Playak News Flash 2010-01-30

Playak News Flash - January 30, 2010

News Watch Headlines

Nantahala Outdoor Center: Jackson Villain Prototype - Round 2 I was surprised that the hull wasn't a little flatter. I was a little concerned about the initial stability of the boat. Of course the guys I was paddling with could paddle an inflatable gorilla down the Cascades, others might not have the same experience.

Nick Troutman: New River Dries I have never been to the Dries of the New, though they have been high on my list pretty much since I started kayaking. Though being that they only run when the river is at flood, and the fact that the river seldom gets to the good surfing levels, and the fact that I am usually several hours away, all adds up to the fact that I haven't been able to surf these amazing waves.

Eric Jackson: Villain Proto 2 Gets Big Thumbs up in Mexico! Dane and i had good protos, very close to the plug shape, which is hard to do out of a glass mold. A nice slightly crowned out semi-planing hull, perfect rocker profile, forgiving sidewalls, and great ergonomics.

Kayak Hot Dogs: The Tena River The Tena River flows right through the center of Tena Ecuador starting as a small volume jungle creek and ending in the Missualli River and then on the the huge Napo River, one of the main tributaries of the Amazon. The Alto Tena at higher water levels is a class IV-IV+ creeking blast with amazing scenery and some substantial rapids.

Adrian Tregoning: Upper Batang Liki – Continuous Heaven (PART 1) The walk wasn't entirely pleasant and my right shoulder, which had gotten nicely sun burnt the previous day was not enjoying the abuse, but getting up there was well worth it. The river was low volume, very technical, and the first bit quite steep. It was a little piece of heaven. It was also the first time we were all paddling something a lot more difficult to the previous day so it was going to be interesting.

Jackson Kayak: Nile in the New Year In between the education sessions, working on the coloring book and painting the clinic, we have also been able to squeeze in kayaking.

Adrian Tregoning: Upper Batang Liki – Continuous Heaven (PART 2) Not long after this the river started to become a lot larger. The jungle walls closed in and became more vertical and in places over a hundred metres high. Portaging didn't look possible and I began to get nervous.

Kokatat Blog: Hayley Shephard is South Georgia Island Bound The time has arrived. I am about to depart Alert Bay, Canada and begin my journey down to South America. It has been a whirlwind as the final weeks were jam-packed with training, gear preparation, technical systems established, filming already started for the documentary, and 'bon voyage' dinners with friends.

Rene van der Zwan: Technical views on the Cetus The decklines are not very thick, but thick enough. They start and end close to the cockpit: also aside of the day-compartment, which is rather remarkable as most modern kayaks have the decklines never aside of the hatch.

Playak: Mini Interview: Adrian Tregoning A mini interview with Adrian Tregoning, whom most Playak readers probably already know as a member of the Playak core team.

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Playak News Flash 2010-01-28

Playak News Flash - January 28, 2010

News Watch Headlines

WWTCC: TNP's new Rapa Paddle. TNP have however come to the rescue with the Rapa range of kayak paddles, and in particular there new 4pc version. There new 4 part paddle has a nicely shaped plastic blade and a good glass shaft. The paddle is light weight and breaks down nice a small so it fits easily into the back of your boat.

Immersion Research: Upper Yough Update Try to enjoy the scenic river views with the bouncy footage. I was hard pressed to keep the camera still.

Eric Jackson: Paddling with San Marcos Crowd and TG Canoe I taught a playboating clinic and some strokes and concepts and the group was picking up on on fast. I got three people hand rolling in the eddy and had them surfing with their hands right after that, as we all were practicing with our hands.

Palm Blogs: Palm and Rapid Blocs to supply the rapids at new Broxbourne Whitewater Course! Palm Equiment International have been awarded the contract to work with Rapid Blocs in supplying the course features to the new Broxbourne Whitewater Course, the component parts of which will be made right here in Clevedon at the Palm Factory.

Shane's Logic: Liquidlogic Remix XP on the Grand Canyon Woody went out to the wild wild west to do a self support trip on the Colorado River in the Grand Canyon with a big group of folks. The craft of choice was the Remix XP 9 &10 .

united in nature: Chile Update: 1 We have been able to get on lots of runs so far since the water level is still holding fairly well. My favorite run thus far is the Rio Nevado. It is fairly short, maybe 1.5-2 miles but is stacked with good clean vertical drops, big boofs and 1 must run 25 footer all inside a beautiful tight gorge.

Jackson Kayak: Our 2010 boats look better than ever! The Cross-linked Whitewater boats and Super Linear whitewater boats start with different primary colors. For Whitewater we have orange, Green, and Red solids for Cross-linked and then "Multi-Color" which is factory selected colors sent to your dealer.

Shane's Logic: Whitewater paddling in a Sit-On-Top kayak: The Coupe by Liquidlogic Once the boat was surfing, I couldn't get it off the wave! It handled it soo easily. I never felt like I was out of control. After surfing, I thought for sure I would be in for it…the next rapid was just a few yards below. The Coupe turned so much faster than expected, and I was able to line up for Wanda's Hole with no problem.

