Playak Weekly Digest - week 13

Playak Weekly Digest
The world's top paddling links in week 13, 2011.

News Watch My Carbon Rock Star- What can I say besides, "HOLY #$%#@!" Jackson Kayak (Friday 25th) *** - I am still flying high on my Rock Star M from Africa. It is one of those times where you are so impressed and fired up with your new boat that seems to be an answer to all of your dreams, that the idea of having something else come close is hard to believe.    Well, the Carbon Rock Star is just that. Breaking in the paddling season Dagger Blogs (Thursday 31st) *** - The last week as been a hectic one I have to say. I set off from Montana in hopes of catching high water on the west coast for the third annual Northwest Huck Fest. Upon arriving in Hood River we found exactly what we were looking for: lots of water! The Huck Fest is notoriously ... Look Down! Kayak Yak (Wednesday 30th) ** - Here's a quick little video that's been around that's been making its way around the Interweb during the last few days. In Florida, a kayaker had a very close encounter with a basking shark . Check it out: Does the Math, Walks Away From a Kayak Descent Record Attempt First Ascent (Sunday 27th) ** - Story by Ben Stookesberry; photos by Chris Korbulic Twenty-six days into the filming of the Brazilian reality TV series, I am standing at the brink of a 40-meter monster. Cali Crunch Time Team LiquidLogic (Monday 28th) ** - As of late, I have been pushing myself to progress as a kayaker. Moving to Nevada City, California has put me in a position to paddle amazing whitewater almost every single day of the year. While most of the stretches of river in the area have been run in the past. We have begun exploring places that no other kayaker has gone before. Luckily, there is a great crew of paddlers in the area who are motivated to seek out and test these virgin waters with me. Eagle Creek, Oregon (3.19.11) Nathan Pfeifer (Monday 28th) ** - One of the first things that Emily and I did after moving to Oregon was go backpacking up Eagle Creek, in the Columbia River Gorge. I remember being completely blown away by the massive waterfalls and moss covered cliff walls and trees. It was a stark contrast from Arizona,... Skirt-rack-zilla Immersion Research (Sunday 27th) ** - Over the years I've never quite seen a good way to stock or display sprayskirts.  I know it's about as nerdy of a topic as there could be, but being a seller of sprayskirts I keep an eye out for such a thing when I visit retail shops.  Sprayskirts typically hang like a limp, wet, droopy noodle from a display rack or grid-wall hook, and there's really nothing very appealing about they way they are displayed in shops.  To be fair, it's a product that is very difficult and awkward to display and it takes up a lot of space.  Again, it's terribly nerdy, but this bothers me, and for a couple years I've had an idea to make a sprayskirt display rack kind of like the poster display racks you see in records stores 6 Questions with Team Dagger's Brendan Wells Dagger Blogs (Thursday 31st) ** - Brendan Wells answers a few questions on paddling and himself. Where are you from? Where do you live? I was born and raised in the small town of Trout Lake, Washington and still live there today.  How/Why did you start kayaking? It all started with my p... Carbon Rock Star is Lightweight Freestyle Heavyweight Jackson Kayak (Saturday 26th) ** - The following is the official press release about the new carbon Rock Star. Just in time for the competition season, Jackson Kayak introduces a carbon/Kevlar version of its new generation freestyle playboat, the Rock Star. Middle Fuy; Huilo Huilo... Evan Garcia (Sunday 27th) ** - I am missing some very needed updates and they will be up soon...in the meantime go ahead and enjoy this video I put together from our last day of class V paddling from this Chile season Darin McQuoid and Friends Net a Kayaking First Descent in the California Snow First Ascent (Tuesday 29th) * - By Darin McQuoid Who would have thought, two first descents in one week and both in the mecca of kayaking, California. It's normal for our schedules to be dictated by weather in this wonderful sport. Isn't it great to live in Western PA worldkayak blogs (Tuesday 29th) * - The Slides are FULL ! While you may know all the great paddling destinations : North Carolina, Colorado, Cumberland Plateau, California Siera's, Idaho, and the list goes on. Many boaters never realize that one of the best places to paddle in the mid-atlantic region is Pennsylvania. With ample east coast gradient, year round whitewater, and rivers with a proclivity for running after heavy rains PA boasts some of the most diverse paddling for any boater from big water play to the steep and gnarly ( insert brown claw here ) . We've been blessed this year with abundant rainfall which has kept water levels at near epic season status... Death in Ardlamont. SeaKayakPhoto.com (Tuesday 29th) * - We paddled towards the mouth of Loch Fyne along a raised beach until we came to Kilbride Bay. The sad remains of a dead whale lay beached on the shore. The smell of death hung so heavy in the air that we could not approach closer to investigate its species. We paddled over huge detatche... Jackson Rock Star (now in stock) – Ryan Liquorish: First Impressions Desperate Measures (Tuesday 29th) * - Late on Friday (25th) our first batch of Jackson Rock Stars arrived at the shop. By lunch time on Saturday morning we'd sold out! Luckily, we arranged another delivery, and we've got stock of Rock Stars in small and medium – and a demo in each of these sizes... Villain S vs Villain review Jackson Kayak (Wednesday 30th) * - Just finished writing a long review of the Villain in french on my website. I'm putting an english resume for those who can't read french. You can also use an online translation site like google to have the full article translated. When the two models came out last year, I didn't know which one order for myself.

Hot Forum Topics Boats & Boards: Project X 56 (Sea Kayaking and Touring) Rand or Bungee? (Whitewater) Summer Sessions Paddling in Portugal in April !!! (Europe) Italian view about California ;) (Surf) Top Videos Untitled (simon2000) Flatwater Kayaking (burke) Pringle & Katya: Destination Galicia (JamesB) 2011 Cascades Race on the Nantahala River (liquidlogicwoody) Goodbye Silverback (DanH) Upcoming Events Fourth Annual Spring Paddle US, FL, , Mar 26 - Apr 2 KASK National Forum New Zealand, Anakiwa, Apr 1 - Apr 2 King of the Harbour Ocean Ski Race New Zealand, Auckland City, Apr 1 - Apr 2 Cameron County Canoe & Kayak Classic US, PY, Cameron County, Apr 2 Mures Marathon Second Edition Romania, Mures, Apr 8 - Apr 10 New Haven Festival US, VT, Bristol, Apr 9

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Today's News Editor(s): Jean-Ellen M. Trapani, bartw, Tony Dyrsmid, Allen Garda.