All this snow about is very strange, it brings out the shit drivers and makes getting about an effort, however for playing in snow is so fun. Once again I had a plan, I would go to Pen Y Ghent and snowboard down one of the western gullies, however I couldn't face the walk up and the possibility of not getting to the parking space so I drove up Wharfedale and did some roadside boarding. The snow was crisp and deep, big long turns felt good and solid. A few more boarders turned up and it felt good, everyone was smiling and happy. Some older folk turned up with ski's and talked about the time a drag lift was set up. So if it stays around for long enough I will get to PYG next weekend.
I really don't like all the hustle and bustle that leads up to Xmas, its just unnecessary fuss, so it was decided that Ness and I would go away for Christmas. Having only surfed in the cold waters of the UK, a holiday to a warm beach sounded just the ticket. The flights were booked and beachside apartment found and car hire sorted out the night before we went. Its amazing what deals can be done when you hold out.
Anyway, the week was brilliant. I was going to write a long post but now Im home there's not much to say. The daily routine consisted of: waking up, surfing, having breakfast, reading, another surf before lunch, lunch, sunbathe and read, surf, back into the sun and then a quick surf as the sun is going down before tea.
I like surfing, all stages of progression are in the same location, there are no shuttles and can be as committing as you like.
I took the headcam with me, its hard to make surfing films, I should have had some soul searching in depth interviews with myself.
So the rain arrived on Sunday, and the plan was to head up to Swaledale to and explore some becks Tom and I had scouted eariler in the summer. We arrived to find the Swale at a good level so we went and ran Whitsundale Beck down into the Swale. Wainwath was now covered and had a mean looking hole, so we all opted for the left hand line. Still raining, we soon arrived at Rainby and eddied out. I can only look at things for so long so jumped in my boat and ran it. I got worked in the bottom and had the worst beatdown ive ever had kayaking. Its a very humbeling experience, my boat was in the eddie next to me and my paddle had wedged its self on the other bank which was a stroke of luck. We all decided to get off the river and stick to the original plan of exploring so we headed to Gunnerside Gill.
We walked up, and had a blast kayaking down, When I first saw it, I thought that I would never see it with enough water in it to see it run but today we were blessed. We then headed over to do Gayle Beck that runs into Hawes, it has been on my tick list for ages and I cant wait to go back and do it with a few more inches of water in it.
I hate the times we live in today, we are restricted and being choked by red tape, rules and regulations. I think that it is so depressing that now an accident is no longer that, somebody has to be to blame.
I like making and developing products and it is unlikely that people other than myself will use them as they would have to have CE approval and that costs alot of money. I look back to earlier times of kayaking with envy, people had to make whatever gear they needed, Werner paddles came from a garage and Perception kayaks were inspired by rotomoulded wheelie bin technology. I have invested time and money into my projects and sometimes its hard to keep motivated when an end use or direction for the products is uncertain. CE approval, although necessary, restricts and hinders progression. It stops grass route and garage manufacturing as they could personally be held responsible and face prosecution if someone deemed the product had a part to play.
Do we accept that Palm, Peak and Sweet have got the market, each nestled into their own corner, Is there going to be no new products and were going to have to rely on the existing manufactures to come up with new products. I want small companies with fresh designs and new idea’s.
Would you buy a kayak related product from an individual?
