Blog

  • Perspective

    It’s sometimes easy to get wrapped up in our own lives and problems. One of the things I like about spending a lot of time outside surrounded by nature is that it reminds us that there is a whole big world out there and helps put things in perspective. I didn’t have to go far today to bring a smile to my face. This woodpecker has a nest full of chicks in a tree in my garden!

    I’m also smiling because Barry and I travel to Jersey tomorrow for their sea kayaking symposium. We’re spending 2 weeks in the channel islands helping out at the symposium and hopefully kayaking to some of the other islands.

    Christmas came early today aswell as I received some lovely  new Ortlieb, Petzl, Exped & Guyot Designs kit ready to try out in Jersey. I’ll write about my favourite bits of kit once I try them out.

  • Back in the saddle

    I’m back in a seakayak after 6 weeks of doing lots of other fun things! On Tuesday we visited Bardsey island with 3 Bardsey virgins – Mark Tozer, Jeff Cochrane & Pete Astles from Peak UK. The weather was quite kind to us and we enjoyed a fun trip & a warm cup of tea on the island with Jo & Ben Porter. Fish and chips on the way home rounded off the day nicely. Yesterday Pete, Barry and I headed round the Stacks in less Summery conditions. Penrhyn Mawr was a bit messy and angry but we dabbled around towards the back of the race before heading along the cliffs towards South Stack in the mist. The southerly swell was funnelling straight into Parliament House Cave creating a sporty landing onto boulders that we braved due to our hunger!

    Barry and I are trying out North Shore kayaks – the Atlantic and the Atlantic LV. So far, so good! They feel very positive and trustworthy! they have the added advantage of being significantly cheaper than most composite seakayaks.

    Today I’m back at my desk and the sun in shining brightly outside! Typical!

  • Media Frenzy

    I’m back in Wales after lots of great skiing & ski touring. I experimented with filming ski touring a bit and might show some results when I get round to editing it. I am considering a ski touring DVD at some point in the future, but not for a while! There’s some paddling to be done first!

    The flowers and buds are telling me it’s Spring but there was a dusting of snow on the Welsh mountains yesterday! Not enough to satisfy any withdrawl symptoms but I did put an extra jumper on! Now I need to catch up with work and I’m looking forward to some seakayaking. Barry & I will be going to the Jersey seakayaking symposium in a couple of weeks which I’m really looking forward to. We’ll be helping out during the weekend and then staying on to do some trips to the other Channel islands for the following week.

    “This is Canoeing” DVD is continuing to be popular. There are quite a few reviews still coming out on the internet and in magazines. 

    You can read about it in Norwegian on Qajaq.no.

    There’s a Dutch review on Kanoweb.nl – I don’t understand it except the title says ‘must see’ so that can only be a good thing!

    Kanu magazine in Germany published a review in the magazine and on their website – the website review can be read here in German. The latest issue of Kanu magazine also features a 4-page interview with me about all my DVDs, paddling trips and background. There are links to other reviews on this page on my website and there is due to be something about “This is Canoeing” published in sevearl other magazines including the next edition of “Canoe & Kayak” magazine

    There’s also a short feature about me in the latest issue of “Canoeroots” magazine. They kindly profile me as one of their canoeists of 2010 due to my making “This is Canoeing”. Eric Simula, the Birchbark Man in “This is Canoeing” is on the cover of the magazine & the editor Scott Macgregor writes about being filmed with his 4-year old son down the Petawawa river for the film “Dougie Down the Pet”. This film is proving to be one of the most popular of the 12 films on the DVD double disc set & won best professional documentary at the National Paddling Film Festival in the US.

    If you buy ‘This is Canoeing” you get a years free on-line subscription to ‘Canoeroots‘ magazine and ‘Rapid‘ magazine, although the current issues of all their magazines are free for anyone to read on-line. Just go to the websites. “Canoeroots” is here, and “Rapid” magazine is here & “Adventure Kayak” is here.

    Rapid Media has also launched a new product, Rapid TV. There are 2 episodes already on-line to watch for free on the Rapid Media You Tube Channel. They are regular webisodes featuring interviews with people in the industry, gear reviews & funny film. If you’re not bored of me after all these links (!) then there’s a short interview with me talking about “This is Canoeing” in the first episode. The 2nd episode features a review of the GoPro video camera & a funny short with Kevin Callan about camping.

  • Chamonix Powder

    We had planned to do lots of ski touring in Chamonix, with the ultimate aim of skiing up – and down -Mont Blanc. The weather has had different ideas and after 3 days of sunshine, we’ve had 5 days of low cloud, rain in the valley & snow up top. Every morning, grey clouds greet us as we peel back the curtains. However, every cloud has a silver lining and we’ve been trying to make the most of the fresh powder that has been falling on the tops. The visibility has been pretty bad most days & the high lifts haven’t always been open but we’ve had some great runs down in lovely fresh snow. We also spent a day practicing crevasse rescues on a wind lip, taking it in turns to drag each other up over the lip. We have 4 days left and the weather isn’t looking great so Mont Blanc will have to wait, but I’m sure we’ll get some more good skiing in before we go home!