SEA KAYAKING CORNWALL

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Thanks Simon

First course for SKC completed

Well my first course for Sea Kayaking Cornwall is completed. As you can see by Davids face below the bit of rain on the sunday afternoon didnt put him off. On the first morning we had perfect blue skies and a calm sea. The balance exercise went well with no splashes to be seen. Thanks to Pete, Steve and David my first course was a joy to work on and i am now really looking forward to the years ahead teaching and exploring the cornish coast.

NDK Dealers Meet

The NDK Dealers meet is the time of the year when Nigel Dennis invites all of his dealers around the world to come to wales and use the kayaks in the environment they were designed for. Well yesterday saw perfect conditions at Penryn Mawr. I cant remember a day with so many kayaks out of the water.
There will be more photgraphs after we have all recovered with a full review of the week with details of all of the new developments from Nigel Dennis Kayaks.

West Coast sea and surf

Over the weekend I led a Sea and Surf weekend on the West Coast of Ireland for Deep Blue Sea Kayaking. We headed to Lahinch, County Clare for our base. We were blessed with ideal conditions. On Sat morning we circumnavigated Mutton Island in lumpy conditions. There were a few wide eyes around the exposed west side as the tide tumbled the tops of the Atlantic rollers. The beautiful crecent shaped Doughmore beach offered a 2 foot swell and enabled the group to put there skills learnt on the east coast into real practice.

The weather on the sunday was perfect for an attack on the tallest cliffs in Europe, the Cliffs of Moher. The clouds hung from the cliff tops and gave us a moody specticle to admire. We even managed a slightly slippy landing right under the highest part of the cliff line.

I want to thank the group for being so enthusiastic and really getting stuck into it! The West has soo much more of this to offer. Keep it up!

Flying south for the winter

I have recently agreed to go into business with Jeff Allen down in Cornwall and build on his existing sea kayaking business. We hope to start things rolling in September and have everything set up by the spring. So please watch this space for developments!



I have been busy over the past few weeks working and playing. The other day I explored Ireland`s Eye, a small island 20min north of Dublin. I was amazed at the specticle of the Gannets balancing on the towering stack. There are not many capital cities in the world that allow you to be in Three knots of tide floating past dramatic coastline looking at an incredible diversity of wildlife. I will be sad to leave this area in September but still have a while to make the most of it.

Circumnavigation of Iceland

During my time working at Terra Santa Kayaks in Israel i had the pleasure of working with Rotem. A few days ago she set off on an attempt to become the first person to complete a SOLO circumnavigation of Iceland. Rotem is a quiet and shy idividual with firery determination, and no doubt is focused on the challenge ahead of her. This will be her greatest challenge to date and we are all very much behind her all the way.

You can follow her progress by clicking here.

Rotem,

Good luck I know you can do it. Just take it a day at a time. My thoughts are with you daily.

Go for it Girl!!!!

Love and best wishes Simon

Symposium paddling

It is the time of year when the northern Hemisphere is on kayaking overdrive. At present there is a symposium happenning nearly every weekend. The photo above is from the Nigel Dennis Kayaks Symposium that happens every May. It is usually the first of the year kicking off the season. The NDK symposium is an Intermediate-Advanced event with lots of rough water classes.

A good list of the symposiums throughout the year can be found on kayakwisconsin.net. This is not the complete list but gives you some ideas. It is incredible that there is a network of sea kayakers to support all of these events. It just shows how strong the industry has become.