Im a paddler from California and I was interested in doing the North Sea Outrigger Canoe and Surfski Championships. Is there anyone from over seas that could lend me some input on how to get a boat and where to stay and what not?
Submitted by Tpoppler01 on Thu, 05/24/2007 - 7:54pm
Click here:
http://outrigger.be/
Aloha
#1 Thu, 05/24/2007 - 11:21pm
Hi Tpop,
Knokke is great, it's the Cannes of Belgium, high society; larger cities in the area are Bruges and Ghent, both phantastic scenerie from the middle ages, great food - try mosselen frites, that is mussels with french fries and mayonaise - the people in Belgium are laid back and very kind to visitors.
Youth hostle is as good as it gets, nice contacts, relaxed athmosphere, you may want to book in advance as there is a lot of traveling going on in Europe in the summer time.
Water conditions - no clue - rather flat, there may be some wind swell. The tides are strong, but I have not seen much wave action during those month in the North Sea. I am quite sure that you can get a boat over there, especially if you come all the way from CA.
You should contact the race organizers and ask about that. They would be the only ones that could help you with that. I believe that Allwave does rentals, but they sit in Italy and it was not all that cheap, rather buy it first and resell it to them.
The weather should be relatively mild, the Gulf stream brings some warm water across the Atlantic into the channel, it can get hot, but certainly not humid.
You may be attracted by Paris, London, but Belgium is worth a trip on its own, quite overlooked. Thousands of little cafes where you chose from thousands of different local beers, play billard. The scenery is flat, farm land, mostly cattle.
Everything should be affordable, yet summer months and Euro may have changed that, if you travel 30 min inland its not touristic anymore. Youth hostle probably about 20 Euro/night, hotels I would guess start at 40 - 50 Euro/night. Average meal probably starting at 10 Euro, many smaller local groceries, bakeries have what ever you need. Baked goods for breakfast are tasty.
Public transportation is safe and fun, if your time is limited you may rent a car, roads are excellent in Belgium. Everything is safe anywhere at any given time of day or night, unless you are actively looking for trouble yourself, but even that is not that easy in Belgium.
I know an excellent tour guide for that trip, unfortunately he is busy paddling in Hawaii. :).
Some of your questions are answered at the link that Olaf posted above. Camping is included in the race fee. For a rental - they have some - you would have to call them now. Time difference is 12 hours. Aloha.
Air travel US $ ~ 1400 return ticket, American, Delta, KLM etc.
#2 Fri, 05/25/2007 - 1:01am