Latest Surfski News

Tuesday, 17 October 2023 07:11
“What the bloody hell are you doing here?” I thought to myself a few moments after launching on the brand new V10 4G for the first time. It was getting dark; it was raining; the squalls were lifting sheets of spray off the water… directly offshore. What WAS I thinking? The answer is that I’m a sucker for new toys – and if I get my hands on one, I HAVE to play with it. Damn the weather, full speed ahead… Since then I’ve paddled the boat many more times, in much pleasanter weather. Here’s what I think of this,…
Thursday, 08 June 2023 12:42
East London, South Africa: Angus Warren watched helplessly as the shark’s teeth crunched through the hull of his surfski. “It seemed to go on and on,” he says, “pushing and chomping. I was thinking, why is it not working out that it isn’t food? “I can’t tell how long it took, but I had enough time to shout a couple of times to the others.” The next thing he knew, he was in the water…
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Thursday, 27 April 2023 18:42
CAPE TOWN - Hank McGregor and Josh Fenn convincingly claimed back their Prescient Freedom Paddle title on Thursday in a dramatic race marked by tough conditions and a rain-delayed start.  Conditions were extremely tough - a brisk northwester blowing spray from the big confused chop into the paddlers' faces as they headed out to the island.  Huge breaking surf on the far side of the island ensured a wide line but the wind dropped as the fleet started on the journey back to the finish, making it that much more difficult and energy sapping to catch the runs.  
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Tuesday, 25 April 2023 11:50
Last Friday, however, I paddled with Dawid on a windless autumn evening in Cape Town. Cruising from Fish Hoek to Muizenberg, we paddled together, stopping at all the coves to surf a few waves. In short, the operative word was "fun". This was a different Dawid - off duty - and, well, I've never paddled with anyone so noisy before. Whistling, singing, shouting to folks on shore - yahooing as he caught a wave. Heading home at dusk we crept up behind a group of seals lazing on the surface. Dawid began barking like a five-year-old paid by the bark...until…
Thursday, 09 February 2023 07:39
A look back - aaaaargh! A mountain. Let it go through... A smaller one, with a glimpse of something massive lurking further out to sea. Catch it, catch it! Sprint, sprint, you’re on it, here’s the break zone, keep going, keep going, the roar from behind and the sudden acceleration as a massive foamy caught up to me, keep it straight, keep it straight... Phew. Arrived. Panting. Stop the watch. ok. Made it. Empty the boat, pick it up to prevent it knocking you down. Done.
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Saturday, 26 November 2022 17:16
The South Africans cleaned up today at the most prestigious surfski race in Australia – arguably the most prestigious race in the world - taking five out of the top six places and the entire podium at the Shaw and Partners “The Doctor” in Perth. Defending women’s champion, Kiwi Danielle McKenzie won the women’s trophy.
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Saturday, 19 November 2022 13:01
Gold Coast paddler, Cory Hill, took first scalp in the five-event ocean ski racing series, the Shaw and Partners WA Race Week, winning the inaugural race today, the 24km Fenn West Coast Downwinder from Fremantle, just south of Perth, to Sorrento Beach. In fine conditions with a 16 knot SSW wind courtesy of the famed Fremantle Doctor, the start off Port Beach was intense with the top paddlers in a terse battle to make the first break.   But it was 33-year-old Hill – the 4-times DOCTOR champ who relishes the Perth conditions – who was able to shake the field…
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Tuesday, 16 March 2021 13:54
It’s not easy to catch a rolling, runaway single ski in 30kt of gusting wind – and as they attempted to grab it, Alex and his doubles partner lost their balance and fell into the water. By the time they’d remounted, the single ski was gone – blown away by the strengthening near-gale. They turned and paddled back upwind to find their buddy.
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Wednesday, 03 March 2021 12:08
Accident reports are easy to write when the story ends happily, but this one didn’t and it’s with a very heavy heart that I’m writing this, with a view to learning what we can from it.
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Wednesday, 15 July 2020 09:13
When the NSRI found Duncan MacDonald, he was approximately 6km off Smitswinkel Bay, drifting rapidly further offshore. Gale-force squalls whipped sheets of spray off the waves, reducing visibility almost to nothing. What Happened? Given the small size of the surfski community, there’s always intense interest whenever there’s a rescue. What happened? What did they do wrong? What can we learn from it? Clearly there are lessons to be learnt from any mishap – so here’s a description of what happened, shared with the permission and cooperation of the folks involved in the hope that we might all learn from this…
Friday, 24 April 2020 11:41
Durban – As the continued coronavirus lockdown grips the country, Canoeing South Africa will host a 24 hour Canoeing4COVID-19 event this weekend as a way to raise funds for members of the broader paddling community that have been badly affected by the lockdown.
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Wednesday, 11 March 2020 14:35
“Hey, Rob! Help!” The shouts penetrated the sound of the howling wind and crashing waves – and even through the noise it was obvious from the tone of his voice that something was seriously wrong. I turned and headed back upwind.
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Tuesday, 03 March 2020 14:43
Many paddlers use Personal Locator Beacons, or tracker apps like SafeTrx on their mobile phones. But handheld VHF radios are also a great choice to consider – especially when they’re DSC-capable like the Standard Horizon HX870E.
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Monday, 24 February 2020 12:01
I finally got my hands on a demo Fennix Swordfish S this weekend and did two Miller's Runs in succession to see if I could feel any difference in handling between the 2018 Swordfish S and the new Fennix model.  Conditions were challenging: False Bay was covered in whitecaps, whipped by a combination of a 25-30kt southeaster and small, confused seas.  The result?  I definitely want to spend more time in this boat.
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Thursday, 26 December 2019 10:30
The shark smashed like a freight train into Roger Swinney’s surfski in an explosion of noise and spray, knocking him off into the water.  “I managed to get back on the ski,” he said, “but I fell off again and as I remounted the second time, I saw the swirl and tips of the shark’s fins. “I didn’t see it clearly, but from the force of it and the movement in the water, it looked big!”
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Garmin Forerunner 405 – Review

