Like it or not

Just over a year ago I started experimenting using Twitter to retain kayak related news messages that are published through transient RSS feed posts from various news agencies; mainly UK and the Netherlands. I subsequently added this to my Blog and my Facebook profile. Over this first year this has resulted in more than 450 kayak and canoe related news items; by now averaging more than one a day.

Yesterday I made a Facebook Kayak News page for it. The reasons for this are to 'disconnect' it from my personal FB profile, to allow 'The World' to use it without having to 'befriend' with me, and also not to force this news feed upon my FB friends.

There are three 'versions' directly available through Twitter:
KayakNewsFeed (news items in English language)
KajakNieuws (news items in Dutch language)
Zeekajak (combination of the above)

Only the combined version (English and Dutch news) is now publically available at Facebook Kayak News. That is, if you like it ;-)

It will become much more quiet on my personal FB profile (again). My blog entries, like this one, and a (very odd) direct post by me in FB.

Tomorrow is the Peddelpraat club Winter Meeting. For the club this marks the official start of a new kayaking season.

It is time for me to get away from the chair behind my computer and into the seat of my sea kayak again. Being in various sea kayaking committees does not help either in getting away from the computer, especially this time of year. Baja California dreaming of no internet and no phone connection.

Dreaming of Baja... Ginni Callahan of Sea Kayak Baja Mexico just added two extra trips in the Loreto Marine Park for March and April (Whale season). Highly recommended!

Seasonal Baking

Traditionally this time of year starts the season of the Christmas Stoll. Based on a recipe in a heavy used, dog-eared German baking book from the late fifties, some family tradition and some 'supervision' (overriding the recipe!), today, I baked two Christmas stollen.

Dunno about other recipes, but this cake's 'consistency' is not available in shops. The same goes for some of the ingredients that are totally unavailable nowadays (or frowned-upon), but that are not missed, at least not by me.

These stollen can hold for many weeks, but I am sure these two will be gone within a week. So I will be baking more then.

11-11-11 How crazy can it get ?

This evening Gerard called me to inform me he cannot make it to our annual sea kayak instructors meeting tomorrow. He will be working on the water; he is a Pilot at Europoort, the shipping gateway to the busiest Port in the world: Rotterdam.

He told me of a hair raising incident this evening at around 19:00. He noticed a flashing strobe light and adjusted course of the 130 meter long cargo ship he was piloting (at a modest 8 knots), and again. It turned out that a guy in a seakayak was crossing the Nieuwe Waterweg. Unannounced, in the dark, with only a flashing strobe light...

The guy was picked off the water by police and it turns out he is an Austrian that started two weeks ago in Cologne, Germany on it's way to Great Britain...

In the Netherlands and Germany the 11th of November marks the start of the Carnival (preparation) season; 11 being a fool's number. The 11th of the 11th of the 11th. How crazy can one get? A total loony!

The picture above is of Nico (and me) crossing the Nieuwe Waterweg in August 2003 on our way Around the Netherlands by Sea Kayak. We checked-in at the Europoort Traffic Centre by VHF. A VHF radio is mandatory in these areas and kayakers better stay well clear or prepare the Traffic Centre for it well in advance. Despite good visibility and planning we were still surprised at the speed of these large cargo ships, this only being one of the small ones.

The Race

It was to be my return date to get to the Hull ferry, so I was not so sure if I would have enough time to enter the Swellies-Extreme Sea Kayak Slalom Time Trial on one of the biggest tides of the year.

Getting offered an unmarked Rockpool racing kayak by John Willacy to race in made me change my mind. Having not a clue of what I am getting myself into, and not used to a rudder, I was glad that this kayak also had a skeg. My first impression of this 'unnamed' kayak was of it's very dynamic active seating position. Seated in this kayak I wanted just to do one thing, go fast! More stable than I expected, I had no problems with getting back against the tide under the Menai Bridge pillars. So it's speed and forgiveness in rough water and on strong eddy-lines feel OK; no unwelcome surprises so far!

Now to the race. The starting time was carefully chosen for the strongest downstream current and that was it that got me nervous. Not the strength of the tide, but my ferry departure time... Tide and ferries wait for no one!

With one minute starting intervals, I was number 12 in line, Aled's next in line. Shooting through the bridge I was hit by an extremely strong gust of wind (spray flying) and immediately had difficulty getting around the first buoy. Not trying out and using the rudder proved to be a big mistake on rounding the buoys in this force 7, gusting 8/9?, wind. This is NOT a slalom kayak! Aled (with rudder) soon overtook me, but I felt good that I could keep up with him on the crossing to the Swellies island. I got the hang of it but my mind (and kayak) drifted just too much (or was it badly judging the strength of the current) that I missed the far Britannia Bridge pillar; probably disqualifying me from the race...

