6 People took the challenge to participate in the NKB Cold water training in the cold water (7 degrees Celsius) of the Voordelta today. It was good fun to train this group: in the beginning some of a hesitated a bit about all the wet-exercises I suggested, but soon everyone participated in full surrender. Some participants couldn't get enough... Wind was blowing first 4 Bft. , later 3-4 Bft NW. Because of the wind earlier this week, surf was good. Wet exercises alternated with playing in the waves (zoekplaatje). Just a minor point. The weather was almost too good: the bivouac was very relaxed... We made bivouac on the beach, because the sands we intended to visit were occupied by resting seals.
This evening Jelle made his first roll with a paddle at the swimming pool-happening of the Alphense Kanovereniging de Kromme Aar. Jelle could already handroll the ww-kayak (left and right), but until yesterday he found rolling with a paddle a bit too confusing. Yesterday he got the hang out of rolling with a paddle - this video shows his 3rd or 4th unassisted attempt. Technique isn't perfect yet, but it's amazing to see how naturally Jelle changes to his off-side (left) when the roll on the on-side (right) fails. Kids learn so fast!
In Greek mythologyTantalus (Greek Τάνταλος) was a son of Zeus and the nymphPlouto.The name "Tantalus" is the origin of the English word "tantalize". The idea being that when a person tantalizes someone else, that person is making them like Tantalus: there is something desirable that is always just out of that person's reach. In Dutch there is the expression: "een Tantalus kwelling" = a Tantalus torture.
My "Tantanus kwelling" this Friday: working indoors in a conference room in Carlton Beach Hotel Scheveningen with a view like this... Surf was perfect today. But Hans had another obligation. Duty called.
Piere Yves alerted me to this new Greenland-style rolling video of Piere Dominique with the Tahe Greenland kayak. I love this video!
It's a amazing to notice the (world-wide) enthusiast response on this Tahe kayak design. When I saw this kayak for the first time, last year in the showroom of the biggest Dutch Kayak-shop, the owner of the shop told me he didn't expect much of this kayak. In his opinion it was a kayak only suited for a very small limited specialist-community, not represented in the Netherlands. But also in the Netherlands there turned out to be serious interest in this traditional hard-chined Greenland style kayak.
Within just a few months, dozens of (rolling) video's with the Tahe Greenland appeared on Youtube. Nice Dutch ones also (tip on this video: turn the music of - sorry Peter ;-). The Tahe Greenland Kayak is closely related to the Black Pearl design of Björn Thomasson. Big difference is that the Black Pearl is a hand crafted tailor made design and the Tahe is a standard "one size fits most" design. Nothing will beat the feeling of a self made kayak custom designed, built to fit yourself! This video clip of the Black Pearl shows it is not only suited for rolling tricks.
Wangerooge was a good occasion to play with the new Waterproof Olympus camera. This is the kind of activity I bought this camera for. I shot a lot of pictures this weekend on and of the water. The Picasa slideshow shows a selection. How does the camera perform in kayak-practice? My reference is the Sony DSC-U60.
What I really like about the Olympus is the very usable zoom-range from 28-105 mm (35mm eq.) that covers most situations. Brilliant is the incorporated automatic lens cover - this prevents quite effectively (but not completely) drops on the lens. The large LCD-screen is even in full sun good to see. The camera fits perfect in the pockets of my PFD (Kokatat MsFit). The buttons are small, but the essential ones (on/off, shutter release, zoom) are surprisingly easy to use, even with frozen hands (with gloved hands the on/off button is difficult to find). The control wheel on the back of the camera (used to select various shooting and playback modes) is a little too easily moved when taking the camera in and out of a pocket for example. Sometimes you find the camera in video- or playback mode when you want to take a picture. The lens is set high and to the left of the camera so I ended up with some shots with an edge of a finger in front of the lens. I find the picture quality acceptable - not perfect - in standard conditions (OK: I am quit critical in this point). Low light performance is bad: a lot of noise at any ISO above 200. In sunny situations the camera tends to a bit over-exposure: but in P-mode the camera is easy to tweak - a correction with -0,3 stops helps.
The biggest problem of the Olympus however is its sluggish performance. Start up time, focus time and cycle time (from one picture to the next) are slow. This really is a serious drawback for a point and shoot camera that you want to use for action photography. I missed several good picture moments this weekend because the camera wasn't ready... Disappointing for a modern camera: the 5 year old Sony is much faster!
