When I woke up this morning the sea was completely flat and the rain fell from the sky. Not good conditions for a Dufa premiar. But anyway here droped in some curios people but no one was very keen on paddling. Well later the sun arriwed and also a very good wind 9-12 m/s, lucky for me otherwise i havent went out for a ride in the sea. Wind from north give a great sea to test in. First impression of Dufa, safe. Its a very calm boat and when you lean her she nicelly follow you to a super high endstability. Dufa is short and 56 cm wide, its no a fast boat with this kind of hull. This is a boat that people will love when they go a course, a bit like P&H Scorpio actually. Well out in the waves.

Paddle seakayak for me in this messy but not huge waves is very relaxing, normally i sit in a Carbonology Vault surfski and its a big different in focus. So I paddled out against the waves without putting to much energy, the bow dive a bit in the sharper waves, a bit to much actually. I feel allready now that this isnt a playkayak but in some parts it is. It turns on a dime when you edge her and she is compeletely safe in sideshops and white foam. Dufa is a very predictable kayak. I paddled out for a km to get a nice long run in to Tropical Beach wich is a place that creates demanding conditions with hard current and impact waves, very funny.

Dufa gave me good time to take photos in surf. Nice!

Out there I turn around the boat and she feels so safe so i place the camera om the spraydeck so i can pick it up fast to shoot. Some strokes and i miss first wave, I give the Dufa a little more power in the next wave and of she goes. Dufa surfs very well, I have full controll and time to take photos in surf, the waves is not very big and thats pretty impressing. Though the bow dives to much and instead of linking (paddle over to the next wave) she slows me down a bit. With the much faster Bara i could link waves like in a surfski, I have done that also in a Romany wich is also a slower type of boat. As a surfskipaddler you know how important it is with the lift of the bow in the right time.

Nice rocky sea.

Conclusion, so what to say about the Dufa its playfull in a certain manner but on the other hand its not. You can have fun with the Dufa in waves but in my opinion this boat is for people who wants a stable safe boat that is easy to manouver for tourpaddling.

Plus:

• Very comfy seat/cockpit.
• Dufa have room for big persons
• Feels safe perfect for people who dont paddle every week
• High end stability.
• Pretty high first stability
• Blade skeg, skeg adjustor placed perfect
• Low backdeck
• Low backdeck and high cockpit make the Dufa vey easy to roll, great for rolling begginers.
• Very nice quality

Minus:

• If you are big, take a look at Bara instead.
• Nose drops a bit (this will not be noticed in normall paddling)

Raed more: http://webshop.aterra.se/kajaker/havskajaker/glasfiber-carbon/

It have been a week of long workingdays since i arriwed home from Peniche. This easter we had a week of sunny hot weather and a supertough gang of hungry surfers from UK, Denmark, France and Sweden. I have learned since long time back that never estimate a person from their age or anything else. You dont know the skills of a person before they enters the water. And boy this was a hard going group. Allready first day they showed that they are not afraid of heavy water(waves up to 1,8m). I was planning for picking up a lot of swimmers during the week, as in a group of five its normally pretty much swimming. Actually one of the participants didnt take any swims at all, impressing! Now we also have a new nice boat Dagger Kaos wich is a Sit on Top surfkayak, that makes it easier for beginners. And its a suprisingly good surfkayak.

The prediction was good on monday and low the rest of the week but lucky us, we got good wave hight all days except for the last day. We know where to find waves after so many years here and this time we also discovered a new spot. On this spot we were alone and that is allways nice. To reach the spot you need a car and you have to walk a bit, but its worth it if its crowded on other spots. Next Surf Kayak Experience in Peniche is 26/6-1/7 http://www.aterra.se/surfkajakportugal.html

Thanks for a fantastic and fun week: Eva, Roswitha, Rosie, Sören, Vincent and my great friend Bart.

Some photos, Photographers Roswitha Wagenknecht, Rosie Solocean, Leif Davidsson.

Nice first day ride by Eva Goosens.

Vincent and Rosi goes wild in the Dagger Kaos.

Roswitha, no hesitation…

Sören the man who can swim but never practise

And a few more…

6/6 Prova på dag Helsingborg Aterra butiken, Norra Hamnen Helsingborg kl 11-14.

