How to Build a Kayak

Mark Pawlak    Adventure Sports & Travel Thoughts, kayakingholidays     Adventure Sports, building a kayak, Kayak, Kayaking, making a kayak, river kayaking, sea kayaking

Kayaking holidays are one of only a few trips you can take where you need no technology. Take your phone for safety, maybe even a GPS if your map reading is ropey, but forget the high-tec: this is traditional adventuring.

Even so, when it comes to the boats, these are still specialist machines.  The long-distance adventurers and world travellers out there don’t dare venture out with any old gear. Kayaks and canoes have been around for 4,000 years and many are still made with traditional materials.

Here’s how boat builder Richie Bracey of Ram-Leisure makes his kayaks: This kayak is a hybrid, and uses two different types of construction method: firstly the hull is built with stitch and glue, and then the deck is built using a strip-built method.

Marine plywood

Step 1: Sheets of marine plywood need to be cut down to the appropriate widths and then joined together with a joint known as a scarf joint, this then makes up the lengths required for the different parts of the kayak.

After the lengths are joined he then takes the offsets and plots positions on the ply, these marks are then joined using a flexible baton or something similar so that you get the shape that needs cutting out.

Step 2: Before stitching the pieces together he glues the sheer clamps to the side (this creates a firm joint between the deck and the hull) and glues the support rails in for the adjustable foot rest. read more

Top 10 Ontario Adventures

Mark Pawlak    Adventure Sports & Travel Thoughts, Top 10 Adventure Sports Travel Lists     Canada, canoeing, canopy walk, Competition, helicopter flight, Hiking, ice climbing, Kayaking, mountain biking, Niagara Falls, Ontario, Ontario Tourist Board, Scuba Diving, snowmobiling, trekking, whitewater rafting

By having real temperature shifts and heavy snowfalls in winter, and strong sunrays blaze through its clean skies during summer, Ontario is ready and waiting all year round. read more

Adventure travel specialist Jonny Bealby says, “walk the back streets”

Mark Pawlak    Adventure Sports & Travel Thoughts, ash, mountainbikingholidays, New Adventure Travel Ideas, overlandholidays, trekkingholidays, Tribe Adventure Travel Blogs     Adventure Sports, Adventure Travel, china, cultural holidays, indepenedent travel, Overland tours, Syria, tours, travelling, trekking, Uzbekistan

There are a few countries that people simply never visit: some are dangerous, others just exist well beyond the imagination of regular travellers.

Jonny and Chia - Rampur

And it’s in these places where you’ll find the essence of travel. Looking for danger is a fool’s game; travelling in search of adventure, well that’s what it’s all about.

Having established award-wining travel company Wild Frontiers, Jonny Bealby is a man who researches, visits and explores the routes that later become his firm’s travel packages. Just returned from a mountainbiking holiday in Syria, he’s already packing for his next excursion. read more

Extreme Sports California: Where it all began?

Mark Pawlak    Adventure Sports & Travel Thoughts, ash     California, extreme sports, mountain biking, moutainbiking, San Fransisco, Skateboarding, trekking holidays, US

California, it’s all in the name. This golden state has a draw, a lure much stronger than that created by Hollywood and the films of fantasy, and we can see why…  Away from the urban centres, headed south along the coast from San Francisco to Los Angeles there’s an endless summer going on.

A nutrient-rich current bathes the California coast and volcanic nitrates infuse its central valley; if neighbour Nevada is bleak desert, ‘Cali’ is the oasis on every road trip.

Initially prized by the Spanish for its fertile land, California was later settled by prospectors looking for gold. Granted, the rewards are now more likely to be found in Silicon Valley, but there’s still riches to be found in them there hills…

And it’s rockin’ adventure sports! Head north of San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge and there’s Mount Tamalpais, spiritual home of mountain biking; roam south 180km and you’re into big surf and the eco-wonderland of Big Sur.

Highway 1 offers stunning views at the apex of every coastal switchback; the Pacific Ocean turns a deeper blue as it reaches the horizon and inland, Los Padres National Forest pushes 350km to the western edge of Los Angeles County. Almost two million acres: hiking and trekking holidays here really could go on forever…

Way up in the High Sierras there’s more extreme activities going on. As the state boasts top skiing resorts, and even claims to have been the birth place of snowboarding, could it be argued California is the extreme sports capital of the world?