Overall I am quit pleased with the Olympus - despite it's sluggish performance and some issues with picture quality, I still prefer it above the Sony because it's much more versatile (and because of the incorporated lens cover).
This weekend several UBO's were sighted on the beach of the German isle Spiekeroog. Close to each UBO's were 4 or 5 lonely kayaks. No paddlers to be seen.
After extensive research these strange objects on Spiekeroog turned out to be "Bothy Bags" or "Kisu's": portable shelters made of waterproof nylon just big enough to accommodate two persons sitting together protected from the harsh environment. Larger ones accommodate 4,6, 8, 12 or more persons. In the United Kingdom "Bothy Bags" are a quit familiar survival equipment, but on the continent they are rather unknown. Outdoor shops in the Netherlands and Germany don't sell them. Unfortunately, as they are a brilliant piece of kit!
While the other groups that stranded on the sand tried to create protection against the chilly wind by putting kayaks on the side, by digging holes in the sand and were improvising with bivy or emergency bags, the groups with a bothy bag simply pulled the bothy bag over their heads and were protected against the cold wind: fast, simple and very effective!
The body heat of 4 or 5 people soon creates a warm local environment and provides protection from the threat of hypothermia and wind chill. Very cosy inside. And you also feel very isolated from the environment/outside world: it's not a "room with a view..." A bothy bag is a very simple concept. It is nothing more really than a very big waterproof nylon bag. The front usually has one or more windows and the back usually has one or more vents. Using one is very simple; you take it out of it's pack sack and put it over your head(s). Typically the base of the bag has a drawstring closure that will help stop it flying off. Larger ones may have interior handles. A bag will typically be made out of 100% waterproof non-breathable nylon and have taped seams. The better ones are effectively frameless tents. Using a bothy bag will provide you with some warmth and shelter. Condensation may well be a problem but it is assumed that you will carry on wearing all your normal outdoor gear and use them to stay dry. A one-person bag weighs around 300g and a 4-person bag weighs around 400g. 300g is lighter than most plastic bivy bags and 400g is lighter than almost all single-man bivy bags. For the low-weight and weather protection provided they are an essential part of any autumn/winter pack.
It was a long drive home: I just returned from the so called "Spring Cleaning"-weekend workshop of the German Seakayak association "Salzwasserunion". The Spring Cleaning is a training Weekend on the Isle of Wangerooge for (to be) instructors, tour-guides, and experienced seakayakers. This year the main topic was "group control in demanding conditions". Here are my first impressions of a great weekend. More on it later this week. Marieke, Rebecca, Nico and I were the four Dutch NKB-participants on the Spring Cleaning.
The workshop started on Friday afternoon on the crossing from Harlesiel to Wangerooge with role plays on group control. The members of the groups received secret instructions to make life hard for the group-leaders. Instructions and roles changed multiple times during the crossing. All this took place under a fantastic sunset and evening sky on a calm Waddensea. The last leg in darkness under a starry sky.
Saturday's program consisted of exercises on managing rescue situations on moving water, followed by an extremely wet event: a competition on manoeuvring, rolling, swimming with the kayak and re-entry on rough water. Exposed to water temperature 5 degrees, air temperature 8 degrees Celsius and wind blowing 4-5 Bft - one of the moments you really appreciate a good drysuit!
picture made by Christian Harms
Sunday the leaders of the groups were tested under real life conditions: the mission the leaders got was to guide the groups safe to the mainland, while the tidal current was still outgoing and the wind was blowing NW 6 Bft. A demanding task (and a fun sea to paddle ;-)!
Ren'e and I had a great day with Stef and Monique, admiring, paddling and rolling Moniques' wonderful Black Pearl kayak (in white). Even the slender Anas Acuta looks voluminous, side to side to this gracious Black Pearl!
I was standing in the valley of rock up to my belly in an early fog I was looking for the road to a green painted house in the Dutch mountains
Lyrics In the Dutch Mountains - the Nits, 1987
Since he has got a new mountain bike, fellow paddler Alex invites me to explore the MTB-tracks in the region. Today we biked on the "Nedereindse berg" in Nieuwegein. In a country without mountains old dumps, landfills are used for mountainbiking (and skiing).
The first spring day with temperatures of 15 degrees Celsius, was a perfect excuse for Paul, Alex, Jaap and me to do the yearly inspection of the kayakroute Woerden-Montfoort-Oudewater. In commission of the adminstrator of the route KV Wyrda inspects the route every year on missing signs, broken scaffolds and so on. In Dutch this is called: "het aangename met het nuttige verenigen".
