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THE DAY WE DIDN’T PADDLE! CARMEL HEAD! ( thanks to Jake for the photo)

The launch date for “This is the Sea 4” is getting closer and I’m getting more anxious as everything which could possibly go wrong seems to be happening. It’s OK, the DVDs will be ready before the launch date but it’s going to be tight. Without boring you with all the details, the things keeping me busy in the month since I finished editing include an international courier (UPS) losing a set of master DVDs ( which are still missing), and everything in the UK taking several days longer than I was promised. So if you live in Australasia or Canada or some parts of Europe then there may be a slight delay in you receiving your DVD which I apologize for. The DVDs should all be ready for shipping on Monday so we’ll have to cross our fingers that the postmen are speedy! Please be patient if your DVD is a few days late or your local shop doesn’t have it for a few days. It’s coming!

There are 2 changes to the premiere dates in North America.

Due to the American election being on 4th November, we’ve moved the premier on Orcas island to the evening before, Monday 3rd November. Contact BodyBoatBlade for details, or look on my website here and the details will be updated once they confirm the venue with me.

The San Francisco event has also changed dates and is now on Sunday 9th November. The location is the Half Moon Bay Brewing Company. The beer garden has been booked for 3 hours, between 6 & 9 pm. There will be a small charge for the event as the organisers have hired the venue. There is a paddle during the day which Barry and I will be attending. The plan is to end up back at Half Moon Bay, grab some food and then head to the Brewing company. Contact Golden Gate Kayaking for details

In the UK, there are 2 new premieres –
On Wednesday 29th October, I’ll be presenting the hour long version of the DVD at my excellent local kayaking shop Surflines in Llanberis at 7pm. Entry is free and we’ll all go for ‘pizza and a pint’ afterwards.

On Thursday 30th October I’m at Brookbank Canoes new big store at in Stockport (Manchester). I’ll be giving a short talk about the New Zealand cirumnavigation and presenting the hour long version. 7.30pm. Entry is free.

The photos are from a paddle with Shawna Franklin, Leon Somme, and Jeff Cochrane around ‘the Stacks’ a week or so ago. Shawna and Leon came to stay with us for a few days which was great fun!

CURIOUS SEAL AS WE LEFT THE SKERIES

I’ve been working pretty hard lately to get this DVD finished and although I’ve been paddling and walking and other activities, I haven’t been spending as much time doing them as I’d have liked. Although I’ve still got lots of things to organise, this weekend was a chance to forget about work and do some dedicated paddling! On Saturday Barry, Axel and I paddled around Holy island on Anglesey – a 22 mile paddle which involves kayaking through some of the best Anglesey races ( North Stack, South Stack and Penrhyn Mawr), aswell as weaving through a shallow estuary to the ‘inland sea’, and paddling underneath 2 narrow bridges where the tide pours in and then out of the inland sea. Despite paddling on Anglesey for years, it was the first time Axel and I had paddled around Holy island and it was great fun. It was windier than we’d expected which slowed us down at times but made it more fun. It was quite exciting to paddle under Four Mile Bridge with the current, and then we stopped for lunch for 2 hours at “Stanley embankment” to wait for the tide to stop pouring into the inland sea. Barry even swapped his seakayak for a playboat and had a surf.

ME ABOUT TO GO THROUGH FOUR MILE BRIDGE

Today was a beautiful sunny summers day and we decided to paddle to the Skerries, a wonderful offshore island with loads of seals and birds. Except we decide to make it a bit more interesting so we paddled there against the tide. We eddy-hopped from Cemlyn to Carmel Head and then ferry glided across to the island. A great weekend to remind me what it’s all about!

BARRY AT STANLEY EMBANKMENT

Thanks to Axel for the photos

On Monday I finally finished editing “This is the Sea 4″ and posted the master tapes to the company who is producing the master DVDs for me. Anyone who has done some editing knows that it’s a never-ending job which consumes you for weeks on end, but at some point you just say ‘That’s it. I’m happy with that!” Now I have to wait about 3 weeks before I can proudly show off the finished product.

A few friends have seen some of the finished DVD and feedback has been great. One friend was an hour late for his appointment when he sat down to watch a bit of the 50 minute New Zealand documentary and ended up glued to the screen for all of it! Other friends have scrunched up their faces in sympathy watching me try to follow expert whitewater kayakers Ken Whiting and Brendan Mark down the Ottawa river and end up sliding into a hole three times my height and much more powerful than me! And there is loads of other good stuff in there.

It would be nice to report that I’m now out paddling all day before coming home and putting my feet up & chilling out in front of the wood-burning stove, but alas – there is still lots to do to let people know that the DVD is coming, make sure distributors and shops will have the DVD in time for the launch date of 18th October, organize the premiere tour, decide what will be in the hour long ‘festival’ version of the DVD which I’ll be playing at the premiere events, make another preview clip etc etc…

Thanks a lot to Derrick Mayoleth, who has been working hard on the cover design and disc designs. I’ve ben finding plenty of time to hassle him!!

The premiere tour for ‘This is the Sea 4’ is coming together nicely. The Seattle premiere will be at Seattle Raft & Kayak Company on 5th November (my birthday), the San Diego premiere will be on Thursday 13th November and the venue is almost sorted! The Vancouver premiere has now moved dates and is on Saturday 1st November ( due to our original airline Zoom going bust and us having to re-book our flights). There is likely to be an extra premiere on Orcas in the San Juan islands, probably on 4th November and we may be able to add a couple more dates. I don’t think the organizers in San Francisco have found a venue yet so please get in touch with any suggestions.

In the UK, we’re arranging a premiere at Brookbank Canoes huge new store in Stockport (Manchester), probably on 31st October.

Details on the premieres will be updated soon ( once Derrick has recovered from all my other requests!), Keep up to date here.

You can see details of our premiere tour of America and Canada, sponsored by Lendal, on the website now. Click here.
Details will be updated as things are firmed up.

The photo is me filming the rockhopping in Baja section, at the world’s second largest blowhole!