Yellow made this rainy gray day bright

14-10-2007: Because of bloody "9 to 5 activities" and a little motivational dip, I neglected the kayakblog a bit. As a matter of fact I started some posts lately, but didn't finish them. A phone-call with René brought back the spirit (thanks René!). So the next few days I will publish some older posts. This is one of them, dated about 1,5 weeks ago. René showed me a blog from Nigel Foster about the effect of the color of the kayak to the mind - amazing to read that even a great kayaker like Nigel is influenced by the color of a boat...

October makes a dark start, summer is really over now, sun has left Holland. Woerden is hidden under a thick layer of clouds, making everything look gray while rain is drizzling all day. As days shorten, I am supposed to spent my time from 9 to 5 in an office, not the best condition for a sunny mood. About a year ago I wrote about SAD and the Ljuscafé in Stockholm. Woerdens' number of stylish cafés has increased remarkably since the renovation of the town center is finished, but it still lacks something bright and light like the Ljuscafé.
Don't mind, going out works far more better with me anyway. This morning I had a moment for a break and I went to the boathouse for a short paddle on my own. Though it was still gray and drizzling, out of the cockpit of my yellow Pintail-kayak the world suddenly looked much brighter. What colors do to your mind!

This suddenly upcoming happy feeling was even more surprising as the paddling itself took quit some effort. I got used to take the K1-racer to paddle on the shallow waters around Woerden. But the wind had blown a thick carpet of duckweed on the water before the boathouse and I didn't want to spent the scarse paddling time with constantly removing rests of waterplants of the rudder of the racer. So I decided took the seakayak. Used to the K1 it felt like I was moving a giant heavy vessel in the water and as if I didn't make any speed at all. On water with the surface like a mirror the resistance of the rockered Pintail is of course higher than that of the long stretched waterline of the K1 with its narrow beam - this is like comparing "appels met peren" ("comparing apples with pears" - a Dutch saying) - but the difference will only be a few km's an hour. I was curious about the exact difference and clocked my paddle: I did the 10 km with several low bridges and two portages in 1 hour 12 minutes. The fastest time I have done this in the K1-racer was exactly 1 hour, mostly it takes 1.03 in the K1. The overall average speed with the Pintail is 8 km/h, with the K1 10 km/h. Let's say each portage takes 3 minutes - that makes an average paddling speed 9 km/h for the Pintail, 11 km/h for the K1. That's 25 % plus for the racer - relatively a lot, but on a 10 km paddle only a few minutes difference.
Paddling till exhaustion and calculating all the time - perhaps it doesn't sound so - but it was a great and very relaxing break. The yellow bow of the Pintail blew the dark cloud in my mind away. I should do this every day...

About yellow, besides of what it does to your mind: it's also a very safe color for a kayak. I spoke to the crew of the lifeboat after the rescue of Peters' kayak - they told me they were surprised by the remarkable good visibility of his kayak (a Romany with white hull and yellow deck) between the white caps of the sea. They had no problem finding it.

A fatal accident on the river "de Berkel"

I was seriously in doubt if I should write in this personal kayak-weblog about the tragic accident that yesterday happened on the Dutch river "de Berkel". There is no kayak or canoe involved, I am not in any way related to the people and organizations involved, I don't know anything more than the the papers and TV reported today. The easiest way would be to leave it this way, but the news really struck me. I want to share it with you, that's why I write a note about it.

For non-Dutch readers who missed the news and are not able to read the Dutch news item (click here for text and video):
Yesterday two young women died at an accident with a raft on the Dutch stream "de Berkel". De Berkel is a canalized small river that rises in Germany and crosses the Dutch border near the village of Rekken. It's no white water but a gently flowing stream. There are some concrete weirs in the Dutch part of the Berkel. A big raft with 18 women on board descended the Berkel and capsized at one of the weirs. One woman drowned at the weir, the other died a few hours later in hospital.

