NRS - The range hits town...

We're excited to announce that we will be stocking a great range of the premium paddler-designed gear from NRS in the US. Both Rob & I have owned a smattering of NRS kit over the years & always liked the design, especially the paddling tops with their kayaker-specific cuts & beautiful quality.

Responding to overwhelming demand, we've even thrown in a bit of colour to the colour-deficient world of paddling apparel. Be seen on the water! Umm, you'll find it hard not to be seen in a few of the tops….. 

The Hydrosilk tops are nicely complemented by the new generation HydroSkin garments, which are like a super-thin laminated neoprene, designed to be worn against the skin & move with you, rather like a running compression garment. 

Rounding off the range for now are the Euro Merino wool tops, which are also cut specifically for paddling & make an excellent base layer under a cag or wind-stopping top (like the Reed LS Top), and a nice lightweight cag in the Stampede Paddle Jacket.

Importantly, in this era of parity with the USD, our pricing is as close as we can get it to the comparative prices direct from NRS in the US, so you can have a global brand at global prices, available freight free nationally from a local supplier, us!

You can see the full range under the Apparel section on our online store.

Paddling with Kiri

I had a memorable two day paddle with my eldest daughter Kiri over the New Year, up the majestic Shoalhaven Gorge. She has been asking & asking me to take her on a paddle 'into the wilderness' since watching (& watching & watching) the 'Douggie down the Pet' segment on Justine Curgenven's 'This is Canoeing' DVD.
After finally showing her Mum that she could wet exit the kayak & swim to shore, Nicole allowed us to go on the trip.
Because it was an 'expedition', we planned & shopped for the food, studied the map of the route, packed everything together & ticked it all off a list, then finally set off on a hot New Years Day, 2 hours south to the Tallowa Dam. We paddled Rob & Sharon's North Shore Atlantic II, which is a roomy & very luxurious double, which clipped along nicely at about 8kmh in the smooth clam river, when I decided to crank it along. It was rather a departure for me from my normal paddling, dawdling along the river bank looking for lizards, but a great experience with my little girl.
The paddle is a meandering 13km trip up the stunning gorge which gradually narrows & grows more precipitous until you reach a set of rapids that are a serious portage for a boat of this size. There are a smattering of beautiful sandy camp spots around these rapids, of which we picked out the shadiest as the temperature nudged 40 degrees. Although we saw a few groups heading back to base there were no other campers in the entire gorge for our night in the bush, blissful solitude! There was happily no competition for camp spots, although we had a healthy debate about which one would be the best. 
Kiri & I spent the afternoon exploring the shady bush finding goannas, lizards, wild goats & kangaroos, broken by plenty of swims in the beautiful warm water of the Shoalhaven.
At night we read books & cooked our dinner on the stove, shared marshmallows & had a night time bath in the river to cool down. Kiri even did the washing up, after I'd explained the importance of teamwork on an expedition! 
The next morning we cleared all the firewood away from the fireplaces that campers had built, packed away our gear & any other rubbish left by previous visitors & made sure we left only our footprints. It's amazing what traction an idea like 'leave no trace' has with kids, pity that more of us weren't given the same lessons in our younger days, or these amazing camp spots would be a little less cluttered with human mess.
Our trip was a great experience for both of us, & Kiri made the movie above to share with her classmates when she returns to school. With her permission I've put it on the blog to share.

The meandering route up the Upper Shoalhaven from Tallowa Dam

A paddle day with the gang

Rob, Emma, Hung & Sali.

We often get nice feedback on the speed of deliveries from our online store, the helpful people who answer the phone & the pleasant service on offer when customers drop in unexpected & either of Rob or myself aren't in the office. While we like to pretend that EK is a multinational super kayaking corporation, the truth is we're cheating.... 

Rob hoping we don't lose anybody....

We are very lucky to have the services of the dedicated team of people from my main business, Talisman. They are my friends, workmates and have a lovely attitude towards their work & their customers. They cut their teeth every day in the demanding corporate world in which Talisman exists, where a late delivery can mean the loss of a big account, and have to contend with some delicate egos, in particular where marketing & events are concerned.

Rob giving Huey a few tips in the V10S

They have looked on these past 3 years at the growing business that is Expedition Kayaks, & been increasingly curious about how the boats work, what the differences are, what those funny timber sticks are for etc etc.

The gang on the beach

So, with a few moons aligned over the Xmas New Year break, we organised a day on the water for everyone & brought a few boats along to try out have some fun.

Sali Wu, the paddle queen of Shanghai

It was a hoot. Not one of the gang had paddled anything before ever, so Rob, Sharon & I were flat out giving some basic tuition, fishing out capsizes, chasing down strays & all-in-all having a great time. 

The Hurricane, looking very Clint Robinson.