Anyway, I tried to go around it from downstream, no way in this current. Then to the finish line and without break heading back to the put-in. This proved to be the fun part, using the Anglesey side eddy line, breaking out into the main flow and racing towards the eddy behind the Swellies island. Hugging the Island, breaking into the flow again to ferry glide back to the Anglesey side, from there the big eddy brought me back to Menai Bridge. With a big 'leap' against the tidal drop between the left pillars I made it back. What a rewarding work-out.

Next started the other 'race': getting to my ferry in time. With half an hour to spare I made it.

Other albums:
www.angleseypaddling.com

Surfin' T-Bay

Starting another 'intermediate rough water handling' session on Monday, I found myself with four participants at Trearddur Bay. There was excellent surf and for the first hour we had the whole bay (and the biggest waves) for ourselves. George took great pictures with a good camera with telephoto lens.

See also Picasa for the surfing pictures of the 6th Storm Gathering.

Today, finishing four days of BCU 4* sea leader trainings and assessments with Kate, I am packed-up and ready to head home. A big thank you to Justine for letting me borrow her New Zealand Explorer sea kayak. Wales, Sweden, Switzerland and Sicily have new BCU 4* sea kayak leaders.

6th UK Storm Gathering

The Storm Gathering has a signature start with force 6 to 7 winds from the south. Our group (as many others) went to Trearddur Bay to look for suitable conditions for an 'intermediate rough water handling' session.

When others asked how my day was it could be best described as a 'fluffy foam pile day'. A participant remarked that it was a good day to clean out the cobwebs.

I will try to upload more pictures to my Picasa album as the event progresses.

Back Home

I settled-in at the Anglesey Outdoors centre. Formerly this was the Anglesey Sea & Surf Centre (ASSC) from where I first experienced tide-races at the sea kayak symposium in May 2000. Things have changed since then, but many things are still very familiar.

With Justine, just returned from Japan, and Barry I set out to what must be my 'home waters' by now; Penrhyn Mawr. With the remaining swell and wind it was quite big. The quartering wind from the stern made it difficult for me to catch straight rides at first.

Today I found another relaxing way to enjoy PM. Maneuvering myself to brace into the biggest breakers side-on and spin the kayak in the foam pile to start a run. And the odd 'catapult' into a surf from a wave braking over my stern. I watched Justine roll and Barry doing a perfect pirouette. I had to roll twice; once to prevent running into Barry. The other time I was caught out in the middle race. Happy to be rolling, despite the 'heavy' (tired) arms.

By the time we were back at Port Dafarch I was exhausted. Enjoying a hot chocolate at Trearddur Bay, a great day at home again.

Skerries in the Sun

I arrived a week early for the Storm Gathering.

Friday I paddled to the Skerries from Cemlyn with Trys, Jim and the Norwegians Jann and Sigurd. The forecast was for some sunny spells, but the whole day was overcast with some fog patches and the Skerries not allways visible. Jann planned to ferry-glide back via Carmel Head. Visibility deteriorated such that we could not judge from any distance how big the tide-races between the Skerries and Carmel Head were. Dropping down to Church Bay was the safer option in this weather and this spring tide.

The next day already I joined on another Skerries trip from Cemlyn. Now it was with Barry who had Michael, Morten and Chris from Denmark. Now it was a sunny day and the Danes had (also) planned to ferry-glide back to Carmel Head. This time in perfect visibility and a little later in the tide than yesterday. We made it back to Cemlyn just before dark.

I have become used to that the sun allways shines on the Skerries, but why did it not yesterday? The only explanation is that yesterday we did not actually land on the Skerries.

Open the GPS Track

Apples and Oranges

With the news of the passing away of Steve Jobs I stand still with what Apple has meant to me personally. While I am not exactly an Apple fan, on the contrary, Apple sure made a major impact at one time in my life.

In 1984, using-up the better part of ten thousand Dutch guilders (then a big sum of money), set aside by an Uncle's will specifically for study purposes, I bought an Apple //e, my first computer. The (too) 'proprietary' style of Apple hardware and software soon had me add a Zilog Z80 card and in came CP/M, the predecessor of MD-DOS and DR Pascal MT+. Cruising me through college and into an IT-career; my previous life.

Up to this day I have not owned any other Apple products. With my IT-background I am very aware of the many innovations that have become synonymous with Apple. The global impact, commercial successes and marketing strategies of Apple under the visionary Steve Jobs. Making Apple more than just a product. I am 'craving' for an iPhone, if not for...

