"They're here..."

If you've never seen Poltergeist (early 80's Horror Movie), then you won't get the quote above.

However, with the new GoPro Hero3 having landed in store this morning, you'll be able to make your own movies and with the outstanding quality of these cameras, you should be able to out-Blair the Blair Witch Project if you're that way inclined. Alternatively, you could try falling from Space like Felix Baumgartner, who used the GoPro on his record breaking freefall descent, or you could just film your adventures on a bike, in a boat, on the rocks, wherever you go.

Valley & North Shore Demo Weekend with some "specials"!

As it says above, there will be an exclusive offer on any new kayak ordered within 14 days of the event, but you'll have to be there to qualify for it.

Then with the "Pie & Chips Lecture Tour" from the Clockwise Kayaker in the evening (doors open 18:30), why wouldn't you come to Anglesey this weekend?

Valley Demo Weekend and the Next stage of the Pie & Chips Tour

Saturday 29th September sees us hosting a Valley & North Shore demo day, they'll  bringing all kinds of fibreglass and plastic treats from Nottingham's finest artisan laminators. We'll post details of which beach you'll be able to find us on on the Friday Evening, as with all these things, the weather is always a factor.

We're also hosting the inaugural presentation of the "Pie & Chips Lecture Tour". John Willacy will be giving an audio-visual presentation on his record breaking solo circumnavigation of Great Britain earlier this summer, the aforementioned "Pie & Chips Tour"

If it's anything like the blog, it should be good.

Pete

Too much work makes Pete a dull boy...

...so it's time to start training.

As I'm approaching my 45th year, I believe it's traditional to have a "mid-life crisis". I don't have the money or the inclination for the usual sports car and 21 year old nubile cliche, I have three wonderful ladies in my life already and there isn't room for a fourth (I mean the sports car, the drive is already full and all cars are ladies, I really couldn't be bothered with a 21 year old nubile at all, far too much like hard work IMHO).

So I've decided that after 17 months of intensive retail mismanagement, it's time to get out and start doing things again. I'm going to enter The Fabian 4 Dyffryn Conwy Mountain Triathlon
Why have I chosen this one I hear you ask? Well, I spend more than enough time in my kayak trying not to swim and here's a triathlon which is apparently THE new must have mid-life crisis toy for middle aged men and this one doesn't involve swimming, which is good, because I'm even more rubbish at that than I am at running. So I get to paddle, then run, then bike. Sounds like a good day out to me.

So my training regime started on Monday evening with tea at KFC with the kids and then a brisk walk in bracing conditions along the beach. Tomorrow I might even ride my bike through the drive-thru to collect my McBreakfast, I'm taking this seriously you know!!

I'm going to be bothering my friends and family for sponsorship to raise money to be split evenly between the Alaw Ward at Ysbyty Gwynedd / Bangor Hospital, where my father-in-law received excellent care to treat his leukaemia and also with Cancer Research UK as I lost a close relative to Cancer last year and have over the past few years lost too many friends and acquaintances to this disease.

So if you feel like sponsoring me, I'll be setting up a justgiving page nearer the date.

Thanks,
Pete

Sorry it's been a while since we blogged....

We've been busy running demo weekends, delivering boats the length & breadth of Britain, having meetings regarding the new Bike Hire Scheme we're involved with Beics Cybi Bikes.

Then we've been spending our  time watching the clockwisekayak blog, wondering will he won't he, even though I've rarely been out of the shop this year, I've been getting my paddling fix vicariously through the exploits of Mr Willacy. It was inspirational and I really should start pulling my finger out and getting some time on the water before the nights start drawing in.

As well as bike hire, we're now selling bikes, clothing and accessories as we realised that there's a distinct shortage of bike shops on the Island (none as far as we could tell).

Not just "another demo weekend"

We've been down at Rhoscolyn today on one of our coach-led demo weekends. It's a bit different from a regular demo weekend, we have a huge number of boats available from many manufacturers. Today we had 36 boats in total, from P&H, Tiderace, SKUK, Valley, North Shore & Rockpool.

The coach leading the day gets you to consider why the boat handles the way it does, asking you questions and guiding you through the decision making process and getting you to think about what it is exactly that you like or dislike about a particular boat.