Emma & Huey 'The Hurricane' Nguyen, a former national kickboxing champ, managed to conquer the Epic V10S, & Emma even looked solid enough on my new V12. 

Deni, Huey & Jade

Sali Wu blasted up & down the beach looking like the Queen of Shanghai, while Hannah managed to get her high heels off for long enough to show some genuine, & I mean genuine sea kayaking skills after a few minutes of practising her edging, & getting a bit wet.... 

Hannah, good at paddling, not so good at swimming...

In between shepherding the kids around the beach, Nicole & Hien even managed a few brief paddles. 

Emma 'I want one of these...'

Everyone agreed that the V8 was ridiculously easy, the Holden Commodore of surf-skis. The sea kayaks presented a few more challenges, especially with a soft breeze blowing, & there were a few rescues & hilarious capsizes. Smiles all round on a typically beautiful Sydney morning.

Hien making the V8 look like a V80

It was a nice way to end another successful year for both EK & Talisman, and provide some well deserved fun for my hardworking team of good people. 
Thanks guys, you're the best.
Next time you call up the office, ask the dude on the end of the line about their paddle day, I'm sure you'll be spun a good yarn or two & may even get a new opinion on some of the boat designs!

Marley - 'I'd rather eat sand than bother with all of this stuff'.

Merry Xmas from EK

Another year draws to a close….
We have had a ball, continuing to travel around the place doing our instruction & demo days, interacting with our paddling community & launching a bunch of new designs & models into the market.
We're finishing up in the warehouse today, so there won't be any further gear dispatched from the online store until January 3. If you want to swing by & pick something up, please call first & we'll arrange to meet you.
Rob & I are in Sydney over the entire Xmas New Year period & have several demo paddles booked in already, including a couple of groups of friends who all have some spare time, and want to run their own mini demo day. If you have been curious about a boat, or how one compares to another, we're all too happy to come along to a suitable stretch of water nearby & give you a qualified test paddle in the boats you want to try. We remain committed to the idea that if you want to buy an expensive, fair dinkum sea kayak, then you should definitely try it first in a decent amount of chop & bounce to find out as much as you can about how the boat handles the water for which is was designed. Just give us a shout. 
Rob can be contacted on 0417227627, you'll get me on 0417924478. 
Thanks to everyone who has paddled a boat, bought a boat or a bit of kit, called up for advice or instruction & in any other way been part of our little business in 2010. We continue to be amazed at the reaction to Expedition Kayaks & are very humbled by the support we receive from you our dear customers. Here's to good times, cold beers & tall tales with friends & family over the holiday break.
Merry Xmas.

Kinda Dumb Storm Paddling….

Last Thursday promised a fresh southerly change about midday, so we decided to once again get out in the ski & the Rockpool Taran to give the kayak a speed & handling test.
We paddled out about 4km off the Gap, with building seas & wind from the south, with the aim to turn & run back once things got up. Unfortunately for us the weather had a nasty twist in store. The heavens opened & then there was an almighty crack from above that sounded rather close, so we decided discretion was the better part of valour. As the electric storm started to crank up we found out a few things about our speed downwind, in my case in some generally crappy confused water which isn't usually a barrel of laughs in my ski!
My usual cheery disposition was replaced by something distinctly darker as you can see in the video above!
Our mate Peter told us that if lightning strikes on the water anywhere within about 100m of where you're paddling you'll basically be fried, and that conversation was repeating in my head as the thunder continued to boom.
In hindsight it probably wasn't a great idea to have a metal camera mounted on an extended arm either, but the option to stop for a minute & pull it off wasn't too appealing either.

Simplicity…..

This morning dawned clear & sunny, without a breath of wind, and lucky for me I had my ski on the roof. Diverting five minutes to Botany Bay on my normal route into the office, I pulled in at Dolls Pt, chucked on the smugglers, pulled the boat off the roof, grabbed my paddle & went out for a cleansing 45 minute paddle along the coastline. 

My ski offers me this simplicity. It's light, it doesn't require the same level of gear or accessories that my sea kayak does, & consequently in a life full of endless time pressure it presents me with the opportunity to get on the water without as much planning. 

I love my sea kayaking, but now that summer is here I think I'm going to be spending a lot of time on my V10 Sport, whenever the opportunity knocks.

Simple.

EK Xmas Store

Ho Ho Ho….
Xmas is fast approaching, & we've added some cool new stuff to our burgeoning online store. People often ask us why we have such a limited range on our site, & the answer is simple, we bloody well test everything & make sure it all works. Rob is our canary in the coal mine, using these products daily in all weather & sea states, so we get a really good grip on the pro's & cons of any given product before we decide to add it to our offerings. 
Take a look through the range through our home page & maybe drop a hint on that mother in law who consistently buys you the latest Andre Rieu DVD, or the uncle who is renowned for presenting you with another Greg Norman bio on the big day.