I want to express condolences to families and friends of the victims. Our thoughts are with them.

It's unknown why the rafters went over the weir. There are multiple and explicit warning signs on a good distance before the weir and there are ramps before and after the weir created to pass it safely by land. It's not clear if the group intendedly neglected the signs, where they unaware of the risks and just looking for some extra adventure? Or didn't they make it to the ramp and were taken by the stream down to the weir? The local authorities have started the investigations.

It sounds bizarre to have an accident like this happen in a flat country where you only can dream of white water. Actually the only serious white water playground in our country is man-made: Dutch Water Dreams. In hundreds of years every natural wild water stream in this country has been tamed (or better call it: "canalized").
It's exactly this canalization with it's many weirs that creates a potential big danger for water sports. The job of a weir is to allow the river to lose gradient and energy at one spot. Most weirs in Dutch rivers are made of concrete and metal, have a very steep ramp and are closed in at both ends by the river banks. Water flowing over such a weir has a lot more energy than in a natural situation. Even small weirs can create "stoppers" (a paddlers' term for a reverse flow of water) of the dangerous sort: full-depth stoppers with a powerful towback that is very likely to hold a swimmer.
It's very sad we are reminded in this cruel way about these risks.

More pictures and stories of Vlieland 2007

Lighthouse Vlieland, picture by Tom Steinseifer

Several mails are coming in with pictures of the "Vlielandgangers". Thank you! I am so lucky with a broadband-Internet connection ;-) Merel is working on a webalbum where all the participants can conveniently up- and download their pictures. Wait a minute: we will inform you as soon as this Vlieland-webalbum is operational. In the meanwhile here are some links to Vlielandkamp pictures and stories in the web:
Tom Steinseifer's pictures - Tom is multitalented - look at the Soca 2007 album...
Ruud Burger's pictures - Ruud was by accident passing by with a camera at our arrival in Harlingen...
Axel Schoever's blog - about a Vliehors-expres adventure...
My own first pic's

Freek Knol has written a day by day report of Vlieland 2007 in the Zeekajakforum (in Dutch).

A towed rescue by the KNRM - the Royal Netherlands Sea Rescue Institution

picture by Axel Schoevers

A rescue training in cooperation with the Lifeboat-crew of the KNRM was part of the program on previous editions of the NKB-Vlielandkamp. This year (the first time I did the overall-organization of the Vlielandkamp) we left the training with the KNRM out of the program: the KNRM was minimal staffed due to the september-holiday on Vlieland. But: instead of the training we had a rescue operation with the KNRM for real!

My feelings with the pictures and the story in this post are a bit double: I am happy and grateful about the safe rescue of Peter's seakayak, but I do also have a strong feeling that lifeboat-actions should be reserved for the real serious life threatening situations and feel a bit "guilty" the KNRM had to come in action to save an empty seakayak. Said that, I realize it's a thin line between an incident and an disaster.

What happened? Along the beach on the NW of Vlieland, from west to east three separate groups of each 10 seakayakers were active around the surf zone. Wind was SW 7 Bft. blowing along the beach, slightly offshore. With westerly winds there is powerful surf on the NW of Vlieland, increasing when the tide comes in. The most westerly group was landing through the surf zone, the group in the middle was doing exercises in the first part of the surf zone and I was launching the group most easterly through the surf zone. I was still standing on the beach, helping the last members of my group leaving the beach, when suddenly a lonely kayak drifted by, blown at high speed towards sea. I didn't notice a swimming kayaker nor anyone taking action. A few seconds (?) later Peter stood next to me, with panic in his eyes: he was part of the most westerly group, had lost his (new!) kayak during the landing in the surf and could only watch it disappear. With the biggest part of my group behind the surf zone, the last one just capsizing and swimming in the surf zone, I couldn't take action myself and decided to inform the Brandaris (the Dutch coastguard station on Terschelling) by VHF-radio. The coastguard immediately called the KNRM for assistance. At this very moment a pilot-boat came along in the fairway along the beach and noticed the empty kayak drifting away. The pilot got involved in the conversation between me and the coastguard, but didn't know if there was a swimmer. The pilot decided to ask the group of kayakers on the water what was going on. Note: this was my group at a safe distance behind the surf zone (still waiting for me to come and not knowing what exactly was going on). All this resulted in some confusion, and in the KNRM heading out full power looking for a kayaker in distress... As I heard this on the VHF-radio I repeated that the kayaker was safe on the beach. Some moments later the KNRM reported they recovered the kayak and that they would take it to the lifeboat station. As the rescue operation was finished, I headed out to my group (still waiting behind the surf zone) and paddled with the group to the harbour to pick up Peter's kayak at the lifeboat station.