Provpaddla surfski, havskajak, fiskekajak och SUP.
Mellan kl 12-14 kommer Daniel Holm och pratar, paddlar och visar fiskekajaker för er.
Havskajaker från Arrow, P&H och Dagger. Paula Nilsson hjälper dig nybörjare med din första paddelupplevelse.
Surfskis från Carb Sport, REVO Kayaks, Nordic Kayaks
Fiskekajaker från Jackson Kayaks (kl 12-14)
SUP från Kona och Mistral

Plats Norra Hamnen Helsingborg Kajpromenaden 12.

What a nice weekend at the beautifull Bellevue Beach and Klampenborg Kano & Kayak Klubb we have had. A fantastic race and a great testday with our surfskis from Carbonology and REVO. Oscar Chalupsky and Ole Torp was there also representing Nelo so the grass field in front of the club was filled with surfskis in white… and a lot of other colors ;).

Last year we had a tough flat water race here but this time it was time for a real downwind. We started up north in the nice fishing village Gilleleje and the finnish was in Elsinore. It was downwind from start and that fit me so well as I dont have time to train so much as i want. I placed my self to the left so i could use the wind and waves as much as possible. We were 3-4 who went pretty far out I think it was Ronnie Daalsgard (red Nelo) and another  young  Nelo rider. Well the red Nelo was faster but i could keep a pretty close distance in the angled surf the first 8-9 km. But after that it was more and more straight waves the red ski disapeared and i couldnt keep up with the other guy either. But i saw Emma Broberg on my inside and she was falling back and i felt oh this is going well (she overtaked me later). I had to slow down a couple of times as its the first race and I knew that the end will be tough. The red ski went very far out and i started to move in, maybe I went closer to eraly. But i followed the guy in the white Nelo and when I was as most tired i started to close up again, he was way a head of me so I havent any thoughts to overtake him.

But… This is what the Carbonology Vault is made for!

Then it started, the wind droped and the sea was a mess, ok now its only one thing left… hard work… the guy was struggling in the small messy waves, it took me only three long waves to catch up with the shorter Nelo. The last surf when i passed was one of my longest surfs I ever had and I was in runs heaven and my mind began to sing: This is my church, This is where I heal my hurts, It’s a natural grace…

Well even a ”old” guy gets tired… when I came closer to the beach i saw a nose of a golden Vajda but lucky me I got two three nice ones again and he gave up on me, then i see a rednosed Epic on my right… oh noo I just wanna cruise over the finnish line. So tired but some things gives energy and i had the luck to get some help of the waves so I was over the line a half nose length before Henning Hansen wich normaly are faster than me. 13 place with 31 starts. Pretty good I think… only 17 minutes after Emil and 16 behind Oscar end only 11 minutse behind Ronnie. Topspeed 16,6, average 12,8, course length 22 km. Guys i get closer!

I guess this was the race of my life, dont know if I can do it again… Lets see when the season is over.

Sunday Oscar Chalupsky had two clinics, paddle tech and surf tech. I couldnt be there all the time but one thing is for sure you never stop learning. Me and Emma Broberg had some small clinics and testdays for curious people. A slow start but we had a hard days work. News for the Carbonology fans in Denmark is that we will soon have a Carbonology retailer in Denmark.

Thanks to all for a fantastic weekend! Fantastic event and I am looking forward to come back next year.

The race is over… And I have been totaly exhausted after the two days of racing. Well maby not only the races, also the stress before and running a kayak company with high sell the days before in the same time. It was a bit to much. Lucky to have the club Helsingborgskanotisterna to help.  Still tired but this evening i will go out for a playfull training in the Carb. Vault.

