What's on

December, the month of festivities, opens with one of the most notable gatherings of sea kayakers in Italy. The appropriately named WISKIE, organised by Luciano Belloni,
meets at Bocca di Magra for a paddle amongst friends in the Gulf of La Spezia.
We’ll be remaining on dry land however, attending the largest canoeists’ meeting in Italy held at the Canoa Club Milano. The event, now in its 25th edition, will be hosting a video and photographic exhibition titled “Canoes exploring the world”. An evening will be dedicated to sea kayaks and none other than our Sicilian friend Giacomo della Gatta will be giving a talk about his memorable solo expedition on the Niger river. A date not to be missed:
1 December at 19:30 at the Sala San Fedele, Via Hoepli 3-5, Milano.

We’ve also got quite a bit to celebrate about!
After a 6 month training period, on 19 November, Trenk and Tatiana passed the final hurdle - assessments  - and are now qualified BCU Level 2 coaches. This long day with Ashley St.John-Claire concluded a very busy week dedicated to courses and assessments leading to the BCU 3 star paddler/canoeist certification. They were held by Phil Hadley in the magnificent Isola della Cona nature reserve, characterised by physically intense days rich in vivacity and  experiences whilst achieving new theoretical and practical skills. 
Friendship and fun were not lacking too, especially during the memorable evenings when all gathered around tables adorned with the delicious food prepared by “Mammut” the cook.  The added-value of these courses was not so much improving one’s English but more importantly getting to know the content of the BCU syllabus, thanks to the commitment
and motivation shown by Phil Hadley, one of the most renowned UK coaches.
We’re sure that there will be more to come in 2013!

Kayaking snippets
How can you be sure of imparting the correct method to your students?
You should be clear, brief and incisive. A few key words should introduce the technique followed by a double silent demonstration of the manoeuvre on both sides of the craft.
Make sure that your students are placed so as to be able to observe you clearly,
without the sun in their eyes, their head in the clouds or the boat too far away.
Silence: the most effective method is one executed silently, leaving the student
free to concentrate on the technique being show without too much distraction...

Call of the Inuit
“Talking through your ears” is the title of a documentary film by Alberto Sciamplicotti presented at the San Vito Climbing and Kayaking Festival last October. The film narrates the life of Robert Peroni who resides among the Inuit in the tiny community of Ammassalik.
It has also been shown at the The Village Doc Festival in Milan and at the Orobie film festival, even winning a second prize at the “Festival del Documentario Naturalistico Italiano” 2012.
This Italian explorer has lived in Tasilaq for about thirty years, promoting ecologically-friendly tourism with a “human” face. At the end of the documentary he says to himself: “life is looked at here in a totally different way, perhaps I need to learn how to speak with my ears and to hear with my nose. Things are unusual because one does becomes a bit different...” 

Over the horizon

Nigel Foster is one of the most famous canoeists in the world.
He’s a real pro, capable of demonstrating technique and passion at the same time.
An expert kayaker, he was the youngest kayaker to accomplish the circumnavigation of Iceland and his life continues to be abundant with adventure and innovation.

After publishing "Stepping stones" in 2009, he has recently put in print a second volume with the suggestive title "Encounters from a kayak". It chronicles the animals, persons and special places that he encountered during his many voyages around the world...
celebrating the magical experience of paddling one’s kayak!