This weekend sees the first ever Pyranha Dart Fest, a big get-together of white water paddlers at the River Dart Country Park near Ashburton, Dartmoor. There is a busy schedule planned, with paddling, coaching sessions and entertainment in the evening. My good friend Kevin Francis and I are presenting one of the evening slots, with the [...]
Archive for January 2010
Pyranha Dart Fest 30th-31st January Leave a comment
Below!!! Leave a comment
This weekend we made a couple of visits to Chapman’s Pool, a cove located several miles from our home. Getting to the cove (without a kayak) is quite awkward at this time of year, as a 300 foot descent is required down slippery streaks of mud pretending to be paths. We weren’t the only thing slipping. [...]
What Camera Do You Use … ? 10 comments
I’ve had a fair few enquiries about the equipment used for photos in the blog and in the book South West Sea Kayaking. So humour me, I’ll try to cover this stuff in a single blog post. Basically, I now always use a digital SLR. I carry it in a Watershed Ocoee drybag with internal [...]
Durlston Head 1 comment
First thing this morning, I completed a 12 mile cross-country run, which included 1300 feet of ascent and a fair amount of getting lost in Rempstone Forest. This is the longest run I’ve done since 1993, and I suspect it all came much easier back then! This is all part of a grander plan, of [...]
Lundy MCZ Leave a comment
Fabulous Lundy Island has just become Britain’s first Marine Conservation Zone, under the new Marine and Coastal Access Act. Lundy is the first of many planned MCZs. All good. Finding Sanctuary is a project devoted to involving stakeholders (i.e. you and I) in the planning and development of further Marine Protected Areas in South West England. [...]
Gripping Arne Leave a comment
Only those reading from overseas will be unaware that the UK is currently undergoing (what is for us, anyway) an exceptionally cold period. Things aren’t too severe down here in the south west, but I was still too wimpy to go paddling in this weekend’s subzero temperatures and bracing winds. My bad shoulder is my [...]
The Blue Boar 4 comments
Heather, somewhere in Orkney. I think. I did an evening of talks up the road at Poole Harbour Canoe Club last year. Surprisingly, I can’t have offended absolutely everybody in the room on that occasion, as they’ve invited me back for another go, later this month. The talks will be on the evening of Monday [...]
New Year’s Resolution 3 comments
Back at work today, oh joy. We did at least do some enjoyable things over the hols, but not involving paddles or kayaks. On a Christmas Day MTB ride with Heather, I managed to land upside-down on my shoulder from a significant height. Something audibly went ‘crack’, but I haven’t been brave enough to get it [...]
