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I just returned from a 4 day-mini-holiday at Texel; an island in the Netherlands.
The recipy was: camping, much fresh air, long walks through the dunes and on the beach, and a lot of reading.
Refreshing for body and soul!
One of the things I´ve read in the Seakayaker from oktober, I would like to share with you:
It´s about John Marton, a seakayak instructor in the US, who developed a new rescue-technique: the bow-roll-rescue.
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Just read about the accident last sunday near to Vancouver.
Underneath you find the message as published in the papers.
This is a very sad accident; certainly because it could easily have been avoided by wearing wetsuits.
Let it be a lesson to all of us: Hypothermia is life threatening!
ROD MICKLEBURGH
OCTOBER 9, 2007
VANCOUVER
-- For the eight experienced extreme athletes, it was a last rush of adrenaline to mark the end of their adventure racing season, as fall storms began to lash the West Coast.
Kayak to steep Anvil Island in the middle of Howe Sound. Run to the top of the island's peak and down again. Kayak back to the mainland. Bike along 80 kilometres of back trails to Whistler. Run halfway up the mountain, then down at last to a local bar and grill for a celebratory family dinner.
But late Sunday morning, as the four double kayaks began their return journey from Anvil Island, strong winds came up, the waves rose, and tragedy struck. Two kayakers, then two more, were pitched into the frigid waters of Howe Sound.
Yesterday, friends and family mourned the deaths of two of those who began the day in such high spirits, plucked too late from the ocean to survive their severe hypothermia.
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After having enjoyed myself, last spring, in Freya´s workshop on rolling, I did not make an opportunity yet to practise this relaxed way of rolling. This has something to do with the fact that practising only makes sense when paddling a low volume kayak, like my AnasAcuta, in which you can make a layback on the aft deck
It was during last weekend paddling my AnasAcuta that I practised the "floating roll" as I named it: floating because it is the magic to capsize from floating and back to float. As described in my blog the performance was not perfect but it worked. After a few attempts I could not manage anymore: probably because these unused muscles started getting tired.
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You can find it at: [http://nigel-kayak.blogspot.com/]
Or if you´r interested in his website click to:[www.nigelkayaks.com/]
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The sun is coming; clouds slowly drifting away
The club went to Zeeland for a weekend.
As I, unfortunately, could not attend the whole event, I just went sundaymorning to meet the others.
What yesterday seemed not possible to them, could be done today. The windforce had decreased to a very acceptable level, so we headed for a tour at sea in the Voordelta: a very common tour to the sandplate "Aardappelenbult".
I recorded 5 highlights however:
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It is amazing: started in 1969 already with working on paddletechnique and still finding out new approaches.
This time it was, when paddling my weekly 20km tour to the club, that I came in a paddling-cadence making me remember a way of paddling, from long ago, which proved successful in competitions I joined 30 years ago.
What initiated this was another position of my backbone while paddling.
Because I am working at the moment on my neck-, abdomen- and back-muscles to prevent headaches and neck-problems, I went to Mensendieck-therapie first and yet I work further on this with "Perfect Pilatus"; a kind of fitness program. Paddling for years already I assumed that abdomen- and back-muscles should have been in perfect condition. But in fact I was astonished how much this could be improved.
The first results are that it became possible to hold the backbone straight(er) during paddling by using the proper muscles to do so without them becoming tired while under tension.
It occurs that this new position effected my way of paddling in a positive way. I followed my progress with astonishment: 2 weeks ago was the first time this worked out like this and I recorded an average speed of 9,5 km/h which I could maintain easily over ca. 15km´s without the usual loss of concentration because of which it was on earlier occasions difficult to maintain speed.
Yesterday it was easy to reproduce this; in fact I could even go further and reached easily an average of 10,2-10,5 km/h under similar weather-conditions. And I was NOT paddling a race kayak but the same touring-kayak as 2 weeks before.
Yet I did not meet the loss of concentration as a limit: after 13 km´s the concentration was still there but I simply run out of "fuel" (for the evening only carrying just a bottle of water) and had to go down to 8 km/h. Not to bad either. It is clear you use more energy while paddling faster.
Analysing what happened, I concluded that ..........
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I am totally speechless:
I found a very, very beautiful site completely filled with animations of paddling technique, safety- exercise and -techniques.
More words are not necessary.
Just take a look at: [http://kayakpaddling.net/]
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Last sunday Jos and I planned to go to the beach for some surfing. Both of us didn´t follow the weatherconditions very well and it was a nice surprise to find a NW 4-5Bft-wind at sundaymorning. The tide was going down so rather steep waves were hitting the beach.
For me this was an experiment: having a headache 
, wich could turn into being ill, I just went paddling while hoping the salt water would wash it all away.
It didn´t turn out to bad, just feeling cold in the end.
I used one of the slalomkayaks which the club stored near the beach.
I found it quit an experience
to paddle, after years, again in such an easy manoeuvrable kayak. Just making it easy to choose position before the wave hits you.
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As you can read in my blogpost from 5 aug, I am studying on how to improve for a "floatplan" when walking the Norwegian mountains.
Out of several options to improve, I started investigating on using the possibilities of GPS; thinking about "real time tracking" thus giving a contact-person the possibility to follow my progress and position.
Searching the world wide web for information, I was astonished about the latest developments with GPS. Everything you can think off seems possible already.
Since GPS is, or can be, a good supplement on seakayak-equipment, I would like to share with you the result of my quest for information.
First I would like to try to answer the basic question: What can a (handheld)-GPS mean for seakayakers?
- A GPS can be a safety backup: you are able to communicate your exact position when help is needed.
- A GPS makes navigation very easy; in the eyes of some of us it may be too easy.
- A GPS makes you learning while studying your recorded trip afterwards, so you can evaluate your plans against what you did out at sea. Thus making it possible to learn and improve next time.
- In bad weather the use a GPS can make you feel more comfortable, since you have the possibility to paddle the shortest route and preventing being swept away. It will or can be energy saving for your arms (see: blogpost Douglas Wilcox # click here]
- A GPS is a great tool for measuring your paddling speed and -progress; thus giving a clear indication wether your goal can be reached or not, in a given weather- and/or current-situation. This gives you the possibility to change plans in an early stage thus preventing coming into a difficult situation.
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Some time ago, while chatting at the club, Jos asked me the question: “How did you get into (sea)-kayaking?”
I had to think for a while about this.
I thought the answer fits in this blog as well, so I published it underneath.
Well I guess it started, when I was much younger, by reading the book “Jan Battingh becomes rich” (1933) which I inherited from my father a long time ago.
The book is about a boy, looking for the old family treasure that a grand-grandfather ever had hidden and was never found for generations.
Well, that has nothing to do with kayaking, you say!
Right, but the book also describes the boy going kayaking as sport: training and active in competition, but also while enjoying a tour in nature at relaxed pace.
I think the atmosphere around the kayaking-part was described in such a way that it turned a key for me and I became interested.