Team Fluid hits Corsica

Last April, a good number of Fluid Team paddlers hit the steep tiny corsican creeks. Michelle Basso, Val and Gauthier Grollemund, Mat Coldebella and a few others were there.

This mediterranean island is a true paradise for steep creeking. Plenty of runs, from class III to class V/V+, can keep you entertained during the snowmelt. Typically the month of April is a sure shot if you want to paddle there.

On a last minute decision Celliers Kruger, Fluid's owner and designer, decided to join the trip. In fact Fluid is sponsoring the Corsican Video topo guide DVD that will be released by Kayak Session next falls. So just 3 days after getting that email from Celliers, he flew over from South Africa and I picked him up in Lyon, and we drove the next day to Marseille to hop on a ferry to the island of Corsica.

What I could not imagine, is how entertaining it would be to have a South-African paddler on the trip. We only stayed a week there, but this was ponctuated with remarks such as:

"Is it really snow that we can see up there?"
"how in the world are you supposed to paddle with all those layers on you?" (talking about drytop and drypants)
"I think you are missing the whole point of kayaking" (heard at the put-in on a cold day)
"where are the eddies?" (talking about the Restonica)
"how are you supposed to read rapids when the water is so transparent? All i can see is rocks" (referring to the muddy and supposedly easy to read african waters)

But after the initial shock and a few laughs, Celliers was fine and enjoyed the very typical corsican creeks, which are steep, low-volume and mostly continuous. It was also the first occasion we had to paddle together, Celliers and I. And I should outline how important and rare it is, to have an active paddler at the head of a kayaking manufacturer, and how this directly beneficiates the quality of the designs we paddle on the water. Every day, every shuttle was filled with conversations about designs, ideas, projects for new boats but also for trips and expeditions... and let me tell you that the months to come will see plenty of exciting stuff from Fluid! All in all a very nice week, plenty of classics ran, and some neat pictures shot for the Kayak Session video guide.

Here are a few shots from the trip. Thanks to the Grollemund family for the shots! Below is a video too, by Stefun Pion.