Feed from The Ed

Wear It Red

Canoe & Kayak's very own 'Queen of the World Wide Web' Amanda Nightingale organised a 'Wear it Red' day at HQ on Friday in aid of the British Heart Foundation. Everyone who donated to the cause was able to ditch the usual 'formal' work attire and sport casual clothes for the day as long as they were of the crimson variety. Now, working from an office at home, it could be said that I always sport the 'casual' look but the BHF (www.bhf.org.uk) is my charity of choice, so I duly ditched the usual drab colours and wore it red instead!

Posted by Jason Smith

Dr Doolittle Eat Your Heart Out

On Fri as Mrs S was leaving for work she spotted a wee birdy that was flapping about and appearing to be in distress. I went out to investigate and found a little Chaffinch that was looking a bit the worse for wear and unable to fly. As gently as I could I picked him up and took him inside where I installed him in a box with a towel lining and a bit of wild bird seed, which he immediately started gobbling up. I got on-line and found the Leicestershire & Rutland Wildlife Hospital (www.leicesterwildlifehospital.org/). A quick call and I was on my way with 'Chaffy' sat in a shoe box on the passenger seat. On arrival the very kind lady gave him the once over and deduced that a moggy had tried to have him for breakfast! But the good news was that his wing was not broken, just gummed up with cat gob and her advice was to take him home again, give him plenty of grub and some fresh water, keep him in overnight in the warm, so his feathers could dry out and then release him in to his familiar environment the following day...

Posted by Jason Smith

Rain & Snow stop Play... Well almost

I hate moaning about the weather, but it's been depressing to say the least over the last couple of weeks. Last Tues we had a photo-shoot planned at nearby Rutland Water with a canoe and two willing models. My niece and nephew Ellie and Sam Kibble. The plan was to get out in the open canoe in some crisp spring-like sunshine and get some cracking 'family fun'/kids shots for issue 110 Of Canoe & Kayak UK. It was all lining up, we had the nippers, we had a canoe, we had picturesque water... What we didn't have was spring-like sunshine. In fact we didn't seem to have any kind of sunshine. just a grey, damp sky and cold, cold drizzle. Still when you shoot pics in the UK you always look on the bright side though, the clouds can, and often do break, even if it's just for half-an-hour to let you get the shot in. Suitably togged up we headed for the water with gloved fingers crossed. Oh, we wanted just a glimmer of sun, what we got was snow! Game over on the paddling front I'm afraid. But Six-year old Ellie was not going to be denied her outdoors fix of fun. As well as a watersports centre Whitwell, on the banks of the water, sports a rather fine bike shop and a fantastic climbing tower and high ropes course. Ellie had spotted the tower and was determined that if she couldn't be a canoeist that day, she'd be a climber instead. After a chat with the staff and the passing of a few quid the mighty mite was being fitted out in her very first climbing harness and helmet. After a briefing by the very nice instructor lady we headed out to the Rock Block, clipped the mini-rock rat in and stood back as she started to climb. after getting the feel of it and a bit of abseil practice on the first route Ellie decided she'd try a second and aim to get to an overhang about ten or so feet up. She set of with determination and despite an annoying uncle sticking a camera in her face every few seconds she slowly made her way up above the heads of the adults. A few more holds and she was up on the overhang! Not bad for her first time, wearing fluffy gloves in the snow I reckon. We'll come back again when the sun does finally shine for some canoeing and Ellie reckons that, as well as getting afloat she'll be getting to the top of the Block too! (http://www.rockblok.co.uk/)

Posted by Jason Smith

Testing The New Pyranha Molan Freestyle Kayak

We had a bit of a mix up with the Molan, with the carriers taking it to Bristol for some reason, rather than Canoe & Kayak HQ, so it missed the date for our first planned test team session and photo shoot. But the paddling Gods must of taken pity on us, because at the weekend we got a call from Canoe & Kayak test teamer 'Black Dog' Butler to say that s secret wave in his neck of the woods was up and the levels were looking great for the weekend. That was all we needed to hear, so it was on to the rack with the boats and off we went. The weather played ball and the shone shone, all be it weakly, as The Dog surfed, span and blunted to his heart's content on the fast wave. If anything tyhe level was a tad high, as the wave greens up a bit more and gets a little deeper. But we didn't care and even our frozen hands and heads couldn't wipe the smiles from our faces as we walked back through the woods. First impressions of the Molan were that Pyranha had really got it right with this model. To see video clips check out the gallery and we'll be bringing you a full 'First Look' report in issue 109 of Canoe & Kayak UK Magtazine

Posted by Jason Smith