Long time ago my //e moved to my nephews for it's games, but years later I found my carefully put-away original 5¼" Apple software disks again, in memory of...

Steve sure put some orange in life.

Said the apple to the orange:
"Oh I wanted you to come
Close to me and kiss me to the core
Then you might know me like no other orange
Has ever done before"
(Small Fruit Song - Al Stewart)

Practical Navigator

Once I came across "The New American Practical Navigator", a very comprehensive resource (book) originally written by Nathanial Bowditch in 1802.

With the aging of the internet and the new age of mobile apps it is oftentimes a patchwork of on-line resources that are in various stages of maturity, usefulness and oftentimes outright impractical.

Marine GeoGarage is a true gem for the marine (sea kayak) trip planner. It seamlessly (literally) combines official nautical charts with Google Earth. Currently the nautical charts for USA (NOAA), New Zealand, Brazil, Argentina and the Netherlands are available for free. Other area's, for instance UK (HO), Canada and Australia, require a paid subscription.

The most amazing thing (for me) is the seamless scaling to ever more detailed charts of an area. Moving a slider changes the transparency to identify features between the nautical chart and Google Earth view. To top it all is the possibility to create GPS way-points and routes on-the-fly and export those directly or indirectly to a GPS.

A great on-line navigation tool that is highly practical.

It's a good day
for going to sea
Hanno the Navigator said to me.
(Al Stewart)

Flat Calm

Today Jan had organized a surf session for Peddelpraat. The absolutely flat-calm sea state was not a reason to cancel the session and eight participants showed-up for a paddle from Katwijk to Noordwijk and back.

Along the coast we frequently encountered stand-up paddle boarders. Passing a family group, they told us it was their first day on a SUP. Starting from Noordwijk they had almost reached Katwijk.

A beautiful relaxing Summers day on the sea for all; sit-in's, sit-on's, stand-up's and the odd stand-in.

Waltzing Vlieland

Our annual September NKB sea kayak instruction week had to cope with strong winds for the last four years. That puts a bit of a strain on both coaches and participants. Despite Vlieland being an island there is only so much one can do in 6-7 Beaufort winds.

Even for the Dutch equivalent of BCU 4/5* it was difficult to get the assessment done in an acceptable remit. Many of these leadership assessments get canceled because of too mild conditions. One day was spent on shore, 8-9 Beaufort, no way! The BCU coaching handbook mantra "challenging conditions, low consequences" almost continuesly ran through my mind. What about an indoor towing session?

One of my favorite play spots is 'de Wals', nothing short of a proper tide-race, the only 'predictable' one in the Netherlands.

On the last day of the week, the weather was finally suitable to get off the island to visit the neighboring island of Terschelling. On the way back, aspirant leader Peter led us close to and ferry-gliding the ebb in the area of 'de Wals'. This late in the ebb, just a very little wobbly patch of water, nothing to play with. Peter, as a good leader, warns us for the approaching ferry and ends with: "Look out for the ferry wake!". I yell "Look FOR the ferry wake!" and off I go.

Local knowledge tells me that the ferry waves kick-up 'de Wals' for about twenty minutes of play time. Do I feel bad about 'deserting' my group? Not quite. Soon we all are surfing the race. What a beautiful day to end the week!

GPS-tracks:
- 09-10 : Harlingen - Vlieland
- 09-11 : Vlieland Coast
- 09-13 : Vlieland Coast
- 09-16 : Vlieland - Terschelling

Where lightning strikes...

1, 2, 3, 4... Counting time between seeing a flash and the rumble is a good way of telling how far a bouts lightning strikes. Does it move closer, do I need to take any action? Can I stay in my sleeping bag or do I need to get up and huddle with my feet close together on my sleeping pad. Do I need to get out into the rain and run for cover into a nearby building?

FLASH BANG

The loudest lightning strike I have ever heard with absolutely ZERO seconds between the flash and the bang. It did not come with a warning of a closing-in thunderstorm, nor did any other strike happen after it.

Next morning it transpired what had happened on the adjacent field 50 meters away from my tent, and 20 meters away from the closest inhabited tent. Lightning had struck an empty 'seasonal tent', with some scorching and a blackened cooking unit.

How easy it appears for me (and others) to just register this totally separate from any 'what could have happened?'. I just hope the big metal cooking unit made the difference and I am glad that I generally do not pack the kitchen sink...

Elfstedentocht (11-cities) non-stop

I Just returned from my second "11-cities, 200 km, non-stop" adventure. It is not a race because it is all about the achievement of completing this distance within the 36 hour time limit.

