Playak News Flash 2009-12-31

Playak News Flash - December 31, 2009

News Watch Headlines

Wavesport Blogs: An Unforgettable X-mas Day: Todo Palguin X-mas day, 12 solid boaters met for a delicious breakfast at the vegetarian wi-fi hostel/restaurant Ecole in Pucon to energize for a big mission: the total Palguin. This includes the uber-fun Upper, the ultra-burly Middle, and the cruisy Lower Palguin sections of whitewater.

Dagger Blogs: Utilizing Curlers... I've always thought of kayaking as being a sport in which you try to achieve synchrony with the river, not fight against it. I think that the best paddlers are able to put in very little effort to get their boat where it needs to go. This is true even in the most massive, convoluted, class VI rapid.

Tony Paradise: Top 10 paddles of 2009 - #6 Middle Cove was choked with ice my ice paddle on March 27 was one that was certain to be on my list of top 10 paddles. I set out to paddle with the ice floes in Middle Cove but when I got there the cove was choked with ice. Not much room for a kayak in there, so I moved one cove over to Torbay.

Kokatat Blog: Freya's trip report "I would like to thank Kokatat for sponsoring me to successfully complete the circumnavigation of Australia. Thanks as well for the financial donation. All bits are helpful to finance such a year long trip!"

Justine Curgenven: Festive paddle Where was everyone today on the sea? It was a glorious day with sunshine, views of snow covered mountains, very little wind and fantastic clean waves at Penrhyn Mawr tidal race. After a lovely Christmas Day with our families, Barry and I have enjoyed a couple of days working off some of that turkey and trimmings.

Frogma: Mill Basin Sightseeing Back to that paddle TQ & I took last week! It was a small-craft advisory day, and I am currently one piece short of my usual winter ensemble (BRAND NEW replacement drysuit is now en route from Arcata, yay, more on that before too long but those who know Kokatat know what I'm talking about.

Global Surfski: Surfski paddling in New Caledonia Global Surfski – focusing on the latest surfski news & information, with surfski reviews, training tips, links to interesting sites and races.

SeaKayakPhoto.com: The Silurian simian sentinel of Breddoch Bay After Crammag Head, the next headland was Laggantalluch Head where we passed the sea stack of Scutching Stock, the Cave of the Saddle, Ape Rock, which stands like a simian sentinel above Breddock Bay, and the incredibly folded and shattered strata of Muddioch Rock.

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Playak News Flash 2009-12-29

Playak News Flash - December 29, 2009

News Watch Headlines

Jackson Kayak: Jez Update So with the nationals all done and dusted here in Australia, we have been enjoying boating in very warm temps right now.

Immersion Research: December Paddling After 15 inches of snow near the IR headquarters Ben Lediwitz and I decided to go kayaking. It was off to the Top Yough. A local class IV favorite that is extremely beautiful in the winter time.

Raoul Collenteur: Falls of Lora First day we arrived at the wave while it was forming and eager as we were we jumped in straight away. It took some time to form though and more then an hour later we could finally surf the wave we had come for all this way. Problem with this tidal wave is the short period of time you can surf it, but when it's there it's all good. Surrounded by some curious seals we paddled and enjoyed the wave.

Dave Hoffman: Favorite Photos of the Year We paddled this run with just the two of us, with little prior knowledge about the run. It was the biggest day of the year, with huge scary drops and complex portages.

Kokatat Blog: How to Boat Scout according to Kim Russell When you're paddling down the river and you have no option to get out and scout a rapid from the shore, it comes in handy on knowing how to boat scout. Not to mention, it's a lot quicker and sometimes easier than getting out of your boat once you get the hang of it.

Kayak Chile: Pucon River Fest Community Raft Race Thanks to all who attended and all the companies who donated guides, gear, rafts, and transport. All the people in the rafts had a great time and would never normally of had a chance to get on the river.

Werner: Happy Holidays From Werner Paddles I want to take this opportunity to say Happy Holidays from everyone that brings you Werner Paddles. We are happy to be producing the best paddles in the world from our factory in Sultan Washington, USA. We have closed down the factory until January 04, 2010. So please be patient if you are trying to contact us. We are likely to be ending this year and starting the new one by paddling.

Global Surfski: Nice details on the Fusion Surfski I really wanted to take a closer look on this very beautiful ski I defied the cold weather and met up with him. This prototype (12 kg) was super solid and stiff and Fredrik said that that they easily could make the ski 2 kg lighter with the same solid hull. Impressive!

Am. Whitewater: USFS Withdraws Chattooga Decisions and Analyses Before leaving for the Holidays, US Forest Service officials "voluntarily withdrew" their decisions and analysis regarding their illegal ban on paddling the Wild and Scenic Upper Chattooga River.

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Playak News Flash 2009-12-26

Playak News Flash - December 26, 2009

News Watch Headlines

Go Kayak Now: Big wave riding, Surf Kayaker Alejo Pachecho Costa Rica I don't think I would even paddle out if the swell was that big. It really defies the imagination. Alejo must have cajones the size of church bells to drop in on that wave.

