I found among Montreal’s McCord Museum of Canadian History collections of costumes, paintings, art and aboriginal objects, a series of photographs of Western Arctic kayaks, and between them, this one of a Caribou Inuit hunter posing as he holds the magfnicent, long Caribou paddle.
The Caribou were bands of Inland Inuit who lived west of Hudson Bay in northern Canada’s Keewatin Region - now the present-day Nunavut -. Named Caribou Eskimo by the Danish Fifth Thule Expedition of 1921-1924 led by Knud Johan Victor Rasmussen, they hunted Barren-ground Caribou, a subspecies of medium sized caribou found mainly in the Canadian territories Nunavut and the Northwest Territories and western Greenland.
The Caribou Inuit develope a extremely fast and unstable that could measure up to more than 26 feet long (7.9 metres) with a narrow beam of about 18 inches (45.7 centimetres). The kayak was often used to hunt the swimming caribous they fed on. Their paddles were narrow and long, measuring up to at least 13 feet long (3.96 metres). Longer paddles have only been found amongst the Copper Inuit, descendants of the Thule culture who historically lived in the Coronation Gulf, on Victoria Island.
The Caribou use of the canted blade stroke and of a trailing low brace has been documented.
The history of displacement in fewer and larger towns of Arctic Canada has proven difficult, and only 3,000 Caribou Inuit exist today.

Sold over the counter, StaphAseptic is a bactericide gel of maximum strength, free of antibiotics that when applied to minor cuts, burns, scrapes and abrasions, kills 99% of MRSA and other germs.
Once found almost exclusively in the hospital environment, MRSA - an infection caused by the Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus that is resistant to the most common antibiotics - has now appeared in the field, where it enters the body via close skin-to-skin contact, open sores and cuts in the skin, contaminated surfaces and equipment or poor personal hygiene.
Active staph (staphylococcus aureus) infections may look innocuous at first, appearing as a pimple, boil or ingrown hair and can be red, swollen, painful, or have pus and other drainage. Serious infections however may cause pneumonia, bloodstream infections, or even death.
StaphASeptic  is made with Benzethonium chloride which is a synthetic quaternary ammonium compound used as a local anti-infective and as a detergent and disinfectant, tea tree oil and white thyme oil. It also contains Lidocaine 2.5% as a topical local anesthetic for effective action both in wound pain relief and itching.
Available in a 2oz. tube or in single dose packets, StaphAseptic is an unexpensive - a pack of six single use packets may be bought for as little as $2 at the excellent RescueEssentials online shop - and light resource in a paddling first aid kit.

One of the many advantages of a first responder course: To kiss the distorted, twisted, monsterous, warm lips of medical manikins.
Repulsive.

Three weeks ago, adverse fate broke the Valley Anas Acuta of Hans Heupink while surfing in Castricum. The hull was cleanly severed a few inches after the pressure line behind the cockpit’s bulkwark with its light blue deck lines clinging the Kevlar-carbon kayak together as shown by the photo above. I suspect the author to be unknown as would I have been Hans, I would had been cuddling in the wet sand muttering agonized death throes.
As it was, a mere few month ago, I would had rushed with a tortured furrowed brow to my Ming liquor cabinet to sniff a few whiffs of invigorating distilled spirits.
That was then. Now truth is that it hurted me to have missed the cataclysm: I would have had Hans double wrapped in survival bags and duct taped like a fajita in no time, assess dangers in the area, clear and maintain an open airway, hold the head in a spine hold, have a preliminary survery, assess pupils size and reaction, monitor level of consciousness and vitals signs every 15 minutes, nominate a team leader, record grid reference, make out a plan of action, arrange for evacuation, go through a secondary survey, ask for past medical history, allergies, last intakes and medications, ask for onset, palliation, quality, severity, changes over time, radiation and description of any pain, prop up a bothy bag to fight hypothermia, hydrate and shelter Hans from the elements.
The Wemsi First Responder course was great, by the way.

The last Traditional Arctic Kayak Symposium organized by John Petersen was held from October 16th to 19th at the William Randolph Hearst State Beach, San Simeon State Park, California.Taks is not only for true traditionalist. In fact, it is open to every kayak romantic, and this year Jen Kleck attended the event, and as the Hearst Castle overlooked San Simeon above the ocean, Wolfgang Brinck -the author of The Aleutian Kayak: Origins, Construction, and Use of the Traditional Seagoing Baidarka- made his appearance dressed with a traditional gut parka -it has its own name but the subject is to sacred to allow errors in spelling-, and donning a conical wooden hat with a long billed visor. One could only expect to see an orthodox Patriarch in his trail followed by robed deacons holding raised banners, but things were kept simple.
A gentleman and a scholar of whom Mark Sanders shot these wonderful photos in the dumping surf of Hearst State Beach.

