Stepping Stones (Tutjat) is the Inuit name for the islands in Hudson Strait north of Labrador. Legend tells how Inuit once followed these stepping stones and discovered people living on Baffin Island. In 1981 Nigel Foster kayaked this route south, crossing the forty miles wide Hudson Strait solo. Trapped by fall storms he cut short his trip and hitch-hiked south aboard an oil tanker.
In 2004 he returned with Kristin Nelson to finish the trip. Starting at Kuujjuaq, Ungava Bay, they crammed food for five weeks into two sea kayaks and began their 675-mile wilderness journey after the pack-ice cleared in July.
Dodging polar bears the couple negotiated the phenomenal tides of Ungava Bay and the wind squalls of Labrador. Traveling with the boom of calving icebergs and the call of loons in dense fog, and camping at night beneath the snaking aurora borealis, they gained a unique perspective on the world's vanishing wilderness.
Nigel and Kristin joined Russell Farrow for the opening of the new water-side location of Sweetwater Kayaks October 17th 2009!
Beside mangrove channels with open
saltwater pools that remain warm all year round, it's an excellent place
to watch manatees and see birds such as ospreys, roseate spoonbills
and egrets. sweetwaterkayaks.com
Meet us there for the 2010 Paddling Symposium from 24-28 February 2010! Something for everybody; demos and classes in kayaks, canoes, paddle-boards, and fishing from sit-on-top kayaks!
at www.nigelkayaks.com! Please tell your friends! also.. check my blog!
2009: Portland Kayak Company has increased its square
footage yet again!!! Now there's a great space for presentations and even more
room for Foster Kayaks!!! Come to nigel's next classes in Portland and
on the Oregon Coast with PRC...
Rain in Baja Mexico brings the desert into flower! Aqua-Adventures Jen Kleck treated us to a trip to Baja, April 09 after the SW Sea Kayaking Symposium at San Diego... and there's a short video clip of rock-hopping on YouTube.
Venice 2009 plans Nigel and Kristin will return in 2009 for the 2009 Vogalonga event in Venice, a wonderful opportunity to kayak alongside gondolas and other paddle-powered craft in the Venice lagoon among the islands and through the canals of Venice itself.
Following Vogalonga they will be offering a week of tours, classes culminating with the 2nd Italian Sea Kayaking Symposium and the 1st Blue Lagoon Kayak Marathon based at the Capalonga campground about an hour from Venice.
Capalonga campground has a fleet of composite kayaks for rental throughout the camping season, including the Point65 kayaks Nigel, Kristin, Jen and Giorgio used for 2008 Vogalonga.
The new Whisky16 from Point65 arrived in San Diego March 28th in time for us to take it for a spin between the rocks on Pacific Baja coast! The verdict? Brilliant! What a great rock-hopping boat! Stable, maneuverable and fun!
Portland Kayak Company, of Portland Oregon USA, has moved into a bigger better space!
(6320 SW Macadam, right next door to the old Macadam
location). Sharing a 10,000 square foot building with FMC Watersports, there is a ton of room inside and out, and easier access to the river.
They kicked things off
April 5-6 with Nigel Foster and Kristin Nelson in town to teach "Directional Control". As usual, the classes were completely booked, and enthusiasm was brimming. Portland Kayak Company were among the
first to paddle Nigel's newest kayak design, the Whisky16.
Mike McKoane writes "Nigel hit it right on
the head again with another phenomenal kayak - an incredibly maneuverable, fun
boat to paddle. Portland Kayak Company will be receiving the first north
American shipment of Whisky 16's in early May!" Portland Kayak
Companywww.portlandkayak.com
6320 SW Macadam Ave.
Portland, OR. 97239
phone (503) 459-4050
fax (503)
459-4051
New Kayaks!
2008... the long-awaited Point65 sea kayaks by Nigel; one single, one double! Here are the Whisky16, (shown above); a rough-water playboat, and the DoubleShot to play where the singles go! Click on the image to read an interview with Nigel about the two kayaks and for more general information on the designs. For more photos of the Whisky16, see the end of the Kayaks section.
Does this mean Nigel is moving production of all his designs toPoint65? No, he's 100% committed to his existing relationships with Seaward Kayaks (Legend, Silhouette, Shadow) and with Current Designs (Rumour).
Take a sideways look at kayaking stuff you might not be aware of... with Nigel's blog; "kayaking stuff"
...and join Nigel and the Sea Kayaking group at Playak.net, where kayakers meet, greet, chat and exchange news... it's the "my space to paddle!"
New Book;"Seattle" by Joel Rogers.
Seattle sea kayaking pioneer and author of the classic sea kayaking book "The Hidden Coast" has just released the most stunningly beautiful coffee-table book about Seattle! Dancing between
water and mountains, container ships and orcas, blues clubs and community pea-patches,
Joel Rogers has somehow distilled with his perceptive photography everything distinctively Seattle. Presented with such powerful
photography it would be easy to overlook the sensitive and thought-provoking essays; text worthy of reading aloud. Well presented by Graphic Arts
Center Publishing Co. this is another landmark book!
