Blog

  • Canoe Movie 2 – edge-of-your-seat open boating!

     

    Cackle TV has some copies of the brand new action -packed open canoeing film which features some jaw-dropping waterfalls and slides that have to be seen to be believed!

    Canoe Movie 2 “Uncharted Waters” is an action packed adventure film documenting what can truly be paddled in an open boat. This movie takes the viewer on a wild ride with the sports top athletes as they push the sport of canoeing. Follow Dooley Tombras, Matt DeVoe, Eli Helbert, Jim Coffey and a host of others as they take you to canoeing’s uncharted waters.

    Destinations Include:

    North Carolina, Tennessee, Colorado, Costa Rica, Mexico

    First Open Boat Decents Include:
    Toxaway River, Road Prong, Thompson River, Kick Your Dog Falls, Rock Creek Falls, Adrenaline Falls, and the Big Banana section of Alseseca.

    Watch the trailer and if you like what you see – you can buy it for £19.99. Delivery is free (for now).

    £19.99

     

  • DVD Mastering done!

    It’s not been the weekend I was expecting! I’ve rarely moved far from my computer as Gianfranco Liotta in Sicily, and me in Wales, have been burning the midnight oil while fixing a few problems with the subtitles on ‘This is the Roll’. Gianfranco stayed awake long enough on Friday night to see the dawn on Saturday while I did what I could to help & provided moral support in the form of smily faces on Skype chat! Ivan Lamas in Spain has been translating a few parts we missed & Mark Bateman has been expertly putting all the pieces together in Derbyshire, UK – while we all chat via the internet! It’s been quite a procedure but 2 hours ago Mark sent me the final version by email for me to approve! And I managed to get out on my bike for a couple of hours – with a big smile on my face!

    I only have a low-resolution version of the video in the final DVD but here are a few glimpses of what the DVD will look like – with subtitles in all 3 languages. The video on the final DVD will be more clear than this.

    Click here for more information about “This is the Roll’ or to pre-order.

    We still hope to have the PAL DVDs by 6th April & the NTSC DVDs a week later.

    On a separate note, the website Camolink published an article about us kayaking around Tierra del Fuego. Read the article here.. Or check out their other adventure stories.

  • “This is the Roll” cover!

    Finally! We have the cover of “This is the Roll” AND the subtitles are ALL done!! I can see the light at the end of the tunnel!

    Thanks to everyone who has pre-ordered for your patience. Making a DVD is already a long process but having subtitles in 3 different languages added a huge amount of work. This is the first DVD that I have subtitled, & is the first paddlesports DVD that I know of to be subtitled in 3 languages.  I am forever indebted and hugely grateful to Gianfranco Liotta who translated 150 minutes of video – close to 20,000 words –  into Italian & French and created the subtitles for all 3 languages. He did all this while studying, changing nappies of his young daughter Sara, being a husband to Claudia & drinking strong Italian coffee or fine Sicilian wine! Gianfranco – along with Francesco Petralia – offers seakayaking trips & kayak hire in the warm turquoise waters of Sicily. If you fancy a relaxing seakayaking holiday then check out Maremotu (otherwise known as Seakayak Sicily). I’ve been twice! (so far!). Gianfranco (amazingly) also says he would consider other subtitling jobs in the future if anyone needs his services.

    I’m also really grateful to Iván Lamas, who emailed me at exactly the right time to ask if I would consider putting subtitles on my DVDs. When I told him we would have French & Italian subtitles on “This is the Roll” he immediately offered to translate it into Spanish. Iván has translated everything quickly and with great attention to detail. He responded gallantly to my desperate email last night when we realised we were missing a Spanish translation of ‘the standard greenland roll with a euroblade’ chapter! Thanks to his quick work – everything is complete on schedule!

    On the other side of the Atlantic in Canada, Beth Kennedy, the very talented designer for ‘Rapid Media‘ & ‘Adventure Kayak’ magazine has been creating our DVD artwork. I’m delighted with the result and I hope you like it too! Look out for an article by Cheri & Turner about the 3 rolls we feature in “This is the Roll” in the next edition of ‘Adventure Kayak‘.

    And of course huge thanks to Cheri & Turner, the stars of the DVD, who are not only excellent at performing all the rolls, but are fantastic teachers. It’s a pleasure to be able to share their skill & grace, and their unique style of teaching with so many people through “This is the Roll”. It’s the first time I’ve collaborated with other people so much on a DVD & agreeing on the best way forward has sometimes been challenging for all of us. However that dialogue has created a better product and ultimately been very rewarding!

    We hope to have the PAL DVDs ready to ship in the first week of April (for the UK, Europe & Australasia). The NTSC DVDs (for America, Canada & Japan) may take a week longer as we need to ship a master DVD from the UK to America – but we will have the first “This is the Rolls” in the post, and in shops as soon as possible. You can pre-order from us, or make sure your local shop has put an order for some!

  • Barry’s thoughts on paddling round Tierra del Fuego

    Well another sea kayaking trip has come to an end for us. This time things went a lot smoother for us than last year. We successfully managed to kayak around the coast of Tierra Del Fuego without any real problems apart from strong winds and the cold. We changed our plan a bit and decided not to do a circumnavigation but kayak from Punta Arenes in Chile down to Ushuaia at the very bottom of Argentina travelling clockwise along the Atlantic side and then do it anti-clockwise down the Pacific side. I’m pleased we did as on the last few days we saw so many amazing sights and were able to take our time exploring some incredible places and stop to watch penguins, sealions, whales, dolphins, otters and so much more.

    After having to stop the trip last year due to having a wrist injury it was very nice to complete the trip injury free. Everything was different this year. Sorting things out with both the Argentinian and Chilean authorities went so much smoother. In fact it was nice to see some familiar faces in the Argentinian Prefectura and the Chilean Armada. We had already made friends over here from last year and it was great see them again. The nordkapps were already here waiting us. Even the weather was different. Last year there were almost constantly strong winds whereas this year because of the El Nina weather system we are enjoying a wonderful summer here (wonderful weather here isn’t what most people would think of as wonderful weather though). So although it was a challenging trip in many senses it could have been a lot more difficult. I think this was the year to do a trip down here.

    We have been incredibly fortunate again, being given some fantastic kit from several manufacturers which all worked out really well for us. I think the thing we have been most fortunate with is the help we have received from people we have met whilst we have been here. It never ceases to amaze me how many complete strangers insist on taking us in out of the cold and wind to feed us and sometimes give us a bed for the night.

    Even now that the trip is over we are sitting in a warm cozy house in Ushuaia knowing that we have somewhere to stay until we fly home in just over a week. There are just so many people to thank including friends at home, some who sent messages of support on the sat phone. They were great to receive when spirits were down a bit. Friends who packed a few treats away for us to open whilst on the trip. Messages from people I have never met. Although the biggest thanks of all have to go to Moni and Marcelo in Argentina and Kiko and Vero in Chile. They took us in and made us feel so welcome in their homes and introduced us to friends as well as giving us an incredible amount of support throughout.

    We didn’t have a vehicle driving along the coast meeting us at the end of each day so maybe that means I can say we did an unsupported trip? Not a chance! This was very much another supported trip and we both appreciate every bit of support we had from everyone before, during and after the trip. Also I owe a huge thanks to Justine for organising everything and being a great paddling partner.

    Barry