Saturday, 11 October 2008 05:28 | Written by 
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Garmin Forerunner 405 Garmin Forerunner 405 Credits: www.surfski.info

The latest in the highly popular Garmin Forerunner series is the 405. How does it stack up against its predecessors – from a paddling perspective?

Let me make it clear from the start that I'm a fan of the Garmin Forerunner units.  I've used them as training aids, navigation aids and mere logging tools - and I've got the point where I hate to paddle without at least one to tell me my speed and heart rate. 

So what's different about the 405?

First Looks

First of all, it's smaller than its predecessors - close to the size and weight of a wristwatch.  The screen though smaller, is crisp and the numbers are easy to read.

Next, it has a wireless interface and downloads data automatically as soon as you come within about 5m of your PC. 

Garmin Forerunner

305 & 405 mounted on surfski footstrap

The most interesting change is the Apple iPod-like touch sensitive bezel. This allowed Garmin to remove all except two buttons on the unit - you touch and tap the bezel to navigate through the menus.  This does take a little getting used to though.

Using the 405

I like checking my speed and HR while I'm paddling, so I fastened the 405 to my foot-strap alongside its older brother, my venerable 305.  The 405's wrist strap is more rigid than the 305's so I used a piece of rubber to thicken the foot-strap for the two units as shown below.

I have to say that I found the unit quite finicky to use.  For example, with the 305, it's a case of:

  1. Switch on.
  2. Wait for the satellite connection.
  3. Press Start.

With the 405 I have to

  1. Unlock the bezel,
  2. Bring up the GPS menu by touching the left hand side of the bezel.
  3. Stroke down to GPS.
  4. Tap to switch the GPS on
  5. Touch the right hand side of the bezel (without inadvertently switching the GPS off again) to open the training menu,
  6. Lock the bezel,
  7. Wait for satellite connection
  8. Press Start

The bezel is sensitive to the slightest touch - as I found when water drops caused the screen to change unexpectedly.  One of the most important discoveries was how to lock the bezel. 

Battery Life

The unit specs say that the battery should last up to two weeks in "power save" mode; in training mode it'll last about eight hours.  What this means is that you need to switch the GPS off as soon as you come off the water and you to be aware of the battery charge at all times - you don't want to start a three hour paddle with the unit on 25% battery!

Training with the 405

The 405 has much the same functionality as the previous Forerunner units including simple, interval and custom workouts where you can specify effort (measured by heart rate) and interval times.

Navigating with the 405

A screen I really like on the 305 is the navigation page. It displays a compass and, importantly, the distance and time remaining to your destination.  In Hawaii, that "distance remaining" indication was all that kept me going!

Garmin forerunner

Navigation - 305 (left), 405 (right) and the venerable 301 (bottom)

The 405 has minimal navigation capabilities: you can mark and edit locations and you can Goto a location. You can also go "Back to Start" but you can't create a route and the navigation page shows only the compass and distance; not the time remaining.

What I like about the 405

  • The size: it's much more comfortable to wear than the earlier models and looks like a watch.
  • The GPS sensitivity: it picks up the satellites quicker and stays locked on better than any previous unit.
  • The wireless interface to the PC

What I don't like

  • The short (8 hour) battery life in training mode.
  • The bezel doesn't work well if your hands are wet with salt water.
  • The finicky user interface.

Summary

Runners will probably prefer the Forerunner 405 but, from a paddler's perspective, I prefer to have:

  • A bigger display: My 305 is configured to show speed, distance and time (and if I'm training, speed, heart rate and time).  The smaller figures on the 405 are difficult to read especially when it's mounted on my foot-strap.
  • More battery time: The 305 does around 14 hours.
  • More navigation functionality: the 305 allows you to create a route comprising several waypoints and it shows you the time remaining to reach your destination.
  • The ability to control the unit via the buttons - even at sea.  With the 305 I can change the screens and even the mode (from training to navigation) by pressing the buttons.  I found the touch-sensitive bezel of the 405 almost impossible to use with wet hands - so once you've set the unit up, it's really difficult to change it.

This is a cool and undoubtedly more advanced piece of technology - and Multisport athletes will love it - but in my opinion the 305 is still the best choice for paddlers.