After a count-down of over thirty days, the release of the new website of Valley Sea Kayaks has been delayed for two days: I am already barking like a righteous terrier hoping to chew Valley down into submission.
I shall be flapping like an excited seal as soon as it is on.

Off in a few hours to the serene vistas of the majestic Cairngorms, where if looked from Aviemore the granite screes of Lairig Ghru and Braeriach glow on clear evenings, a warm red in the sun.
To make the most of the First Responder course, everything is scheduled at the end of the British Summer Time so students may enjoy first snows as they play doctor in night scenarios of Zombie Apocalypse.
They won’t caught me unaware. I have packed warm.

In January 2010, a written translation of Gordon Brown’s Dvd into Spanish will be available as a download. The translation will follow the menu structure of the production: Both a journey and a coaching transcription will be made.
Simon Willis has already send me the script files of his voice-over narration and comments which being succinct, keep the attention of viewers in the filmed action.
The transcription of the voices of Gordon Brown and every paddler that made the journey will ask for a little more work but their crystal clear Scottish accent will make things as easy as they can be.
The idea of a Spanish translation was prompted by the interests shown by many Spanish paddlers who due to a distinguishing national trait, regard the English language as an unsurmountable obstacle. Pause. Let us remember an exasperated Basil Fawlty and ponder on the challenge faced by these viewers.
On the other hand, Simon has proved again a man of adventure: His first choice of translator is for a man who is known for being undecipherable in three languages.

Whether in a thrilling turn of events, the harsh weather has you marooned on a remote coast, or the cold, high winds and rain threatens to spoil your landing for lunch, a bothy bag - I am partial to the name of clan tent - may be an opportune bastion of privilege where sheltered from the elements, you may find immediate relief to change into dry clothes, sip tea from your flask as you purr with content, able to consult your chart or listen on the longwave to the serene murmurs of the shipping forecast.
The new Superlite Terra Nova bothy bags allows for you and three other inquilines to sit out any glorious quirk of Scottish weather, with a very reduced weight of 325 grams and a pack size of 24 by 1 centimeters, that will compress even further.
Terra Nova has removed the pole sockets and regretfully, the windows that in heavier bags grants users to monitor how the weather turns from dreich to halcyon.
For a mere £80.00.

At the same time that their first instructional DVD Sea Kayak with Gordon Brown can be pre-ordered before their official release of the PAL version for Europe on November 1st, 2009, Sunart Media has made available the main trailer and three other short films.
Simon Willis, the producer who filmed the journey and every on-water scenes from the bow cockpit of a Valley Aleut Sea II double kayak, conveys perfectly well the cordial atmosphere of a training under Gordon Brown. in the film Gordon lead as a genial host, a group of paddlers through the immortal glories of Western Skye as they are coached in the skills as the environment varies. The enthusiasm of Simon is not only genuine, but a delight to watch since mine follows and mirrors his: It is now five years since I was engaged to all of it reading an article written by Simon on his and Liz’s first training in Skye.
The press release of the DVD says that it comprises eight coaching sessions to beginner and intermediate kayakers, starting from the fundamentals, through forward paddling, turning and steering, and into rough water and tidal races. I found this to be somewhat deceptive as even very advanced kayakers would benefit  both from the superb coaching and performance skills.
To everyone who might be weighing on the benefits of taking up kayak training, the DVD renders how exalting is to be shown and taught how a sea kayak can perform a tigh turn with such a smooth grace. For those who doubt what is the use of some advanced strokes, the film shows well why. For those that are yet to discover the exhilarating freedom that kayaking might bring, the scene where Gordon sings in rich bass tones a Jacobite rebel song deep inside a sea cave will illustrate for years, better than words can do, what we struggle to explain to friends and family.
As Douglas Wilcox noted in an excellent review, the quality of sound is amazing even in the rough weather sequences. As I have written before, listening to Simon speak resembles very much to waking up with a switched on TV set tuned to the BBC and being softly conducted through the rich and distinct patterns of a phonetic chart of modern English. Having said so, the charm lies in the Scottish English spoken by Gordon with all its crisp vowel sounds and implied camaraderie, but after all, he is just singing in the most fluent an melodious of tongues.