c&k#35 dps-m spg - Canoe & Kayak

Coastbusters 2006By Paul HaywardSea Kayaking SymposiumAuckland, March 17-19Coastbusters has been run once everytwo years for about twenty years. Howcan it still be coming up with freshideas and why would people keepgoing back, you may well ask. Well, it’seasy. This sport of sea kayaking has somany fascinating angles.Yes, I know, there are only so many gadgets, somany ‘best’ muesli recipes and so many ‘easyapproaches to using a sextant’. That’s not quitewhat we have in mind. There are whole aspectsto Sea Kayaking that might just stretch yourimagination.This year (for example), we will have the world’sbest kayaking film director. She’s done work forthe BBC, National Geographic and has producedsome DVDs which will get your Aunt Mabel rightonto the edge of her chair. You, of course, wouldjust look bored and refer to the ‘Really excitingstuff we were out in, last weekend...’ Make sureyou watch these before Mabel - you might muffyour lines.Justine will show us how you capture greatfootage from the seat of your kayak, while you’reworking on staying alive.We will have a group of friends, up fromWellington, who have taught themselves to buildand use skin-on-frame kayaks. These deceptivelysimple boats are the closest thing you can find(outside a museum) to what the Inuit paddled for5000-odd years. Not, perhaps, ideal for that weeklongtrip to the Barrier (you’d never get enoughwine into that small volume hull) - but if you wantto roll every-which-way and delve into the originsof our present-day kayak designs, come along andrisk being captured by their enthusiasm.Back by popular demand is the wooden boatdisplay. Boats to drool over and works-of-art thatget paddled every week. Talk to their builders andfind out why they are always planning the nextone.The Inuit kayaking tradition lives on in kayaking’sequivalent to the Highland Games. Everythingfrom harpoon-throwing to rope gymnasticsconsumes a whole week on Greenland’s chillysummer coast. Meet people who have competedand won in conditions that make you shiver - andlisten to their experiences and what has motivatedthem to pursue this quest.This year we are incredibly lucky to have four ofthe world’s most skilled and experiencedGreenland Paddlers - Cheri, Freya, Turner & Greg- who have agreed to come to New Zealand andshow us some extraordinary things that can bedone with a kayak. Not just show us, but help usto try them ourselves. If this doesn’t push you toimprove your boat skills, we’ll be very surprised.“What of our great NZ paddlers?” I hear you ask.John Kirk Anderson, Paul Caffyn (and hopefullyBen Foughy) are just some of our well-knownkayakers who will be coming along to share theirexpertise. If you’ve heard them before, you’llknow that they don’t stand still. If their namesdon’t yet mean anything to you, it’s time they did.Heroes are interesting folk.Well, OK, we will have some ‘normal’ stuff too. Theobligatory food sessions, ones on great localkayaking destinations, kayak maintenance, gearand gadgets - we’ll find new twists. A kayakingPhysio is a must-attend. He sealed his fate whenhe got the acupuncture needles out of his lunchbox on a club trip last year - and sorted out ashoulder problem between sandwiches.At the last Coastbusters, we asked DoC to comealong and have a workshop on what kayakersmeant to them. They must have enjoyed it as muchas we did, since they’ve agreed to come back and,this time, are bringing Conservators fromNorthland, Waikato, and Coromandel as well asfrom Auckland. If you want to contribute somegood ideas, or constructively tell DoC what theycould be doing better (or just hear what they havein the planning stages) you can’t get any closer tothe horse’s mouth...There’s formal information transfer atCoastbusters, but many of the people who comeevery time say it’s the informal lessons that bringthem back. Bet you wish tea-time lasted longer atwork... well, you probably will at Coastbusters too.One of the first things we do is hook you up withseven other kayakers. Just for a quick get-toknow-you10 minutes. So, even if you’ve neverseen another soul at the event, within a fewminutes you’ve got a few whose names you know.14 ISSUE THIRTYfive • 2006