Morning.

Today for the first time in a long while a gang of us managed to get out kayaking before work. So that we did not waste too much time journeying we chose the Seiont as its on our doorstep. The five of us meet up at Seiont Nurseries for 7.45 to sort the kit out. From here drove up to the get in under the pylons and made it to the get out by 9.30. The Seiont really is a wonderful river made all the better by the fact that there were no wires across any of the bridges for a change. I also have to recommend the cafe at the garden centre we found it very pleasant to take in tea on coffee at the end off the river.

Forthcoming Depar Sounds Nights.

This Friday night (27th Nov) I have a busy night. You can see me DJing at ::definition in Rascals, Bangor. After this I am running the sound system at a private 21st party at Glan Gwna. Both of these are shaping up to be very good nights.
In a fortnight’s time I am at the Fricsan with VENOM, GoCat and L-Jay, see the poster below.

Knives for a pro!

At work we are getting more interest in bushcraft style sessions. So today I had been out buying knives, saws and axes. These will be used for preparing firewood, whittling and shelter building. I am quite pleased with what I have managed to find locally to me without having to mail order the tools of the trade from miles away as this seems to defeat the principle of preparing of the land. All this combined with a trip to the bank, it’s OK I went to the bank before buying the tools.


In my selection I now have: a Gerber (rather worryingly named) sport axe, must be for the American market, the good thing about this axe is that it comes supplied with a tough cordura head cover. A Bahco Laplander folding saw which is the same as the Sandvik version recommended in Ray Mears' Essential Bushcraft book. I have also chosen Mora knives as student knives since they have seemingly good quality blades for the money and are bright blue, with ugly handle which means that they should be seen if left on the ground. The Mora knives are also at a price where we can afford to replace as needed, so students get given sharp tools thus reducing the pressure that needs to be exerted to make a cut; safer in my opinion. I also treated myself to a new Helle Godbit knife which is the one in the photo with the attractive wooden handle.

I am really looking forward to getting out into the centre grounds and trying these out. I should also be organising a day or two of training for staff and friends in bushcraft skills in December. I hope these will be mini seminar based where each person attending presents on a different subject, a Stone Soup course as Sam from Totem Development calls it.

Will and Vicki's Wedding.

This weekend Boulder Adventures hosted the wedding reception for two off our very good friends. It was a spectacular weekend with everyone who attended seemingly having a really wonderful time. It was really pleasing to be able to offer friends such a wedding gift.

I was rather busy during the proceedings so did not manage any photos other than the ones below showing the setting up.

The dining room, not bad for an adventure centre!

The table place chutney.

The wedding cake made by Will's mother.
Champagne glasses ready for the reception.

The dining room awaiting guests.

Party Power Purple Moose!

Five Months!

Five months of lost business.
Five months of inconvenience.
Five months of increased business costs.
Five months of worry.
Five months of Blue/Green Algae.

I hope five months has been long enough for the authorities to put a plan in place to make sure this does not happen to Llyn Padarn again. They do seem to realise that improvements are needed. Welsh Water are trying to find a more effective position in the treatment process for the removal of phosphate, this should give an improvement on previous performance. Welsh Water are also carrying out maintenance work on the sewers on the way to Llanberis water treatment works to prevent the infiltration of lake water into the system, this should save the treatment works being hindered by the high flow rates it has been experiencing. The Environment Agency is also reviewing the different capacities of Llyn Padarn for things like phosphates. I am sure that they will also update the discharge consent level for the treatments works and bring it down to lake levels rather than continuing to allow discharge at river levels.

At least the lake is now clear of this menace.