White water at last!

Well finally it rained this weekend, and I was able to get out and enjoy some whitewater on the Dart. The rain didn't come till fairly late on Sunday.Meaning that I could enjoy a late start, before driving up to Ashburton, hooking up with Jemma and Andy and cruising up to Newbridge.

Jemma drops into the top wave

When we got there the water was just about level with the top corner of the rock slab, meaning it was just about worth paddling. By the time we'd got kitted up and carried our boats over it was lapping over the top corner of the slab, meaning it was well worth getting on. And by the time I returned two hours later to collect the van the slab was completely covered.

Andy blunting on top wave

Top wave was only just starting to show its true potential at these sort of water levels, but it was still more than worth spending a while surfin' it up!

Some times I can't help being a bit arty!

Local young ripper Jack

Dan W enjoying his new Agent on top wave

After a good session at the top wave we decided to head on down the river and enjoy the incredible autumn colours that the trees had to show. By now the rain was clearing, blue sky was appearing and the sun was throwing us a few rays.

Ouch! remember rocks are harder than plastic

Andy attempted to wave-wheel/cartwheel into Triple One, but managed to find rock ledge and re-modeled the front of his Orbit fish. I reckon he was lucky not to re-model his toes!!

Andy launches a big one at Triple

The play wave at Triple three was at an absolute perfect level, fast, shouldered, and with a fluffy pile in the middle. We spent a long time enjoying its watery perfection!

Me carving up and into another blunt

The autumn colours were nice

It's a shame the weather forecast looks so dry again, it was fantastic to be out on the Dart again, and I can't wait for my next Triple three play session!

I've seen the light, and it's a Wave-ski!!

It seems that there has been a recent upswing in the amount of interest in wave skis'. First off Circle One, the Devon based wetsuit and surfboard company made some Epoxy wave skis, aimed at beginner/intermediate paddlers, rather than being more full-on custom skis aimed at more experienced paddlers. There was much more interest in them than Circle One, or us at AS, had expected. As if that was enough, Atlantic based in North Devon, have started working on another beginner/intermediate wave ski.
We had one of the Atlantic skis dropped into the shop for us to cast an eye over, and I've been keen to give it a try out since it arrived. I first attempted to give it a whirl at Harlyn in North Cornwall last week. But unfortunately a broken fin and no replacement finished that attempt before it had even started. But this week I was able to give it two days solid use at Saunton, in some great 2-3ft waves.

Soft full rails and plenty of volume make it stable and forgiving

The waves couldn't have been better if I tried. A really good 2-3ft swell, and a perfect light off-shore wind, produced well lined up waves with faces upto five feet high and great walls and lips that held up for what felt like forever!
I was a little anxious when I first set out on the ski, tales of terror about unstable and unforgiving wave skis having tempered my thoughts. But it couldn't have been further from the truth. Once used to the sitting position, rather than being sat in a kayak being sat on the ski, it turned out to be stable and easy to paddle. It was a dream to paddle out, it literally skipped over broken waves no matter what size, and with a healthy dose of volume in the tail even when pushed hard on steep breaking waves it refused to back loop.
When taking off it was quick and easy to paddle in and quickly took off even on smaller inside waves. Once on a wave it would do anything you wanted with barely any effort needed. If you wanted to cruise down the line, just climbing and falling down the face, then just point it and go, hardly needing a paddle stroke. If you wanted to make some cut backs, push it into a few lips or cut loose with a tail slash then you just had to put a bit more aggression into it.
But at the same time when you needed that bit of forgivingness, when things went a little pear shaped then it was there. Several times I got caught high on a wave as it finally broke, thinking oh no, the ski just broke away, skidded down the wave and then put me back in control.

I want one now!

Well all in all, I can't fault it. It did everything I wanted as and when I wanted it. It was cruisey when I wanted a casual wave, it ripped when I wanted to push it a bit more, it paddled out easily through all conditions.
I have seen the light and it IS Ski shaped. Forget surf boards and surf boats, this is it, this is all you need.

South-West Canoe Show 2007

Just a few quick shots from this years South-West Canoe show. Once again it was a great event, the weather good, the crowds huge, loads of shiny new products and masses of people trying them out on the water.

