René’s old blog

This site is some twenty-five years old, and it contains lots of ancient stuff, much of it utterly dated and useless.

Sorry about that.

If anything, I post very unevenly, and about whatever occupies me.

Some featured posts

See all featured posts.

Most recent posts

  • Skim Dipper

    I just noticed that Skim Kayaks have a new model out, the Skim Dipper. They haven’t put up much information about it yet, except that it is 536cm long (17ft 7in) and 51.5cm wide (20.3in). There are some photos linked from the front page. It seems to be a middle thing between the Skim Dex…

  • Returning to Sardinia

    Returning to Sardinia

    I have now booked the ferry to Sardinia for the last leg of my circumnavigation of the island. In a few days time I will push the Skim Distance back in the water exactly where I pulled it up last year, and finish what I set out to do last year. On Friday I’m off…

  • Nigel Foster’s Whiskey 16

    Nigel Foster’s Whiskey 16

    Venice Kayak has taken delivery of one of the very first of Nigel Foster‘s new design, the Point 65º Whiskey 16. Nigel Foster himself took it for its virgin paddle in the lagoon at Bibione. There are more photos of the Whiskey 16 and Nigel Foster on Flickr.

  • Bibione Weekend

    Bibione Weekend

    It has been a busy weekend here at the Bibione Kayak Symposium, as it should be. Expecting a rush on Saturday, I signed up for classes on Friday, so I was out of the way of the way for the weekend. Morning class was with Jen Kleck, for rolling exercises. Jen is an absolutely marvellous…

  • Bibione Kayak Symposium

    Bibione Kayak Symposium

    A bit delayed, as is normal and indeed expected here in Italy, I’ve arrived here at the Capalonga Camping for the first Bibione Kayak Symposium. It was a 90km drive from Venice, with side bags on the motorcycle, the tent and a split paddle on the back seat. The only noteworthy event of the drive…

  • Vogalonga 2008

    Vogalonga 2008

    The Vogalonga is a celebration of Venice and its rowing traditions, and in part also a protest against the invasion of the city by motorised vessels.

  • Tour of Venice

    Tour of Venice

    Tomorrow is Vogalonga day, and we’re on our way to bed so we can get up in time for the start at 9 in the St. Mark’s basin. Today we’ve had a group of Vogalonga participants on a tour on Venice in kayak. We were three Sardinians, three from Puglia, one from Bologna, four Frenchmen…

  • Vogalonga camping

    Vogalonga camping

    Here’s a few photos from the Camping San Nicolò this afternoon as the participants of this years Vogalonga started settling in.

  • Vogalonga weekend

    My blogging is way behind schedule. My last post is one week and 2000 km old. Right now I’m sitting on the ferry boat from Venice to the Lido, as part of the weekends move from Mestre to the Lido. Tomorrow we’re organising a tour of the city for the guests we have for the…