It wasn't a experience you'd like to ask for, but from moments like this you learn a lot. Communication is so essential in a situation like this. There is communication on different levels: (1) the coordination of the rescue between (in this case) coastguard, lifeboat, pilot and kayakers, (2) the communication between the separate groups of kayakers and (3) the communication in the group itself between the leader and the members - quit difficult in the surf zone. The VHF-radio did a good job on level (1) - big advantage above a cell-phone is that the conversation on the radio can be heard by all involved. Some of my lessons:
(1) keep on repeating the complete message about the situation - in my first contact with the Brandaris I told the kayaker is safe at the beach. Later we talked about an empty kayak - leading to the confusion;
(2) do not monitor Channel 16, but the working channel of the Brandaris - Channel 2. It's idiot you have to make a choice like this: because of the regulations on legal Dutch VHF-radio's functions like "Dual and Triple Watch or scanning multiple Channels" are blocked...
(3) we can improve the intern communication on a big event like the Vlielandkamp.
After this operation we had a good talk with the members of the lifeboat-crew. Peter has visited the crew for a personal thanks.

!!!Once more for the crew from the Christien: thank you!!!

The KNRM is an organization mainly working with volunteers, not subsidized by authorities, but financed with gifts and donations. Do a good job and become a "Redder aan de wal"!

More advises about Managing the Surf Zone in the excellent article on Incident Management of Jeff Alan in the 3. issue of Ocean Paddler.

Jeugddag KV Wyrda

Back from Vlieland I enjoyed one more kayak-day: Kayakclub Wyrda organized an introduction for kids. Our family couldn't stay home of course. Jelle and Lieke enjoyed a playful day with friends at the Reewijkse Plassen.

First pics of Zeekamp Vlieland

Yesterday late I came home from the zeekamp Vlieland. It was a rather "stormy happening" this year: almost every day we had a gale warning for winds up to 6 or 7 Bft. For the advanced paddlers the circumstances were ideal to work on their skills, for beginners and intermediate paddlers the conditions were challenging. Part of my job was -in cooperation with our coaches- to find the balance in maximum adventure at minimal risk (a striking quote from Axel Schoevers). Looking at the smiles on the faces of the participants I am sure we succeeded! Zeekamp Vlieland 2007 was great!

I want to post more items in this weblog about Zeekamp Vlieland soon. Looking at the personal calendar for next week, it may take some time however before I manage to do so ;-( The slideshow shows a selection of my pics for a first impression. More to come.

NKB Vlielandkamp 2007

A message for the participants of the Vlieland Seakayak Symposium that starts tomorrow:

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Mededeling voor de deelnemers aan zeekamp Vlieland die morgen de oversteek Harlingen-Vlieland per kajak willen maken:

Beste deelnemers,
waarschijnlijk hebben jullie, net zoals ik, met spanning de weersberichten gisteren en vandaag gevolgd. Laat ik er geen doekjes om winden: de weerssituatie maakt de oversteek per kajak morgen erg onzeker. Ik heb vanmiddag met de vuurtorenwachter op de Brandaris (Terschelling) gesproken. Het waait bij Vlieland vandaag vol 6 Bft. met vlagen 7 Bft. uit NW richting. De verwachting is dat deze wind morgen afneemt, in de ochtend eerst nog windkracht 5-6, in de middag afzwakkend naar 3-4 (uit westelijke richting). Zondag wordt weer 5-6 Bft. verwacht. Er zijn kleine verschillen tussen de verschillende weerberichten op internet maar de trend is overal gelijk: morgen een dipje en verder volop wind de komende dagen.
Omdat er serieus verwacht wordt dat de wind afneemt, wil ik de overtocht echter niet bij voorbaat afgelasten. Morgenochtend ter plaatse kunnen we pas echt beoordelen wat de situatie is. Houd er svp rekening mee dat er een goede kans is dat morgenochtend op de kade alsnog wordt besloten met de veerboot over te steken, of dat alleen deelnemers in het bezit van het certificaat ZVE en met een uitstekende conditie per kajak de oversteek maken. De organisatoren beslissen hierover.

Mocht je eerder hebben aangegeven per kajak over te willen steken en na lezing van dit bericht besluiten liever de veerboot te nemen: mail dit svp even naar mij. Je kunt morgen dan een uurtje later komen!

Tot morgen!
Met vriendelijke groet,
Hans

PS: heel mooi: we hebben waarschijnlijk prima branding voor de opleidingen!

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When there is an occasion for it (internet-access?), I'll try to update this blog during the Seakayakweek, and maybe Axel does, see his kayakblog - Otherwise: see you next week!
An impression of last years' edition of Zeekamp Vlieland: facts and figures here and more posts in the weblogarchive - september last year.

Countdown for NKB Zeekamp Vlieland, preparing the kayak

It's only two more days before the NKB seakayak event on the isle of Vlieland begins. I made a phone call with Sien and Paul and it looks as if the organization committee has most of the preparations done. It's getting urgent to prepare myself. First the hardware. Since a very long time I wanted to do some maintenance and little modifications on the deck lines of the Pintail. Vlieland is a good argument to do it now - the kayak of the coach is supposed to be immaculate...

The first thing I had to work on were the toggles (click here for the link to the item on the toggles): one of the white shockcords I added last year was broken, the other one wasn't elastic anymore: I replaced them finally by black shockcords (looks better too) with some extra length to have less stress on the elastics - they should last longer now).



Next thing to do was adding a bead to the deck lines on the bow of the kayak. Purpose of this little wooden piece is to make it easier to slide (while sitting in the kayak) the paddle blade beneath the deck line: a convenient way to store the paddle in order to keep your hands free while your out on the water.



Than came a so called "Duck Tape job": The picture below is a delicate insight in the cockpit of my Pintail. Mostly this sight is hidden under the sprayskirt. Now you know what's beneath it. I must admit it's a bit untidy under there! Last year I padded the inside of the deck before the cockpit rim (= the so called "masik") with closed cell foam in order to have better contact with the kayak. I tried all sorts of kit and glue, but the cell foam gets loose every time again. Duck tape works quit good to fix it- once or twice a year a bit of new tape, it just looks awkward ;-(
An ocean cockpit may look very sexy on a traditional seakayak, but a well designed modern keyhole cockpit with decent thigh-grips gives far better boat-contact!



Finally the finishing touch: the OP sticker: Derrick will be jealous!


For the Vlieland-participants: on Friday-evening I publish a message on this blog concerning the crossing Harlingen-Vlieland (it depends on the weather-conditions whether the advanced group does the crossing by kayak or by ferry).