Saturday: Surfski SM 19 km. It was a tough race one of the hardest i have paddled. We start the first 5 km in sidewaves wich also normaly give impac waves from behind, but not this time. After the lighthouse I hoped for some easy waves, even if I know its not easy but one can dream… Last part of the race was better when i could make some runs and come closer to the ones in front of me. Well a championship shall be tough and even if I did a bad race you feel it was ok after a while…  My race: https://flow.polar.com/training/analysis/1549861648

Sunday: Surfski SS2 Swedish Open Championship (Svenska Riks Mästerskapet). Arild Klitterhus 15-16 km. Emma Broberg was my teampaddler in mix. I was close to cancell this in the morning but we decided to take it easy. Well you know all how it is with that. Start went of and Emil/Isak went away but we had two of the Mens team on our side for like 1/3-1/4 of the race and it felt great. But after a while came the misstakes and we went back. The last four km was aufull, no brain and no power, but i had Emma and i could feel her push the boat so we got a nice finnish thanks to that. Nice surfs and first over the finnishline. Boat the amazing Carbonology Zest SS2.

Thanks for a fantastic wekend all competitors. And a big thanks to Helsingborgkanotisterna that made this to a fantastic wekeend.

See you at Riviera Wave Challenge Båstad 5 august! Participate? Mail me: info@aterra.se

Photos from our photographer Patrik Weiler.

Resultat Surfski SM Aterra Wave Challenge:

Res-surfski-sm–awc-2017

Struer Frej nyhet hos Aterra! De har funnits en tid i Sverige och vi har väl varit nyfikna på Frej när den kom ut i vintras genom Struer Boats. Struer känner väl de flesta till i alla fall de som tävlat i racing. Nåväl vi vill testa maskinerna ordentligt innan de blir godkända. Så en vacker dag i Klampenborg efter en tävling kom det två test-Frej från Struer, hyfsade vågor och sol borgade för en bra test.

En snabb titt så ser man ett lite annorlunda skrov för havskajak, har någon kikat på surfski? Jo det är nog så, rejäl rocker i akter och suveränt lättdrivna. 504 är en kort lättmanövrerad och lite krävande kajak. Lite topprank för att ge bra grundfart men enormt slutstabil. 534 är mest ”surfskilik” med sitt längre skrov, den är lättdriven och lekfull även om den inte är så lätthanterlig i surf som Frej 504. Även 534 är lite rankare men har lika mycket slutstabilitet. Detta är kanske inte kajaker för nybörjaren utan för den mer vane. Dock är de inte så ranka så att en ”normal” nybörjare kan paddla dem men de kan kännas lite väl ranka. Ja nu är det väl som att svära i kyrkan men skulle kunna tänka mig att sätta ett roder på 534:an för att kunna använda den som en surfski fullt ut. Nåväl vill du ha en surfski kanske det är bättre du köper en sådan. Tänkte fortsätta svära lite det är ju ändå grönlandsgurun Björn Thomasson som designat Frej. Paddel, ja som ni ser så kör jag vinge på bilderna skulle nog säga att det är den mest rätta paddeln till Frej… men ja skall du lirka in dig bland kobbar och skär är det väl bäst att köra med euro eller grönlandspaddel… Struer Frej 504 24 250:- 534 24 495:- kommer till webshopen inom kort. Testbåtar finns i butiken.
http://webshop.aterra.se/

Sju-åtta sekundmeter från syd brukar bli bra förhållande på Seamasters. Oftast blåser det mer på havet och jag fick rapport om på vindar uppåt 12 ms syd. Jonas Fager varnade för ett kallt och tufft rejs så på med neoprenbrallorna från Palm. Efter uppvärmningen funderade jag en aning på en extra lycratröja, kallt i vattnet och i vinden var det, vi har betydligt varmare här nere i Skåne. Men jag tänkte att det här rejset skall kroppen få jobba och vurpa tänker jag inte göra i det kalla vattnet.

Start,jag stod med Jonny och Lasse W och när pipan blåste någonstans i öster så drog vi iväg. Högt tempo som jag hängde med på ett tag men sen började jag tänka på resten av rejset så jag lugnade mig gick lite längre ut tillsammans med en V8 och Christer Sjölund från Finland som alltid är snabbare än mig. Hade ett tag tänkt att släppa dem också innan vändningen men såg två skis långt ute till höger som vi höll nästan jämn fart med och den ena var en toppåkare så jag pangade på och tänkte får väl vila sen. När vi närmade oss 5 km kom vändningen. Nu kände jag vart det barkade på denna tävlingen…

Första surfen helt fel linje men behövde vila, tog en till och sen var det slut på myssurfandet. 20 km hårt arbete var kvar, dock hade jag hopp om att vinkeln skulle bli bättre på vågorna som en prognos tydde. Det blev aldrig så förrän några km före Femöre.

