Posts Tagged ‘sea kayaking’

Yesterday CackleTV of Wales, UK  released the preview clip for their upcoming DVD entitled, “This is Canoeing“, a highly anticipated celebration of the sport (Addiction?) showcasing some of the world’s top paddlers in  some of the most stunning locations our planet has to offer.  Paddlesports enthusiasts everywhere  are pretty excited.  What you may not know is that CackleTV has a Wisconsin connection that begins right in here Baraboo.

It was over 5 years ago now when Justine Curgenven, owner of CackleTV and I first met thanks to the internet, a love of kayaking and a few mouse clicks.  At that time Justine Curgenven & CackleTV had just released their first ground breaking sea kayaking adventure video called, “This Is The Sea”. The DVD documented her adventures and those of paddlers from around the world as they explored the far reaches of the earth by sea kayak. That first award winning DVD has since blossomed into a highly regarded series and has won numerous awards around the planet. It was about that same time, Skillet Creek here in Baraboo became involved in the web development and graphic design side of of the project.

Over the years Justine has explored the coast of Kamchataka in Russia, lead the first all female team to circumnavigate Tasmania, circumnavigated the south island of New Zealand  and more all from the seat of a 17 foot boat.  Along the way she has continued to document her adventures and those of fellow paddlers around the world bringing the “This is The Sea” series to 4 volumes.

Justine has also been here in the great lakes region several times to explore both Lake Superior & Lake Michigan. In 2007  the world premiere of  “This is the Sea 3″  was held at Canoecopia in Madison, WI. Canoecopia  is after all, the largest paddlesports tradeshow in the world.

Now of course even living here in central Wisconsin it wouldn’t feel right to simply “design stuff” for such a project.  No, paddling is a personal passion of my own as well.  Over the same period of time I have become a paddling instructor and have paddled around the country, as well as in the UK, Puerto Rico and Israel. In fact, in 2007 I and my paddling partner became the first folks (in modern history anyway)  to circumnavigate the island of Puerto Rico by sea kayak in just under 30 days.

Baraboo has even hosted a rather impromptu gathering of other world class paddlers including Freya Hoffmeister of Germany & Greg Stamer of Florida. Freya recently became the first woman to circumnavigate the continent of Australia by sea kayak, taking just over a year to do it. Greg Stamer has participated in two Greenland National Kayaking Championships in 2000 and in 2002, winning two gold and two bronze medals. Freya, Justine, Greg, myself and others lead an evening training session here at the Baraboo Middle-School pool for paddling enthusiasts from around the mid-west.  Never before or since has the local pool seen so many kayaks!

This year Justine Curgenven will once again premiere her latest work for the first time here in Wisconsin at the 2010 Canoecopia event  March  12-14.  I personally am looking forward to having Justine over in our part of the world again. (Btw, I think I have to do a kayak rolling demonstration as well! Yikes!)  If you are interested in paddling or any sort of outdoor adventure, I certainly invite you to visit www.Cackletv.com where you can see a variety of clips from Justine’s films and learn more about her adventures around the world.  You can also find my sea kayaking adventures, kayak rolling clips and more on www.KayakQuixotica.com.

Baraboo may seem about as far away from the sea as one can get.. funny thing though.. it’s closer than you think.