Peter’s Paddling Blog

Marek at fit2paddle has for some time now presented a range of videos shot using a kayak mounted camera – like this one here.

I’ve always enjoyed his videos so I got my own camera mount from this place yesterday and made a small test.

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I cannot attach the mount to the front deck of the Supersonic as the boat is too narrow and rounded.

Big suction cup a problem with narrow rounded decks.

One might have greater luck using a mount with three smaller suctions cups like this one:

Update:
To answer Marek’s question on side mounting the suction cup on a K1, I shot some photos.

Supersonic 01 from the side and top

No it doesn’t really work. While the cup stuck alright, half of the camera was below water when I paddled.
However we did attach the mount to the front of a K4 without problems. Funny fact – a modern K4 has as much volume in the bow as a sea kayak

I’m working on a video invitation to the nationals. More K1&Music videos coming up.

Last week we were doing a session of resistance training. Below our kayaks we would be hanging small toy balls to increase the drag.
Then accompanied by a rattling sound we would be do intervals and wish for the moment it was time to remove the balls again. My Supersonic almost felt like a (oh the horror) sea kayak! (yes yes I know – a sea kayak is a wonderful thing).

When we later did the same intervals without the extra resistance the kayaks went flying. For just a short second I could have won the Olympics. Then I noticed the two other guys were already a kayak length in front of me.

In the name of honesty I was only dragging one ball while the other two were dragging 2 and 3 balls.

This little bastard is quite a drag.


Speaking of pain some weeks ago a friend of mine visited the training center with a heat imaging camera. We wanted to test the heat loss of a kayaker wearing a variety of clothes. Well we only got around to test two different setups. Me wearing my oldest and most rotten wet suit and me wearing my normal paddle shorts and shirt.

I would swim and dive in the water and later stand in the wind to cool down the body. Unfortunately it was a rather warm and sunny day, so I never got real cold.

Superhuman gamma waves emit from this Kryptonian body.
(Wearing a short sleeved wetsuit)

This lake is known for housing rusty old bikes.

Later I jumped into the lake wearing normal kayak clothes. Standing in the wind was a bit chilly.

We absolutely must repeat the experiment in the winter. Then it should be my turn to shoot the pictures and issue the commands “No you can not leave the water just yet. The experiment demands you stay put!”.

A quick entry from this crazy heat. With temperatures lingering around 30C (86F), we’re way outside the comfort zone of your average Scandinavian.

The surf symposium turned out nicely. Relocating the symposium to Rømø definitely saved the event.

While we didn’t experience the big surf carnage I had hoped for, we did face semi rough water in the tidal race at the tip of the German island Sylt.

As very few of the (around 25) participants previously had kayaked in the Wadden Sea, it was properly a good thing that the wind stayed calm.

Launching from the lifeboat station at Rømø.

Sylt is northernmost island and point of Germany only 3 km south of Rømø.

Near the tidal race of Sylt.

Sunday was a boiling hot day with hardly any wind. Almost out of necessity we decided to roll and play instead of paddle.

Plastic meets plastic.

We did shoot a bunch of videos of the race and the rolling fun but we haven’t processed it just yet.

Update: We’re collecting the photos at this place.

Dang! A high-pressure system has parked on top of Scandinavia resulting in clear sky and light easterly winds.
Why do I complain? Well this is the worst imaginable weather for a surf symposium at the west coast of Jutland. Accordingly we’ve had to react fast and relocate the symposium to a place with more challenging waters. We decided on the sea close to the German border so appropriately named the Wadden Sea. With a tidal range of close to 2m, there are some nice spots for playing.

Photo from a trip to the Wadden Sea last summer.

As 95% percent of kayaking in Denmark is performed in the inner waters with close to zero tide, we think that a tidal range of 2 meters is wild.

I’ve posted the announcement of the relocation along with additional information at the federation’s board [in danish].

I’ve been back in the Supersonic the last 4 out of 5 days and taking my beatings at the training center. It’s amazing how much my balance suffers for just taking a 10 days break. Friday was terrible, Saturday was a little better, Sunday OK and tonight I was back to normal.

Sea kayak related. Monday I invented a new roll which involves capsizing with the paddle behind the back above the hull and rolling up with the paddle below the kayak still behind the back. Yes there is a catch… I hope to be able to post the video soon.