Saturday, 21 January 2006. . .

Right - The first of a new series of articles - "Campfire Conversations" - details of the NSBSK Symposium in May and info on the John Muir Trust's "Journey for the Wild". Enjoy.

From the Web - "John & BJ's Place" has a nice page on the various types of self-build boats, and Tom's Guillemot is truly a wonderous thing of beauty. Cherri Perry describes her Greenland adventures. Pretty remarkable stuff.

New Almanac Pages - we're a victim of our own success - I've built a new page specifically for Repairs, Maintenance & Modifications to kayaks and kit as the Equipment page was getting a bit too full. And for the "techo-geeks" among us, if you ever want to know what all those Marine VHF Channels are for, here's the answer. Some you can use - some you can't. I added a massive directory of just about every sea boat available in Europe in 2005 to the Sea Kayaks page a few weeks ago. (Original is here ) Originally prepared by Udo Beier.

More DIY Spraydecks - thanks to Jayno for these links:

Above - John Doornink's superb DIY spraydeck page

The Baker Brothers also have a nice description of how to make a spray deck (no pics though)

Coming soon - trip report on "Costa Brava & Cabo de Gata" - a Campfire Conversation with Justine Curgenven - details of the new UKSKGB merchandise, and of course Niall Duncanson's UKSKGB Trip on Loch Lomond!

Also, 14 February - Cumbria - "Sue Hornby: Nahanni- River of Gold, River of Dreams" - details here. 10 - 19 February - the 2006 "Fort William Mountain Film Festival". Paddle Sport Evening is Saturday 11th February from 7.00pm. You can book online at www.mountainfilmfestival.co.uk. Need a 5* Sea Training Course? Talk to Skyak - Gordon has one coming up in March

Saturday, 7 January 2006. . .

Right - Bolton Canoe Club's superb site has updates to it's photo gallery - click here to visit and view. The Treshnish & Mull pics are great. Sean Morley is planning another expedition, this time to Iceland.

From the Web - This very detailed article from the ACC on Cold Water Shock makes salutary reading. Wetpixel.com is aimed at divers, but useful for those of us interested in wet pics. Fancy the Scilly's this year? Kayak Scilly could be the folk to help with a guided trip or boat hire. In Cornwall, Jeff Allen is in business as SKALYBAX and offers "an expedition center specializing in sea kayak tuition and expedition training" as well as retailing boats and kit. PointNorth.co.uk are the people for odds and ends like buckles, D rings, fabrics, cord & bungee, zips etc.

The Almanac - the Equipment and Sea Kayaks page on the Almanac has been split into two, hopefully to make the resource easier to use - and Niall Duncanson's review of his Point 65 XP is now on site.

More New "Technical Articles" - thanks to Cailean MacLeod of Peakwave Coaching, we have a series of excellent technical articles on the site - here's the full set - click to download as .PDF's - also accessible from the various sections of the Almanac.

You'll need Adobe Reader to view these - if you've not got it, get it here, free.

From the UKSKGB paddle at Largs last year, some of the participants. Click the pic for the original. Thanks to Helen McKenna for the pic.