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Winter End !

I am still there ;-)) Winter is holding on for another few days I think. But today I have come out of my internet presence hibernation. Spending a wonderful and rewarding Christmas with the family extended all the way into January.

Then I spent three weeks in Baja Mexico with a group of Dutch paddlers. Using the logistics and sea kayaks from Ginni Callahan's Sea Kayak Baja Mexico we paddled around Isla Carmen and continued towards La Paz.

Should I say what we've seen and experienced? Or should I keep it quiet? For now at least. Upcoming Wednesday I give a lecture for the local kayak club and do not want to give away too much here now :-)) Still pondering what to do with a most untypical February Baja photo... All part of the Magic of Baja..

Below picture is of the group carrying my kayak towards the end of the trip. They are smiling while my kayak was the only one not to loose weight because it carried all the cooking hardware and all of it's original 26 liters of the drinking water.

I enjoyed it as well. Thus I can already spread the word that I secured my slot for another trip in February 2011. Not quite Winter hibernation. More Baja Magic !

Seems it never rains in Southern California
Seems I've often heard that kind of talk before

(Seems it never rains in Southern California - Albert Hammond)

Winter Guests

It has been snowing now for hours on end, resulting in four inches of snow. Winter arrived. The annual arrival of Red Robin is a sure sign of imminent freezing temperatures. Why, I do not know, but generally a day or two after I first sight Red Robin in the garden it allways starts to freeze...

New this year (for me) is the Ring-necked Parakeet. First I thought it was an escaped cage bird (which in fact it is...). But seeing them in groups of 10-15 and looking-up about them I know these exotic birds are here to stay.

Not becoming too policital about it... Should we round them up and deport them back to the country they came from? But the saying says it all... Free as a bird. And they do add colour.

Another 'free bird' is my good old Tweety. My yellow Explorer, now burried under four inches of snow. I Taw a Putty Tat...

Freya did it !

Logo designed by Domingo Benitez

Freya Hoffmeister completed her circumnavigation of Australia.

Awesome and 'amazing' !

I met a strange lady, she made me nervous
She took me in and gave me breakfast
(Men at Work - Down Under)

Serious Request

Albert-Jan, A friend of mine, executed 15 rolls within two minutes for charity and thus collected 1763,40 euro.

The biggest challenge for him would not be the rolling itself, but the current near-freezing water (and air!) temperatures...

Albert-Jan opened my eyes (wide) some years ago when he hand-rolled in a tide-race in the week of his Advanced Sea Proficiency assessment. That was before all the Greenland-style rolling 'arrived' in the Netherlands.

Check-out his website for more information and footage and news items on this challenge.

The Serious Request challenge is national radio charity week.

Kayak Coaching Workshop Part 3

Today was the last day of a coach workshops that the Dutch Canoe Union (NKB) organised for (aspirant) kayak coaches. The focus of this three-day course was on the needs, wants and fears of students; when it becomes coaching instead of just 'instruction'.

Surfing at Whitesand's

We drove down to Pembrokeshire for a weekend of surfing. I brought over my Mega Neutron surf kayak to try out in 'proper surf'. Barry is trying-out his recent acquisition, a wave ski. Justine has a Valley Storm to try. Phil is boarding. So a lot of toys for in the surf. Sunday turned-out to be a gorgeous sunny day at Whitesands Bay. An almost off-shore wind and a nice rip-current along the rocks to paddle out almost effortless. I had some great (very fast!) long rides, some major thrashings and one long swim (after being catapulted out of my kayak...). I am amazed how much can be done with a low brace in these (for me) massive waves. And Phil showed what can be done in my kayak with the right skills...

Running the Lligwy

It's Justine's birthday today and off we (Justine, Barry, Tara. Hugh and me) went to the Lligwy river. Surf-lines kindly lend me a Dagger river kayak. I paddled once before on the Lligwy. But now water levels are very high. Because of the heavy rains over the last days other potential rivers are out of the question. Hugh is the most experienced river paddler and I listen carefully to his advice. Today I learned to 'look ahead'. We played by getting into as much eddies and stoppers as possible. But every time I missed one, and drifted backwards down the river, I thought "What's behind me" when I scraped overhanging branches...