Mudflat hiking: Holwerd-Ameland for minimalists

Pictures by Janine

Mudflat hiking (wadlopen) is a popular activity in the Netherlands. On the shallow Wadden Sea you can walk from the mainland to the isles of Terschelling (is seldom done - very long way), Ameland, Schiermonnikoog. It requires good planning to use the period of low tide to walk along the watershed of the mudflats. It's a great sensation to see how the sea "opens before your eyes" and makes a path to the islands. Compared to seakayaking it's very basic - forget your kayak gear and just walk to Ameland...
While Jelle, Lieke and I were rushing around the Netherlands and Germany, Janine enjoyed a Wadloopdag with AV Clytoneus. Due to the fresh Northerly wind (and just a day after neap tide) Holwerd-Ameland was a wet crossing: most of the time walking in half a meter water, sometimes water up to the waist...

Dragonboat Racing

Saturday was a well filled day: grandma's birthday-visit in the morning, the wedding-anniversary of Harmen and Annet in the afternoon and evening. Grandma lives in Germany, Harmen and Annet in Groningen -> so this meant a ride by car of about 600 km's... Nevertheless it was a nice day, topped by a canoe-intermezzo on the Paterswoldsemeer. Harmen and Annet invited the unprepared wedding guests for a little Dragonboat-race. This was a big surprise for the guests, most of them were dressed for a stylish party in the atmosphere of the Societeit Clubhuis. My motto is: don't leave the house with a set of sportswear (and a towel) in the car! You never know...
Jelle and Lieke knew the Dragonboats from the Jubilee of KV Wyrda a year ago. It were the same boats of the EHDC.

Historic moments on Tiengemeten

Today I had the privilege to be part of a unique happening on the isle of Tiengemeten. We dugged a hole in a dyke to give the water of the Haringvliet free access to the isle... Breaking the Dutch tradition of building dykes and to make land out of water is quit a sensation for someone working on the department of Water-safety!
The announcement of Dutch breaking down dykes attracted a lot of attention: National and regional press, photographers and film crews from France and Germany were present to see how the mayor of Korendijk opened the dyke.

This was all what happened: for this official moment breaking down the dyke was reduced to opening a pipe in the dyke. Result: no dramatic action, no big waves rushing around, but only some water flowing through the pipe from the Haringvliet into a dugged out creek on Tiengemeten.
Perhaps the official act was a bit of a disappointment for some of us: anyhow it was a perfect excuse to spent a beautiful day with the colleagues of the Department of Water, Environment and Agriculture on Tiengemeten ;-)
To legitimize our presence we did our best to make our selfs useful: cleaning up the island.
On every corner of the island was press interviewing dignitaries in the middle of new man-made nature. Unreal!
But tomorrow all will be gone and the isle is left alone to itself. However: the silence of the past years is gone: Tiengemeten has changed in an accessible nature reserve. There is invested a lot in facilities for visitors.
Tiengemeten always was a good kayak destination, here is a link to previous reports. Rounding Tiengemeten is a kayaktrip of about 20 km's. Take on the next trip some extra time to visit to isle: it's worth it!

Still alive!

I received mails and phone-calls from people asking if everything is OK, as there have been no new posts on the Kayakwoerden blog since a week or two. Thank you, I am fine! Though I must admit, the combination of 9-5 work, family life and the organization of the Vlieland Seakayak-meeting is a bit much lately. Vlieland with over 60 kayakers from 3 nationalities, with classes from beginner- to advanced-level is quit another cup of tea as the Spiekeroog-course earlier this year. Just the number of 60 makes communication and logistics far more complex. I don't do this alone: Sien and Paul are great helpers. Tidiness however is not my strongest competence (I am more the chaotic type) and I have never been at ease with a big amount of mail on my desk. I am constantly fearing I make a mess out of it and forget to answer the most important ones... That curious kind of "Guust Flater"(Gaston Lagaffe)-frustration is annoying me all my working life, and now the same frustration has come into my beloved kayaking-hobby ;-) It's always a big relief for me when I have got the mail done. Today there was an awful lot of mail to be done for the Vlieland meeting. Luckily my daughter Lieke helped. She is so accurate! I am quit confident we have got a good job done and all the participants receive exact the letter meant for them tomorrow!After this hard indoor work it was about time for a bit of sport so I took the Koga Miyata bike for a ride. Biking is a great way to relax the mind. After some kilometers biking I reach a steady-state of mind - the best condition for reflection and for creative new ideas. I love to bike. After 5 minutes it started to rain and after half an hour I had a flat tire. This was my day! Really: I am doing fine!