Get ready for the holidays.

With easter less than a week away, we've got an awesome deal in our webstore as the "deal of the day" 

You get the Easton Kilo 2P 3 Season Tent and a pair of Exped Synmat UL (Ultralite) Sleeping mats worth £90 each thrown in free of charge, best of all we don't even charge for delivery.

If you like travelling light, can you really afford to pass this offer up?

I've seen less boats on the beach at a Symposium.

31 boats on the beach for 3 people on one of our demo weekends , the next is on the 21/22nd April.

We had sea kayaks from P&H, SKUK, Tiderace, Valley, North Shore & Rockpool on the beach, a HUGE range to choose from. Scorpio, Cetus, Capella, Pilgrims, Xplore, Xcape, Delphin, Avocet, Etain, Aquanaut, Taran, Alaw, Isel, Atlantic, Polar, Anas Acuta & Nordkapp

Places are filling up for the next demo weekend, day one is a huge try them all day, day two is a journey allowing you to put your first (or possibly second) choice through it's paces for a longer period so you can see if it is the right boat for you.

Uber Deal of the Day - Pyranha Burn with 20% off & FREE Grumpy Deck & Creek Airbags

The title says it all really, until 21:00 tomorrow 12/03/12, we're offering the Pyranha Burn at 20% off AND giving you a Pyranha Grumpy Deck AND a pair of Pyranha Creek Airbags.

Does it get any better than this? We don't think so.

Here's the link to our "Deal of the Day", it changes again in 24 hours, miss it, miss out!

Happy Paddling.

Pete

Spring has Sprung?

Well it certainly felt like it on Friday, brilliant sunshine, blue skies and barely a breath of wind.

Glen & Linda popped over, Linda had her Tiderace Xplore S with her and Glen was going to give the new Tiderace Xtra a trial, so he could see how it compared to the Xtreme.

They went out and had a lovely day at the races, Glen enjoyed the Xtra.

 He came back grinning from ear to ear.

Yard Sale - This Weekend

This weekend in our Yard Sale, we have: 

 
Used Boats:
Pyranha Varun L £495
Pyranha Varun M SOLD
Pyranha Karnali M (Connect 30) SOLD
Pyranha G3 (whitewater spec) £395 

Medium Molan P/X excellent condition £495
Molan Small Ex-demo £495
Molan Medium Ex-demo £495
Molan Large Ex-demo £495
Jackson Star £625
Jackson Allstar SOLD
Jackson Superstar SOLD
Jackson Monstar SOLD
Venture Kayaks Easky 13 SOLD
Venture Kayaks Easky 15 £425
Venture Kayaks Easky 15 LV SOLD
P&H Cetus LV SOLD
SKUK Pilgrim Expedition SOLD
SKUK Explorer HV £1,495

Discontinued Models (all new):
Pyranha Acro 270 £349
Pyranha Acro 275 £349
Pyranha Ammo S £575
Pyranha Recoil S SOLD
Wavesport Fuse 35 (2010) £575
Wavesport Fuse 56 (2010) £749
Wavesport Diesel 60 (2010) SOLD

Blemished Boats/Cosmetic Seconds:
P&H Cetus MV (with Rudder, not Skeg) £1,800
P&H Cetus Classic (custom fit Bulkhead to suit 30-32" inside leg) SOLD
P&H Quest LV (thin gelcoat on foredeck) £1,495
P&H Delphin SOLD
Pyranha Burn M £700
Pyranha Burn L £700
Pyranha Karnali L (Connect 30) SOLD

and lots of deals on clothing and equipment.

Drop us a line or give us a call on 01407-740963

It's the Twelfth day of Christmas

so here's our twelfth deal of Christmas, the P&H Delphin 155, they're cosmetic seconds, but they're just £999.

Less than 24 hours remaining....

we promise something a bit special for tomorrow, and remember that orders over £100 are carriage free*

*excludes kayaks

The Twelve Deals of Christmas

On the eleventh day of Christmas Summit to Sea offered me,

a jetboil for piping (hot tea and coffee)

a nice mat for sleeping

a helmet for climbing (and kayaking and cycling)

a new tent for camping,

a rescue kit for swimming.

a short boat for playing

five shiny things

(although you can choose more or less than 5, but the rhyme worked.)

