Surf Ski, Kayaking and Canoeing Archives - A Simple Life of Luxury

Croatia – An Activity Holiday

Alan Cole — Mon, 21 Sep 2026 18:06:00 +0000

Another holiday? Yes, this one was booked quite a while ago and ended up somewhat shoehorned in between our recent trip to Sweden, the Traws Eryri next week, and a few upcoming weekends away as well. Fortunately, it was also a package holiday, so there wasn’t much organising to do and little in the way...

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Sea Kayaking in the Sankt Anna Archipelago: Aspöja and the Central Islands

Alan Cole — Thu, 20 Aug 2026 07:52:49 +0000

Day 4 This would be our final full day in the Sankt Anna Archipelago, so after a chilled breakfast we packed up, left the cabin behind us and wandered across to our kayak, where we replenished our fresh water supplies and slipped back into the calm waters. The wind had dropped off even more now,...

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Sea Kayaking in the Sankt Anna Archipelago: Missjö to Aspöja

Alan Cole — Wed, 19 Aug 2026 08:59:21 +0000

Day 2 It was still windy in the morning, so we had a relaxed breakfast, packed up camp and were ready to start paddling by around 9am. Rather than head south-west across more open water towards Harstena, we adjusted our plans and decided to head slowly north, taking shelter where we could from the wind...

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Sea Kayaking in the Sankt Anna Archipelago

Alan Cole — Tue, 18 Aug 2026 17:54:00 +0000

After a long trip to the Sankt Anna Archipelago on the south-east coast of Sweden, we finally rocked up at the Kajak Paradisetheadquarters and collected our kit. We had booked a large double kayak and camping kit for four nights and five days and were soon sitting on the grass with one of the girls...

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The Surf Skis Live to Paddle Another Day

Alan Cole — Thu, 25 Jun 2026 09:06:40 +0000

It’s been a case of ‘so far, so good’ with the surf skis. I’ve had them both on the water for a few short paddles, as well as a paddle to Aberdyfi and back last night. They both seem to be watertight, and the repairs have held up well. Time will tell how long they’ll...

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Bringing Two Surf Skis Back from the Dead (Maybe)

Alan Cole — Tue, 16 Jun 2026 18:53:00 +0000

For the last few years I’ve been the proud owner of not one, but two damaged surf skis: a Knysna Genius BLU and a Think Evo II. I essentially snapped the tail off the former back in 2019 and it’s been sitting under my lean-to ever since. No longer seaworthy, it was eventually superseded by...

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Costa Rica Coast to Coast – Reaching the Caribbean

Alan Cole — Tue, 26 May 2026 06:37:55 +0000

Today was the day we would finally reach the Caribbean coast and complete our coast-to-coast journey across Costa Rica. The Pacific now felt a very long way away as we prepared for the final push. Early Start We had another early start, which suited me perfectly. Everyone else had been going to bed incredibly early...

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Costa Rica Coast to Coast – From Sugarcane Fields to Rafting in the Rainforest

Alan Cole — Sat, 23 May 2026 05:32:33 +0000

The Road to Rio Pacuare I slept a bit, but not much, so I was thankful for a fairly early start today and a quick breakfast in the hall before climbing back onto our bikes once again. We started with a pleasant ride along easy roads beside the Rio Pejivalle and then through endless sugar...

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Another Broken Ski

Alan Cole — Mon, 04 Mar 2024 11:29:42 +0000

Having not been out on a surf ski, or paddle boat of any description for a while I was quite excited to get out there on Saturday. There was some decent surf rolling in at around 2-3 foot and little wind but the waves were still a bit messy. Not ideal for board surfing but...

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Summer Returns

Alan Cole — Mon, 09 Oct 2023 09:21:44 +0000

After a week or so of decidedly autumnal weather summer has returned. Temperatures were back up into the low 20’s the sun was shining and there was no wind at all… Typical seeing as it was the Boardwsie Demo Day at Aberdyfi! No wind means no chance to try out some new kit and no...

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