Shane's Logic: A Mini Epic on the Snow Covered Green River We had as much as 24" of snow in the mountains and down on the Green River we had about 10 and in all my time living in the area I had never been on the river when there was lots of snow. So even though the small roads were impassable we were determined to get out on the river.

Kokatat Blog: Ice is Nice Running water is something a lot of people in the world don't have, including us. But we have a possibly even better form of running water: the Little White, on ice.

PDX River Explorers: Boofs & Blunts: Washouglal Drainage Double Header Creek runs, play spots and fun class 3-4 river running the Washougal Drainage has it all! Hagen Gorge, Stebbins Creek, and the Washougal Hole are just a few of the world class spots to paddle.

Jackson Kayak: Heather Herbeck's Mexico report and photos Repelling 100 feet into the Truchas section of the Alseseca, only to find the water muddy and high.

CKS Blog: 2010 Jackson Star Series Review With Leif Embertson The 2010 Star series builds upon the previous Star design but add makes some great changes that include shortening the boat, increasing the volume distribution in and around cockpit, tweaking the hull design, and modifying the foot pumps all which take a great performer and make it even better.

PaddleBlogs: Liquid Fusion Kayaking: Old Rasputin Paddle We just celebrated our Second Annual Old Rasputin Paddle and declared this to be an annual event for those of us who love North Coast Brewing Company's Old Rasputin and sea kayaking out of Fort Bragg, California - the home of North Coast Brewing Company and Liquid Fusion Kayaking.

Palm Blogs: Remarkable Journey This alone was intriguing, but nowadays we look for more than just a paddling adventure when we sponsor, so with charitable and educational side projects and a natural ability to generate interest at both local and national levels Dave got our full attention.

discountkayaking: The North Anna River This river is one I have been wanting to check out for a while. I had been looking at the USGS Streamflow Data for the past few months , checking every week, no change,un-runnable. It is a dam release stream so it can rise and fall really dramatically in a matter of minutes.

Playak Product News: Pesda Press: Sea Kayak A manual for intermediate and advanced sea kayakers. This book is a modern guide to sea kayaking by one of the leading exponents of the sport who is also a highly respected coach in this field.

Playak: Africa Revolutions Tour DVD Review Once the wild, brown waters of Madagascar are over, they fly back to the mother continent and back to the Zambezi, where it is tackled at very high water. It is run at probably the highest level ever recorded. The Murchison Falls section of the Nile is next and without going it, this section of the Nile is sick, although, as is said in the movie, the purpose was not to document this section, the purpose was to live.

Playak: Pyranha Burn 2010 Medium The weapon of choice for many of the World's greatest paddlers, the Burn just got better! Subtle performance enhancing modifications make the 2010 Burn exactly what you need for having pinpoint accuracy and boofing down rivers like a Pro.

SUP Surf: Todd Bradley Pocket Coaching SUP Instruction Part 1 Todd Bradley, who's been a top paddler for over 30 years and has over 50 Molokai crossings mentioned to me he was going to start offering personal paddle coaching called 'pocket coaching'. I convinced him to use me and a few friends as the guinea pigs and we had 2 sessions.

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Playak News Flash 2009-12-23

Playak News Flash - December 23, 2009

News Watch Headlines

Tribe News: Rider of the Year The goal of these annual awards is simply to showcase the incredible things that are done in our sport each year and highlight the people doing them. With your participation we have an international platform to stoke the fire of progression and community in kayaking. We hope that anyone who has done something cool this year will submit an entry if only to let everyone else see some more cool shit.

Evan Garcia: Rio Florin (High Water) With the sun finally coming out and levels starting to drop we set our sights on the Lake District. With a group of 6 stout gypsy's all loaded in a small Cheve car we headed four hours south to the Rio Florin. To our surprise we found a huge amount of water in the river giving us quite an interesting experience in this committing canyon.

Whitewater-Koa: Back to Tree Trunk Once we had scouted from every possible angle Brendan, Trent and I geared up and headed to the top. With the flows looking rather burely B and I opted for the seal launch entry while Trent ran the guts.

New River Academy: Rio Achi Bueno New River Academy gives you a look at the Rio Achi Bueno! Deep in the Andes you find this river coursing like blood through a vein. Except bright blue.

Fraser Valley WW: Island Season Part 2 With something like 11 rivers and 20 runs within an hour there's almost always something runnable for any paddler level, not to mention some of the best surf on the island. Some of the classic runs in the area are the Gordon River, Harris Creek, Hemmingsen Creek and the mythical Granite Creek. Granite Creek is said to have something like 24 runnable waterfalls from 15 to 40 feet.

Liquid Medicine: kayaking "Iles de Sanguinaires" Corsika On our trip on the shores of Corsika island in France we visited the Iles de Sanguinaires. A beautiful group of rocky islands that are crested with old genuvesian towers and new lighthouses.

SW Sea Kayaking: Cold Comfort Paddling through the tide race at Peveril Ledges was rather daunting, with spray being blown skyward off the tops of the waves, and surf breaking hard over the shallows. The point of no return for this trip is Durlston Head, a mile further; we decided to approach the tide race at the Head gingerly and if necessary, run away with our tail between our legs back to Swanage

American Rivers: EPA Watersense Specifications move Water Efficiency Efforts in the Right Direction WaterSense, a partnership program sponsored by EPA, seeks to protect the future of our nation's water supply by promoting water efficiency and enhancing the market for water-efficient products, programs, and practices.

