Justine is in Da House!

Well, not in our house, but in Paula and Bernie's house in Sooke. Yesterday, award-winning adventure filmaker/kayaker Justine Curgenven landed in Sooke on Day 26 of her solo circumnavigation of Vancouver Island, taking advantage of Paula's offer of some home cooking and a place other than the ground to sleep on. Louise and I were planning to visit them anyway this holiday Monday, so our visit coincided with Justine's landing at nearby Whiffen Spit. After transporting Justine's gear the 10 minute drive to the house, the conversation almost immediately turned to how one performs certain bodily functions in a kayak. That's always a sure sign that you're in for a fun afternoon. And the ice cream hadn't even come out yet. Justine is a pleasure to visit with, and quick to release her infectious trademark cackle. Check out these grins if you don't believe me.


You can follow Justine's paddle on Facebook, and check out her award-winning kayak films on her website.

Persuasion

These days, when thinking about the news of Freya Hoffmeister and her World Paddlers Award as well as Justine Curgenven's video Kayaking the Aleutians, I'm reminded of Jane Austen.
Yes, the novelist, who wrote Pride and Predjudice and Sense and Sensibility. No, really -- there's a connection between Austen and paddling. She was interested in small boats, after all, as you can see at this link. It was in her novel Persuasion, released in 1816 that she wrote:

"I hate to hear you talk about all women as if they were fine ladies instead of rational creatures. None of us want to be in calm waters all our lives."

Accordingly, here's the video trailer for Kayaking the Aleutians, showing two women not in calm waters.

Kayaking the Aleutians

Last year, Sarah Outen was rowing across the Pacific Ocean from Japan to British Columbia as part of her London2London human-powered global circumnavigation adventure. She had already kayaked from London across the English Channel, rode a bike across Europe and Russia, and had kayaked from Russia to Japan. Now, she was making her second attempt to row across the Pacific; her first attempt failed when her specially-designed row boat started leaking and she had to be rescued. Her second attempt was faring better, but the weather gods were not cooperating. After weeks on the water, she realized that the winds and currents were making eastward progress almost impossible. In fact, they were pushing her north towards Alaska. And that's when she improvised Plan B. Enlisting the aid of adventure kayaker and filmmaker Justine Curgenven, Sarah decided to put her rowboat ashore at the western tip of Alaska's Aleutian Islands, and kayak the length of the archipelago, up the Alaska panhandle to the nearest road so she could continue her human-powered adventure by bicycle. She and Justine spent 101 days kayaking 2500 kilometers in one of the most remote places on earth. Fortunately for the rest of us, Justine took along her cameras.
Highlighted by the incredible and magnificent scenery of the Aleutian Island chain, Justine's new DVD, Kayaking the Aleutians, simply proves again what the kayaking community already knows: she is a marvelous filmmaker. Not only does she deftly capture the astounding natural environment such as the wild storms, the bear encounters, and the sea lions encroaching on their camp, she is equally adept and bringing out the human side of the story: her friendship with Sarah, the charming encounters with the locals, the joy at the end of a day of successful paddling, and the anxiety when the paddling day is on the brink of going seriously sideways. There were many such days, as Justine and Sarah had to deal with uncooperative currents, raging winds, and equipment failures, but, buoyed along by Sarah's seemingly unfailing optimism, the two friends completed a journey that the rest of us can only dream about.
The DVD also contains four short bonus films; a windy paddle in Wales, kayaking in the Bay of Fundy with whales, and two films about kayaking in the waves at Tofino with The Hurricane Riders. Don't hesitate to check it out if you have a chance.
(And here's a little bonus: Justine being interviewed on Toronto morning tv. Sorry, no embed available.)

Justine Curgenven at Ocean River Sports

Earlier this evening, Louise and I saw adventure film maker Justine Curgenven speak about her latest kayaking DVD, Kayaking the Aleutians, at Ocean River Sports in Victoria.
Creator of eight paddling films, including five in the terrific This is the Sea series, Justine's latest film about her adventures paddling the Arctic archipelago of the Aleutians has won all sorts of awards since its release.
Last year, Justine joined adventure traveler Sarah Outen for part of Sarah's human-powered round-the-world journey. Outen had planned to row from Japan to Vancouver, but weather and currents were pushing her north towards Alaska, so she changed tack and decided to kayak along the Aleutians and invited Justine along for the paddle. Justine presented a slide show as she described her amazing adventure, punctuated by both clips from the film, and her famous cackle.
What a treat to hear Justine tell her story in person as she is just as engaging a storyteller without a camera as she is with one.
Her North American Tour continues through the month of March, and you can order all of Justine's DVDs here.
We'll publish a review of the DVD soon. In the meantime, enjoy the trailer:

"Kayaking the Aleutians" Trailer Released

Popping up all over the Internet today is the trailer for Justine Curgenven's new kayaking DVD, Kayaking the Aleutians.
Last year, Justine joined adventure traveler Sarah Outen for part of Sarah's human-powered round-the-world journey. Outen had planned to row from Japan to Vancouver, but weather and currents were pushing her north towards Alaska, so she changed tack and decided to kayak along the Aleutians and invited Justine along for the paddle. If the trailer is any indictaion, they had a heck of a trip.
Justine's many kayaking films need no introduction; if you're one of the few kayakers on the planet who have never seen any of her This is the Sea series of kayaking DVDs, quit reading this blog post and go watch one right now. All of Justine's DVDs can be ordered from her website, and the new Aleutians DVD can be pre-ordered from there as well. It will be released on February 14.

This is The Sea 5

At the risk of repeating myself and others, there's no one making better kayaking films than Justine Curgenven. And certainly there can't be many kayakers who travel to so many varied places, or have as much fun while doing it. Perhaps that's her secret as a film-maker; she's so effective at showing the joys of her kayaking adventures in her films, but also doesn't shy away from the emotional toll when things go wrong either.
Her latest collection, This is The Sea 5, has just been released and should be on every paddler's "must see" list. The eight films are divided evenly between shorter kayaker profiles, and longer expedition pieces. Of the shorter pieces, I really enjoyed the feature on Harry Whelan surfing ferry wakes along the Thames -- what a cool idea! But for me, the highlight is always the expedition films, and there are some great ones featured here, from the beginning legs of Sarah Outen's attempt to circle the world on human power, to Justine and Barry Shaw circumnavigating Sardinia. The highlights are Justine's and Barry's attempt to paddle around the remote island of Tierra del Fuego, a wonderfully told story that is at times as disheartening as it is triumphant. But perhaps the gem of the DVD is a kayaking tour around some volcanic islands in Sicily which is one of the best touring films I've seen in awhile, a great blend of kayaking and sight-seeing, with an ample helping of Sicilian culture.
Run, don't walk, to the website and order this dvd. Watch it, and rediscover why you fell in love with kayaking in the first place.

This is The Roll

Having heard that Justine Curgenven's latest film was to be titled This is the Roll, I was looking forward to what I assumed was the first in a series of films about baked goods, and I eagerly thought of possible follow-ups: This is the Bun, This is the Croissant, This is the Baguette and, my personal favourite, This is the Gluten-Free Pizza Crust.
Culinary jokes aside, there is probably no one better at making sea kayaking films right now than Justine, and her first foray into the realm of kayak coaching DVDs features well-known Greenland-style paddlers Cheri Perry and Turner Wilson. There's almost three hours of material on the DVD, all of it well presented. The DVD focuses on three rolls: the standard Greenland roll, the reverse sweep and the storm roll. Cheri and Turner are excellent presenters and they cover the material in great depth. Having watched a few "how to roll" DVDs over the years, this is certainly the most in-depth one I've ever seen. Heck, it was more in-depth that most rolling lessons I've had. Of course, there is no substitute to having an instructor right there in the water telling you what you're doing right (and wrong), but this may be as close to that as one may come with a DVD. It's dense; there's a lot of material here and repeated viewings will be required. For instance, the number of rolls shown during the film must be in the hundreds, and I'd swear that none of them are repeated during the course of the film.
All the members of our little viewing party were impressed and think it's probably the best instructional video any of us have seen.
Will it make you a better roller? I imagine it will, along with lots of practice, of course. Despite an absence of breads and pastries, This is the Roll is an excellent DVD.

This is the Sea 3

The third in Justine Curgenven's series of sea kayaking DVDs, the aptly named This is the Sea 3, continues the fine tradition of excellence of the previous volumes, and features segments ranging from some short light-hearted segments of kayaking in crazy surf, to longer segments exploring expedition paddling. In between, Justine offers up profiles of well-known kayakers, and in an interesting coincidence, not only does this DVD feature a profile of Paul Caffyn, the first person to kayak around Australia, it has a segment on Freya Hoffmeister who would later become the second person to kayak around Australia, and another segment features Stuart Trueman who is currently vying to be the third person to kayak around the same continent. But I digress.
Although the shorter segments are worthy of your attention, I'm always drawn to the longer expedition films, and this DVD is no exception. In one, Justine and her partner make a crossing in the Shetland Islands during a thunderstorm, while another is a lovely travelogue through the Faroe Islands. The jewel of the DVD is a 40-minute film following Trueman, Laurie Geoghegan and Andrew McAuley on an extensive kayaking expedition to Antarctica. It's occasionally difficult to watch knowing the fate that would befall McAuley only a year after this expedition, but clearly the three paddlers were enjoying their thrilling (and chilling) trip where few have ever been...well, maybe Laurie not so much when he got ill. Their love of life and adventure shines through.

