Welcome to www.joeoblenis.com

 March 2, 2010:

Here is a recent artcile that went up on the Canoe & kayak Magazine's online site:

http://canoekayak.com/kayak/lapping-the-island/

This was just after I was interviewed regarding this Junes expedition to reclaim the record. Getting close now, just over three months to go!!

 February 10th, Update:

   Well the new Speedstroke Kayak Gym arrived a few days ago and it is simply amazing! The stroke is very natural and smooth, there is adjustable tension, a computerized console for instant feedback on stroke rate, heart rate, power output in watts, calories burned, distance etc. 

Simply an amazing piece of equipment!  Anyone in the Thunder Bay region, or if passing through, contact me if you'd like to demo it. They are worth every penny if you want to improve your on water performance. 

Needless to say this will form a large part of my training for the Vancouver Island expedition this summer. 

Also due to arrive any day now is my new Garmin Forerunner 305, GPS enable heart rate monitor.

The goal of the expedition? Roughly 1150 kilometers in under 17 days! Included in this are tidal rapids with currents of up to 16 knots. Areas prone to high winds (last time I did this I encountered headwinds for 18 of the first 19 days), and the highly exposed, rugged west coast of the island with the full brunt of the Pacific rolling in...sound like fun? Sure does to me. Bring on the Pain!!!

    So far it is looking like I'll be paddling a Tahe Wind 585 in kevlar for the Vancouver Island Expedition. It was supposed to arrive back in December but we are still awaiting word on it as of late January.

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 The Wind 585 comes in at 19'2" by 21.25", designed by Tahe's top designer, Johan Wirsen of Sweden, should be just the ticket for getting around the Island in record time and reclaiming the speed record.

The launch date is tentatively set for June 15th, depending on weather conditions. Ideally,  this would set me for completing the expedition and getting the speed record back on July 1st... Canada Day!

September 16th, 2009:

 2010 Vancouver Island Speed Record... June 15th is the tentative launch date for the circumnavigation to reclaim the speed record for circumnavigating the island by sea kayak. If all goes as planned, I'll be spending Canada Day next July 1st celebrating the new speed record. 

Throughout the coming months I'll keep updating this page with new information, training progress, equipment to be used and so forth. It's going to be fun....follow along ;)

POSTPONED until June 2010.

     Originally planning an early September launch to reclaim the speed record, I've had to make the decision to postpone the expedition until June 2010.  As some of you may or may not know, I recently made the plunge by quitting my "Day job" and concentrating on building up my paddle business. I'm building custom Greenland Paddles as well as canoe paddles, both straight shaft and bent shaft, and have been shipping paddles as far away as the U.K., California, Alaska etc. I'm now building a pair of paddles to send to a customer in South America as well so sales have certainly expeanded. In order to make this venture work, right now I need to concentrate on building paddles and getting them into peoples hands. 

    The expedtion around Vancouver Island will be a great way to promotoe the Greenland Paddles as well but it must now wait until next June.  The expedition is most certainly NOT cancelled, just postponed.

Cheers...Joe O' 

16 Days of PAIN!  

RECENT NEWS: 

     June 07, 2009:

     With roughly three months to go before launching an expedition to reclaim the Vancouver Island speed record by sea kayak, things are starting to come together. Training, after a slow start, has picked up and I'm seeing some decent progress as I work on aerobic conditioning and overall boat speed.

    After paddling 6 of the last 8 days, I took an extra day off today (Sunday) and stayed home builing paddles for part of the day and then pouring over charts, Google Earth etc. and making some notes for the expedition. With some carefull route planning and a few more longer crossings, I'm aiming to shorten the distance for the circumnavigation this year. In 2007 I paddled roughly 1200 kilometers in getting around the island, likely a little bit more. I'm hoping to trim the overall distance by about 75 kilometers or so this year, roughly a days worth of paddling all said and done.

     Over the next few days I'll start dehydrating food for the expedition and working on my equipment list. Basically I'll make a big pile of everything I'd like to bring with me and then I'll get out the scal and start weighing things.  Then comes the task of trimming down the pile and getting it down to an acceptable level.  With a goal of 70-75 kilometers per day, a light load will be crucial to my success. Last time around, I'd packed for 3 weeks. This time, I'm packing supplies for 16 days in all and that in itself will lighten the load a fair bit. After having paddled the island already, I also know a few more of her secrwets, places to land, fresh water sources and so on. This will all be highly valueable as I push myself harder than ever before to take back the record from Sean Morley,

    I'll be redoing the webpages for this expedtion in the next few days so watch for klots of changes. 3 months to go and I'm a little more than just "Excited"! A fast lap 'round Vancouver Island.... 16 days..." Bring On The Pain" Oh Yeah!! 

 SPONSORS:

The Wild Coast/ Wavelength Magazine 

Joe O'Blenis Paddles 

 OVERVIEW:

      Well here we go again. Back in 2007, I had set out to beat the old solo record for circumnavigating British Columbia's rugged and exposed Vancouver Island.  Mission accomplished. In 2008, British kayak sensation Sean Morley lowered the bar and set a new mark. Looks like it is time for me to head back to the West Coast and go for another lap around the Island!

      For this years expedition, I'll be paddling exclusively with my own Greenland  Paddles and will count on their superior perfomance in helping me log the distance required, day in and day out as I make my way around the island. The fact that these paddles are so much less fatigueing and thus much easier on the body are one of the key advantages of this style of paddle. In fact, not only will they help me on the water, they will also partialy finance the expedition this year. As some of you may know, I sell a few paddles here and there so will be taking a portion from every paddle I build and sell this season to put towards the expedition.