I was born in the valley of bricks where the river runs high above the rooftops I was waiting for the cars coming home late at night from the Dutch mountains
Lyrics "In the Dutch Mountains" - the Nits, 1987
Jelle and I visited the regional "Bergsportdag" of the NKBV at the indoor climbing hall Rock Steady in Bussum. It's amazing that climbing is a bigger sport than kayaking in our little country that lacks mountains... And in the continuing story of "You're getting older daddy" - a weird sensation, remarkable moment: now that Jelle's (14 year old) feet fit my old climbing shoes, he immediately out-climbs his father...
Update March, 14th. - tomorrow - Sunday, March, 15th. - the NKBV Bergsportdag 2009 is in Nieuwegein - the Bergsportdag is the biggest mountainering show, meeting etc. in the Netherlands - free entrance..
In high speed mode the Olympus Tough 6000 captures 24 pictures at 4,8 frames per second. The picture quality in high speed mode is reduced to 3 Megapixels, not impressive but still acceptable for web-applications. This film of Sido demonstrating a forward ending roll, gives a good impression of the speed of the camera. The film is made from 24 single pictures. Video compression has dramatically reduced image quality - the quality of the original pictures is much better.
PS: in video mode the camera captures 30 fps, but picture quality in video mode is only VGA (640x480).
The Olympus commercial shows the mju 725 SW - a predecessor of my new mju Tough 6000
After having doubted a long time, I recently bought a successor for the trusty Sony DSC-U60 Waterproof Digital Camera. My Sony dates from 2004. In the dynamic world of digital camera's it's a real oldtimer with prehistoric specifications (2 MP, non-zoom, 1.0-inch LCD-monitor). I was always very pleased by the handling and the performance of the Sony. Despite its simple and basic design, it produces fantastic pictures. But - although 2 megapixel is enough for most purposes (web is not critical - printwork: pictures made with the Sony are published on the cover of Kanosport-magazine) - a bit more resolution would of course be welcome (just to be able to crop pictures without big loss of quality), as well as a zoom option, a decent burst- and video-mode (all features that the Sony lacks) would be.
Unfortunately Sony stopped making underwater-camera's after the DSC-U60. The only manufacturers that continued to put serious effort in developing a range of waterproof (WP) digital camera's are Pentax and Olympus. Though both offer better specifications and more sophisticated features, for a long time I wasn't convinced by the Pentax and Sony camera's. I know a lot of kayakers who are very content with their Pentax or Olympus WP-camera's. I examined a huge number of pictures taken with these camera's and found the picture-quality often disappointing (from a technical point of view..). I do suppose I am too critical ;-) And I hesitated a long time to replace the Sony. But I also noticed that more recent versions of the Pentax and Olympus camera's do perform better - and finally a recent comparison of the Pentax W60 and the Olympus Mju 1030 in a review on photo.net persuaded me to buy a new WP-camera. Getting hands on both the Pentax and the Sony, I finally decided to go for the Olympus - the main argument is the built-in lens cover: a big plus on the water because this cover prevents quite effective blurred pictures by water-drops on the lens.
At the very moment I decided to buy the Olympus mju 1030, Olympus released two new WP camera's: the mju tough 6000 and 8000. While the 8000 replaces the 1030, the 6000 inherits the specifications of the 1030: 10 MP, 28-102 mm eq. zoom range and some improvements like a larger built-in memory. The 8000 is upgraded to a 12 MP-camera, which is not actual an advantage on a compact-camera: the ridiculous race for megapixels is at the expense of the low-light performance of the tiny CCD's (resulting in a lot of noise in every setting above ISO 200)- and for sharpness/details lens quality is much more an issue than 6 or 12 MP is... Olympus claims the 8000 to be more waterproof than the 6000 (waterproof to a depth of 10 meters resp. 3 meters), but the construction of critical points (like the doors of the battery compartment and for the external connections) looks identical. I took the chance and saved 80 Euros and bought the Olympus Mju tough 6000.
