Tatiana Cappucci - Tatiyak - Newsletter ENG 2014

Life isn’t about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself (George Bernard Shaw)

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What's on
Last month we were busy with the last courses before winter sets in.
The first weekend in Cagliari seemed that summer wasn’t yet over,
while only a couple of weeks later we experienced a standard autumn
with high winds, waves and rain… and an unforgettable rainbow!
In between, the final assessment for Level 2 Coach was also held for Toni Pusateri, Gregorio De Zorzi and Riccardo Pittia. Three new BCU coaches, competent, experienced and as we Italians say, “simpatici”!

The month of December opened the door to undisputably winter weather.
Our usual Sunday paddle on Lake Maggiore took on a surreal air with the surrounding mountains wreathed by low cloud as if wearing a white wooly scarf… We hope that it will improve for the “Immacolata” bank holiday:
we’re planning to hold the final outing for Level 3 Coach training at Palmaria island, an absolute sea-going first for novices and a classic for all the rest…
Whatever the weather, we will surely not miss our appointment with Giancarlo Albertari on Saturday 13 December. He will be presenting his film No-Na-Nuk, based on his experiences in Greenland and recent prize winner of the
"La canoa esplora il mondo” video-photographic festival organised annually by the Canoa Club Milano. Thanks to the “Sullacqua” association, during the same evening we will be hearing about the adventures of the canoeist-climbers mentioned in October’s newsletter: we will see you at Lavena Ponte Tresa!

If you can’t make it, we take this opportunity to wish you all the best
for the festive season! Including our best wishes for a
good ending and an even better start!!!

P.s. n.1: Don’t miss the two exceptional international events of 2015: the Pagaia Symposium in April and the Anglesey Symposium in May...
P.s n.2: ehm… our newsletter will disappear for a few months but will make a reappearance once I’m back in Italy!

Kayaking snippets
One method I use to describe the bracing technique is by utilising a metaphor: spreading nutella (chocolate butter). The paddle has to flow over the surface at the right blade angle: not too upright, otherwise the water feels as hard as cement,
not even too flat - the paddle will skim as if on butter. The manoeuvre will be most effective at the correct blade angle. You need to get a feel of the sea surface and predict the buoyancy of the paddle: the angle has to be such that it nearly feels sticky in relation to the surface similar to a knife spreading nutella on a biscuit! That’s the secret of a perfect brace: spreading nutella!

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Call of the Inuit
I recently received a phone call from Alessandra Scalvini, event organiser of the Hermann Geiger Cultural Foundation. Intrigued by the reading list dedicated to the Inuit on the Tatiyak website she is planning to exhibit ethnographic displays at their next exposition called “We Inuit. The People of the Arctic Cold”, scheduled at Cecina (Leghorn) from 6 December 2014 till 25 January 2015, every day from 4pm to 8pm. It was a pleasure to put her in touch with O.Tosti from "Italiammassalik" association and we hope that the exhibition garners the success it merits!

Over the horizon

After three years of publication, this is the last newsletter for this year.
Tatiyak sea kayak school opened its doors in 2009 and the blog kicked off in 2010…
As usually done around this of the year it is the time when one takes stock and appraises the recent past... and plan new adventures! The newsletter has to wait!
In January I will be leaving for Wales and then perhaps on to Cornwall, we’ll see.
For the next two or three months I’ll be wandering around with the twin objectives
of improving my paddling skills and English. It’s an exciting project that motivates and frightens me at the same time: its a path, a leap in the dark, a calling even…
“I hope I’ll make it”!

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