Wednesday, July 15, 2015

Announcement - 8th UK Storm Gathering: February 2016


When is it? - The next UK Storm Gathering will run from February 20 to 22 on Anglesey, Wales in 2016.

What's it all about? - The idea is to bring together like minded people not quite ready to hang up their paddles for the winter and to network with others looking to take their sea kayaking to another level. There will be challenge, adventures and fun.

What's on offer? - The intention is to run a number of practical workshops and journeys covering the following themes – Safety, Skills and Seamanship. Each day will begin with the option of Yoga For Paddlers with Helen Wilson. Evening sessions will include social events with presentations from guest speakers. A number of retailers and manufacturers have been invited to allow for Q & A opportunities and demo boats.

Who is it for? - Attendance is open to anyone with intermediate sea kayaking skills or above looking for the next challenge. The ability to wrestle a walrus and eat seaguls is not necessary.

When to book? - We will begin taking bookings from September 2015 when the programme has been finalised.

Please contact the organising team via info.uksgs@gmail.com - if you are in any questions, queries or concerns.

Wednesday, July 08, 2015

July's Newsletter

MORE NORDIC TOUR ADVENTURES


We are writing this newsletter from a hot and sunny Sweden, although most of June was far from hot and sunny. Here in Scandinavia summer had a late start, but we took advantage of it and even had the opportunity to go hiking in the snow. Despite enjoying winter fun in June, it is nice to see the sun. We are now six weeks into this year’s Rebel Kayaks supported tour and having tons of fun.

Throughout June we ran a BCU 3 Star Sea Training and Assessment and Simplifying the Roll in Fitjar, The Art of Teaching Rolling in Bergen, Simplifying the Roll in Glesvaer, Simplifying the Stroke and Simplifying the Roll in Austevoll, Simplifying the Roll in Skudeneshavn and Simplifying the Roll in Stavanger. All of these locations are on the west coast of Norway, which is an incredibly scenic and friendly place. After all of that we hopped on a ferry to Denmark and made our way to one of our favorite cities, Copenhagen, to teach Simplifying the Roll, Complicating the Roll, a BCU 3 Star Sea Training and a couple of classes for the local kayaking club. While we were there the clouds parted, making room for intense sunshine and blue skies… and summer seems to have decided to emerge, at least for a few days.

Now we’re on our way to Grebbestad, Sweden, where we’ll be teaching two days of Simplifying the Roll this weekend. After that we’ll head to Stockholm, Mora, Nynashamn and Sandhamn, all in Sweden. In August we’ve got more classes in Sweden, then we’ll be back in Denmark before finishing the tour in Sweden. Click HERE for our complete 2015 Nordic Tour schedule.

As usual, visit www.greenlandorbust.org for more information and our current Events calendar and Blog postings. You can also follow us on Twitter. For questions, comments or to schedule us in your neighbourhood, e-mail: info@greenlandorbust.org.
Happy paddling!

Helen and Mark

Helen’s Mentoring Madness


Question: I recently learnt to do the Storm Roll, but it doesn’t always work. I can do the exercise where you lay the paddle perpendicular to the kayak, capsize and roll up. The “real” Storm Roll works mostly, but not always. One problem I have is that my left shoulder always hurts afterwards. I think I must be making some mistake, since I have the feeling I have to use a lot of force to pry up. A roll cannot be correct if a lot of force has to be applied. What could this be due to?

Answer: A good general rule is to keep your elbows bent. If an elbow is straight, you’ll put a lot of pressure on that shoulder. When recovering, rotate your shoulders so that your chest is perpendicular to the water. This will help you to use your “chest” as the “paddle,” thereby reducing the need for force from your arms. Make sure that you’re rotating your kayak with a firm lower leg. You might also want to check that your head is relaxed and forward during the recovery, which will also reduce the need for force from your arms.

Program Schedule

Nordic Tour

May 23 to August 30, Norway, Denmark and Sweden

May 23 to 24 Asker, Norway

May 29 to 31 Oslo, Norway

June 6 to 7 Fitjar, Norway

June 9 to 11 Bergen, Norway

June 13 to 14 Bekkjarvik, Norway

June 18 Skudeneshavn, Norway

June 20 to 21 Stavanger, Norway

June 26 to 29 Copenhagen, Denmark

July 3 to 4 Grebbestad, Sweden

July 9 to 12 Stockholm, Sweden

July 16 to 18 Mora, Sweden

July 22 to 26 Nynashamn, Sweden

July 28 to 30 Sandhamn, Sweden

August 1 to 3 Karlstad, Sweden

August 8 to 9 Helsingborg, Sweden

August 11 to 12 Rungsted, Denmark

August 15 to 16 Frederiksværk, Denmark

August 22 to 23 Svendborg, Denmark

August 29 Malmo, Sweden

August 30 Karlshamn, Sweden

Simplifying the Roll September 5, Big Lagoon, California

Traditional Paddlers’ Gathering September 10 to 13, Lake Carlos State Park, Minnesota

Simplifying the Roll September 19 and 20, Whiskeytown, California

Simplifying the Rescue September 19, Whiskeytown, California

Private Rolling Classes during Mendo Madness September 25 to 27, Mendocino, California

Sea Kayaking Cornwall Symposium October 10 to 11, Cornwall, England

 …And Finally

Working on your roll and need a little help? Simplifying the Roll with Helen Wilson and Yoga for Outdoor People are available from our on-line store HERE


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Helen Wilson and Mark Tozer • (707) 834-5501

info@greenlandorbust.org