Sea Kayaking Cornwall will be holding their first sea symposium on the 13 and 14 September, for details go to:

http://www.seakayakingcornwall.com/symposium2008.html

The Sea Kayaking Cornwall Symposium has been organised to coincide with the Tall Ships Regatta. On the Saturday you will have the opportunity to attend a variety of courses in Falmouth Bay with the backdrop of the magnificent tall ships. On Saturday evening there will be entertainment and a hog Roast for all. On the Sunday you will have the opportunity to explore with day paddles and courses exploring Cornwall’s varied coastline. During the following week we will have a variety of discounted 5 day courses on offer. The Symposium is based at Tregedna Farm a short walk from Maenporth Beach. There is dormitory style accommodation or camping available. We are limiting the numbers to 25 Full board and 35 Camping’.

Sea Kayaking Cornwall has recently returned from Alaska, working with Alaska sea Kayak school and Tom Pogson, Jeff Allen took clients over from the UK to explore South East Alaska’s Prince William Sound. for more details on this trip you can read about it in Ocean Paddler magazine next issue.

Doug Taylor and Jonathan Reggler are attempting a circumnavigation of Vancouver Island during May, June and July of 2008. Paddling  Explorers, they won’t be attempting to break any records but will be exploring the more remote parts of the island. Both are residents of Comox Valley, Vancouver Island and met through Comox Valley Kayaks, an SKUK dealer.

Read more at  http://vancouverislandcircumnavigation.blogspot.com/

Carpe Diem Kayaking Company is a new NDK Expedition Centre for North America based in “downeast” Maine, near Acadia National Park, they offer multi-day adventures, day trips, and world class instruction. Click on the link for more details.

For more NDK Expedition Centres in North America and around the world, follow this link

Starting June 6th 2008, New York City based kayaker Marcus Demuth will begin to solo circumnavigate Iceland by sea kayak. This estimated 2 ½ month and 1,450 mile trip has been attempted solo only twice, but has been successfully completed only once.

Marcus’ Around Iceland 2008 sea kayak expedition will be a fundraiser for the all volunteer Icelandic sea & mountain rescue organization ICE-SAR, which coordinates 220 sea and mountain rescue teams, accident prevention divisions and youth sections. Thousands of volunteers dedicate themselves to accident prevention night and day 365 day a year. Marcus chose to dedicate his trip to ICE-SAR in the hopes of raising awareness and valuable funds for the vital work that their volunteers do under life threatening weather conditions each day.

Iceland, with its Northern shore just 2 miles shy from the Arctic Circle, is located in one of the toughest marine areas in the world, the North Atlantic Ocean. The exposure of its South Western coast to the large Atlantic swells creates large, dumping surf which makes landings extremely difficult; the whoosh of katabatic winds that howl down over sloping glaciers and scarcely populated jagged shores, not to mention the cold temperatures and fast changing weather patterns, seriously challenged previous expeditions. This may explain why so few kayakers have attempted to circumnavigate Iceland by sea kayak.

Kayak Blogger “Wenley” of www.onkayaks.squarespace.com fame will be writing and updating the Around Iceland 2008 blog (as he receives reports from Marcus by phone) with his fun maritime writing style.

Marcus, a seasoned kayaker, is confident this journey will be a success. In 2007 he successfully circumnavigated Ireland as a fundraiser for the Royal National Lifeboat Association (RNLI), a trip of over 1,100 nautical miles in 42 days. Past expeditions brought Marcus to Patagonia/Chile (2006), the South and West Coast of Australia (2007), and Nova Scotia, Canada (2005).

Find out more about this expedition and its sponsors at www.aroundiceland2008.com

Greg Stamer, one of our sponsored paddlers, will be undertaking an unsupported, solo, sea kayak circumnavigation of Newfoundland. Known as “the Rock”, Canada’s easternmost province the expedition will be starting from St. John’s in June 2008. This adventure is more than 1,700 miles around one of the most windswept locations in North America.

Newfoundland is also one of the world’s most beautiful kayaking destinations with Icebergs, seals, puffins, breaching humpback whales, sea caves and a formidable rocky coastline. Abandoned fishing villages dot the coast.

Greg fell in love with Newfoundland and its people while teaching kayaking at a symposium there in 2007. “The country has a raw, primal beauty. Never before had I seen so many sea caves to play in, or so many thousands of birds, such as what I witnessed at Cape St. Mary’s in the Avalon Peninsula. Likewise the people are among the friendliest that I have ever met and would literally give you the shirt off their back if you were in true need. During my stay there I was offered berth in houses, inside cabins of ships and inside trailers. While I plan to stay in the wilds as much as possible, I know that interacting with the people of Newfoundland will be one of the greatest highlights of my journey. Winds will be a challenge as will the toll of long, high-mileage days”.

During his Iceland circumnavigation with trip partner Freya Hoffmeister last year, Greg completed two crossings of 90km, and 100km, the latter requiring more than 22 hours to complete. Neither of these crossings had been completed by kayak before. For the Newfoundland expedition, Greg will be again be kayaking headland to headland, and making a number of challenging crossings, but he will also allow himself to be seduced into visiting the country’s beautiful bays and historic sites, including the ancient Viking settlement at L’Anse aux Meadows. Greg is president of Qajaq USA (http://www.qajaqusa.org), an organization devoted to promoting Greenland-style paddling. As he did while circumnavigating Iceland, Greg will use Greenland-style paddles for his Newfoundland expedition.

