Excursion with friends

The decision was taken. The meeting was moved from 6:30 to 10:00 (5th July 2009) to let Salvo driving back from the Catania airport. The aim was to check our paddling ability, after one year with very few training, to paddle 20 nautical miles in a short day.

From Bruca's beach we headed for Punta Secca, that was impossible to see in the distance due to the mistiness. We followed a direct route behind the GPS traking of Vincenzo.

Nuccio turned back at about 3 nautical miles from the start, leaving me, Vincenzo, Salvo, Gianni and Pino. A composite group of friends with strange hats under the burning sun.

The light head wind started to blow with increasing force, lifting waves over the bows. The paddling become to be wet and fresh. When I reached alone the harbour of Marina di Ragusa, after three hours of paddling, I had the time for a swimming to empty the bladder and climb back into the cockpit before seeing Pino and Salvo approaching with Vincenzo and Gianni in the distance. It jumps out that Gianni was using a self-made 2 kg heavy paddle and was going to leave for exaustion! Luckily Vincenzo has lent his spare one...

One hour more and we land near the famous (after the movie of Montalbano Commissioner) lighthouse of Punta Secca.

Under the shadow of a tent we ate our food. Some cold beer, salade, bread, cheese, ham, cold tomatoes, fruits... A good lunch. Somebody start to snore collapsed in the sand, others chatting quietly. Good time: 9.4 nautical mile, four hours and 10 knots wind. A coffe is needed in order to paddle back to Bruca!

With the backwind the paddling is faster. We slow down and follow the protected beach of the Irminio River mouth to have a closer watch of a beached vessel, probably used for a landing of illegal immigrants.

Than we land for one more coffe but the bar is still closed. Eat a bar and back to the sea, until our final destination. Four hours to go, three hours to paddle back. Nice friend, nice day!

Introduction to sea kayaking

On saturday 4th July, Marcello had an introduction to sea kayaking, learning as well the wet exit as the low brace and conduction of the kayak with light winds. In the afternoon sea conditions turned to advanced level and we moved to another day to continue with base rescue skills...

Basic-surf sea kayaking class in Bruca

"Just one day late!" I told to my pupils from Sweden... "yesterday was the perfect sea for a surf course!". At the end the day was really fun, after some little surfing and a rescue lesson, so much exciting for the nordic guys that they asked me for learning more and to continue for learning a bomb proof eskimo roll...

small surf at the Bruca's beach

Paddling in the fog

Great paddling! With Vincenzo and Salvatore, we paddled in a 15 knots NW wind with patches of fog that reminded me Scotland! A lot of fun paddling downwind, a little bit less coming back to home... And nice breakers on the beach!

We all were not able to remind an end of June so cold, foggy and windy!

Kayak for Cancer

Two double kayak teams crossed the sea channel from Sicily to Malta. 19th June at 16:00 they launched from the harbour of Pozzallo heading south towards Malta. The sea conditions were perfect with a very light wind but, as reported from Dorian, the night was very dark and the sea full of jellyfishes.

I visited them in Pozzallo to give them a good luck. The teams were composed by Dorian J. Vassallo with Albert Gambina and Michael Gellel with Mark Bugeja. A sailing boat and a safety boat followed the kayaks. After 15 hours and 25 minutes they landed safely in Valletta after an open sea crossing of 51 nautical miles.

The challenge has done to collect money for the cancer research and it is the third one after the crossing in single kayaks from Malta to Sicily in 2008 and with double kayaks around the Malta archipelago for a distance of 60 nautical miles in 18 hours in April 2009.

The next crossing will see the teams attempt to paddling from Malta to Linosa to Lampedusa and Mahdia (Tunisia), covering the total distance of 182 nautical miles in three days. Me and my friend Rino decided to join the maltese teams in a double... but to join them we have first to perform the crossing from Sicily to Malta!

Dorian, me and Albert

A new sea kayak school

On the 29th of april we had a little party for the presentation of the second base in Catania of our sea kayak school.

Of course the party followed a two hours paddling session along the lava cliffs... Than, after the toast with David, the owner of the shop, and with all the present friends, we make a draw of four courses of introduction to the sea kayaking.

The four lucky winners never paddle before and this is much more interesting in the aim of sea kayak diffusion. The draw was done with little piece of numbered tickets mixed into the forward hatch of a "SKD 486"...

During the party a group of multi sport instructors started to talk about the possibility to offer a number of activities like wind surf, sea kayak, diving, snorkeling, caving, trekking, parachute and so on...

The kayakers friend also were present for a toast and offered their cooperation for future projects.
If a good start is a good omen, than we can hope well.

Siracusa and the rivers

With the Sicilian friends of the Sottocosta Association (http://sicilia.sottocosta.it/) I paddled the 5th of April morning from the town of Siracusa to the mouth of the Anapo river, paddling under the shadow of the trees along the beautiful canals. A warm wonderful day to start the spring paddling season...

New kayak school in Catania

The new Maremotu Kayak School base is finally open in Catania, at the Milone Mare Sport shop!
A beautiful launching little harbour right in front of the shop, perfect for the start of the excursions and courses. Plenty of fine equipment for kayaking, fishing, snorkeling and diving into the shop, where we run the theory lessons.
Very soon the innauguration...

Francesco and Peppe at the entrance of the shop / school.The street location of the shop /school.The veranda of the shop.
The launching spot into the little harbour of Ognina.

A little park along the coast

Very close to the Maremotu Sea Kayak School in Bruca, only 5 km east from our beach, a new park is going to be open in this summer.
There is an interesting biological environment, very similar to the north African coast. Some trees are endemic, like the small palms, others come from the South America, like the agave cactus.
With a bike is possible to follow the coastline along the improved paths of the park.

From the village of Sampieri, after a short dirt track there is a little beach, very nice place to land with a kayak.

Then the rocky shore rise again but a track delimited by the classic white stone walls gives the possibility to reach a little house that will be used as a museum.

The story of this house started with the Second World War, when the german troops buided it up to control the coast.

The dirt road continues towards the village of Cava D'Aliga, along the rim of the sea cliff, between palms and agave cacta.

A nice little anthropized strip of land, between the sea and cultivated fields, that is both nice to paddle along or cross with a bicicle or walking.

Extraordinary strong winds

This is an extraordinary hard winter, with heavy rain and winds.

In the last week here in the south of Sicily like in most part of Europe, the weather was all than good. Today a paddling was in my plan but the 35 knots blowing from the night before and reinforcing in the late morning prepared for me and my friends Peppe and Vincenzo a wild environment that discouraged all of us entering the water.The water was the color of the sand and big waves were running in two different directions. The beach was disappeared and some crushed wooden buildings parts were floating into the foamy liquid with all their nails and screws still attached on. Some seagulls were flying over the breakers looking for confused fishes and a Common sandpiper was looking for a sheltered spot between the exposed rocks.Also in Donnalucata, a village 10 km north of the Bruca beach, the conditions were pretty wild and after a hot coffee in a bar we just talked a little bit more about the weather, to agree that this (still blowing right now) is the strongest wind in the last ten years...