Interviewed by Omrop Fryslan

In my opinion and experience this is not as physically demanding as one might think. It is the psychological aspects that gave me (again) some unwelcome surprises. In my case it was again the sleep deprivation that (for me) takes it's toll in the night-time hours. That almost 'disables' me to paddle at a reasonable speed without frequent automatic "low-brace-skim-the-water" when I 'nod off'. OK, maybe that is a physical aspect. However the frustration about slowing my group down (psychological) is the worst feeling. After an-hour-and-a-half desperately trying fighting sleep I could finally have my 10-minute power nap at the Stavoren check-point and I was OK again.

From Leeuwarden onwards the organizers only allow teams to continue into the night. Teams will form naturally because at that time in the event people will have found fellow paddlers with the same speed and focus.

This kind of challenge is only possible with lots of volunteer help. Jolien took great care of me at all the checkpoints for food and moral support. And there is a great deal of sharing between all the support teams. For the team of Ad, Anneke, Peter and Piet, who I joined for the last 100 km, this event is 'a piece of cake'. That is what we stopped for at Workum; home-made apple pie with cream.

Open the GPS Track

This time it took me and my group members 32 hours (first time 34 hours). My goal this time was to get reasonably fit out of the kayak at the finish. Two blisters at the side of my left ring finger and some chaffing from my back-rest, no muscle pains the next day. There is still room for personal improvement if I ever could deal better with the sleep deprivation issue. So I just might do this thing again to test myself... Have I already forgotten my bad moments? No, my good moments greatly outweigh my not so good ones.

The event is open to all, so if you fancy a challenge in a sea kayak, just contact the organizers at Elfstedentocht non-stop per zeekajak. If you have never been to the Netherlands before, it is also a great opportunity to see lots of windmills and make long-time friendships.

Engelandvaarders Spotted

At about 17:00, after about 43 hours some of the Engelandvaarders have reached Sizewell Beach in Suffolk.

I post this as the Spot messenger marks a sandy beach. Details will probably surface on their Engelandvaarders website, Facebook and keep an eye out for news coverage.

Update: Pictures by Ernst van Erkelens of the crossing are available at www.engelandvaarders.info. This Dutch website is dedicated to all Engelandvaarders.

Engelandvaarders Ahoy

At 22:15 tonight Alec, Ben, Chiel, Ed, Harry & Olly pushed off the Beach at Katwijk. It is anyone's' guess how long it will take them to cross the North Sea to Sizewell in Suffolk. Their own estimates range between 40 and 50 hours.

The press meeting in the afternoon, opened by the Mayor of Katwijk, was impressive. In an informal setup the history of the Engelandvaarders and the achievement of the Peteri brothers was narrated by Niels Peteri, the son of Henri Peteri. For a comprehensive history on the Engelandvaarders and the Peteri brothers, see the team's website: www.engelandvaarder.com.

For all of us it must have felt like pieces (both big and small) of a puzzle fitting together. I think none of the involved could have foreseen what an widespread impact the monument at Sizewell had.

It must have been tough for the guys to be available for all the questions from press and by-standers while they want to get going. The final preparations and departure was filmed by the regional TV station RTV West.

Leaving the beach in the dark, punching through surf, they head into the darkness, much like it must have been 70 years ago, that is without the retro-reflecting tape on the paddles.

Their progress can be followed on their website: www.engelandvaarder.com

Distance training

Today I joined Ad and 7 other club members of the Culemborg kayak club for a 61 km distance trip. Some of us are preparing for the "11-steden" challenge (200 km within 36 hours) in two-weeks time.

I did not come prepared however for a detour to a relaxing sunshine break at a canalside restaurant in the historic centre of Utrecht. This club appreciates their coffee and cake moments. A great day on and off the water!

A recurring remark was that our next training would be the first 100 km of the "11 Steden Tocht".

To view our route in Google Earth, click here.

Engelandvaarders update

On Monday 22 August the Engelandvaarders team will be present at a press meeting that the Katwijk city council organizes at 17:00 at the Zeepaviljoen, Strandweg 2, Katwijk, Netherlands.

Niels Peteri will bring the original folding kajak that the Peteri brothers used for their North Sea crossing on September 19th, 1941.

I got a bit more involved when Ben and Chiel, two young Dutch Marines, joined the UK team and inquired with me to borrow kayaks for the crossing as they did not think their training kayak was suitable. When I learned they used a Navy standard Klepper double kayak I knew that I should not even think of changing the kayak...

That is, apart from advising some air/float bags in bow/stern to increase the buoyancy of an upturned/flooded double. They graphically explained to me what happened on one of their training runs in 1.5 meter surf...