The new Liquid Logic Remix

There were new boats on many of the stands. New Liquid Logic kayaks, the Remix range and new sizes in some of there existing range. New fishing sit-on-top, the Prowler 15 Trident from Ocean Kayak. Some New(ish) surf kayaks from Valley, the Rip and the Rush+. The new Lettmann range of sea kayaks, WW kayaks and sea racing kayak.

The new Sweet Legend series

There was also plenty of new kit on display. The latest colours in the Sweet helmet range. New drysuits to suit all uses from Palm. The all new WW cags from Nookie, the Airhead and the Zone. The all new Stealth drive battery powered motors for use with Sit-on-top kayaks.

The new Pyranha Rev

The show was very well attended, with over 300 people registering for demos, and many demoing more than one boat. At times the people in charge of the demos/pontoon area were concerned that there were to many people on the pontoon and that it was sinking!!

The demos in full swing

GoPro Camera test, again

Nothing too exciting today I'm afraid. I was keen to give the GoPro digital camera another test, so I bodged together a helmet mount, and went for a quick play on the canal. I also managed to persuade Louise to sit on the side and take a few stills with it as well.

Getting my bow stall on!

The still shots turned out quite well, but with the camera being very simple, and totally automatic, and with a small view finder it can be a bit hit and miss getting the focus right sometimes, and in low light conditions it will automatically set a slow shutter speed, meaning that action shots will come out blurred.

Am I spinning, pirouetting, twirling, fluffing a cartwheel.......

The video is very good, it doesn't always look as good when posted on the net, due to the compression used to limit its size. But when played back on your PC at home it looks very impressive.

Overall the camera is a good as I'd expect from something that costs less than £100, including the waterproof case. The stills are good, the video is simple but crisp, and good enough for web use. It does has a few draw backs, the view finder is small, and when in the waterproof case almost impossible to use, and it can be a bit battery hungry when taking lots of short video clips.

I feel its a bit of a second camera, and the big attraction is the waterproof casing. If you want something for nonstop use in, on, or just under the water then the GoPro could be for you. If you want something for high quality photography and video, then you might want to look somewhere else.

Some helmet cam footage from a bit of playing on the canal.

Bantham surf, in a kayak!!

With the surf forecast showing a good Southwest swell, and off-shore winds, there was no doubt that there would be some waves on the south coast today. The only trouble was getting the tide times right. There was only one thing for it, a 5am start!!

One of the larger set waves of the session

So we rolled up at Bantham at 6.30, still in the dark. But the dawn was rapidly coming, and so were the number of cars! A dozen hard-core dawn mission surfers made the way out into the line up. Some for a quick 45min session before hitting work, other were there like me, surfing till the tide was too high.

Mmmm.... Werner foam-core paddles......

The surf was perfect, 3ft sets, with the odd larger set to catch you out, light off-shore winds to hold them up, and a soft light pressing through the grey clouds. The only worry I had was, "what this boat going to be like?" I'd not paddled the Valley Rush, or any other composite surf kayak, before and so it was going to be a bit of a jump in the deep end!

Desperately trying to make the drop in

The Rush however turned out to be a dream to paddle, fast, very maneuverable and surprisingly forgiving. I took a couple of late take offs, one on one of the bigger sets, I was sure I was going to go over the falls, but some how, with all my weight back and on my highest rail , I made the drop and fired off down the line in a state of shock!

One of the earlier waves of the day

I would like to try out the new bigger sized Rush, the Rush+. I just felt that the boat felt a little over loaded sometimes, even with only my 12stone in it.

Shredding the inside re-form on the way back to the beach

I also gave the Gopro camera another test. However it wasn't the greatest, unable to mount it on my helmet, helmet mounts are still on there way. So I strapped it to my Buoyancy aid shoulder strap. I captured a few good bit of footage, not many, but check them out below.

Bantham surf video, not the best but not too bad!

The season starts here!

Well October has started, the River Dart has 'opened' once again, and spirits are high. Hopefully we'll have another good season in the South West. I hear some people have been on the Dart already, even if levels weren't that good!
But don't forget it all kicks off this weekend, with The South West Canoe Show. Saturday the 6th of October 10am till 5pm.
Check it out at www.swcanoeshow.com