Several years ago now, I attended the first Paddling Film festival in Toronto, at least the first advertised one. It was amazing to see clips from “This is the Sea” for more than just the awesome cinematography. As an amateur photographer, it was also inspiring to watch, but for me, it was also great to see a rugged, go get ‘em female paddler out there doing some amazing stuff. Up until that point, I hadn’t heard of, or seen many female adventure paddlers, and I was used to being the only female student on courses and the only female instructor at the paddling centre where I teach. I was getting used to the people that would come up to me who would sound surprised to see me, a female paddler who isn’t especially athletic, able to do some of the “big boy tricks” and roll a sea kayak, or perform layback sculling or a static brace.

When I heard that Justine was coming to Toronto, I thought I would be happy just to have a chance to say hi and tell her I enjoyed her movies. Instead I had a great time taking her out in a “Canadian Canoe” – as they are referred to in Europe – and actually giving her lesson and a few tips.

First, you have to realize that Paddlefest is a fairly large event, with quite a lot of people, boats and equipment spanning a large, long sandy beach. Sometimes you can see the same person over and over again, and sometimes you’ll never find who you are looking for. I bumped into Justine by chance, as we were both preparing for our lessons. We chatted briefly, I was heading to the canoes and she was heading over to the kayaks. She mentioned that she hadn’t really done any canoeing and never had a lesson. I offered to take her out for a spin when we both had a “free period”.We were out on the water for about thirty minutes and as the wind kept changing and the weather couldn’t make up its mind what to do, we ended up paddling around in a variety of conditions. Justine was a great student and asked a lot of great questions about canoeing. She even asked the #1 question that I get… “What do you prefer, paddling a canoe or kayak?” We talked about some of the places in common where we have paddled, like Tybee Island Georgia (This is the Sea 3) and places she had been that I’d like to see and I told her about paddling in several places in Canada. She great at putting up with me asking a million questions about her videos, her waterproofing techniques and what was coming next. Later that same week she was filming some pieces for her latest release, “This is Canoeing.”

When I think about that day I can’t help but be a bit embarrassed, I must have sounded rather cheesy and star-struck while talking to her, but it was such great fun. It was that same year I found myself an underwater housing for my video camera and played around with different ideas. Just this year, in 2010, I had my own short film making the rounds with the paddling film festival and Justine’s inspiration played a big role in giving me the confidence to step up to the plate and play with the big boys.” – Melanie Buckle (winner of Justine’s DVD from Kokatat’s Facebook quiz)

If you’re not the winner or can’t wait for the results to come in, then go to Justine’s website, www.cackletv.com and take advantage of this limited time offer. The DVDs are usually $30 or £20 each, but during July you can get two for US $45 or £30.

There’s plenty to chose from, as Justine has made 5 inspirational paddling DVDs, 4 seakayaking films called “This is The Sea 1 – 4″ & an open canoeing film, “This is Canoeing”. All the DVDs contain about a dozen short movies. The seakayaking films profile interesting characters, dream paddling destinations & challenging expeditions including the circumnavigation of the South island of New Zealand. “This is Canoeing” features 12 films about open canoeing adventures, wilderness trips & top single blade paddlers performing everything from canoe ballet to slalom. “This is Canoeing” has won 3 awards and been called ‘the best collection of canoeing films ever.

“The first Port Austin Sea Kayak Symposium was a great success. Port Austin is right at the top of “The Thumb” in Lake Huron and is a charming, friendly little town which was delighted to host dozens of sea kayakers on a 3 day paddling event. There was a lot of instruction offered, from classes about various paddle strokes and rescues, to a fun and balance class which involved getting very wet while trying to perform all sorts of tricks in and on your kayak. There was lots of laughter as everyone quoted Kelly Blade’s mantra, “If everyone does it then no-one looks stupid” and hopefully everyone felt more comfortable in their boats afterwards. I was very happy to pick up my brand new Kokatat dry suit for that class and was delighted (but not surprised) to find that I was totally dry at the end of the session.

Those who went on a paddle could visit the Port Austin lighthouse or the famous and pretty “Turnip Rock”. On the Friday night, Barry Shaw gave a talk about his circumnavigation of Great Britain by sea kayak, and I gave a talk about some of my paddling adventures including Kamchatka, Tasmania, the Queen Charlotte Islands and New Zealand. The symposium was big enough to be fun and sociable but small enough to be friendly and intimate and I recommend the 2nd Port Austin Symposium to anyone nearby next year.

After the symposium, Barry and I joined Sarah and Damon Smith for a couple days sea kayaking in the beautiful Georgian Bay in Canada. We paddled around Flowerpot Island and Bear Rump Island before returning to the mainland to camp.” – Justine Curgenven. Photos courtesy of Kevin Paholak and Jerry.

