How to prolong the summer paddling time as a European paddler? Right ,you go for the Mediterranian Sea in spring or autumn and enjoy the real summer at home. This spring we went for Corsica with a Cetus and a PE Capella.The scenery of the “ile beeaute” (island of beauty) is breathtaking. Mountains, caves, arches, stacks, buildings with history at every corner and an extreme clear blue sea….

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There’s nothing quite like waking up to a cup of well-brewed coffee while on expedition.  For me, it’s not a luxury, but a necessity for jump-starting my morning.  As with all my menu choices for sea kayaking trips, I try to strike a balance between ease of preparation, weight savings, minimal clean-up, and taste.

Since I’m a stickler for a good cup ‘o joe, I’ve tried just about every imaginable method for brewing coffee in the backcountry.   Here’s a quick run down on how to get the best possible caffeine fix on your next multi-day trip.

Click here to read how…

This proved to be a challenging 182 mile adventure over 8 days using an historic trading route linking urban life with rural and seafaring culture. Crossing northern England from the Irish Sea to the North Sea, the trip started in mid March at Crosby Beach at the Mouth of the Mersey Estuary. The team were interviewed and filmed for a BBC news programme before setting off into blustery conditions on a very choppy sea.

At Runcorn Jean, Glen, Liz and me, (Jim Krawiecki) spent the night on a narrowboat moored beside the Kayaks North West shop and P&H offices before heading for Manchester through the rolling Cheshire countryside along the picturesque Bridgwater Canal. Over the next few days there were dozens of locks to portage as the route followed the trans-Pennine trading route along the Rochdale Canal and the Calder navigations.

Amongst the hills and dark satanic mills of northern England, spring was springing and wildlife was abundant. The natives were friendly too.

A gang of boisterous lads wielding bottles of WKD became worryingly inquisitive of the kayaks and equipment. But the paddlers were soon released in hearty fashion once a sinful watering of grog was sunk and the continuing voyage duly toasted!

Reaching the Humber Estuary at Goole was a great relief. No more locks! But the next day provided a gut busting a 30 mile paddle dodging ferries at Hull before spending the night in a lighthouse with a shoal of fish, several cats and a mad artist. On the 8th day all that remained was an 18 mile paddle down tide to Spurn Head and a tremendous welcome ashore by the lifeboat crew that lives there.

The Kayak Coast 2 Coast team would like to express their thanks to Kayaks North West, P&H kayaks and Peak UK for their help with equipment for the trip. Thanks also to everyone who helped along the way, and helped to raise over £1600 for the RNLI Lifeboats via www.justgiving.com/kayakcoast2coast. We updated the Kayak Coast 2 Coast blog each day so that is worth a read but, there will be a more detailed trip report in a forthcoming issue of Canoe & Kayak UK magazine

Cape Farewell – The Southern Tip of Greenland

As explorers mapped the worlds Oceans and coastlines they discovered certain major headlands that were formed by countries and continents extending into great oceans. These headlands became known as ‘Capes’ and around the world there are a few that stand out – Cape Farewell is one of these. The southern tip of Greenland can be an inhospitable place and heading south into the Atlantic from it the next stop is Antarctica. This mass of water, frequent storms and ice have sculptured Cape Farewell into a formidable line of cliffs, mountains and turbulent reefs and skerries.

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After producing the award winning film Pacific Horizons in 2007, everyone kept asking “so what are you doing next?” This is always a difficult question to answer right after a big expedition, film project, or trip, but we had an idea brewing. Lise-Anne and I were keen to come east and document the maritime culture, great sea paddling and people of the east coast. So we started to brainstorm destinations and people to film. Everything from Florida to Newfoundland was on our radar and eventually we honed in on several key locations. With the gracious support of several sponsors and lots of logistics coordination, we had what we needed to hit the road and start filming our next adventure sea kayaking DVD. Eastern Horizons was born. Starting with a trip to Newfoundland to paddle with the icebergs, followed by a 2 month long road trip from North Carolina to Quebec, we were blown away by the hospitality, wildlife and scenery along the way. Here are a few details from the journey and information on the film to come!

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In late spring me and my friend Sebastian went for a trip along the German west coast. Our route was always changing between the chain of island in front of the coast and the inner wadden sea. We where quite lucky with the weatherкомпютри втора употреба except a three days period of thunder storms. Here are some pictures of that trip. My boat of choise was the Quest with it´s high volume for long touring and nice beahvior in more interesting waters.

Read more about that trip here: http://liquidmedicine.blogspot.com/

ore here: http://www.liquidmedicine.de/html_data/Touren_HTMs/seekajak_o/nordseekueste2007/Nordseekueste.htm

I drove with my two friends Cathrin and Carsten up to northern Norway. We spent 9 days paddling in a fascinating sea of mountais. A truely amazing place! The only paddlers we met where from Britain! Liz and Simon Willis…

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I have just returned from paddling The Outer Hebrides in Northwest Scotland. The paddling was great, being away from the media and family and friends always gives a perspective that you can’t really get at home.
Living in the countries we do we are very lucky to have the free time and money to be able to have such a great recreational pastime.

With the paddling season in high gear, it’s been hard to find a few moments to sit down at the computer to write about what’s been going on here in the Great Lakes.    In late May, Nick Poelking, Larry Fordyce and I guided a group of 14 high school students and two teachers on an 5-day backcountry trip to the Mink and McCoy Islands in Georgian Bay, Ontario.    The area we were paddling in is called the 30,000 Islands region, and the name isn’t hyperbolic.    Cold, clear water, windswept pink granite islands, lonesome pines, and good company all combined to make this a memorable trip.   It also gave me a chance to put the new Cetus to the test on a multi-day trip.    (more…)