Small World Adventures: Mucha Agua and 1st timer beginner trip The Mucha Agua guys were all super impressed that people would be adventuresome enough to come down to Ecuador to learn how to kayak. So, in the end, both groups learned from each other and shared mutual respect for what the others were doing.

Werner: Lenore Sobota Likes Her Werner Paddle On Ice! I have known Lenore Sobota now for 5 years now and her genuine excitment for kayaking makes me look forward seeing her. Whether it is at Canoecopia, Ladies of the Lake, Door County Sea Kayak Symposium etc. She is always working to learn more as a kayaker and have more fun on the water.

homemade kayaks: Circumnavigating the Sea Of Galilee Well here in little Israel we don`t have huge masses of water like the Great lakes, but the historical and religious impact is just as large. Mention the of Sea of Galilee and images of Jesus come to mind , here was the beginnings of Christianity, this is where it all happened, the place of miracles.Amazing how such a small place can have such a large impact.

SUP Surf Mag: Gareth Grant joins Naish English / European Stand Up Paddle Team Naish are pleased to announce Gareth Grant has joined their Stand Up Paddle team for the upcoming 2010 European / UK season. Since relocating to England in mid 2009, Gareth placed 3rd in the last British Stand Up competition at Watergate Bay, won "Rookie of the Competition" award, and made the final of the inaugural British SUP Championships held at Fistral Beach.

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Playak News Flash 2010-01-26

Playak News Flash - January 26, 2010

Message of the Day

Playak Photo Albums! Check out the new Playak Photo Albums, containing almost 1000 albums with more than 6000 photos already. Add your own favorite paddling photos!

News Watch Headlines

Playak: Interview: Dennis Judson We needed to promote our kayaking idea of adventure to the world so what better method than creating a gathering of whitewater folk to display their skills in moving waves-the Santa Cruz Kayak Surf Festival was born. We called this thing a Festival, although it was run like a contest, in that we had events for novice and expert kayakers alike greased with town parties every night to maximize contestant mingling.

Astral Currently: Winter day on the Green. Few kayakers from West Asheville had the chance to hit the Green River with a little snow and ice.

Go Kayak Now: Grand Rapids White Water Gaining Traction! In the early part of the campaign there were a lot of concerns over what removing low head dams would do for recreational fisherman. Chip, an avid sport fisherman himself quickly laid those fears to bed by actively seeking input from the fisherman, and assuring them that the idea is not to remove their prime fishing spots along the Grand, but to redirect flow for use of white water rafting, kayaking and canoeing.

New River Academy: Kayak Travel: How to Fly with Your Kayak Wrap to protect. You can use a kayak bag, but they are hard to find and end up being an additional awkward piece of gear you will have to keep up with during the entirety of your travels.

Kokatat Blog: Staying Warm in a Drysuit A few women have asked me how to dress warm for winter boating without feeling too constricted and overheating. The combo I've found that works great is the Kokatat Polartec® Powerdry Liner under the GORE-TEX® Meridian Dry Suit.

Eric Jackson: Team River Runner/Wounded Warriors Trip to Mexico The purpose of the trip is to take a group of 8 wounded veterans on a kayaking trip in the mountains of Mexico. We have three guys missing legs, one guy missing his core muscles on the right side and ribs, one guy who is mostly deaf, as well as a variety of other injuries from the other guys that have retired them from service.

Inflatable Kayak Blog: California Kayak Launch Locations I personally appreciate being able to easily find convenient launch locations. It's especially helpful when traveling to unfamiliar areas. Even though my inflatable kayak allows me the luxury to launch almost anywhere, I still prefer a regular boat.

Kokatat Blog: Jon Bowermaster Premiers Films at Wild & Scenic Environmental Film Festival Spent a fantastic weekend in Nevada City, California, roaming from venue to venue at the Wild & Scenic Environmental Film Festival, watching new films and re-watching a couple recent classics.

Kayak Angler Magazine: Freedom Hawk Partners With Jackson Kayaks Freedom Hawk Kayaks is set to take flight with a new manufacturing partnership with the hot whitewater brand Jackson Kayaks.

Chicago Area Sea Kayakers Association: Around Isle Royale in Six Days We both wanted to test experience conditions beyond the relatively protected waters between the islands of the Apostles in loaded boats on a longer trip. After multiple days of play in the surf of southern Lake Michigan we felt ready.

Wilderness Systems: Commander 120 Reviewed by Colorado Kayak Supply Anyone ranging from the serious kayak angler, to a family looking for a do-it-all, "SUV" type boat to bring to the lake, will appreciate the features on the Commander 120. The part of the boat that stands out the most is the unique tunnel hull design.

Werner: Werner Paddles Gets Kudos at Surf Expo Kevin outlines some of the "Best In Show" from last weeks Surf Expo trade show in Orlando Florida, with kudos to Werner Paddles for best use of the new demo pool and most innovative paddle.