First impressions after 4 weeks snap-shooting: Technically the Olympus is a brilliant camera and compared to the old Sony it's a giant step forward: - a zoom range from really wide to light tele (much more versatile!); - a large and bright LCD (composing is no guess anymore, even in sunlight!); - impressive picture to picture speed in the burst mode (great to analyse kayak techniques!); - a decent video mode (30 fps, VGA - almost 10 minutes on a 1 GB card); - simple, direct and fast accessible menu's to adjust camera settings (flash-mode, ISO, exposure compensation etc.). What I like less about the Olympus: - the handling: it's OK but the ergonomics of the Sony are still unbeaten. In some aspect stylish design of the Olympus prevailed above function: buttons are tiny and the flat rectangular shape hinders a bit in one hand use; - speed: actually I expected this to be better with such a modern camera, but start-up and focus-time aren't noticeably faster than those of the Sony. Pre-focused however shutter lag isn't noticeable. - metering and exposure: this really is a bit of a disappointment because it affects picture quality. The Olympus can deliver really fine pictures, but sometimes pictures are seriously over- or under-exposed. Olympus programmed a complex Matrix-metering mode for exposure which I find up to now quit unpredictable. In P-mode under- and over-exposure are easy to correct with exposure compensation, but on the water I don't want to bother with that: I want good pictures right out of the box! While the Sony works fine in standard settings in 90% of the situations, I think the Olympus does in 70 %. In 30% of the other situation I had to tweak the camera-settings. I am working on getting a better understanding of the Olympus matrix metering, so I can anticipate -I am sure I can learn this - but this isn't what you expect on a point and shoot camera!
PS: 1. Perhaps I was to impulsive: shortly after I bought the Olympus, Panasonic, Canon and Fuji announced new WP camera's. From the information on the web the Canon and Fuji look very interesting to me: the Canon because of it's design that looks more ergonomically with curved shapes (and it looks like the lens is right in front of the CCD- which is a good premise for optical quality!). The Fuji because I was always very impressed by the picture quality of the Fuji digital camera's I've had...
2. On a budget? The Olympus 850SW is an interesting offer - it's a discontinued model - the predecessor of the Tough 6000 - now discounted at prices around 150 Euro. Biggest differences compared to the Tough 6000: only 8 MP (=no disadvantage!), zoom range 38-112 mm eq. (less wide angle), limited video and burst mode performance (only 10 seconds video in high quality mode).
I planned a workout on the bike this morning, but as I put it out of the garage it was drizzling. As I didn't feel like cleaning the bike again this afternoon, I postponed the bike-workout and went to the boathouse of KV Wyrda to paddle. Biking is for tomorrow - the weekend is going to be dry? I hope so!
I played around with the new camera and checked speed differences between Wing-paddling and the standard Euro-blade with the GPS. Resulting in some "utterly useless information":
Not surprising: the wing paddle is more efficient than a traditional euro-blade - average touring speed in a seakayak proves to be about 5-10 % higher with the Wing.
The reconstruction of Haanwijkersluis is delayed, it doesn't look like the work will be finished in April. Passage from Woerden to Utrecht - a portage - is awkward. Due to the construction works it's hardly manageable for one person alone with a kayak. Update March, 1st. It was a good decision to put off biking till the weekend: Saturday was dry and Sunday was just like spring: biked in shorts today, the legs exposed to sunshine for the first time of the year! (sorry for the milk-bottles ;-)
Strategically timed around Christmas last year was the edition of the “Handboek digitale fotografie” from Frans Barten: the most comprehensive work on Digital Photography available, a masterpiece of almost 750 pages, a book weighting 3,5 kg. It's part of the long tradition of handbooks of Focus-publishers that began with the handbooks of father Adriaan and son Dick de Boer in the first half of last century. Bartens' book is used as textbook in the education-path of professional photographers on Dutch photography academies.
In the NKB-courses for sea-kayak-instructors students often ask for a reader or a handbook that covers all relevant aspects of sea-kayak-coaching. Despite all the efforts made by several Dutch kayak-coaches there isn't one that is comprehensive and up to date. With a bit of envy (but above all: with great respect!) I look at our neighbors in Britain, where the BCU offers something that comes very close to the ultimate handbook on (sea-)kayak-coaching: the combination of the BCU Canoe and Kayak Handbook and the BCU Coaching Handbook. As the British approach comes close to our Dutch philosophy on teaching (sea)kayaking, these books are also great resources for our students. But I do realize English language is an issue for some of them.
Lacking the one and only "ultimate handbook" - we must look for other resources. And although this is (admittedly) motivated by the need, I think not relying on one big textbook is also an approach which fits better in a modern way of learning. Yes, 30 years ago - eager as I was as a young boy to learn the great art of B&W darkroom-work - I spelled the "Handboek Vergrooten" word for word. But today I can't imagine my kids doing so, learning in a similar way. New media - DVD's, articles and video's on the web, pictures in magazines, games are a welcome addition to wisdom from books - and changed the way of learning completely. Changes come so rapidly. I learned the B&W-skills out of a book given to me by my granddad. The book dates from 1940 and I used it in the early 70's. Despite the sometimes weird Old Dutch spelling - the content was still adequate at that time. The lifetime circle of Bartels' book will be a bit shorter, I suppose.