Nu är jag inte fan av alltför enkla banor så detta passade mig som hand i handske, även om jag inte har den fysik som krävs en så lång sträcka så gillar jag det tekniska spelet mellan mig och vågorna. Jag vill mot kranarna i Oxelösund och vågorna vill skicka in mig i Bråviken. Vilken kamp! Härlig tuff kamp hela vägen med skärpta sinnen för att minimera felen. Dock kändes det som om jag kom för långt in hela tiden men när jag senare såg på webtrackingen så var jag en av de som legat längre ut.

Efter ett tag så var jag ensam, lika konstigt varje gång när vi är så många startande, såg en orange kille långt före mig som låg längre ut till höger. Gjorde en felaktig rundning runt en ö, gick innanför och han utanför sen var han nästan borta, några km senare hade han dragit lååångt in, ooh bad mistake.

3-4 km till mål… ser en gul prick långt där borta… vi närmar oss Femöre Huvud och jag ser några fler paddlare. Plötsligt har jag en kille framför mig mindre än en km och nu började stöket, hade ingen känsel i varken axlar eller triceps och tänkte vurpar jag nu kommer jag inte upp. Kör för fan, nu kan du ta någon placering. Ju närmare vi kom desto värre blev det eller bättre för mig kanske jag skall säga. Min CS Vault dansade fram genom vågorna som om hon varit med på finalen i Lets Dance! Kom inte ända fram men halverade avståndet till killen framför mig innan vi kom fram till Femöre. Lite nöjd med mig själv var jag allt efter Femörestöket. En km kvar och det gick nästan inte att paddla var tvungen att helt slå av ett tag tittade bakåt men såg ingen så jag tog det lungt. Men… Förnimmer någon rörelse där bak så jag fick fart på ekipaget igen och vågorna fortsatte faktiskt ända in i mål.

Rundade fem km som 20-21 tror jag och kom i mål på en 16:e plats med många kanoner efter mig som alltid slår mig annars. Några sekunder senare hör jag bakom mig ”Grattis Leffe”! ”Fan det är inte möjligt!” Fredrik Wangler kom i mål efter mig.  Det var Fredrik jag såg långt där ute efter starten och jag sa till mig själv att jag skall slå honom idag (som egentligen körde imponerande i en jäkligt rank Nelo, jag hade inte haft en chans om han kört i en CS Vault ), ett helt overkligt mål såklart men ibland så sammanfaller verklighet och fantasi…

Bästa förhållandena på länge, det är så sällan det sammanfaller med riktigt bra vindar och tävling, så vi som fick uppleva Seamasters 2017 skall känna oss priviligerade ;).

Inte tid att ta bilder…

#carbonology #vault

Som vanligt har vi en fullmatad kalender även för hösten:

Aterra Kalender 2017

• Provpaddlingsdagar 2017

  Demo & testdag Aterrabutiken lördag 12/8 kl 11-14. För dig som vill testa kajak innan köp, kom och provpaddla din favoritkajak. Du är såklart välkommen att provappdla din drömkajak även andra tider om inte ovanstående passar dig. Maila gärna innna så du är säker på att vi har just din kajak i butiken.

• Havskajaker från Struer, Arrow, P&H och Dagger. Vi hjälper dig nybörjare med din första paddelupplevelse.
• Surfskis från Carb Sport, REVO Kayaks, Nordic Kayaks
• Fiskekajaker från Jackson Kayaks
• SUP från Mistral

• Tävlingar och event

• 5/8 Riviera Wave Challenge Båstad
• 23-24/9 Öresund Downwind Challenge
• 29/9-1/10 Surfkajaksymposium Klittmöller Denmark
• Havskajak Experience Spanien 9-14/10
• Surfkajak Experience Portugal 14-18/10
• Havskajak Experience Spanien 13-18/11
• Surfski Experience Gran Canaria2017-18

…or should i say SUP Expo? Close to half of the area was covered with SUP this year. Some year ago the SUP companys was complaining on the lack of interest. Is SUP big now then? No its still very small in europe, maybe the warm tourist countries is different, though i think its sold pretty many SUP 2017 in Europe. But for sure this sport will grow and some nice inventions and develops is comming up. Though many companys have a messy line up so you dont understand if its one or three brands in a stand.

