anything, but on Friday, I jumped into an open canoe for the first time for about a year ! Barry, Ulrika, Dave and I were put through our paces by Nick Cunnliffe and we all took our two star award in the open canoe! I have to say it was great fun and I really enjoyed trying to control a bigger boat than usual with only 1 blade!

These days, if you want to be a kayak coach in the BCU scheme, you also have to grasp open canoeing up to 2 star level as a pre-requisite. To gain the Level 2 coach award you have be able to teach and assess 2 star (in canoe & kayak).

After the assessment we enjoyed messing around in the currents underneath Menai Bridge, seeing if our skills would keep us upright in moving water!

I’m pleased to say that we all passed! And I’m looking forward to getting out in my open boat a bit more!

I just received the July issue of “Canoe & Kayak UK” magazine on my doorstep with a free ‘seakayaking DVD’ containing an hour’s worth of films from all 4 “This is the Sea” DVDs. The DVD is being given away totally free  if you already subscribe to the magazine. If you don’t subscribe and you want to get your hands on a copy of the DVD then simply order a copy of the July issue of CKUK from their website. It costs £3.80 (& international delivery is available).  CLick HERE for details.

The July issue also has a 5 page interview with me in it. It’s a totally different interview from the one which appeared in Issue 25 of’Ocean Paddler‘ magazine a couple of months ago. They asked me a lot about filmmaking aswell as a bit about my trip to Tierra del Fuego and paddling with Sarah Outen across the English channel.

I also received ‘Canoe Focus’, ‘Ceufad’ & the latest issue of ‘Ocean Paddler’ magazine today! I’m trying to ignore them all until later while I get on with some work!