Monday, April 21, 2008

21/4 Swedish Paddling mag on P65

Swedish Paddling magazine "Paddling" published this 3 page feature on Point 65 in their latest issue, #2-2008 (all in Swedish, sorry):


Thursday, April 17, 2008

17/4 Samuel -our French Distributor

Today I checked out Samuel Vauthiers (Tout en Kayak France) new warehouse in Angers.
Pretty nice egg tempura color on the Tout en kayak -warehouse walls!
Samuel is the new Point 65 distributor in France. He is an avid paddler and former coach of the French national youth paddling team. Samuel will service retailers around France and is in the process of establishing the retailer network.
His offices and warehouse in Angers (Loire) are smack in the middle of some of the best wine districts in France. Saumur, Anjou and Chinon are just some.

After some business, time for Samuels favorite Angers restaurant.
La Ferme opened their arms to us. Cozy, down to earth place and food as the name indicates. We started with a fabulous Fois Gras the Canard washed down with a local sweet white, Chateau de Suronde Quarts de Chaume 2004. Amazingly good now, but will evolve for decades!
The scent of the Coq au vin was heavenly
This was followed by a Confit de Canard and a Coq au Vin.Le Coq was a huge serving for one
The Chinon, Chateau de la Grille 1996 was the perfect choice. I was actually at this vineyard 5 years ago. It's a great Chateau with some of the best Chinon.a beauty, the 1996 La Grille

It also went well with the selection of cheese
We could help ourselves from the cheese basket which landet on our table, and we did. There was a great chevre that looked like a camembert. I asked for the name but naturally forgot to note it down...
And the Tarte Tatin (by now I was to full to lift the camera). A great meal! Samuel will see a lot of me. We could have gone paddling -but did´t... If I keep this up I will need to trade my Crunch for a SeaRover shortly:-)

17/4 enjoying Whisky in Portland:-)

Here some pics of Nigel Foster with the Whisky 16 in Baja and Portland Oregon a few weeks ago.

This is what Nigel wrote me after the first test run in US waters:
"It is a sweetheart! It was such fun around the rocks
along the Baja coast, nimble, stable, quick to get me in and out of the
danger zone..."

"I'm very happy with the quality of production. Very happy with the way the
kayak handles in the water it's designed for. It lifts and slaps down when
paddled into chop. It picks up on waves really easily in following seas, and around the rocks."



Some more pics below and here by Micheal Paul Franklins.

Monday, April 14, 2008

Coming up!! VOGALONGA & BIBIONE

Vogalonga, crazy paddling festival through Venice, 11th of May,

What must surely be one of the most fantastic paddling events in the world is coming up shortly. 1500 crafts paddling through the ancient channels of Venice.


Imagine that! The food the people, the kayaks, the city. Nigel Foster and his wife Kristin are going as is Jen Kleck of Aqua Adventures, San Diego. I plan to join them, if this kayak business of mine gives me a breather.


In connection to the Vogalonga, Giorgio Sartori is arranging the first real kayak symposium and exhibition in Italy, the Bibionekayak, only 1 hour east of Venice.



So you can join Giorgio at Bibione on Saturday the 10th of May and drive with us to Venice Sunday morning for the Vogalonga. The Bibione symposium/event will go on until the 18th of May with on water classes by Nigel, Kristin and Jen plus the usual kayak companies exhibiting with demo kayaks available and lots of fun in between!

Monday, April 7, 2008

6th of April Omaha and Utah beach

This weekend brought me to Omaha and Utah beach in Normandie. Would be a nice place to paddle with some islands 2 clicks ofshore with second world war bunkers to look at. I'm sure none of the turists make it out there.
A group of Englishmen placed these miniature crosses on the beach honoring lost relatives from D-Day so many years ago. The crosses were washed out with the tide.
A stone honoring the troups of D-Day

We had to settle for a long walk on the beach followed by a late lunch at Le Maree in a fishing harbor. Some oysters, moule marine a la creme and quiqui St:Jaque. All washed down with a great little Muscadet, a powder dry white from the western end of the Loire. Perfect with the oysters and not bad with the moules.
A picture from D-Day mounted on a stone when entering Omaha beach
The cliffs at Omaha beach that were a formidable hurdle for the invading troups
Me on Omaha beach
Lots and lots of fresh fish on the beach dropped by the huge flock of seagulls. Nicky was not the best company in the car after this...
A bunker on Utah beach
Guess what we had for lunch?
Le Maree