Boing Boing posted this very interesting video today on how the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) develop weather forecasts. Since it was something that I never really thought about before, I thought I would share it with you.

I’m just amazed how much current there is along the equator and little there is along the West Coast of North America. Make sure you watch this in all its HD glory.

Alex Matthews just posted a great report on his first visit to the Golden Gates Sea Kayak Symposium which took place in San Francisco a couple of weekends ago.

Not quite the clearest directions but would you believe I have friends who would do a poorer job while out on a canoe trip? It’s true.

In memory of the death of Tsunami Rangers co-founder, Eric Soares here are a couple videos of the antics that made them legends in the paddling community.

Tsunami Rangers in Slow Motion

Extreme Sea Kayaking with the Tsunami Rangers

Photo Credit: tsunamirangers.com

If you are like me there is a very good chance that you struggle to explain to your students the basics of how tides work.

To help solve the mystery, the gang from Minute Physics produced a very cool video that explains the basics so simply that that my 10 year-old could understand.

Also, if you have also got an extra minute why don’t you learn why some rocks on the shoreline are round while other rocks are flat and perfect for skipping across the water.

Who knew that gravity affected our lives so much? I didn’t.

Flickr Photo Credit: Low Tide Turnagain Arm / Travis / CC BY-NC 2.0

I would say 90% of this video are bang-on for whitewater paddlers so I want to know when somebody is going to put together one for sea kayakers?

Here is my working list so far but feel free to add your suggestions in the comments.

“You can only roll 3 different ways?!”
“Pungo’s are not real kayaks.”
“I don’t care what colour my new drysuit and PFD are as long as they are black.”
“How do you like my beard?”
“The waves on the lake were at least 10 feet high.”
“Hold on, I left my Tilley hat in the car.”
To the store clerk, “Does this come in black?”

We all know First Aid or CPR instructional videos can me more boring than watching grass grow in the middle of winter. To help get the message out about the new hands-only CPR technique, the British Heart Foundation enlisted the help of Hollywood tough guy, Vinnie Jones to show us how to do it properly.

If you want more information on hands-only CPR, head over to the American Heart Association’s website, handsonlycpr.org where you can also have the pleasure of watching an extremely boring instructional video in the tradition we have that we have all come to love (and hate).

Thanks to my buddy Mike for the video tip.

Jackson Kayak has launched JKTV. The premier episode is a pretty ambitious 25 minutes and covers a trip report from the Costa de Oro; Team Spotlight with Damon Bungard; Misadventures with Indiana James; Tech Tip- How to Backloop; Gear Review- GoPro Hero2 and the Shot of the Month.

You can subscribe via YouTube here.

I could hardly finish watching this video of whitewater kayakers paddling a flood swollen river and I lost count after the 4^th near drowning. The really scary thing is that the whole video seems to be shot on the same day with the same 4-5 guys.

Looks like they would do well to invest in some swift water rescue training to save them from being nominated for future a Darwin Award.

If you are at work, stop at the 5:30 mark as it gets NSFW at the end.