Maelstrom

I had a chance to meet Charles Alexandre Desjardins and test out the Maelstrom kayaks. I can see why Michael(Quebec)was so enthusiastic about his new purchase. Both the Vital and the Vaag were beautiful kayaks to paddle.
An interesting partnership has developed with Boreal in producing these kayaks. check out the maelstrom website for the details.

MEC Paddlefest

I just got back from the MEC Paddlefest.
The MEC organizers and staff did an extraordinary job pulling this event together at Toronto's Sunnyside Park/Pavilion on the shores of Lake Ontario.
I participated in six paddling events over the two days and spent time meeting other paddlers, presenters and distributors of equipment.
The weather also cooperated - cool temperatures broke giving us a fantastic day to paddle, watch from the beach, demo boats or just hang out.

the toll of graduations

I recently attended a university graduation. Aside from all the critically important family shots I took, I found the occasional interesting incidental opportunity. This photo captures the essence of parental fatigue. The fact that this gentleman nodded off at the reception probably reflects the toll four years of assisting in the university experience has taken. Perhaps, he was just totally relieved.

Snagged from certain disaster

From the file folder marked: just when you thought you have seen everything - we were driving back from the kayak retreat glad not to be fighting brutal wind gusts, when we passed a small dog running at full tilt for St.John's.
We thought the dog would just gradually decide to run off to the side or that nearly being hit twice would convince the little thing to run on the shoulder or pop back onto a side road and make it's way back to it's owners camp site.
But no - it looked this dog had a mission in mind.
Paul couldn't in good conscience keep driving knowing that it would be hit by oncoming traffic within minutes. So he managed to get it to run over to him - and pop in the back seat where it seemed perfectly happy to sit amongst all the kayak gear.
Fortunately the good folks at the Clarenville SPCA never close - and I suppose for good reason.
We dropped the dog off and heard later that the owner was looking for the dog and claimed her later that night.

Terra Nova - around and about Malady Head

Despite stiff winds the group made it in for lunch and had a leisurely paddle back.

Terra Nova retreat

The KNL Terra Nova retreat by all accounts was a resounding success.
Once we got to the site the weather was very cooperative. Friday's drive was quite demanding for some reason - high gusty winds played tricks with almost everyone's gear.
Saturday's shorter trip involved almost 40 kayaks and necessitated a lot of team work.
The weekend's guest speaker Doug Alderson came on the trip with us around Malady Head and often was seen providing advice and commentary to as many kayakers as he could meet.
There were some who had never paddled before and others who had never been on a trip - from the feedback from the participants it seemed like they enjoyed the experience and more importantly will be coming back.

First wave of icebergs

Over the last couple of weeks we have seen a gradual movement of icebergs along the coast.
Pictures here are from Mobile.
Check out iceberg alerts here:
http://www.icebergfinder.com/iceberg-map.aspx?region=5