This is the Sea Two

The second of Justine's Curgenven's series of kayaking DVD series, This is the Sea Two, cements this series's reputation as some of the best sea kayaking films you'll ever see. This volume opens up with Bryan Smith running the tidal race at Skookumchuck,quickly followed by segments featuring Doug van Doren on Greenland sticks, a circumnavigation of Japan, and a profile of Sean Morley. There are some exciting footage of expert sea kayakers playing in the crazy tidal races at Penrhyn Mawr and "The Bitches" in Wales, followed by a relaxing paddle on the sandy shores of Lake Michigan, which looks like a beautiful place to paddle -- maybe one day... Justine also visits Newfoundland, as well as the Lofoten Islands in Norway.
As always, the highlights are the expeditions films, in this case it's a feature segment on Justine and two other paddlers kayaking around Tasmania. It's a wonderfully shot adventure, with gorgeous scenery.
It's a must-see for kayaking fans.

This Is The Sea

What a treat it was to re-acquaint myself with this DVD, the first in Justine Curgenven’s This is the Sea series. After a slightly cheeky introduction, she introduces us to a championship paddler from Greenland, and that’s quickly followed by profiles of well-known paddlers such as Nigel Foster, Chris Duff, Shawna Franklin and Leon Sommé, and Greg Stamer.
Then we travel the world for brief tours of exciting paddling locations from the craggy caves and arches off Sonoma, California, to paddling with manatees with Florida, and to Greenland and paddling with icebergs. Also included are stops in at the San Juan islands and Deception Pass in Washington state, and some crazy playtime at Penryn Mawr tidal race in Wales.
Some of the segments are very brief, but the highlight is a longer segment detailing a kayaking expedition by Justine and a friend in Kamchatka, Russia. They must bring a Russian guide with them into what is formidable paddling country, but the problem is that their guide has never kayaked before. Hilarity ensues, especially when the Russian Army gets involved. I've always enjoyed the longer expedition segments of the This is the Sea series the most and this segment is no exception. Alternating between breathtaking scenery and crazy surf launches and landings, you really get the sense that you were part of the expedition. If I hadn’t been warm, dry and eating popcorn in a big comfy chair, I’d swear I was right there with them.
If you’ve never checked out this great series of DVDs, you should. And this first one is great place to start.

This is the Sea 4

The latest in Justine Curgenven's series of kayaking DVDs, This is the Sea 4, has arrived. This latest release is a well put together two disc effort.
Disc one is a series of shorter films, and opens with with a group of kayakers out playing in rock gardens and caves of Baja in northern Mexico. This looked like a whole lot of fun with a lot of rock hopping and beautiful sea caves.
The next segment profiles the Seattle-based commando kayaker Dubside, followed by a segment on kayak fishing in San Diego. I'm not much into fishing, but it was interesting to watch a group of sport fisherman on their fully-outfitted sit-on-tops on the water. It was even more interesting watching them land through the surf! :) At one point, one of them even hooks what looks like a giant ray, but it gets away.
Next up is an island-hopping crossing of the Bass Strait between Australia and Tasmania. There's some great wildlife shots -- I didn't know wombats are so cute!
The next segment features Canadian kayak champions Ken Whiting and Brendan Mark running the rapids of the Ottawa River in sea kayaks. They get into some gnarly whitewater and there is some great footage here, especially as Justine, far out of her comfort zone, follows the boys down the river.
A quick paddle on the Dead Sea in Israel is followed a longer sequence in Norway. First, there's profile of a Norwegian family that perform amazing balance tricks in their kayaks while enjoying the amazing scenery of the fjords. Then they go to a standing wave that's never been ridden by sea kayaks, and end with a paddle along the Norwegian coast. The disc ends with a paddle along the American side of Lake Superior. There were some amazing sandstone cliffs and sea caves in this segment; it looks like a terrific place to kayak!
Disc two has two longer expedition films, the first being a circumnavigation of the Queen Charlotte Islands. Three paddlers go around both islands in a figure-8. The second expedition is clockwise trip around the south island of New Zealand. Both expeditions feature action and adventure and terrific photography.
As with the previous 3 DVDs, all the segments contain great and picturesque footage, and there's a nice balance between flat water, whitewater and expedition kayaking. And as always, there are great stories waiting for the viewer. No doubt this will be on a lot of kayakers' Christmas lists, and well it should be.