Justine’s Blog

 

Cackle TV is selling a limited number of the new DVD, “Seakayak with Gordon Brown volume 2” which has just been released.

The DVD covers a range of different rescues performed by the charismatic Scottish Level 5 coach, both on flat water and in more challenging conditions. I saw a preview copy and was impressed with the amount of material covered and with the clear explanations of how to perform the rescues. The DVD is well structured and had a few new ideas in it which I hadn’t seen before. I first met Gordon 14 years ago when I had just started seakayaking. He was one of the instructors at the Jersey sea kayak symposium which I was attending and  remember being impressed by his skills in a kayak and his coaching. Since then he’s set up his own company Skyak Adventures, where he  coaches full time with his wife Morag.

The other part of the DVD is a journey to the beautiful islands of St Kilda off the NW coast of Scotland. St  Kilda is right up there on the list of places that I’d like to kayak as there is something so majestic about the steep cliffs rising defiantly from the sea so far from any other landmass. The remoteness of the islands, the ancient buildings and the thousands of circling gannets add to the appeal. In the DVD, we see Gordon leading a group of paddlers on a tour of the islands with stunning scenery for a backdrop. We also learn something about the history of the island & see footage of the first kayak crossing to the islands by Hamish Gow, long before I was born!

You can watch the instruction intercut with the journey, or chose to watch one of the other by themselves. In total, there is over 2 hours of footage. I think it’s a compliment to the film that Barry and I sat down to watch it late at night when we were tired and watched it all in one go. Overall, I’d say if you want to learn more about rescues then this is a great DVD to buy.

In the bigger scheme of things, here at Cackle TV, we are committed to continue to produce our own quality DVDs and right now I am working on our first instructional DVD, “This is the Roll” which we aim to release before Christmas this year. Next year, there will also be a “This is the Sea 5” and an instructional DVD giving advice & tips to people who want to go on overnight seakayaking trips or longer expeditions. Over the last year or so, we’ve noticed that many people like to come to our webstore to see what DVDs are available so we’ve started to search out products that we like and to sell more of other people’s seakayaking and canoeing DVDs and books alongside our own. If this continues to be popular then we’ll continue to do it, and we may become more of a one-stop shop for people looking for kayaking DVDs for themselves of for presents. So please keep checking out the store and see what you can treat yourself, or a friend to!

Click “add to cart” to buy ‘Seakayak with Gordon Brown’ for £19.99 with free postage worldwide.

 

 

 

or visit our webstore to see what else we have on offer. We still have an amazing offer where you can buy any 3 DVDs for £45, or US$ 80.95

 

The 6th UK Storm gathering lived up to it’s name with strong gusts filled with sea spray, and waves crashing into rocks and curling onto beaches. No-one could complain though….. they’d signed up for it!

Almost 100 people attended and about 20 coaches and instructors looked at the forecasts and wished it was just a little bit less windy! The landing and launching spot at Trearduur Bay was a little bit sheltered on some days and proved a popular spot for nipping in and out of the swell. I helped take a group into Trearduur Bay on Saturday and helped on a surf session at Rhosneigr on Sunday. It was great to see everyone getting stuck in and relishing the opportunity to get some rough water practice.

The evenings were fun –  Barry provided an alternative introduction to all the coaches with some amusing photos, & on Saturday night Nick and Matt from Kayak Essentials put on a great fun quiz with a vaguely kayaking theme! The last round involved me and Kate Dufus blindfolded and having to identify various kayak-related objects using only our mouths! Jim Krawiecki was spreading rumors that we were fighting over mens underwear but I can assure you that if I’d known I was trying to identify Nick’s kayaking thermal trousers then I’d have let Kate win that round! Actually, she did win that round!

Guest coaches from abroad included Helen Wilson, Warren Parker & Paul Kuthe. I’ll be doing some filming with Paul on Saturday as I recently decided to release a “This is the Sea 5” next year! I’ve admired video of Paul remaining cool and collected in rough conditions and will enjoy capturing some of that myself.

Now I’m at my desk starting once more to edit “This is the Roll” with Cheri Perry & Turner Wilson. More on that later…

“Its anexpedition not a holiday”, Sarah said. “We wouldnt want it to be TOO easy”.

I knew that she was trying to convince herself that she was happy that what we had expected to be a 4 or 5 hour paddle was turning into a marathon effort.

We were on our third and final crossing as Sarah island hops to Honshu where she will start her solo row of the Pacific ocean next May. The Tsaguru Straits, between Hokkaido and Honshu boasts currents of up to 7 knots so was to be no push over, but we hoped to use the predomiantly easterly current to help us along. So we decided to start in Hakodate, NW of our planned landing at Cape Oma, a 15 nautical mile crossing. We aimed south, expecting the current to helpfully carry us east. Great in theory but after 4 miles of pretty good progress (inside an eddy along the north shore), our speed started to drop off. When we stopped to snack and drink we noticed that the current was taking us NE, and later on NNE. So much for a helping hand. The current　was 2.5 knots, mainly in the wrong direction so we made very slow progress.For 2hours we made less than 1.5 knots towards our target. It didnt help thatwe couldnt see land most of the time so there was no moral boosting measure of progress. Despite being on thewater at8am, we suddenly realised we were likely to land in the dark. To make it worse, a predicted headwind started blowing andwe were nervous that the really bad weather due on Sunday might make an early appearance.

Fortunately, once we got to within 3 miles of land, the current dropped  off and we made 2 knots then 2.5 knots and even hit 3 knots at times! Happy days! We landed half an hour before dark, passing dozens of identicallooking fishing boats.

Its a big tuna fishing area on the North of Honshu.

Wed paddled20miles and it had taken us over 8 hours! So much for an afternoon on the beach cooking pancakes!

But luck waswith us as we landed right in front of a house with a sign outside. Taking a guess that it might be a place to stay we knocked on the door in our paddling kit. The man who answered couldnt believe that we:d kayaked from Hokkaido and kept laughing and taking photos. But he did have a place to stay and his wife cooked up a lovely traditional Japaese meal – most of whichI was brave enough to eat.

 

Yesterday we sorted kit and Sarah:s logistics manager, Tim, and I said a sad goodbye to Sarah before making the long drive down to Tokyo. Today we dropped Nelson off at the British Embassy where they are making a box for him to　ship him home in. And we took apart my 3piece ValleyEtain, which I really enjoyed paddling on this trip. We bought rolls of bubblewrap and cardboard and wrapped him up well for his flight home tomorow. It:s now time for bed – tomorrow I come home!

Thanks to Karel Vissel for excellent weather forecasts for all the paddling over the last month.