Btw:
1. It's really touching some people I have never met in real life are sympathizing with my virtual kayak personality. Long time virtual reality was beyond my imagination. Now I am living a "second life" myself... And it's only very thin line between the first and the second life!
2.It feels really cosmopolitan when on the other side of the Pacific jokes are made about your little injuries...
3. I have added the blog of the Sebago Canoe Club to my favorite weblinks: this club futures a real informative and entertaining blog with more and less serious topics around kayaking, environmental and social themes.
4. Gaston Lagaffe is the comic strip originally created in 1957 by the Belgian cartoonist André Franquin in the comic strip magazine, Spirou, and named after its main character. Earlier this year there was a exposition on the work of Franquin in Bruxelles. The website of the exposition is still open. The official website of Franquin: http://www.franquin.com
The cartoons shown in this webitem are published in the Dutch edition of the Album "Le bureau des gaffes en gros"

Czech souvenirs

The kids are showing our souvenirs from the Czech republic. Lieke has chosen the little bell herself (all young girls love Delfts Blue pottery - all over the world? ;-), the helmet Jelle shows is chosen by his dad. Poor Jelle...

Hiko is a Czech brand of kayak-gear. The Hiko helmet however is produced in Italy (the little bell probably in China).
Hiko says about the "Right Choice and Usage of Helmets":

No paddler should practice on white water (even if it is less difficult) without a helmet. Sudden blow to your head with the risk of fainting under the water gives you a one-way ticket to the hospital or directly to the cemetery.

Choose the helmet according to your requirements and conception. For more difficult conditions we recommend Full Cap, a closed helmet that covers ears and scruff. For less difficult conditions and racing tracks with professional first aid at hand Short Cap is suitable.

Choose the proper size carefully, if needed adjust it so that it fits tight to your head. A helmet that is too big will slip off your head in most extreme situations, too tight one will press and make you feel uncomfortable.


I totally agree. And just want to add that a helmet is also good for the seakayaker: e.g. playing in surf, and tidal races, when performing rescues in rougher circumstances. A helmet is compulsory in all the NKB-courses for seakayaking. It doesn't need to be a fancy, high tech, full carbon one: a basic one like this Hiko helmet will do. Most important is a good and comfortable fit: the best helmet is of no use when you leave it on your back-deck because it's not comfortable...

Back home!

A picture of "nothing": nothing left from Kaap Kot, Bezoekerscentrum IJburg, Uitzichttoren etc...

Just before this weekend we returned from our family summer holiday. After 3 weeks travelling around in middle-Europe, the first impression of Dutch landscape is always wide and flat. And crowded and busy. On first sight you might call our man-made landscape boring, but on second look it's fascinating. Always changing, and a great place to paddle too. So I was enthusiast when Joris asked me if I wanted to paddle today. This morning we paddled on the IJmeer. Finally a good stretch of water again. I did enjoy some paddling in Czech and Germany last weeks, but a seakayak was a bit beyond proportions on the lakes and rivers around there...

A big surprise this morning: Kaap Kot is no more! Kaap Kot was a beach club at the Zeeburgereiland near Amsterdam. An accessible beach with a parking place nearby are quit rare along the IJmeer. Kaap Kot offered all this and a restaurant with a nice atmosphere to return in after the paddle. But this paddlers delight is no longer. Because of the expanding building activities of Amsterdam everything is pulled down and a big locked gate is placed around the east-part of the Zeeburgereiland. No way to get in from land...
Luckily there still is an alternative starting point nearby: in the weekend you can find a parking place near the water near beachclub Blijburg on IJburg. Also a good place to start: but how long will this little 'republic of freedom' survive the ongoing expansion of Amsterdam?