I meet Jocke at the swedish company KONA, and here you can see a clear line, maybe its because they are sweddish… Kona will come with some new interesting boards next year.

Biggest news for us is that Tiderace come back with new modells and a new manufactor. And for you customers the best news… A standard G-Core Tiderace seakayak will have the price of 26 990 sek. We will let you know more later, still none of the new modells are made. Now manufactored in one of europes largest factorys Nelo.

Electric stuff, Aterra will have more electric gear next year, both with wheels and for water… Sorry same we will tell you more later.

Next year you will also find more clothings for surfski and training in our line up. And this time we hope that we found a serious manufactor for a surfski dry suit. For safety we dont sell suits with zipper in the neck if you wonder why we dont sell these suits.

Kxone comes with new versions of their upholstery boats, more narrow for easier paddling.

News from Palm Equipment. A Blaze Long John with nice insulation for the winther surfski paddler. The Extreme pfd comes in a Rescue version for the people that saves people in need. Palm Shuck is a new helmet and the cool thing with Shuck is that they have take measurements of thousands and tousends of heads and started making the helmet from the inside out. Yes its a really snugg fit on this helmet.

Dagger Kayaks. Stratos comes in new colors, cool! Some of the colors that we have seen on the ww kayaks. Blaze (orange-blue) and Horizon (green-blue). Dagger Phantom is a new fast creeker wich we allready have ordered some of.

Astral C-Wolf will be replaced by Blue Jacket. Very nice pfd for seakayaking. It comes in a beautiful blue and also red and black. HF come with a small resque system (I think a sertain Andreas Alvehus can take some honour of this). Plan Sea is the name and its a very good system.

Werner Paddles will have new colors on their glass blade, looks amazing!

Steve Whetman at Whetman Equipment tok down the biggest applauds for his small invention Crab Stick when he won the best gear. You dont know what it is? Look here, very smart: http://webshop.aterra.se/sakerhet/radda-bogsera/whetman-krab-stick.html

Jackson Kayak comes with a pedaldrive to their fishing boats. Looks nice. Also they presented the Liska, wich is named after our sweddish fishing kayak guru Jan Liska who tragically died 2016.

Eventually we will have some new kayakbrands also, we have to think about that…

More news: P&H celebrated 40 years in business with a black golden Aries a price rise and a sign! Valley did the same, a price rise then… and SKUK:s answer was actually a golden disco Romany. At least Nigel has humor…

Nordic Kayaks was there with their new short PE surfski only. Point 65 showed some new low price SOT, interesteing yes could be that you find some in the Aterra shop. More Sweden Melker Kayaks won a price for best recreational kayak? Congrats! Well a recreationall kayak in europe isnt the same as here in Sweden, they mean a stable and less advanced seakayak.

Tahe Kayaks will release a E:Core serie were they make some of the kayak in recycled material. Great idea!

This year I had only a few hours left to go around and I didnt have time to go in to all suppliers as my calendar was more or less fully booked. During the autumn/winther we will let you know more about new products and updates.

More photos for the qurious:

This is something I have wanted to do for a long time. And now it was a pretty close championship in Portrush Ireland. Some friends and I meet up week before in Peniche for some warm up. The plan was from the beginning to pick up my Zenith there, but I bought a new one instead to have less problems with transports. Didnt own my new Ride many days as i sold it to the nice guys from Argentina. Last days in Peniche I catched a cold and on the way to Ireland i was pretty bad, well two days rest should do it…

Might as well say this from the beginning I was surfing bad in all my heats actually. Felt week, nervous and stressed… First heat in Open HP, big nasty waves hard wind and many competitors swimed. I had a rised seat for the first time in my new Zenith and went out just after seeing Tue Olesen do a spectacular fall. Damn got a bit nervous… Well out in the heavy upwind and when the heat is just about to start I felt that the higher seat wont work in these conditions, not the right moment to start with that. Back in and tear of the seat and another heavy paddle out. Oh yes I was tired allready, couldnt even get out and catch anything. Think I got one green start and then nothing…

Day two was a resting day, no waves and that was good for me. Next day in Grand Master it went pretty good i thought but no… So now I have to trust the repechage heat. First Open HP it felt good but again a disaster when I saw the result. This was my best heat and I was sure to be the first, oh no boy right down to the bottom… My last reps in GMHP I was totally of, dont know at all was I was thinking about… embarrassing.