Nice work Joel! Author- Photographer, Joel
W. Rogers Available now!
Publisher: Graphic Arts Center
Pub Co
ISBN-10: 155868865X
ISBN-13: 9781558688650 In Hardback; Price only US $19.95
Nigel and Kristin offered a slide presentation about kayaking in the Faeroe Islands to the kayak club; WAKE at Bellingham, Tuesday 8th January 08.
Our Portland Kayak Company weekend of September 22/23 07 arrived with sunshine, a little mist and plenty of waves. Thanks to Mike and his team for organizing such a great w/e and venue! Ben (from Baja) and Kristin survey the beach.
Nigel was at the Nuremberg Paddlesports Trade Show "Kanumesse" in Germany on Thursday-Sunday 13th-16th September 07 with the Point65 team (as pictured). Thank you to all the dealers and distributors who took time to visit him there! 2009 25-26th September you can meet Nigel and Kristin at thePoint65 booth at Kanumesse.
In August 07 Kristin and Nigel visited the Stockholm archipelago to teach kayak skills among the rocks and waves, then toured part of Sweden's west coast with a group from Orust Kayaks. In early September 07 they led a tour and ran classes in the Danish islands with Nicus Nature. Join them on similar programs in 2008!
Nigel was at the Outdoor Retail Trade Show at Salt Lake City this August 2007. He'd like to say thanks to everyone who took time to visit him at the Point65 stand, or here, on the beach, for the demo days!
After a great July 07 weekend on the Washington coast with Seattle Mountaineers Club , Nigel has posted some captioned photos. Check out Cape Flattery!
May 2007... Stockholm's new Kayak Center, PampasKajak, was officially opened on 23rd May after a day program of free on-water demos and classes, and was followed by an expedition slide presentation by Nigel Foster. Click on PampasKajak for more...
PampasKajak sells Nigel's "Seaward-built" Nigel Foster sea kayak designs "Legend, Silhouette and Shadow" as well as his paddles, and you'll also find the complete range of Point65 kayaks here too. The center is on the water (literally) so it's really easy to test-paddle kayaks.
Nigel's 2007 teaching venues with Kristin include New Zealand, (Feb-March 07, see some photos and notes under "Trip Reports") Scotland, Denmark, Sweden and Norway.... along with many of his usual favorite places in North America. Check out the San Diego symposium at the end of March (Aqua-Adventures), Ocean River in BC in April, followed by Florida (Sweetwater Kayaks... they have a symposium in February too) and the Charleston paddle festival. You'll find more information about Nigel's appearances and instruction if you check "instruction and tours".
...did you know Nigel Foster is now working with the Swedish kayak and clothing company Point65? It's a new relationship, less than a year old, yet Nigel has already slipped into the Point65 team, in charge of Research and Development. "It's a young, energetic and innovative company and the people are really fun to be around" explained Nigel. Check out the "Products" section, and also www.point65.com
Nigel's smallest sea kayak to date, the Rumour, went into production in 2006 with Current Designs. Targeted as a speedy 16-foot day-boat/play-boat for the smaller paddler, Nigel has been seen tumbling around in the Pacific coast in one from time to time, despite his 6-feet height and 160 pound weight. You'll see him in the video "This is the Sea, volume 1" by Justine Curgenven, slipping through the crystal clear waters of Florida's spring-fed rivers in one, seeking out manatees and exotic birds. (More info. in the "kayaks" section)
Nigel's "Sports-Pro" paddleappeared alongside the popular "Hi-Pro" in 2006. The "Sports-Pro" has a smaller blade of similar contoured foam-core construction as the "Hi-Pro" and comes in two alternative lay-ups; the original carbon-fiber, with its natural graphite appearance, and in fiber-glass with foam-core in a distinctive yellow blade of pleasing light weight. ... Distributed now in North America by Seaward Kayaks, by Nicus Nature in Denmark, and by Point65 through the rest of the world.
Beside mangrove channels with open
saltwater pools that remain warm all year round, it's an excellent place
to watch manatees and see birds such as ospreys, roseate spoonbills
and egrets. 
New Book; "Seattle" by Joel Rogers.
Nigel was at the Nuremberg Paddlesports Trade Show "Kanumesse" in Germany on Thursday-Sunday 13th-16th September 07 with the Point65 team (as pictured). Thank you to all the dealers and distributors who took time to visit him there! 2009 25-26th September you can meet Nigel and Kristin at thePoint65 booth at Kanumesse.
After a great July 07 weekend on the Washington coast with Seattle Mountaineers Club , Nigel has posted some captioned photos. Check out 
May 2007... Stockholm's new Kayak Center, PampasKajak, 