Details: IJburg-Vluchthaven Pampus - Zeeburgereiland - IJburg: 22,6 km, avs: 7,5 km/h, wind 3-4 Bft. SE

PS: I missed this news, but begin this year there was obviously some buzz about the plans with the Zeeburgereiland: The political party SP Amsterdam demonstrated against the plans to create a gap in the groyne (strekdam) between the IJ and IJburg.

It hurts!

Experimenting different kayak rolls stays fun. But don't forget to check first how deep the water is! Especially on a rocky beach. Stupid me!

Holiday-greetings from the Lipno Lake in the Czech Republic

Lipno Lake early in the morning

In a last minute action we booked a holiday in the Lipno Marine Resort. We spent some relaxed sunny days around here. I just discovered a Café with a internet Hot Spot. Now I am updating this weblog with a my laptop on my knees and a fine chocolate dessert next to me in Lipno nad Vltavou. Finally I have finished the drafts of the post I prepared in the last weeks, try to post them now, so after a long time there is some news on this blog. Sorry for the delay!

As the resort is located directly at the Lipno-lake I couldn’t resist the temptation to load two kayaks on the car. My favorite holiday routine is to get op early and to paddle 2 hours on the lake in the morning before I join the family at the breakfast table.

Descending the Vltavou by kayak or raft is very popular around here. We did rent a raft and paddled from Vyssi Brod to Cesky Krumlov amidst hundreds of partying Czechs. Big fun. Cesky Krumlov is very impressive and an absolute must to visit – Unesco World Heritage.
Saturday the Czech Triathlon Championships take place in Lipno and is our last day here.

Lonely car - missing kayaker?

Dutch car with roof-rack parked in a Czech Village - where is the Dutch kayaker?

This morning I was contacted about a search-action concerning a good friend of mine. Locals have noticed a Dutch car parked on in a little village in the middle of nowhere (somewhere in northern Scandinavia) for more than two weeks and alarmed the police. The Norwegian authorities have identified my friend as the owner of the car by the licence plate. My friend and his partner make a multiple week (completely self supporting) hike in the most remote and inhabited parts of Scandinavia every summer. I know they left for Norway in the middle of July, but I am not familiar with their exact plans. The only thing we could do is give the police the cell-phone number of our friends, and hope the alarm is false!

More kayak-related was a nasty experience another friend of mine had last May. We made an appointment for the the NKB-Salzwasserunion-course at the German isle of Spiekeroog. I picked up the German and Dutch participants at Neuharlingersiel while she left a day earlier in Eemshaven (in the Netherlands) to paddle on her own to Spiekeroog. No problem so far. But as she arrived home after the course, she found out that the car (with a kayak-roof-rack) she left behind near the harbour of Eemshaven caused a search action and that she was reported as a missed kayaker. This gave a lot of trouble with the Dutch authorities. Months later the incident isn’t solved yet, and will probably end in a prosecution action…

So when you make a multiple day trip and have to leave your car some days behind: inform the harbour authorities or other locals about your plans! In the Netherlands it’s a good habit to contact the coastguard about your seakayak trip before you start (and to report your arrival afterwards). Long ago I learned in the German and Austrian Alps as a mountaineer also always to leave a message behind. So I was rather surprised that in the German seakayak-scene it’s promoted to carry a VHF-radio along, but it’s unusual to inform the coastguard about your seakayak-plans.

VHF-radio or cell phone? the ICOM IC-M71

The pros and cons of VHF-radio’s and cell-phones are an everlasting subject in the German Seekajakforum and the British UKseakayakingguidebook. I have nothing new to add, just want to point to a news item in today’s Metro (one of the Dutch free Tabloids).
For the Dutch readers: click on the picture above this post for a full size and better readable view. For the non-Dutch readers: The KNRM (the Dutch Maritime Lifeguard/Rescue Organisation) is worried by the fact that more and more yacht owners go out at sea with a cell phone instead of a VHF-radio. The KNRM strongly promotes the use of a VHF-radio in emergency situations.