Well its very tight in a competition like this with so many great kayak surfers. Amazing to se what they could do even in like 1-2 foots waves. It was only one day with really good waves. But you have to manage all type of waves offcourse.

Will I do this again? Yes! Offcourse, next WC is in Peru 2019. I hoped I learned something on this event and will train more at home and in Denmark. This is a very difficult sport and thats also whats so fun about it. You will never stop learning.

I have also to say a big thanks to the Dannish team that invited the halfdane (Scania you know). Also thanks to Alberto and Bart for the coaching and fun time in Peniche. Offcourse thanks to the CANI and Portrush team who made the event. And thanks to Hernan Mogade how bought my boat, I know it will get many nice surfs in Argentina.

And of course a super congratulation to David Tetchner who was in the HP final, were he did a impressing performance! Above photo.

The hapiness of surfkayaking!

2019 Team Sweden! We or I will work for a Team Sweden to Peru 2019 19-26 july. More about this later but do you feel that this looks exciting (wich it is) let me know. Contact me at info@aterra.se

Pretty cold some days…

Peru wave: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oBDNvWG6jRM

Peru Surfplace: Pacasmayo District

Pacasmayo Photos

Sorry this will be in swedish… Irland-Nordirland, undrar om det är någon skillnad på de olika invånarna? Kanske, kanske inte. Fem minuter efter att man varit där så faller hela bilden av irländaren som man lärt sig på film. Kommer in i den lokala surfshopen i Portrush och killen som står där pratar jag med som om vi känt varandra i många år. På apoteket likaså, på Lidl när jag frågar något till kassören så engagerar sig hela kön. Trafiken är hela tiden så hänsynsfull och ja det behövs nu när allt är på fel sida. Överallt möter jag människor ”hoay” eh jo… vad säger de? How are you såklart. Ute på vägarna när jag är på upptäcktsfärd hälsar man på den mötande bilen, precis som hemma på landet förr. Ja det gör man där också nu men här är det liksom överallt, sitter man på stranden och vilar och det går någon förbi så slänger man iväg några ord. Det känns som äkta omtanke som att folk verkligen bryr sig. Leenden, alla ler mot dig. Parkerar man bilen nere vid White Rocks stranden så hälsar man på de andra i närheten med en nick och ett leende.

Som svensk idag är det här en kulturkrock…!  Här finns irländare, turister och 200 kajaksurfare från hela världen som skall köra VM i vågorna på East Strand.

Portrush är staden där vi körde Surfkajak VM det är en liten stad som andas brittiska öarna lång väg. Tydligen är det ett populärt ställe att åka till restaurangerna är alltid fulla. Personalen är proffsig och trevlig och jobbar stenhårt, hade jag haft restaurang hade jag nog skickat min personal på utbildning här. Man åker ända från Belfast för att käka här, maten är ok vissa rätter riktigt goda andra nja, ”undrar hur kocken tänkte där”. Billigt är det två rätter 10-16 pund. En öl 3 pund.

I line upen, surfterm som betyder ”väntzon” om du inte redan visste det. Här märks det irländska kynnet igen, här ler man, hälsar och säger några ord. De som surfat med locals ute i världen vet att det inte är så vanligt.