Playak Product News: Pesda Press: The Northern Isles – Orkney & Shetland Sea Kayaking Their relative isolation, stunning scenery and Norse history make Orkney and Shetland a very special place. For the sea kayaker island archipelagos are particularly rewarding … none more so than these.

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Playak News Flash 2009-12-21

Playak News Flash - December 21, 2009

News Watch Headlines

playak.tv: Playak wishes you a wet Christmas! seanymph (Helga): Wishing you all a wet Christmas & a splashing 2010!

Immersion Research: Pucon Spring Season Wrap Up! A lot has happened amongst us extreme kayakers in the last 2 weeks in and around the little town of Pucon here in Southern Chile. When I last checked in I was recovering from a horrible line on the first descent of Salto Bellavista on the Carhuello.

Jackson Kayak: Budweiser American Ale Taps World Champion Kayaker Budweiser American Ale today announced it signed Olympian and four-time world freestyle kayaking champion Eric Jackson as an ambassador for the brand.

Dash Point Pirate: Highlights from the 2009 Deception Pass Dash A huge crowd showed up for the 4th Annual Deception Pass Dash this year, 158 paddlers. Conditions were totally calm. No wind. There wasn't much current to deal with going through the Pass either, even though the max ebb later in the day was predicted at −7.3 knots.

Whitewater-Koa: Getting into summer! Finally got myself a car and headed to Lake Rotoiti where we have a sweet house in Okawa Bay! People coming and going every day and the river a few minutes away! Not to mention a bunch of sick runs a short drive away!

PeakUK US: Tallulah River A great entertainment to watch, and also quite fun to run. The beast offers two great lines. The most common being the left line, which allows for a crazy amount of speed and just barely avoids a collision with "The Thing" or for those wishing for a little something extra from the rapid they choose the middle line and do the ferry above "The Thing."

WWTCC: A word from our man in Africa. I'm seeing the river from a different perspective this time round as I am working as a raft guide, so it's not just my self I have to navigate safely down its also 6 or 7 others as well.

Justine Curgenven: "This is the Sea" available as digital download "This is the Sea" is now available as a digital download for the bargain price of under 6 Euros - just in time for Christmas!

P&H Paddlers: A wintery return to the cockpit In the dark with frozen fingers & toes, I slipped into the cockpit and remembered I still had my wellington boots over my drysuit.

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Playak News Flash 2009-12-20

Playak News Flash - December 20, 2009

News Watch Headlines

Shane's Logic: The Liquidlogic Speedloader Throwbag This has been a fun project that we have spent a fair bit of time on over the last several months. What you see here is the final prototype.

PaddleBlogs: Kayaker Andrew Pollock: Sungai Mangga, Multiday, Malaysia Here is a little write up of a multiday I did on the Sungai Mangga river in Malaysia. I just want to say thanks to Pat Camblin and Benny Marr for letting me use these images...

Dagger Blogs: El Rio de Oro- A Mexican Classic After a 45 minute hike in and portaging a 50 footer at the put in, we arrived at the beautiful clean crystal clear waters of the Rio de Oro. The first couple miles involves a few class 4-5 gorges with fun rapids and a few nasty holes.

Paddle Press: Kokatat: Kokatat Sponsors Circumnavigation of Argentina's Tierra del Fuego Kokatat, a 38-year-old, independent paddlewear and accessories company, is proud to sponsor "Tierra del Fuego," the latest expedition from sea kayakers Marcus Demuth and Biff Wruszek.

Werner: Steep Creek Report Werner's regional Team paddler, Trafford McCrae has been on the Virginia Blue Ridge's steep creek scene hard in 2009. He and his crew are making sure they finish up strong.

Palm Blogs: Plym-Souls After the biblical downpour on the Saturday night of the Gene 17 weekend some of the masses headed towards the Upper Plym in search of something a little steeper. It's a very unique little run with very few eddies meaning a group of four makes things a little tight

Nantahala Outdoor Center: Pyranha's New Playboat After playing around for a few minutes doing spins, blunts and front surfing, the boat lived up to that promise. It is very user friendly and was comfortable in the water whether it was pointed upstream, downstream or sideways in the hole.

PeakUK: Steve Brooks - Ganges Update From the cool hillside dwellings in and around Manali the climate had changed and it was sticky, hot and the monsoon rains had still not finished!

Stone And Water: Winter multidays in Idaho I put on the river in the sunshine, but it quickly turned overcast and begin to snow. Each of the rapids was the same as they have always been, but completely different because of the cold and the ice undercuts along the shore. The consequences were much higher too, and for some reason, harder to push out of my mind.

Werner: Werner Team Paddler, Tino Specht, Shares His Chilean Experience Tino Specht, Werner Team Paddler and instructor at the New River Academy just got us some great shots from Chile. A big thanks to Tino for running the drops and to Matt Smink for pulling the trigger on the shots.

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