Still being part of the generation that is grown up with and still fascinated by printed media - I recognize my own style of learning has also changed. I still buy lots of handbooks, but I hardly read them from begin to end anymore. An kayak-related example is the way I learned (teaching) Greenland-style-rolling. It started with a book: I was reading the article of Greg Stamer in John Heaths' book Eastern Arctic Kayaks. Then I met Freya and did my first workshop with her. But the rest and the more advanced rolls I learned by watching the DVD's of Dubside, surfing the web - reading online-articles and watching videos on qayaqusa.org and kayakways.net (Cheri Perry and Turner Wilson) and a lot of little notes on a great number of kayakweblogs.
There is so much good and actual information available in this digital world - it would be a pity to focus on the one and only handbook… The NKB is working on getting more resources accessible for sea-kayak-students. You can find some resources on the download page of NKB-Zeevaren. But don't expect a new Handbook of us please - it will be more a kind of a guide to find your way.
Of course you don't learn (teaching) kayaking (or photography-work) only from a book. You don't learn kayaking or photography from the web either: skills come with practice, a lot of practice - which is actually the biggest part of the fun!
Said this, for those who want to continue learning about kayaking by reading books ;-) Pesda Press brings out a series of really good ones. The next one is soon to come: Sea kayak Handling by Doug Cooper. I am looking forward to it!
In architecture, a folly is a building constructed strictly as a decoration, having none of the usual purposes of housing or sheltering associated with a conventional structure. They originated as decorative accents in parks and estates. "Folly" is used in the sense of fun or light-heartedness, not in the sense of something ill-advised.
Along the river Lek we discovered this landmark made by some unknown artist. Despite it's medieval appearance it wasn't there last time we passed by here. It must have been quit an effort to build this object on a groyne (NL: krib) at the riverbank.
Talking about "win-win situations": popular management speak, a buzzword - often used improperly. Seldom it's reality. About a year ago in Zeeland in the kitchen of Monique and Stef however a real win-win situation occurred. Monique told me she was about to realize her dream to build her own custom tailored Greenland kayak - and to create room for the new kayak, Stef and Monique were looking for a new owner for their Anas Acuta - which made a dream come through for me: resulting in the marvellous white Anas Acuta with blue stripes figuring on a lot of pictures in this weblog ;-)
A year later: Monique has finished her Greenland kayak - the Black Pearl, a Björn Thomasson design. Monique and Stef have done a great job. Read this personal impression of a happy owner of a fantastic playful greenland style kayak.
Monique says:
It is easy, so easy to describe the whole thing in superlatives and only very positive superlatives. It is in the starry-eyed beholder, it is in the moon gaze and that is why it is impossible to give an objective view. How do I begin to find words to explain? Bear with me, show some patience, and forgive this moon starry gaze.
Despite our choice of colour the kayak-design is called Black Pearl (BP). Colour or names (“boat”?) do not really matter, for starry eyed beholders. So here we go, a few experiences of a newly born BP with a newly introduced Greenland style paddler…………. This BP has first carried me on rather flattish secluded water. It feels comfortable, stable enough and believe it or not, very reassuring. This reassurance and trustworthiness surprised me in a silently knowing way. Could I feel the same in a similar factory made type? I doubt it, the whole process of piecing together your own kayak, made to your own body size, is such that for some inexplicable reason this kayak has soul, it is imbued with strong intimate bonds and personal knowledge of every strip and corner, every overall weakness and strength. Can this only be felt by the builder/paddler? I believe so….. I warned you: this would be a starry-eyed perspective…..
