Sam's Blog

    With all of the rain bringing high water levels it's important to keep SAFE. We are all between swims so it can happen to anyone, at any time. When swims happen boats can sometimes go off on an adventure of its own. Sometimes the boats are never to be seen again. Claimed by the River Gods. Either way, that situation is going to suck! No boat, though walk out and then having to deal with claiming off your insurance. Ever wondered what happens when the boat tur up in a random place? Neither had I.   So, I found out from my friendly local shop and their contacts. Kent Canoes.         When a boat is found by any sort of emergency services a search will be started. This could be via social media or actually getting hands-on and doing a full search. This all depends on the type of boat, the environment it was found in and the time of year. So if they find a touring boat on a canal they probably won't go looking for a body. Howev...

    That's right people its's a new year so time for something different! Firstly, I hope everyone had an amazing Christmas and New Year and that Santa brought you everything you wanted. Mine was fairly average... Friends, family, food and of course; paddling. So let's get to the topic of new things then shall we?     Firstly lets cover work. I'm no longer working at Lee Valley which as crazy as it sounds, means I'll be able to paddle loads more and enjoy paddling way more too! I've been looking to relocate to Nottingham for a while now to paddle more and eventually hopefully; get better at kayaking. For the meantime, I've been working in Kent Canoes! The best kayaking shop in the WORLD!!!! (Opinion may be biased) This has been a blast so far and already I've been out paddling a lot more.     So, now the boring subject of work is out of the way. The bit that will make the most difference to life itself... I JOINED TEAM WAVESPORT! This is...

    Happy to be announcing a new sponsor! First of all, the guys and girls over at Cassette have been kind enough to offer you guys a 20% off card! Use discount code: SAMKAYAK at the checkout to save on your fresh new pair of sunnies.     So who are Cassette and why did I team up with them?     Cassette are an eyewear brand created out of a skate and snowboard shop in Idaho, America. Their goal is to bring high quality glasses to the market at a price which doesn't break the bank! Starting back in 2011 they haven't moved away from this ethos as still put froward great sunnies which aren't going to knock some figures from your bank balance.     Over at Cassette they have a G1ve program. What's that you ask, well let me explain. For every pair fo glasses they sell, whether that be sunglasses or prescription glasses, they will donate a pair of reading glasses to someone in need.     This is an awesome company to get involved with and...

    As per usual the Hurley Classic was another fantastic event! So great to see all of the young rippers out on Saturday for meet the stars. If your not aware of the event meet the stars is where the best paddlers in the world come down and take a group of young kids kayaking! This is the perfect way to inspire the younger generation and give them coaching at the same time.     I went out for the morning session on the water with Morgan, a talented little boater from Lee Valley. Together we looked at getting him onto the middle wave. On his second attempt he managed to cruse his way across to the middle wave. Amazing to be seeing Morgans progressions from play boating on the Legacy course to the wave at Hurley. Jumping for joy     Boater cross was an interesting event this year. The course had been changed from previous years which was nice to see! As always, it's always about taking part and not winning, mainly because I wasn't any...

    One of the questions I've been asking myself recently is; what do I want my blog to be? Well I firstly want it to stick to it's original form which was to report on my kayaking training and adventures. At the same time as that I'd like to do a little more than just kayaking, I mean, I do more than just kayak in my life. So I've decided to discuss lots of different topics which I can relate to; whether it being something I like or dislike.     I'd also like to do some reviews of different things. Whether it be kayaking related, car related, bike related or just anything that I can think of. Just something for me to write about and don't worry, I'll try and spell as many things right as I can! Just a short one today. Catch you guys later, Sam

Simply WOW...     If you look down to my last post which was almost a year ago, you'll probably see how I had planned to be more organised and also do more blog posts. Well, more organised yes, I did somehow manage to organise my life and get myself a pretty awesome job doing something I'd always been wanting to do within the best place the UK has to offer. That's right, I became a paddle sport instructor at Lee Valley; pretty cool right? So why that was great and going well, did I manage to do loads of blog posts? No. So the reason for that, I'm incredibly clumsy and broke my laptop leaving me without anything to type on. So luckily thanks to my Mum lending me hers, this year I'm able to do this post.     Hopefully this year I will be able to keep up the posts and will throw in some random ones which will be about other things in my life other than my Tupperware tub, aka my kayak! Catch you all later, Sam