The ICOM IC-M71 is the successor of the ICOM M1-Euro (The radio I lost last winter ;-). The M1 was already a handy and reliable tool for seakayaking use: waterproof, compact, and a powerful Lithium-Ion battery. The IC-M71 is even more waterproof (to a higher standard) and compact (a minor difference) and has slightly higher output (6 Watt instead of 5). Biggest improvement in mine opinion though, is that squelch and volume adjustment are no longer combined around one button. That makes using the M71 with cold fingers and in a waterproof bag* far more practical: adjusting the volume of the M1 was quit difficult without (unintended) changing the position of the squelch button. (* Though the M1 and M71 are really waterproof, on salt water I use them in a Aquapack to prevent corrosion from the contact-points).

Behind the scenes - Organisation Zeekamp Vlieland 2007

The first batch of NKB-syllabi, ready to post to the participants of "Zeekamp Vlieland"

Blogging is getting a bit behind lately. Perhaps I should look upon the guilty feelings about this as a warning. In some ways blogging comes close to an addiction (or an obsession ?) that takes quit a lot of time ;-( Don’t bother, as long as it’s rewarding and gives pleasure, and it doesn’t disturb normal social life to much, there is nothing wrong with a little addiction;-)

Is there normal social life, for someone heavily infected by the virus of seakayaking? This hobby begins quit innocent with some extra hours fun on the water, but soon it reaches a stage where day in day out there is some contact concerning kayaking.
Contact-moments like this come to a climax during the organisation of a seakayak event. At this moment I am busy (together with Paul and Sien) with the 2007 edition of the NKB Vlielandkamp. Besides creating a kayak-related program of clinics and tours for groups of kayakers of all levels (from beginner to advanced) the organisation concerns more logistic things like registration, transport, camping, meals, financial stuff and so on. Last week the syllabi had to be updated, printed and divided and sent to participants in time. All these little activities create together a lot of work. Luckily there are enthousiast helpers that make NKB events like this (besides the Vlielandkamp in September: Spiekeroog and Anglesey in May, Zeeland in July) possible every year. But I do realise the work that accompanies these events is close to the limit you can ask a volunteer. The events are reaching a point where the organisation is almost a professional job. I think “we” (I am speaking on personal terms, but with “we” I mean the NKB) should soon take action and evaluate the organisation of the events in order to try to change things a bit and to get some more professional support for our volunteers. Said that, I once more want to say that all the people “behind the scenes” (like Govert, Bram, Axel, Sien, Paul and Reinout) are doing a great job in making the events possible again this year!

Thunder and lightning

No salt water today! The forecast predicted a hot, steamy day with occasional thunderstorms along the Dutch coastline. No good conditions for the "Seakayak-clinic for starters" KV Wyrda planned today. Gathered by the boathouse at 8.00 am, after a short discussion, Paul, Gus and I decided not to risk 2 hours car-driving for a spoiled day at the coast, but to make a tour around Woerden. Paul was eager to break his personal record of 30 km's paddling on placid water. Gus and I are always in for a longer distance and supported Paul with his goal.
We started with sunshine, but around 10.30 am - not quit by surprise - thunder and lightning came to us. It was quit hefty, we got out of the water and looked for shelter. The picnic place was not the perfect spot to hide, but better then on the water anyhow.
Once more the big orange survival bag proved to be a real versatile piece of equipment: one of us left his anorak at the boathouse....
Facts and figures: we paddled Woerden - Nieuwerbrug-Meije-Zuideinderplas (Nieuwkoop)-Meesloot-Slikkendam-Woerdense Verlaat-Woerden: 36 km's

Half an hour before the thunder came: the Meije is a favorite route for kayakers, cyclists, motorbikers, hikers: always busy on Sunday-morning.