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Playak News Flash 2010-01-24

Playak News Flash - January 24, 2010

News Watch Headlines

Mt. Hood H2O: Skate Park Creek Eventually we reached some class four slides and we were quickly at the lead in to the Quarterpipe. We went for a long scout hoping to find Shane, no dice. After an hour or more of scrambling around, scouting, sitting, and looking for Shane, we decided to run the lead in. At this point I had opted out because of the close proximity of "The Well" to the Quarterpipe drop.

Dave Hoffman: Euphoria Falls I paddled Hagen Gorge, a fun creek just outside of Portland. I took headcam footage of one of the larger rapids, Euphoria Falls. You'll find the video unique. It captures a particular aspect of whitewater kayaking running drops on verbal beta.

Seth Ashworth: Pyranha Molan I paddled the boat at Shepperton weir, it was on a nine gate wave, which wasn't the greatest level but gave me a good chance to see how the boat surfed, how loose it was, speed on the wave and the boats ability to accelerate.

Mt. Hood H2O: Hagen gorge alternate access/first raft decent Just downstream there is a weir hole, one of our members swam out of it, so don't take this benign looking hole too lax. Running center left worked for the rest of us. Then we were at Teakettle.

Fraser Valley WW: Lost Creek, Mission, British Columbia There is potential for three runs on Lost Creek, one run above the one we ran, and even a short but very committed run below where we took out. The run below would start with an optional 40 foot waterfall.

homemade kayaks: Big Mess If I had to grade today I would guess its force 4 to 5 on the Beaufort Scale, that is winds of 17 to 20kn, waves of between 1 to 2m, paddling is difficult with paddle flutter expected and difficult to go against the wind, according to Gordon Brown in his new book the limit of adequate reserve in these conditions is 2 hours.

Wilderness Systems: Tarpon 140 Took on Hurricane and Lives to Tell About It! On December 31st, 2009, one of our customers retrieved his Tarpon 140 that had been lost during that storm. He had only had it 3 months at the time the storm hit.

playak.tv: Adrian - Kayak Surfing January 2010 Footage from the last 3 sessions in my composite Element. All surfing done without fins.

Simon Willis: Blue Peter Presenter to Kayak the Amazon The 2010 mile distance is rather appropriate given the year. That's how far Blue Peter presenter Helen Skelton will kayak down the Amazon River.

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Playak News Flash 2010-01-22

Playak News Flash - January 22, 2010

News Watch Headlines

Kokatat Blog: Anna's Mexico Adventures! There were different skill levels in the group so we split up and tackled different rivers on different days, coming together to paddle for a few runs. It was a great trip.

Jackson Kayak: Chris Korbulic's 2009 Review 2009 was a spectacular year of kayaking for me, including paddling in Brazil, Oregon, California, then this Himalayan adventure to top it off.

Rapid Magazine Blog: VIDEO: Learn to Roll in One Minute The purpose of this little anecdote isn't to convince you that learning to roll is terribly difficult and painful.

Immersion Research: Kayak Huasteca! Here is more goodies from Mexico this winter with Aaron Koch and crew!

Immersion Research: The Grand Canyon in December It's particularly special to be there in the winter when no commercial trips are running. Of the fourteen days we were on the river, we passed three other raft groups and were passed by one pair of kayakers. Our group never had to negotiate for camp sites in the evening, and we saw only one helicopter fly high overhead.

playak.net: Blyde Xfest 2010 Itinerary and description This year we will have a Sunday fun run on the Olifants River. The section is suitable for everybody and playboats are welcome, for those bringing non-kayaking friends there will be rafts available for them so that all can go and paddle.

Shane's Logic: Liquidlogic Security Bars: The part of the story you may not know. The Liquidlogic security bar is made of 7000 series aircraft grade aluminum so you can fly it if you want to. Using that material allows it to be light and strong obviously.

Jackson Kayak: Tellico Icefest 2010 Photos! With a new creekboat prototype made we were desperate to paddle. Only thing running on Friday was the Tellico, which was low and mostly frozen. That couldn't stop us!

Ross Herr: A Look Back on 2009 Some "Best of" It's great and scary how time flies. As I was going through the below pictures it felt like weeks ago that I was running the rivers. I just hope that it will feel like weeks until they are running again. 2009 was an awesome year for kayaking. We saw world records from the best kayakers in the world and all kinds of new limits being reached whether personally or from paddling's greats.

playak.tv: Rocks & Water- Piemont Our spring creeking session in Italy and Piemont. High flows, perfect weather, cool rivers and bunch of good friends.

NC Paddle Surfer: Chuck Patterson's Race Report The Elite racers started their 7 mile paddle first and the recreational racers started their 3.5 mile lap shortly after. It was pretty awesome to paddle along side so many excited paddlers that were so stoked on the sport.

American Rivers: The EPA Rules against North Carolina's Detrimental Practice on Rivers The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) determined last week that North Carolina's Department of Environment and Natural Resources (NCDENR) may not allow land purchase or protection as a substitute for requiring the adequate stream flows needed for healthy rivers.

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