Causeway Coastal Route här avlöser sig de fantastiska scenerierna. När solen står på är grönskan bländande, bländande vacker, en mix med kullar, branta stup, stängsel får och kor. Små gårdar och små byar med vita hus. Gamla fårvaktarskjul i sten, kanske det varit fattiga bönder som bodde där med hela sin familj? Slott från 1200 talet i ruiner och spännande platser där man spelat in bla Game of Thrones. Trånga vägar som slingrar sig får mig att vilja ta hit min Ducati, för visst måste det vara lättare att köra på två hjul i vänstertrafik tänker jag. Och ja Isle of Man ligger nära… Vågor, natur, vägar och härliga människor… Nord Irland…

Jag bodde på: encuiries@anvershiel.co.uk ett nyrenoverat B&B med en rejäl frukke som drivs av Janice och Alan Thompson. Såklart var de jättetrevliga och gav den bästa service man kan få.

Join Aterra in 2018-2019 South African tour, read more at the bottom.  Its some weeks ago since we came home from South Africa with me back home I had a nice flu that tok all my energy, no time and energy left for the blogg. Also when you are in SA its not allways we have wifi and as on all trips its hectic sometimes.

The roundtrip started in Durban, Greg at REVO kayaks told me it should be a early morning. And offcourse i missed a flight so I was late in the bed. Around seven next day we were out in the REVO skis, ouh was I rusty. Both morning, no breakfast and not much paddling the last months. Greg have taken most of the photos below but I forgot to put the camera on auto… thats why the photos looks cool but different. On sunday Jan and Sara joined us but then the wind hade left Durban, though we went out a bit and could catch some massive swell waves.

Den orange REVO skin är en REVO R4. Deras nybörjarski, en stabil maskin med samma mått som R3 och den är helt baserad på R3.an, skillnaden är att skrovet är bredare och stabilare nedtill. R4.an vi provade var en prototyp och det har gjorts några justeringar vet jag men vi hinner få något ex hit tidigt i vår. Väldigt snygg ski som både ser snabb och rank ut, dock är det en instegsski.

REVO SS2 ännu en prototyp som var fantastisk att paddla, väldigt stabil kändes den men ändå snabb, skrovet är baserat på REVO R1/R2. Blev överraskad av hur bra den gick när jag var ute med Neil Evans, REVO.s teampaddlare. Tyvärr hinner vi inte få med en dubbel hit i vår då projektet ännu är i sin linda och det skall testas mer.

Oups nu blev det svenska… Vi går över till min dåliga engelska igen…

Next stop Port Elizabeth. We started with a beach tour on the amazing Sardinia Bay south of the city. And the morning after we got a amazing breakfast in the area. South African food is supergreat!

Next morning we went to the Carbonology factory. Carbonology has grown and are one of the big surfski companys now.  At the nice and clean factory we could have a first glimpse of the new Carbonology Boost LV. The Boost is comming in a low volume verison to fit smaller paddlers. This will be the first full length ski in the class for smaller paddlers. The Boost LV will have same stability, speed and measure as the original, but its lower with less volume. Smaller seat, lower hump and easier to get a snug catch for short persons. And as its lower it will be much easier to remount in. As in all CS skis you sit with the bum is higher than the heels.

Carbonology Boost LV

Now to some cool adventure, we went to a game reserve in two days. A nice experience and we had such a luck and saw more or less all the species the first day. You are so close to the big five so yes you can sometimes feel their breath. Magnificent experience.

I think now its time for some surfski paddling and we went down to Carbonology Training Center in St. Francis. Here we did some waveplay and nice downwinds. Everywere you are you see surfskis on the water in gardens, on the beaches. And the same as here you meet both young and old paddlers. Did you know that the first ever surfski race was held in Port Elizabeth allready 1958.

The Cruze SS2 double is also a new ski from Carbonology. Its a recreational ski. But it surfs as a godess though its not made for downwindpaddling. Its a cruise machine but it can handle most weather and its very fun to play with in the waves. The waves on the photos are clean but me an Eva (Kajak Kalmarsund) went out in some nasty wind and played with the Cruze double, superfun.

St. Francis is a nice place to stay and the hospitality from the Carbonology bosses Hein and Jason was fantastic every evening ended with a nice braii.

After St Francis we rented a car and drove down to Cape Town on the Garden Route. We had a nice stop in Plettenberg. Not so much time there but we went out hiking on the Robberg peninsula, very nice walk were we saw seals, dolphins, birds and I dont know what… Dont miss if you pass Plettenberg at your way on Garden Route. Garden Route need some time to explore unfourtunately we was most in the car as we only had less than two days to get down to Cape Town. The last 2/3 of the ride is scenic but most farming and beautifull mountains. At least we learned why they have so good meat in SA.

