I received a great email from David AvRutick at Folbot the other day, the Kodiak for the expedition is on the building schedule! Fantastic!
What I love about Folbot - I already own two boats - is it feels like you are buying a boat, a yacht, a ship, whatever ... you get an email that tells you your kayak is to be "built". In a very small "boys own adventure" kind of way, it could feel like Fridtjof Nansen getting a telegram from Colin Archer saying that Fram is now under construction. Okay, a very small way!
As we have sea ice covering the fjord at the moment there is zero paddling to be done. That, however, is okay as it means my Greenland Dogs are camped out on the ice and running. I guess that is why I am torn between thinking about paddling and getting out there with the dogs. There will be time for everything, and while winter is for the dogs and sledging the summer is all about getting on the water. I am fortunate to live in an area with just two seasons: sledging and paddling!
When not working or sledging I have found time to play with the Kodiak - in Photoshop. Just how many decklines do I think I need? : )
Posted by Chris
16. martsi 2009
Illorsuit - where kayaks are born!
In connection with planning the expedition I have been surfing the net a lot and I have discovered that the settlement of Illorsuit figures heavily in kayak lore. Rather than repeat the kayak history of Illorsuit I would like to write a little about my experience there and encourage you to follow the links below to read what others have written so well.
You can find plans and photos of replicas of the Illorsuit kayak at Bryan Hansel's website here and further information about the history behind the kayak and the Greenlander who built it in Duncan Winning's article on Seakayaker here.
My own visit to Illorsuit was far less interesting and far quicker than any that have been described in the links above. My wife and I were on our way from Uummannaq to Nugatsiaq and Illorsuit is the settlement where we were to have a mini-layover of 15 minutes or so as post and passengers were loaded and unloaded. We met a some of my students from 10th and 11th grade while we waited at the grass and gravel helipad and admired the view.
When I return in 2010 I plan to explore the settlement properly and hopefully get to know more of the people and learn more of the history of Illorsuit. As I intend to write much more about the settlements at a later date, this will just have to be a "teaser" until then.
Posted by Chris
12. martsi 2009
I am experimenting with "Twitter" with a view to facilitating expedition updates. I have no clue how it works yet! : )
You can find the TSS twitter page here.
Posted by Chris
5. martsi 2009
There is life beyond the building/modifying of webpages! HTML is not my strong point and while I will have to wait several months before paddling at least the sea ice is thick with that all important fine covering of snow.
Over the next few months I intend to enjoy travelling by dogsledge, Greenland style, as I explore the frozen fjord around the island. The picture above of me paddling a Folbot Cooper was taken at the end of May last year as the ice was beginning to break up.
At minus 20 C there is, thankfully, no sign of the ice breaking up anytime soon.
Posted by Chris
20. februari 2009
If you stumble across the blog then just know that I'm working on it! : )
Posted by Chris
16. februari 2009
First post to get the show on the road, or the expedition on the water. There is plenty to be done and plenty of time in which to do it. Most importantly, Folbot, the expedition sponsor has generously agreed to sponsoring a Kodiak expedition ready folding kayak.
Check out the Folbot company and their kayak by following the links above or this one here:
More later.
Posted by Chris
12. februari 2009
There has been a change of plan. I have decided to continue the expedition alone, solo. Lars and I are still firm friends and have agreed upon this change in the crew line up.
I have decided that after many years in Outdoor Education and personal trips in the wilderness I am still searching for the ultimate challenge: a solo journey. Living, dogsledging and paddling in this incredible part of Greenland I have been inspired to finally take the plunge and paddle this trip solo.
I have also decided to move away from the previous idea of using plastic/fibreglass boats and, in keeping with the local hunting community, adopt the skin on frame design of the traditional Greenland Kayak, albeit a modern version. To that end I have had the pleasure of discussing possible sponsorship with the Folbot company and we have agreed that it will be possible and we are looking forward to working out the details.
The educational aspect of the expedition will also change focus and become cultural with an emphasis on communication, i.e. I will be learning and discovering the language of West Greenland during the expedition. See the specific pages for further details.
So while I continue to plan the expedition Lars is looking forward to exploring more mountainous areas of Greenland and developing his photographic portfolio; currently featured in an traveling exhibition, calendar and many postcards. Look out for his website coming soon.
The proposed date of the expedition start remains unchanged: July 2010.
Posted by Chris
29. januari 2009
