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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Copyright © 2015 Greenland or Bust, All rights reserved.

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

info@greenlandorbust.org

Wednesday, June 10, 2015

June's Newsletter


NORDIC TOUR ADVENTURES

We are writing this newsletter from Oslo, Norway, where we're into the second week of our Nordic Tour. It's hard to believe that the first tour took place six years ago! At that time, the tour was three weeks long. Over the years it has grown to over three months. We're very thankful to Johan Wirsen and Rebel Kayaks for sponsoring the tour for the second year in a row and providing us with kayaks. Helen is in the Ilaga, and Mark is in a brand new design, the Husky.

At the beginning of May, Helen was enjoying the warmth of the tropics at the Paddle Marathon Laguna Bacalar 2015, which took place in Bacalar, Mexico. After that she headed to the warmth of the Mokelumne River in Lodi, California to teach three Simplifying the Roll classes and one Simplifying the Rescue class. Meanwhile, Mark was in Pembrokeshire, Wales, running a BCU 4 Star Sea Training week, as well as a BCU 3 Star Sea Training and then a couple of BCU 4 Star Sea Trainings on Anglesey, Wales. The Nordic Tour started on May 23 in Asker, Norway, and as mentioned, we're now at our second stop, in Oslo, Norway.

We'll be in Norway for most of June. Today is our last day of classes in Oslo, and tomorrow we'll start to make our way to the west coast, for classes in Fitjar, Bergen, Bekkjarvik and Stavanger. At the end of June we'll head to Copenhagen, Denmark, for classes there. Along the way we'll be doing some hiking, paddling and exploring. Norway is a beautiful place to be if you like the outdoors. 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

Dr T's Coaching Corner



In April's Newsletter, we talked about the 'technical' element of the BCU's TTPP model and the part it plays in developing a paddler’s performance.

This month we focus on a kayaker's use of tactical strategies can help achieve a successful outcome. To recap, this element represents how we apply our technical skills in any given context through our understanding of timing, angle, edge, trim, speed, cadence, use of water features…and so on.

As paddlers, developing effective tactics to ensure success in our given environment is important. We might be able to demonstrate technically correct skills, but without considering the tactical element there is no guarantee of a good performance.

For example, we may be technically able to edge our kayak, but if we edge the wrong way when entering an eddy we are likely to capsize.

Completing a successful manouvre therefore requires the use of tactics which come from developing judgement, decision-making processes and the appropriate application of our skills in the chosen environment.

In order to master tactical decision-making and develop good paddling judgement / strategies then we need to actively think about where we are paddling to; which waves to ride; what line to take; how we shape our course; and ways to deal with environmental factors such as swell, surf and current.

Once we are able to combine our Technical ability with Tactical application, we can focus on the Psychological and Physiological aspects of our performance. More on that next time.

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

Other Venues...

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

 …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



============================================================
Copyright © 2015 Greenland or Bust, All rights reserved.

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

info@greenlandorbust.org