Their capsize in surf gave me a flashback memory of the account of Henri Peteri when their kayak capsized on first launching and half of their equipment was lost, but spares of critical equipment made the difference. The historic relevance of two of the team using the same type of craft as the Peteri brothers is striking.

The team is now planning to set off to cross the North Sea from Katwijk very early on Tuesday 23 August to finish 40+ hours later on Sizewell Beach in Suffolk, the location of the Engelandvaarders monument (see picture).

The latest news can be followed on their website news page.

During the crossing you can check Engelandvaarder 2011 on Facebook. You have to be logged-on to Facebook already for this Facebook link to work.

Update Aug 20: The national daily newspaper "De Telegraaf" ran a full page article on the Engelandvaarders in this Saturday edition's first section.

Paddle (re-) Sizing

Cleaning-out my 'unused paddling gear' section I (again) ran into my first two Lendal Paddles. For many years now these 226cm PowerMaster and 224cm Nordkapp paddles (90 degrees feather!) stand unused in a corner.

I changed to the Nordkapp from the PowerMaster in my first year on the sea after having had to tow for real against a 5 Beaufort wind and going nowhere. I then thought only the smaller Nordkapp blades would be enough... Paddle sizing in those days was just how far you could reach your arm to have your fingers cup over the blade end. The bigger the blade, the better... Times have changed... Now I use a 210cm KineticTouring.

I thought of selling them second-hand on-line, but my coach mindset prevents me of putting someone else up with these (for the general sea kayaker) unsuitable long paddles. Generally, for performance sea kayaking, anything longer than 215cm needs justification (nowadays), taking into account blade size also.

Lendal once explained to me how to remove blades from a broken shaft. The circular cutting (with a hack-saw) makes it easy to 'peel-off' the glued-on shaft (see picture).

In my case there is enough length of shaft left to make it into a 215cm paddle. Removing the left blade allowed me to retain the right-hand 'index' on the shaft. I chose to make the Nordkapp into a 210cm paddle. The PowerMaster 'magically' got transformed into a 205cm KineticTouring. The only bit I need new is the shrink foil for the hand-grip and epoxy to glue-on the blade.

How many donated paddles must there be at kayak clubs with which new club members get introduced to paddling? Are they of suitable length and feather? It is rather straightforward to shorten a Lendal paddle and change the feather to a more ergonomic 60 degrees.

Lendal for many years has been very widely-used in the Netherlands. It is good to know that Lendal is now fully operational again from this side of the Atlantic (UK), after the misfired Johnson Outdoors take-over. Also the founders of Lendal are on-board for guidance and product development. Some very interesting developments are on their way!! It looks like Lendal (again) is the driving force in paddle innovations!

Now my Lendals are 'updated', would I sell them now? No, they are a welcome addition to my extensive set of Lendal PaddLok/VariLok paddles for coaching. Irrespectable of brand name, a suitable paddle length is fundamental for individual (forward) paddling skills development.

Note: Modern Lendal blades (PaddLok), even when they are one-piece / glued-on, have a 8.5cm spigot. The picture in this post is of older Lendal blades that have a 6cm spigot.

Note: If you want to make a split paddle out of a Lendal paddle, consider buying a 2-piece PaddLok shaft (specify the length of the paddle-to-be). While a bit more expensive, it turns the paddle into a very durable split that is suitable for everyday use. A spring-button-only joint (non-PaddLok) wears the shaft out.

Ray Goodwin Canoeing

On the way to North Wales and Anglesey, Karien and I dropped by Ray Goodwin for a cuppa. It was great to learn that he was at home so I finally had a chance to meet Lina and their daughter Maya. Ray made us a great omelet for lunch and we had lots to talk about.

Ray was thrilled to show me the first production copy of his ground-breaking canoeing book. It will be delivered to distributors and shops nearby you as we speak. What a timing! Long in process (quality takes time) it is out now! Make sure you secure your copy fast as pre-orders on Amazon have already sold out. You can also order your (signed) copies directly from Ray Goodwin.

I am in Wales to pick-up sea kayaks and take care of some BCU stuff that needs attending. Fortunately, good friend Karien is accompanying me and we make a bit of a holiday out of it, as compensation of not having been at the Anglesey symposium this May.

While Ray is now most widely known for his canoeing, he has been guiding sea kayaking trips in Scotland and Pembrokeshire for the Dutch Peddelpraat club for about 14 years now. Next week he takes them on a trip to the Outer Hebrides. He also has been an inspirational guest coach at our annual Peddelpraat sea kayaking week in August.