Then time came to leave the secluded water and enter a bigger tub (Oosterschelde). First strokes felt intimidating and exciting at the same time, which one was it going to be? After 10 minutes I needed to scull and roll (cowboy way, no elegant water-ballet from this paddler). Getting my head down, literally, feeling cold fresh sea directly on face and on hands liberated me of a daunting freeze inside. This astonishing effect of winter sea is probably one of the best kept secrets in Western Europe. Stef and I were in the company of our kayaks, several swarms of silver-bellied birds dancing away in a blue frosty sky and clear sun. What more do you want? “Here we are big tub! BP is coming to explore”! BP turns easy and gracefully; it slides through the sea like a hot knife in a bar of butter, even in shallow water (watch the oysters). BP is light, nimble and agile. It reacts directly to a 3/4L hot water bottle rolling in the back hatch and to any hip or small toe movement. Perhaps if I smoked and ran out of tobacco, would I (would I? I wish!) be able to paddle 27-28 km in 1 hour or less? (See page 102 of “Eastern Arctic Kayaks”). Not nearly now or in a long time anyway… but someone somehow somewhere did it, so I can try… Would I be able to play and roll in rough waves? Not nearly now but someone somehow somewhere………
But for now shoreline got further away and the boundaries of reassurance dawned. I am still very much in the trial and error stage (and will be for a long while) because I found my brain gently pointing out, “get your mental crutches girl: shallower sea and comforting shoreline!” The moment I turned BP towards shore brain (being subjected to steep learning curves) eased up on me…………taking baby steps will give me personal giant progression. The connection is there, the freedom is there, the bond can only grow stronger.
Today I paddled for the first time this year in Woerden - my home base. Ice has prevented any kayaking activities over here since more than 6 weeks. As a matter of fact: it still does. Before I could reach the open "Oude Rijn", I had to plough myself a way through the ice by playing icebreaker for over 2 km's in the Singel of Woerden (Singel = a ring shaped canal, often part of the fortification of old Dutch towns). Loud noise of breaking ice disrupted the Sunday rest in Woerden this afternoon.
Piet made this nice video-report of the NKB expert-clinic held last Saturday. Thanks Piet, I couldn't come to the clinic (alas)- but your video gives a great impression. Essential for the new competence-driven pathway for NKB-Coaching development is the availability of a range of expert-clinics for the trainee-coaches. Thanks to Nico Middelkoop for the brilliant initiative of a clinic for the trainees, dedicated on the core skills of kayaking!
The Prince, Princess Maxima and the Minister of Education, Culture and Science, Plasterk are visiting southern Chile and the Antarctic to be informed about Arctic and Glacial Research in relation to Climate issues for the Netherlands. Prince Alexander combines personal impressions with interesting links to the work of the British Antarctic Survey.
Hans is going kayaking! What should he wear? Dress your kayak boy up on dressupgames8 ;-0)
There is no such thing as bad weather, only bad clothes. Jeff Alan has written an article on kayaker's essential dress in issue nr. 13 of Ocean Paddler Magazine. In recent times the dress code amongst Dutch kayakers is changing rapidly: on the Voordelta-trip last week I was surprised to meet 6 kayakers of which 5 were dressed in drysuits and only 1 in a neoprene long john three-quarters wet-suit. Which is quit amazing: only a year ago the rate drysuit-wetsuit would have been reversed! The combination of a neoprene long john, an insulating garment on the upper body, covered by a long sleeved paddle top has been the Dutch standard for years. Also in winter.
4 kayak boys - according to the latest fashion dressed up in Kokatat-Drysuits (nr. 5 joined later).
In his excellent article Jeff describes some pros and cons of drysuit and wetsuits. Where serious risk exists of coming in contact with hard abrasive objects like rocks, Jeff wears a wetsuit. The Achilles' heel of the drysuit is it's vulnerability to tears and punctures. Big advantages are the comfort and the high grade of dry insulation.
The Drysuit creates a new discussion theme for Dutch paddlers: what to wear underneath? Most agree with the principle of a combination of a garment with good wicking ability (= moving sweat away from the skin to the outer surface of the fabric) next to the skin, covered by an insulating layer. Number and thickness of the layers is a personal thing - in search for balance between roasting while paddling and sufficient insulation for the (unintended) swim. I swear to technical underwear (like Helly Hansen or Odlo) in combination with (depending on the conditions) a thick or thin layer of fleece. The Merino wool solution of the Icebreaker garments is a welcome alternative for one day trips. The wool combines good wicking and insulation capacities, keeps you warm, doesn't itch, can hold a good amount of moisture before it begins to feel damp and smells less. This is almost perfect - but just almost: I experienced that (due to it's absorbing capacities) it takes much longer to dry Merino wool than to dry "technical" garment. On multiple day trips in cold and humid conditions this is in mine opinion a serious disadvantage of the Merino wool option: Merino wool is still humid next day, while the technical garments are dry..(the second disadvantage is the price tag...)
Ice makes kayaking around Woerden impossible since more than a month now. As an alternative for the "Friday-morning paddle" 4 members of Kayakclub Wyrda (and 2 special guests) put on the ice-skates for a tour in the polder.