You can follow Greg’s progress via RSS (see right) or by visiting his website: http://www.gregstamer.com

Starting in Ilfracombe (N Devon) on Monday 14 April, Rowland Woollven and Cath Tanner are to fulfil a long-held dream – the circumnavigation of mainland Great Britain by sea kayak.

Fewer than 20 people have completed this journey since Nigel Dennis and Paul Caffyn made the first circumnavigation in the 1980’s. Of those, only 3 have been women, so Cath will become only the 4th ‘woman round Britain’. Rowland will, at 54, be the oldest paddler by far to complete the circumnavigation! The expedition has already gained the support of Cath’s employers – Duchy College, Cornwall (they have granted her a sabbatical for the duration of the expedition), and Nigel Dennis, one of the UK’s leading paddlers and a sea kayak manufacturer. Nigel has sponsored Rowland as a ‘Sea Kayaking UK’ sponsored paddler for many years, and has provided Cath with a custom built Explorer LV for her to use. At the end of the expedition, Cath too will become a Nigel Dennis sponsored paddler.

Click here for more info regarding the expedition or visit http://www.rwoollven.co.uk/circumnavigation.html

Anglesey Sea Kayak Symposium 2008: Its our 25th Birthday!

We hope you’ll come and help us celebrate, there’s lots happening. More workshops than you can shake a paddle at - no matter what level of experience you have, there something for everyone and no excuses this year, 2008 sees the launch of our Beginner’s Symposium. It promises to be a very exciting sea kayaking symposium indeed, lots to do, friends to catch up with, new ones to make, adventures to plan, and lots of paddling to be had.

For all the info, booking forms and more, please go to http://www.seakayaksymposium.co.uk . Remember, book early to avoid missing out!

Note: programmes/classes/guest speakers subject to change.

Just starting on their circumnavigation of Scandinavia, Jeff Allen and Mark Schoon are posting regular updates and audio dowloads as they progress. You can read more at Norway Updates.

He is raising money for two charities along the way and via the website. If you donate you can guess the amount of weight he will loose over the expedition and win the paddle he is using for the expedition!. More info at Jeff Allen Competition

Don’t forget, two more of our sponsored paddlers - Justine & Barry have reached the half way mark of their circumnavigation of New Zealand. Click on the links on the right, under New Zealand Updates for their progress.

Marcus Demuth’s circumnavigation around the Alexander Archipelago has been abandoned. Having done some serious research about the wildlife in the area and his own personal safety, he has decided to plan an adventure around Iceland instead.

In Marcus’s own words:

Every kayaker I emailed with who both lives and kayaks in the Alexander Archipelago recommends I bring a shotgun with me. I do not like guns. I do not like dealing with guns, with the ammunition, gun cleaning issues etc. I do not like to shoot at living creatures,especially if I knew in advance I may have to.

I then read the book “Bear Attacks - Their Causes and Avoidance” by Stephen Herrero, the North American researcher authority for bear attacks, which made me choose the avoidance aspect over the idea of having an encounter with a brown bear.

Facts from the book:

•  ”Most grizzly bear-inflicted injuries occurred during July, August and September”. [The months I would have been in Alaska = high risk months]

• “In 88 percent of the incidents, only one person was injured. I found no records of four or more people being injured in an attack. I believe there is greater safety in larger parties”.

As I am traveling solo, which is highest risk group size. Stephen Herrero tries to say: Don’t go t Alaska by yourself, go with 3 or more buddies

• The amount of bears living in ABC islands, supposedly the highest concentration of grizzly bears in the world.[ABC Islands = Alexander Archipelago]

The fact that you can not fully protect yourself from grizzly bear attacks, even if you camp and act “by the book”, does not sound inviting to me.

Example from the book:

“The board of inquiry that investigated the case concluded that they had followed or exceeded the precautions one would take in avoiding conflict with bears. The women were experienced hikers and campers. Despite their precautions, at around seven in the morning of Sept 23rd, Mary Pat Mahoney was dragged from her tent, killed, and partly devoured by a grizzly bear.”

There are many, many more stories from hikers being eaten alive by a bear, or being crippled by a bear who chewed both arms of a biologist, and most stories feature sentences like:

“Brigitta Fredenhagen did nothing to encourage the attack, in fact, her cleanliness and neatness were said to be exceptional. Being by herself may have made her an easier victim.”

In addition, all books and bear avoidance pamphlets mention there should be no food or anything else which smells stored in the tent, which would mean curtains for my late night glass of whiskey! One Alaskan park service pamphlet even mentions it is not advised to listen to an iPod at night, since it makes you overhear the approaching bear. So much about a good nights sleep after a long paddling day!

All this, in addition to the beautiful pics I saw from Iceland, make Iceland look even better.

Marcus.

More info at www.aroundiceland2008.com

From Mid May to Mid July of 2008, Marcus Demuth will attempt to circumnavigate the Alaskan Alexander Archipelago, a trip over 1,250 Miles in a 3 piece Explorer.

The circumnavigation route will pass the mostly un-inhabited and unprotected Pacific shoreline featuring high surf and swell of Chichagof Island, Baranof Island, and Prince of Wales Island, then the Northern part of the Inside Passage, and will lead into Glacier Bay, towards Muir Glacier. The Alexander Archipelago is a three-hundred-mile-long archipelago, off the southeastern coast of Alaska. It contains about 1,100 islands, which are the tops of the submerged coastal mountains that rise steeply from the Pacific Ocean.

For more info visit:

http://www.marcusdemuth.com/AlexanderArchipelagoCircumnavigation.aspx