Justine created the popular DVD series “This is the Sea” and more recently made her first open canoe DVD “This is Canoeing”. For more info visit her website.

“12 years ago I had my eyes opened up to a whole new world. I’d been paddling for 6 months and I paid to attend the Jersey SeaKayak Symposium. “Symposium” sounded like a very boring word but I was assured that I’d get to take classes with some very good coaches to improve my technique, explore the beautiful coastline and enjoy evening BBQs & talks. I had a great time at the event and particularly enjoyed the adventure of my first open crossing to Sark, one of the other Channel Islands.

This year I was back in Jersey for their 10th biannual symposium and my 4th time attending the event. I was delighted to be back to the place where I learned to love kayaking. The island is only 9 miles long and 5 miles wide so you are never far from a beautiful sea view or interesting coastline. It was great to catch up with friends from the Jersey Canoe Club and further afield, and meet new people.

The sun mostly shone on us – with a few exceptions! We poked into the granite caves along the North West coast of Jersey, surfed on the 5mile long sandy beach which forms the entire west coast of the island, and made crossings in the tidal waters to the Ecrehou reef and back to the beautiful island of Sark. There are no cars on Sark, so everyone gets around by horse and cart, bicycle, tractor, foot or kayak. We paddled around the rocky island, had a surf in a small tidal race and returned in time for a meal at a local restaurant followed by sleeping on the harbor wall.

The Channel Islands are a beautiful paddling destination with a 10 meter tidal range, miles of beautiful coastline and very friendly people. See more pictures on my blog.” - Justine Curgenven

It’s an exciting time to be around paddlers in the Midwest, as spring was beginning to show its face. There was a sense of excitement in the crowd, knowing it would just be a matter of time before they were able to head out on the season’s first paddle. That said, ice fisherman clung to what’s left of the winter’s freeze, and could be spotted dropping line from their shacks all weekend on nearby Madison lakes.

Team Kokatat’s Nick Troutman interviewed at Canoecopia 2010 from Kokatat Watersports Wear on Vimeo.

Our athletes had a busy weekend spending time in the booth and giving presentations. Anna Levesque offered a chance to quiet the mind and stretch the body in her “yoga for paddlers” classes. A certified yoga instructor, Anna caters her classes to paddlers’ specific needs. She also spent a good chunk of the weekend educating women about correct paddling techniques and talking about her Girls At Play organization and instructional trips.

Justine introduces her new film “This Is Canoeing” at Canoecopia from Kokatat Watersports Wear on Vimeo.

Justine Curgenven used Canoecopia as the world premier venue for her latest film “This Is Canoeing.” A large crowd came out on Saturday night to the High Noon Saloon for the show. Justine also offered presentations on her circumnavigation of New Zealand, and a special Sunday morning behind the scenes slideshow and Q&A about the film.

Kokatat’s sponsored partner Northern Forest Canoe Trail had a booth set-up, offering tips on how to best plan and experience this amazing water trail. The NFCT just released a new guide book in time for Canoecopia, and founder Rob Center was around to discuss the journey. Everyone loves Rob’s passion about paddlesports, it’s contagious!

Canoecopia founder and Rutabaga Paddlesports owner Darren Bush perhaps said it best on Saturday night, when addressing a large group of vendors and manufacturers he stated that every year Canoecopia reaffirms his faith in good people, healthy living, and the fundamental enjoyment of getting outdoors. Cheers to that, and see you in 2011!

What has become a great first quarter of 2010 for us will be celebrated at Canoecopia: Kokatat won the recent “Green Business of the Year” award in our hometown of Arcata, and was just voted the 2nd best supplier of technical outdoor apparel by retailers in the outdoor trade publication SNEWS. Canoecopia will give our team athletes a forum to present their amazing adventures as well as paddling demos and lectures.

Kokatat sponsored athlete Justine Curgenven will premier her award-winning film “This Is Canoeing” to the Canoecopia audience on the Saturday night of the show. “This Is Canoeing” is twelve short films examining the styles and personalities of the canoeing community. Curgenven takes viewers on a worldwide tour of storied canoeing destinations in the US, Scotland, Canada and Wales. Other Kokatat athletes in attendance include women’s kayak champion Anna Levesque, sea kayaker Ben Lawry, and current freestyle kayak world champion Nick Troutman.

Kokatat’s apparel collection includes options for each genre using fabrics like GORE-TEX® and TROPOS – our house brand of waterproof/breathable fabric. Our designed-for-paddlers-by-paddlers apparel has propelled us to most-trusted and most-appreciated status by paddlepsorts’ beginners and veterans alike. Our apparel will be sold at discount prices at the show, so get it while it’s hot!