But this isn't exactly what it looks like... The ice is too thick to paddle and too thin too skate. That's why we moved to an artificial ice rink: the track of FlevOnice in the Flevopolder. Unique in the world: a 5 km long the track in the middle of the polder.
It's fake but it gives an outdoor experience quit close to skating on natural ice in the polder. Different from other rinks you're not only making little rounds ona racetrack, but you are skating serious distances in a widespread landscape with head winds and following winds.
Almost every landscape in the Netherlands is man-made and artificial. Paddling in a seakayak in the Waddensea is one of the very few outdoor-activities left to experience "real" nature. Most other outdoor-activities we do in man-made landscapes. But it's something of the last decades that deliberately artifical constructions and landscapes are made for just one purpose: to create an outdoor experience. The constructions are getting bigger and better every year. Twenty years ago, I went to the Rhur in the Eifel for white water kayaking, to the rocks of Freyr in Belgium to climb, to the Alpes to ski and to the Taunus in Germany for mountainbiking. And now I can do all this right on my doorstep:
WW-kayaking on the white water track of Dutch Water Dreams in Zoetermeer. Climbing on Monte Cervino, the climbing wall at Outdoor valley in Bergschenhoek. Snowboarding in Snowworld in Zoetermeer. Mountainbiking on the track in my backyard in Woerden, created on an old dump, landfill.
Picture by Roel Pierik: break at the beach of Rockanje, near the bunkers of the Atlantic Wall.
Update February, 8th: René posted a personal impression of this trip on his weblog. According to the graphic of windfinder.com the wind peaked up to 8 Bft. when we paddled back. No wonder it was quit a struggle!
I announced a winter trip for advanced seakayakers in the Voordelta today. 5 fit paddlers took the challenge and signed in for the trip. Wind was blowing 6-7 Bft S-SE (during the whole day according to the forecasts). I warned this would become a heavy trip. It turned out to be one. First we sailed North with the wind in the back on following waves for fantastic surf-rides. We paddled 8 kilometres in 45 minutes. After a short break (seeking shelter for the wind sitting in the kayaks at the beach) we changed direction to paddle along the sand banks back to the starting point. The next 10 kilometres took us 3 hours of full power paddling. We struggled to make progress against the strong head wind: just a second not paddling and you were blown 3-4 km/h backwards! The group performed outstanding and enjoyed the heavy work-out - I doubt if I had myself a bad day, or if the group-members were so strong, anyway: this time I had a hard job to keep up with the paddlers in my group!
OK: It's a weird idea to plan a trip that finishes with head wind force 6 during 10 km's. I wouldn't do such a crazy thing with every group! But today it was just perfect. A unique experience for all of us.
The Netherlands are suffering an outbreak of flu. With 131 out of 100.000 people infected it's an epidemic according to the statistics (Dutch doctors speak of an epidemic when more than 51 people out of 100.00o in two weeks are diagnosed to have the flu). With a number of 1 out of 4 the Heupink-family contributes considerably to the statistics. The poor patient himself doesn't bother about stats, he just feels miserable and is going to miss a school-day tomorrow...
Tip: the website of Sportzorg (Dutch - the Association for sports-medicine) offers very useful and accessible information on health-issues for sporters.
Thursday an envelope with a bump arrived in Woerden. Sender was System-X located in Wockingham-GB. The envelope contained the Werner Button Cover I ordered via the US-Werner-Website a while ago. Obviously Werner uses their British distributor to supply European customers with the button cover. I ordered mine during the Christmas-holidays and received immediately a reply-mail from Danny Mongo in which he announced the order would be processed direct after New Year. The package arrived two weeks later - compliments for Werner's excellent customer care!
Update January, 25th: I tried out the paddle with the new button cover in winter-conditions today. Also with very cold and stiff fingers I managed quit easily to press the button to split the paddle. A bit less comfortable than without cover, but worries about Werner-paddles splitting unintended at awkward moments are definitely history!
As a non-native writer I find figurative language difficult to translate. It's dangerous, expressions can have a totally different meaning in other cultures.
"Tegeltjeswijsheden" are Dutch aphorisms - which are often presented written on small Delftware tables. "Wie de wind zaait..." means "The person who plants the wind...". The second part of this aphorism is: "...zal storm oogsten". Which means literally "...will harvest a storm". As this is a quote from the Bible (Hosea 8:7), I suppose this is a safe one and the meaning in English will be comparable with that in Dutch. Groen Links adapted the "Wie de wind zaait... quote" for the European elections-campaign. The message is: it's time for a change in European (and in Dutch) energy policy.