We’ve included the skate sensation ‘Second Nature’ as it reveals a little of the space and beauty of the place – and a couple of suit-wearing super-dudes loving their sport, immersing in nature and grinning ear-to-ear.

The movie has won too many awards to mention (Best Sports Film at the 2010 Sonoma International Film festival/ X-Dance Action Sport Festival and many more) and it’s guaranteed to win you over! Enjoy and ask yourselves: Is California the extreme sports capital of the world?

If you think you know the adventure sports capital of the world, vote here in our Facebook poll.

SB3 Challenge attracting applicants

Ian K    Adventure Sports & Travel Thoughts, sailingbreaks, Tribe Sailing Blogs     Cowes, Isle of Wight, little britain challenge cup, little britain laser sb2 challenge, regatta, Sailing, sailing regatta, sb3 challenge, united kingdom, Yachting

A new event in the sailing regatta calendar which is open to the construction industry is proving popular, it has been announced.

A host of applicants have enquired about the Little Britain Laser SB3 Challenge, taking place on June 3-4 in Cowes, Isle of Wight, Little Britain Challenge Cup (LBCC) event manager Mary Scott Jackson said.

She added: “Since the announcement of the SB3 Challenge, just a few weeks ago, we have had a steady stream of interested applicants, and we plan to officially open entries early March.”

Image from Flickr user: pedliano

The summer sailing event, run with Pelican Racing, includes a picnic lunch and an informal evening supper – making it the perfect excuse to enjoy a day out on the seas.

David Smith, LBCC chairman, described the SB3 Challenge as a “great kick-start” to the year’s sailing events.

Race director Tony Poole says the boats are easy to handle, making a yacht charter in the United Kingdom an ideal option for newcomers and experienced sailors.

And if sailing enthusiasts find they enjoy the SB3 Challenge weekend, they may want to note down the dates for the main Little Britain Challenge Cup 2011, which takes place on September 8 to 11 in Cowes.

More places available for Fastnet

Ian K    Adventure Sports & Travel Thoughts, sailingbreaks, Tribe Sailing Blogs     Cowes, Isle of Wight, Rolex Fastnet Race, Royal Ocean Racing club, Sailing, united kingdom, yacht, Yachting

The Royal Ocean Racing Club has decided to increase the number of places available for the Rolex Fastnet Race, it has confirmed.

The club announced it would remove all “professionally” sailed classes from the 300 entry limit in order to allow more teams to enter the race – one of the most prestigious sailing events in the calendar.

All Volvo Ocean 70s, IMOCA 60s, Class 40s and Multihulls will race under their own class rules, and will not be counted in the previous limit.

Photo from Flickr user: Tomorrow Never Knows

The decision means around 50 more entries will be available for the race, which starts in Cowes, Isle of Wight, on August 14.

The Fastnet Race reached its previous limit within 10 days of opening applications, and has around 130 teams on the waiting list.

RORC Commodore, Andrew McIrvine, said: “We were staggered at the speed with which people signed up.

“We had to do something to satisfy the huge interest, and taking the non IRC yachts out of the total is a fair solution allowing more loyal RORC racers to get their boats into the race.”

Montenegro – Exploring the future of Adventure Sports

Mark Pawlak    Adventure Sports & Travel Thoughts, ash     Adriatic, Adventure Race Montenegro, Adventure Sports, Durmitor Massif, Durmitor National Park, Montenegro, Montenegro Expedition Challenge

Adventure sports know no borders. So it’s not surprising to hear that Montenegro is fast becoming a destination for lovers of adventure sports.

Toward the southern end of the Adriatic, Montenegro is baking hot in the summer, but also has an interior that serves up winter sports challenges that only the most adventurous will appreciate.

Independent since 2006, it’s still a new name on many people’s list of as-yet visited countries. In 1998, Durmitor National Park was listed by Unesco as a World Heritage Site. Hardly surprising: Did you know it has the second largest canyon in the world (Tara River Canyon) – nobody ever told me that… read more