Paddle 09 at Perth

We spent most of the weekend at Paddle 09, the SCA's annual canoe and kayak show, held at Bell's Leisure Centre in Perth.


There was lots to see. Our personal highlights were the premiere of the "Sea Kayak with Gordon Brown" DVD, and an outstanding illustrated talk by Dr. Douglas Wilcox, which showed some of his wonderful photographs to great effect on a large screen in a side hall. The talk covered trips to Colonsay and to Coll & Tiree, and included a graphic account of Douglas having to reduce a dislocation to his own knee on a remote beach in the Sound of Gunna- cue 150 people squirming in their seats!


Above is the Karitek stand, with a selection of SKUK and Rockpool boats one side, and their skeg and handling products displayed on the other side. The blue boat in the foreground attracted some attention, it's a Rockpool boat made from "Carbonite 2000". This material looks like a composite, but is actually a type of thermoformed ABS. It's certainly light and is rumoured to be pretty tough. Perhaps a material which will become mainstream in time. Rockpool aren't the first to use it; it's been in use by Eddyline kayaks for some time, but if a well respected UK manufacturer starts to use it, others may follow.


There were some interesting bits tucked in amongst the retailers and manufacturer's stands. This is the Tiderace Xplore-X used by Patrick Winterton for his Scotland to Faroes paddle with Mick Berwick. The device around the cockpit is an extended cover to allow sleeping in the boat.


And this is the boat's shiny new siblings on the Tiderace stand.

All in all an interesting and well attended show.