Playak News Flash 2010-03-30

Playak News Flash - March 30, 2010
The world's latest paddling headlines.

News Watch Headlines

Kokatat Blog: Off we go to British Columbia! My friends Matt and Joy helped Ian and I get started in Seattle. Ian and I had, afterall, driven from California with only a few days to spare, and still had many errands to run in the Seattle area. Joy and Matt saw me off on this great adventure on a quiet Monday morning.

Palm Blogs: It's grim up North. With summer approaching fast, the opportunity for some late season runs on a UK classic proved too much. Mat "Magic" Morrissey and myself headed to the Swale.

Bootfahrer: Karma! It's been over ten years now that I've been running whitewater and thus been traveling and living out of cars quite a bit. I never had anything happen to me, Cameras, travelgear, kayakgear, whole lives carried around in a car are obviously quite attractive for the criminal mind. So I guess it's just been a matter of time until what happened would happen.

PaddleBlogs: Freeky: LAST CHANCE TOUR reporte de viaje #1 There some rivers, countries, cultures that atracts everybody´s attention. India and Nepal are two of those countries. Not only kayakers, but all kind of people travel thousands of km to visit these areas. For us, it was the same. I wanted to do a trip to India and Nepal since a couple of years ago, but never really found the chance, until the last summer in Norway. I Found out that a couple of friends wanted to do the same trip, specially in the area of northern India, wich was like music to my ears. And so, we decided to meet in New Delhi at the end of september, and make our way north from there. The team consisted in Leon Bedford (Australia), James Thorp (Australia), Monica Godkey (USA) and myself.

ACA: River Safety Tip Have you ever heard of the drowning machine? An innocent horizon line on a slow moving river might spell trouble for the uninformed. The ACA teamed up with the Illinois Paddling Council and ACA Excellence in Instruction Award winner Tom Lindblade to produce a tool that might just save someone's life.

AirKayaks: Bic Sports – New 2010 Products for Bic Inflatable Kayaks Bic Sports is coming out with a new Lite model to complement their Yakkair inflatable kayak line, which debuted in 2009. The Bic Yakkair Lite Single, and Yakkair Lite Tandem, are streamlined versions of the current model, with a lower MSRP. The YAKKAir Lite is aimed specifically at coastal paddling close to the beach, for rivers and for other inland waters. The retail price has been reduced by making the foot brace optional, removing the inflatable keel, and using a PVC lower-pressure floor cushion rather than the expensive hi-pressure floor found in the standard Yakkairs.

Oceanmaid Ventures: Expedition photos - provided by Beth-Anne, Matt Holmes and John Ashburner from KEP Departure Day - Grytviken February 28th, 2010 I will continue to post images as we sort through them. The update for March 26th "Drama on Terra firma" is below. I have enjoyed reading all the comments that followers have posted on this blog.

ICF: Farewell Signor Mercati… Italian Wildwater Canoeing Star announces his retirement This week the Italian Canoe Federation announces the retirement of one of their star Wildwater Canoeing athletes, Mr Carlo Mercati. Mercati was crowned World Champion after winning gold in the K1 Classic in Garmish, Germany in 2004. After 15 years of racing and winning various important races at National, Continental and International, Mercati left the wildwater circus during the first race of the year, which was held last week in Città di Castello. A poignant moment, especially as this is where Mercati was born in 1976.

Atlantic Paddle Surfing: Travel Channel's Last year the Chamber approached me to do Stand Up Paddle Board Lesson with a Travel Channel Host doing a segment on Top five things to do while staying on Hilton Head. H2O Sports, Duane Lapp did a Kayak/Cast net segment and I did a SUP lesson. It finally aired on TV.

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