Upcoming talks

If you'd like to hear the story about paddling around the Faroe Islands, there'll be at least three chances for that in 2009. The planned talks on the Faroe Islands Circumnavigation are as follows:

• 17. February: Brdr. Vestergaard, Thisted
• 20. February: Danish Kayak and Canoe Association, hosted by Sorø Canoe and Kayak Club. [invitation, signup] (Cancelled)
  
• 31. March: Danish Kayak and Canoe Association, in Skive Århus, Denmark. [invitation, signup]
  

Update, 2009-01-14: Invitation and signup for 20. february is now online!
Update, 2009-02-17: Invitation and signup for 31. march is now online!
Update, 2009-02-19: 20. february talk in Sorø cancelled. New date/venue will be announced.
Update, 2009-03-19: Talk in Skive moved to Århus. Check new announcements from Dansk Kano og Kajak Forbund.

See you out there!

Just a quick note

Monday evening, 31 guests attended the talk at Crandals Galleri. Thanks for listening, it was a joy to tell the story. Some of you had a taste of the Logan bread that we ate during the trip - there's a lot of recipes out there, if you want to bake some yourself. Experiment and see what you like best - but be gentle on your teeth!

Tuesday evening's talk at Brødrene Vestergaard (18. november 2008) has been postponed! We'll keep you updated here (and i'm sure that Brødrene Vestergaard will put up advertisements) for the talk we're going to do there, when a new date has been decided.

Telling about the past, living for tomorrow

On november 1st, we had the opportunity to tell about the trip to 25 danish sea kayak instructors, who were gathered in Hanstholm for a weekend seminar on the subject of surf and waves. Jesper gave two more presentations, to a group of local scouts in Hanstholm, and to the people in his hometown, Ræhr, just south of Hanstholm. We have received good response from the talks given so far, which motivates us to keep going, and tell the story about a fantastic kayaking trip!

Two more talks are coming up in the near future, and more are in the pipeline. One is at Crandals Gallery in Langholt, 17. november 2008. On tuesday 18. november, we'll be at Brødrene Vestergaard's shop in Thisted. Feel free to contact us if you want to host a talk, or if you plan to visit one of the talks - there may be an available seat still!

Telling about the past isn't all we're doing, though. Whenever possible, we're enjoying the kayak surf action on the danish west coast. Fall has arrived, bringing better and more consistent surf conditions. The water is getting chilly to the point where it's similar to the Faroe Islands (8-10 degress C), so it is nice to stay warm in the drysuits. Getting some time on the water and having fun, that's what it's all about, afterall!

First talk, and surf seminar

It seems like a week ago already, after two intense days of surf kayaking on the west coast, but friday evening we gave the first talk about the Faroe Islands circumnavigation. PureKayaking hosted a seminar for their customers and instructors, and we were invited to tell about our trip.

I think we made it in about two-and-a-half hours, which was somewhat longer than expected - but responses were good, and you guys seemed to have a good time. Thanks for listening and asking questions. I hope that this has sparked your interest in going on longer kayaking trips. It was a joy to visit you!

Friday night we drove the long way to Klitmøller, and spent the rest of the weekend on a national kayak surf seminar. What a rush to see 30 kayakers in the waves (saturday was pretty crowded, with maybe 30 windsurfers, 30 kites and 50 paddle surfers as well - sunday was less crowded and conditions were better than saturday).

Sponsor update

Without our sponsors, this project would not have been as easy (or economically realistic) as it has turned out to be.

A few words on the sponsorships, before we set out:
RelaxShoe and Sparekassen Thy provided financial support for gear and for use during the expedition. Smyril Line kindly offered to ship kayaks, gear and food to Torshavn and back again.
Brødrene Vestergaard in Thisted has been our main provider of high quality kayaking equipment (Tomas even took home a lot of gear that wasn't in stock) at very reasonable prices. The shop is likely to be of particular interest to kayakers from the Faroe Islands - situated in Thisted, only 20 km south of Hanstholm, and close to the "test driving ranges" Limfjorden and Klitmøller).
PureKayaking sponsored safety equipment - a McMurdo FastFind MAX PLB (Personal Locator Beacon), as well as handheld and parachute flares that we'll carry for emergency use.
Friluftsland sponsored all the freeze-dried food that will be our main evening dish during the trip, and offered discounts on outdoor gear, most importantly the Hilleberg Nammatj 3 tent we're going to use.

A big "Thank You" to all our sponsors - we look forward to tell you more about the trip when we're home again!

Turbulent week

This week have been a turbulent and stressing week, after the training weekend in the wadden sea. I have been drying and repacking all the gear and preparing it for shipping with our sponsor, Smyril Line Cargo who willingly will ship all of our gear to and from Faeroe Islands for free. A special thanks to Aage Brun and his crew for making this go smoothly. This afternoon i have stuffed all the gear into a container in Smyri Line cargo center in Hanstholm, and the gear will await us in Torshavn when we arrive.




But that's not all I have been busy with this week. Tuesday, Nordjyske Stiftstidende printed an article about our expedition, and that started the medias interest in our quest, so i have been handling the press also. Yesterday, Tv midtvest was making an inteview, but for now we don't know if/when it will be broadcasting.

Today i was visiting P4 Nordjylland and making an radio interview about general kayaking with my college from Purekayaking Mette Bach, who also used the occasion to hand over kindly sponsored safety equipment (McMurdo Fastfind Max PLB, handheld flares and parachute flares).

Monday I will do an interview from 09.30 with Radio Midtvest, and Tue Olesen has done an interview with Faeroe Islands radio, so all in all a turbulent week.

You can also see some of our pictures from our training weekend, and of the equipment here.