Beautifull Knysna

Cape Town! Fish Hoek was offcourse were we should stay a week. Its a speciall surfski atmosphere in Fish Hoek. Our CS boats were late but Mocke could help us out and rent out som skis to us. Thanks! Time for Millers Run! Its was around 10 m/s and its a perfect start. Our guide Ian Troutman at GoDownwind had booked Millers Taxi for our afternoonsession and the first Millers. The job that Vinnie does with his Millers taxi is fantastic and everything is so smoth and easy. You could actally go for severall downwinds a day. Tuesday evening we hade a fantastic braii at our local sweddish friend Lennart house. Oh yes it was a late evening and so fun to listen to all stories. In the morning we should go for a reall tough downwind with Lennart, yes the evening before was still in the body for sure. But its such a fantastic ride so you forget anything and the focus is on the surf.  See the movie below from this fantastic morning.

After the morning Millers Run I was waisted and called Vinnie and cancelled my afternoon ride. Though 16:00 I went to the beach together with Eva and Sara who went out in doubles with Ian and Lee from GoDownwind. Lucky me Millers Taxi had room for one more. I was tired but when do you get this chanse again, after they told us it was the ride of the whole season. 20m/s (40 knots) from the ”right” direction. We were around twenty paddlers and many of them were aiming for a new personal record, Jasper Mocke wich have the fastest time so far was there with some of the worlds best surfskipaddles. Some did break their records, Rob Moesly told me he did and six other guys.  This was one of my coolest and toughest experience in a ski, I was mostly alone even if I could see the doubles after a while. I managed even to be afraid once in a big steep wave were my boat broached of and the wave started to brake over me. But as the surfer I am I maganed to trust the wave and throw my paddle in to it and drive the ski with some strokes up in speed again and down we went. Yes the heart beat was 199 for a while… Maybe the Viking god Njord helped me a bit… For sure this was one of my best moments in a ski ever!

Friday evening its allways Sea Dog Race, a never cancelled surfski race that collect 60-120 paddlers each friday. Fantastic event and here you also compete with some of the best surfski paddlers in the world. Well I shouldnt say that I compete with them, more like I started in the same race ;). They are fast…

Last day me and Viktoria got the flu so we missed the last downwindpaddling. In all this was a fantastic tour in South Africa. So many nice people and so many adventures we had explored. Thanks to my travelpartners Eva, Viktoria, Sara and Jan.

Also big thanks to: Greg and the REVO team. Hein and Jason at Carbonology for the fantastic hosting and paddling. Chloe and Pete for a fun evening. Dawid Mocke for the help when our boats was delayed. Ian Troutman at GoDownwind for safe and fun downwinds. Lee because you paddling the best boat ;). And Lennart who tok us out alone on a amazing downwind morning after the delicate braii, eh and the good gin…

Join us for the next Aterra South African Tour 2018-2019. Interested? Send Aterra a mail and we put you up on the list and send you more information later this spring, this is without obligations. info@aterra.se

Aterra South African Tour 2018-2019:

• Tour: Port Elizabeth, St. Francis, Cape Town, Fish Hoek. The tour is 2 weeks.
• Paddling, downwind, game reserv, eating, adventures, races and more downwinds…
• Date december 2018 or jan-feb 2019, we decide this later.

And at last some whales, orcas or dolphins, at least it was big animals, about 4-5 of them. We saw them in the morningpaddle but the photos are from the hotel later.

Oh the white long things are Sara and Jan in surfskis

Some weeks ago we were in Peniche with fantastic people, everytime when I go home from our courses I think ”this was the best time”. Well the truth is that its the best time everytime! Thanks for a fantastic week Elisabeth, Maud, Danny, Leonard and Bart. And of course allways so enjoyable to stay at Captain Log House.

Join us for next surfkayak course 15-20 april 2019: http://aterra.se/surfkajakportugal.html

Nice ride! First time in the air, small but a good start ;).