A guidebook full of words

A Powerstretch Fleece, Mens*

* womens fleece is also available on the same deal.

Peak Neoprene Gloves

and a Petzl Tikka XP

Pipped at the post

I'd suggested to the "Event Organiser" that a Menai Challenge meet on the 31st December might be a good idea, as it runs from 1/1 to 31/12 each year, and it would be the last chance to bag a good time, giving the rest of the world no time to respond. The idea was developed and it was stated that "fancy dress all round and no racing allowed!". In any event,  the Menai Challenge is not a "race", but a time trial.

I turned up in my Chicken Suit, to comply with the "rules" & participation criteria laid down by the "Event Organiser" and then discovered that a couple of paddlers were taking this seriously. Imagine my surprise, there I was finely tuned racing machine, who had led the field for months, having his longstanding record time threatened by the these interlopers from over the border (the Menai Challenge is not a local time trial for local people, I really should make this clear).

Still working!!

Photo Courtesy of the Willacy Collection

Unfortunately, I was in no condition to compete with these rapid, record-raiders after a two month work enforced lay off, 6 days of excess consumption and being trussed up in a chicken suit like the aformentioned avian.

Photo Courtesy of the Willacy Collection.

I could just paddle sociably (or unsociably if you saw my position relative to the rest of the group). The chicken feet were not particularly comfortable on those footpegs, and if I'm honest the boat I'd chosen was possibly a little small, so I struggled to maintain the high standards that I'd set for myself on previous occasions and bimbled along at the back of the group.

Anyway, suffice to say that the border raiders beat my time by three minutes and seven seconds. Congratulations to them, next year as my old school reports used to say "must try harder!!

Name	Time	Course
Ian Tordoff	01:20:25	Advanced
Pascale Eichenmuller	01:39:01	Advanced
Ben Nelson Jeff Parker	01:20:33	Standard

The full results for 2011 can be found here

On the Tenth Day...

We've given you (and ourselves) a rest on our twelve deals of Christmas, but here's todays:
On the tenth day of Christmas Summit to Sea offered me a nice mat for Sleeping

The Penguin Paddle

Yesterday we took part in the Inaugural "Penguin Paddle", so called as the "Event Organiser" (He's not a Race Director, he told us in the pub afterwards) chose to paddle the route desssed as a Penguin.

22 hardy paddlers braved the weather (although at one point down by the Swellies, the sun came out and you'd have thought it was July!)

The wind was blowing quite strongly from the South West and because I'd been rushing to get out of the shop to the meeting point, I'd grabbed the boat that was closest to hand rather than one of my usual "go to boats". The boat was the Overline Aretusa, it was a three piece model without a skeg, which on the basis of my recent inactivity (too much time spent in the shop and developing the website has led to no time on the water for just over 2 months) combined with a slightly increased girth over that period of inactivity and a week of stuffing my face over Christmas meant that I wasn't feeling as comfortable as usual in the boat. I then made things more difficult for myself by donning a chicken suit over all my paddling kit.

(Thanks to Dave Jones for the Picture)

When I managed to get the boat running in a straight line, it was really nice to paddle, but my ability was a little limited and without the skeg, I have to admit that for the first 45 minutes or so I was struggling with it, but as I grew accustomed to it's handling (and listened to a couple of top-tips from the "Event Organiser"), it became easier to paddle.

We stopped for a mass raft-up and the "Event Organiser" passed around a big bag of sweeties, which were well received.

Some elected to complete the full Menai Challenge course, while others decided to play on the Swellies.

Eventually, we passed under Menai Bridge and paddled on to Gallows Point.

Some had to leave straight away to be with family and friends to see in the New Year, others retired to the pub where some "fishermans tales" were exchanged about the years paddling exploits and the world was put to rights.

I'd like to thank everyone that came for their company and a pleasant paddle and thank the "Event Organiser" for taking the time to make it happen. Roll on the second "Penguin Paddle", after all there's a full years paddling between now and then to make the most of!

Happy New Year!

Blwyddan Newydd Dda!

Pete