We hope all of you will follow of our social media outposts for live coverage and Canoecopia day-end recaps during the Friday-through-Sunday show. Expect video clips, live Tweets, and extra blog and Facebook coverage. And of course, come say hello if you’re attending the show!

What: Canoecopia Paddlesports Exhibition
When: March 12-14, 2010
Where: Alliant Energy Center, Madison, WI

The film of her 3 month expedition just won best sport and action film at the BOVEC Outdoor Film Festival in Slovenia on 30th December. This is the 5th win for this warts-and-all film which documents the challenges and the joys of this treacherous 2,400km journey where Justine and her partner Barry Shaw faced constant surf, strong winds and a helicopter evacuation due to illness. “South Island Circumnavigation”  is just one of the award winning films featured on the DVD ‘This is the Sea 4’. The DVD double disc set contains over 2 and a half hours of exciting and entertaining seakayaking films from around the world.

Other wins for “South island circumnavigation” are:

• best adventure film at Kendal MFF 2008
• best adventure film at the Reel Paddling Film Festival 2009
• best adventure film at the Waterwalker Film Festival 2009
• best water-based adventure film at the Montreal travel and Adventure Film Festival 2009

See Justine’s website www.cackletv.com for more information.

I feel like I’ve just come back from a 10 day holiday, although Barry and I were officially “working” at the first international seakayaking symposium in Sicily, Italy. The event was organised by Francesco Petralia who takes people seakayaking in Sicily through his company Maremotu. Francesco and Gianfranco looked after us wonderfully, leaving us with a fantastic impression of the seakayaking culture in Italy. Get in touch with Francesco via his website if you fancy some warm water seakayaking ( and fine cuisine) this winter!!

During the symposium, eating and drinking well was as important as paddling. During the 3 days of teaching classes, there was officially 2 hours break for lunch ( and in practice perhaps a little more). All the participants could be seen sitting around tables filled with pasta, local cheeses, salamis, olives, sun dried tomatoes, huge pieces of fruit and a little red wine or beer. I would never usually drink alcohol at lunch while paddling but it somehow seemed the right thing to do in Italy! While in Rome…… Every lunch and dinner time, we either ate at restaurants or Francesco’s family cooked some delicious traditional food for us.

The paddling itself was great with clear, warm, turquoise water and we mostly wore light shorts and a rash vest or light-weight shirt to kayak in. The location was the beautiful Aeolian islands to the north of Sicily – a group or 7 volcanic islands which spear the sea. The symposium was held on Vulcano, one of the 2 still active volcanoes. On our first day we were officially free to be tourists and we climbed up the volcano to see all the plumes of sulphuric gasses streaming out of the crater. In the afternoon, we kayaked 14 miles around Vulcano, exploring caves and impressive volcanic formations. We even found our own little cave with a hot spring in it. Our route can be seen here on Sanoodi.

On the 4th day there was a 3-mile race and we were encouraged to take part. It was Barry’s first race, and my second ( I competed in a middle distance race in Jersey, Channel islands about 11 years ago, shortly after i started kayaking). There was quite a fun buzz around the race, and a force 4/5 wind made things a bit more exciting. We had to kayak around a few rocks, across to the neighboring island of Lipari, and back the same way. Although this is the Mediterranean, there was a small tidal race between the two islands with wind against tide forming a few breaking waves. This worked to my and Barry’s advantage as the people in the faster racing kayaks were a bit slower in the rougher water. Barry overtook the leaders and was winning the race until the sea flattened out closer to the bay on the way back. He came in 3rd, close on the heels of 2 people in an Inuk, and another fast boat. I came in 5th, and 1st woman. I have avoided competing in seakayaking before, preferring to enjoy the sport, but I really enjoyed this race – it was great fun!

The next morning a 4-day tour of the islands started. By now we were familiar with “Italian time” which was more of a guide to when things would start than an actual rule. But from now on time-keeping was a bit more important as we had between 20-30km to paddle every day. It still wasn’t close to ’swiss time’ and the 9am start on the first day turned into more like 10.45am, but that still wasn’t bad for some people packing their kayaks for a trip for the first time! We really enjoyed paddling around and between Vulcano, Lipari, Salina & Panarea.

We saw a pod of dolphins jumping playfully out of the water and a turtle! The first turtle I’ve seen from a kayak!

Also a guest at the symposium was Helen Wilson, who is very good at Greenland style rolling and entered the Greenland kayak championships in 2008), and a good paddler and fun girl! We enjoyed hanging out with Helen and thanks to her for helping me with some of my rolls!

For more information about Justine, see her profile on our Ambassador page here.