Time for a change? America is making the change tomorrow. The inauguration is covered all over the world. Just imagine similar emotions about European elections...
Pictures of the pool session with KV Wyrda in Woerden by Paul Linckens
Saturday I had a pool session with the kayak club in Alphen aan den Rijn (KV de Kromme Aar), Sunday in Woerden with KV Wyrda. Rob dK and Rob K of Wyrda are putting effort and enthousiasm in starting up activities for young paddlers.
Wyrda cooperates for part of the youth-activities with kayak club de Goudse Peddel. Today the kids-group of Gouda was invited to join the Wyrda-pool session. 15 kayaking kids in a swimming pool guarantee a lively event.
With the excellent help of Stein and Daan it was good fun to coach this group!
Picture of Robert Bouten and (original Dutch) text of the news-item: courtesy NKB
I just stumbled across this nice little news item on the NKB-website. Here's a translation for non-Dutch web-surfers:
January 12th, 2009 Ice-blues: Slalom-kayaker Robert Bouten breaks a hole in the ice in order to train
While the Netherlands are completely mad about (skating on) ice - the ice is a burden for Olympic finalist Robert Bouten. At his training spot (Dutch Water Dreams-Zoetermeer) the water is frozen and training is getting awkward. This morning Robert made a big hole in the ice to be able to paddle.
Since a few weeks the pumps of the white water track in Zoetermeer can't operate due to the frost. Robert continued his training sessions on flat water. But that's also getting more difficult because of the thickening layer of ice. "When it keeps on freezing - I really must look out for natural white water that doesn't freeze" says Robert. "I used to train at the Brabantse Dommel. I'll go back to my good old training site for the coming days."
Bouten's discomfort is only temporary. In just over a week he leaves for Sydney. He will train for 5 weeks on the Olympic track of Sydney 2000 and finish his training stage down under with the second race of the new "World Ranking Series".
Ice-skater's blues: after a fantastic winter-weekend, thaw has set in rapidly. There is water on the ice all over. And it won't get cold in the next week. But it will take some more time before the ice is gone and paddling around Woerden and Zoetermeer is possible again.
This morning in Nieuwkoop: ice skating and ice sailing. Some beautiful crafted DN - ice yachts were on the Noorderplas (DN: Designed in 1936 in a competition run by the Detroit News paper). With a good southerly wind (3-4 Bft.) they reached spectacular speed.
All signs are red... ... don't even think of sailing! It's a cliche- so picturesque! Dutch winter-landscapes inspired painters from the Golden Ages up to now: de Grecht - an old canal north of Woerden, the connection to the Nieuwkoopse Plassen.
The calendar with the guided trips and courses of the NKB Sea Kayak Committee in 2009 is published on the NKB-website - click here. General information about the program and guidelines for participants can be found under the "activiteiten"-tab of the "discipline - zeevaren". Yes - all this information on the NKB-site is in Dutch only, sorry ;-)
Pierre-Yves (a French kayak-enthusiast) kindly allowed to publish this video of his friend Pierre-Dominique demonstrating some Greenland-style rolling with the Tahe Greenland kayak. They compared the Tahe Greenland to the Valley Anas Acuta: with a similar traditional hard-chined, low-volume-design, the Tahe is much faster and easier to roll. (And from own experience I can tell the Anas Acuta is already a great kayak to roll!).
Red kayak = Valley Anas Acuta, White kayak = Tahe Greenland (pictures by Pyve)
Side to side to the Tahe kayak - the graceful Anas Acuta looks like a giant!
The timing was perfect. After a cold week and the first days of skate-able ice since years, the Dutch are totally exited about skating. Today was the première of the art-project "IJskoude Passie" on the occassion of the 100st anniversary of the "Elfstedentocht".
Alas: yesterday temperature is risen above zero, it's thawing and raining now around Woerden. But the forecast for the next few days is cold temperatures and frost again...
6 People took the challenge to participate in the NKB Cold water training in the cold water (7 degrees Celsius) of the Voordelta today. It was good fun to train this group: in the beginning some of a hesitated a bit about all the wet-exercises I suggested, but soon everyone participated in full surrender. Some participants couldn't get enough...
Wind was blowing first 4 Bft. , later 3-4 Bft NW. Because of the wind earlier this week, surf was good. Wet exercises alternated with playing in the waves (zoekplaatje).
Just a minor point. The weather was almost too good: the bivouac was very relaxed... We made bivouac on the beach, because the sands we intended to visit were occupied by resting seals.
