Scillies intermediate 2010

by simon ~ July 31, 2010

Chris paddling towards Bishops Rock Lighthouse

Hayden the amazing Bass tickler!!

Classic clear waters of the Scillies

The Crew Jack, Muff, Hayden, Tom, Roger, Keith, Chris, Adrian, Denae, Petr, Dave and Kirsten.

A curious local

Some more images of the week

Round Cornwall Expedition 2010

by simon ~ July 15, 2010

On the 7th of July we set off from Plymouth heading for Bude to kayak the entire coastline of Cornwall.  Over 7 days we managed to make it to Newquay and we are now awaiting a window in the weather to complete the final 70km.  The group consisting of Tom, Toby, John, Dawn, Heather and Chris showed great determination during the week to get the challenge completed.  They are raising money for an Orphanage in Kenya.   It has been unfortunate that the weather has stopped the attempt for now but with 17ft swells in the forecast we had to run for shelter.

Sun fish flapping on the surface.

Tom paddling through foam from the Atlantic swells.

Norway Arctic Circle Expedition 2010

by simon ~ July 6, 2010

June 2010, Sea Kayaking Cornwall hosted their first Norwegian Arctic Circle expedition, in association with Havnomaden Kajak Centre situated on Husvaer. Expedition members all made their own way to this unique kayaking centre on the small island of Husvaer, just one of many thousands of islands on Norways exceptionally beautiful Arctic coastline. A candle lit evening meal marked the first gathering of the team, spaghetti blognaise was washed down liberally with Norwegian lager and the weeks plans were discussed and agreed upon.

We set out the following day, most of the morning was taken up with sorting through equipment, packing kayaks and the purchasing of last minute provisions to see us through the week ahead. Although this region is pretty remote, it is also well inhabited and there would be plenty of opportunity to re-supply on the way.

Over the course of the next seven days we were to journey northwards, heading towards the Arctic Circle (Polar Circle), Donna, Luroy, Lovund, Then the small and very remote Arctic Archipelago of Traena was eventually reached, this was for several of the team the highlight of the weeks paddling, few sea kayakers make it out to these remote and beautiful islands due to the ever changing weather conditions. A feast of locally caught Cod was on the menu for the evening meal prior to the crossing to the islands and this was shared not only amongst the team but there was such an abundance of fish that everyone else on the camp site was invited to join us around the camp fire. All in all, the week was a success, always hard to achieve in such a short time with people who were to meet for the first time, all with different ideas at the outset, I was very happy with how the whole group managed to communicate and share their aspirations with each other. Havnomaden is a very special place and is perfect for any group wishing to explore the area either north or south of the Arctic Circle. Many thanks to Phil, Susan, Lee, Lucas, Paul and Denis for making the week such a special expedition north to the arctic Circle.

Denmark 4* training continued

by simon ~ June 25, 2010

We finally managed to find some good conditions to practice rescues but also for a bit of play time. However it did take a bit of driving across miles of sand to get there. It was worth it in the end though.

Denmark 4* training

by simon ~ June 22, 2010

Denmark 4 star training

Simon is Out in Denmark this week running a 4* training for a group of 12 instructors/guides from all around the country. Jeff is currently out in Norway with the Sea kayaking cornwall expedition group so watch this space for an update on his return next week.

So far the weather in Denmark has been too good!  But we have been able to cover a lot of the syllabus using the good tides of this area of Denmark.

Left to right Steen, Axel, Soren, Katrina, David, Martin, Kay, Klaus, Peter, Jimmy, Jorgen, Per, Soren.
The group are all experienced guides and leaders that are looking to develop there skills and leadership using the BCU system. It is great to meet everyone and have the chance to paddle in a very different environment than back home.

David and Soren enjoying an easy ride up the tide.

Rough water symposium RI

by simon ~ June 12, 2010

The 3rd rough water symposium held at camp Fuller Rhode Island is in full swing. Paddlers from all over are here to test there skills in the tidal waters of RI. This year we have had good conditions for running the various classes.

We even managed to catch the end of the England USA match today in a sports bar. However the british coaches were the only ones interested!!

Simon

Overseas events

by simon ~ June 9, 2010

Both Jeff and Simon are away for a few days running courses and expeditions. Jeff is out in Malta running a circumnavigation with a group.

Simon is headding out to the US to run courses and give a presentation on his Madagascar expedition at the Rough Water Symposium in Rhode Island.

Watch this space for images and info on the events

A Busy Spring

by simon ~ June 7, 2010

Both Jeff and Simon have had a busy start to the season running courses in Cornwall and further afield. Below are a few images from the various courses and events over the past few months.  Simon ran the first London kayakathon with over 50 people taking part.  Jeff has returned from the next leg of his Circumnavigation of Scandinavia.

Sea kayaking UK symposium May 2010

The London Kayakathon April 2010

Iceland 4* trainings and assessments

Norway expedition update: Harstad

by SKC ~ April 25, 2010

Update

check their current position click here

Hi all, we are at present in the small town of Harstad, we arrived here yesterday and have been guests of the local kayak club. The journey from Havnomaden has been very special, remarkable scenery and ever changing weather conditions and a constant accompaniment of bird life heading north, as well as resident Sea Eagles.

The Lavvu we have chosen to use for this section of the journey is fantastic, I don’t know why we never considered using one of these before, it’s a shame there is no-one producing a slightly smaller version, if there were any less than three of us it would get quite cold at night as temperatures are falling well south of freezing..

We have finally had news of Petr’s camera system, we ordered and paid for it in England through a company run by Google called ‘Simply Electronics’ although they said they had 12 in stock and guaranteed 48 hours delivery it took over two weeks to get to Lizzie in England. This meant she had to then forward it on to Norway, customs in Oslo held on to it for a while in search of tax payments and it took a couple of days to get it released there and then it was forwarded to Bodo, by the time it arrived we had left! Luckily in Bodo Erlings good friend Dagrun instantly forwarded it on to us in Harstad and we can now, finally, half way through the journey start the filming! Moral of the story, don’t buy on line I suppose!

We shall continue northwards tomorrow, leaving Harstad at around midday, after Pete has picked up and charged the camera from the local post Office, we hope to make Tromso within about 4 days of paddling, there we hope to be able to meet up with a Proffessor of Sami History at the Sami Museum, we shall then be able to decide upon our overland route for next year.

After Tromso, very much dependant on weather, we hope we are just 16 days or so paddling from Nordkap and beyond. Petr, Jim and myself would like to say a big thank you to all the guys who are supporting us through out the journey, love to family and friends back home

Jeff, Jim and Pete

Intrepid Trio cross The Arctic Circl

by SKC ~ April 21, 2010

Check there current position click here