We are a sea tribe who paddle long boats in rough water conditions in the northwest of Spain.

Our playground is the chaotic frontier among the mighty Atlantic ocean and the ancient Galician coast, where it was said, in the ancient times, that the world ended and the maps showed terrifying creatures……

Rockgardens, ocean surfing, currents, cliffs, big swells, uninhabited islands, gale force storms………… Once you have been paddling between dragons, is not possible to paddle like a human again .

It is a one way trip.

Thursday, May 9, 2013

New eyes for the dragons.

THOD are like big childs. We like toys and we like to play with them.

                                      

To use for the first time the new cams, 
Gopro Hero 3 Black edition 
(especial thanks to www.kpsport.com) we went last week to one of our favourites spots for rockgardening in the early morning and after that, we celebrated the first barbacue of the spring with the whole tribe and friends. 









              The sea conditions were very easy, but the place is sublime. 


It´s located somewhere in the ancient coast, hidden somedays by the fog.


         We spent the morning surfing in the reefs,



          playing in the rockgardens,


           trying out with the cams,


             exploring the coast



and testing new ways and new locations for filming.



We know we are very lucky because we have still much to learn.
















We love our boats, our Goltziana kayaks. 

Why? 

Well, they are cool,  seaworthies, extremely tough constructed and sometimes you can find surprises like this in the hatches.



But when the beer and the Porto wine are finished, Óscar usually goes crazy, possessed. 

A real dangerous man !!!


 In this occasion, he stole the ball to a small childs and ran away....



Roberto prefered to call the sun with a stupid dance in the roof of the motorhome. 
(Neighbours asked Mima if I have smoked grass......)


"Confidence in your comrades is one of the most important skills for paddling in rough water conditions" Sure, as next picture shows....


 Berto is ready to protect the barbacue with his life but, who will protect the barbacue from Berto?. It wasn´t a good idea to name him Chef....







Ahhh........that´s right.  Xose on his own, who knows..... speaking with the flowers or counting ants.




Thanks again to José Manuel de Dios (the serious gentleman between Óscar and Eduardo)for the pictures in land. 

You can see more of his work here:

"Tusta"  trying to steal the motorhome again. A cause of that I never, and I have said NEVER, left the ignition key put in. 


Certain member of THOD seems is getting older. So we are going to pass Xose next summer as the fourth dragon because as physiotherapist, he will take care of the old dragon.....





We burned rules, monotony, preconceptions, conformity and bad energies.
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15 comments:

  1. ferMay 10, 2013 at 5:52 AM

    good post! You can see you have much more in common than just paddling.
    Good shot of "playing the rockgardens", finally the wide eye effect in the gopro is put to good use.
    You are an inspiration in and out of the water.

    ReplyDelete
  2. The Ocean DragonsMay 10, 2013 at 9:53 PM

    Hi Fer;

    thanks for you comment and let me say you...... WOWWW, you blog is great !!!

    Spectacular pictures, inspirational videos, very well related.

    We have linked it in our "Cool sites" with honor.

    Cheers,

    THOD

    ReplyDelete
  3. Jim KakukMay 11, 2013 at 2:00 AM

    Dragons, Most fun blog post I have ever seen, and best pics of kayak rocking, you got it! Can't wait to meet you.
    Captain Kuk, TR.

    ReplyDelete
  4. The Ocean DragonsMay 11, 2013 at 11:36 AM

    Captain Kakuk, this afternoon THOD are going to ride the best waves as salute to the maters. Long life to the TR !!!

    ReplyDelete
  5. AnonymousMay 11, 2013 at 4:05 PM

    So cool to see a group living life large and having fun with it. Obviously a tight group that each memeber has confidence in, what a blessing. I say this as someone lucky enough to share the same blessing here in Norcal with your kindred spirits the Neptune's Rangers.

    Go big, go long, tOM

    ReplyDelete
  6. The Ocean DragonsMay 12, 2013 at 11:41 AM

    Sure Tom. Confidence, comunication, playfull actitudes or common goals are the essences of our teams. Best regards for you, for Bill and the whole of the N's Rangers, our older brothers. Keep on inspiring us !!!

    ReplyDelete
  7. AdventuretessMay 13, 2013 at 1:08 AM

    Excellent post Dragons - very good to see the serious side to the team ha!
    the water shots are cool & I especially like the fire and what was burned.
    Tess

    ReplyDelete
  8. The Ocean DragonsMay 13, 2013 at 9:57 PM

    Thanks Tess. We like to be firebugs.

    ReplyDelete
  9. UnknownMay 14, 2013 at 12:32 AM

    Great fotos ;-) ...don´t those kayaks ever need repairing ?? ....hahhahaha

    ReplyDelete
  10. The Ocean DragonsMay 14, 2013 at 9:18 AM

    Gracias Ruskin. De vez en cuando reparaciones menores, nada importante y eso que prácticamente la única reforma que tienen sobre los de serie es la protección de la quilla de aramida. Mi Kitiwec por ejemplo, es de poliester y fibra de vidrio.

    Si hemos elegido a Goltziana entre las marcas que nos propusieron colaboración, no ha sido al azar.

    A lo largo de estas semanas sacaremos en el blog una entrada sobre esto precisamente, con fotos detalladas del estado de los kayaks tras un año (el Marlin más de dos) de uso y abuso en jardines de roca, surf, río, etc, etc, etc.

    Un abrazo y que vuelvas pronto por acá,

    THOD

    ReplyDelete
  11. Frode WiggenMay 14, 2013 at 6:28 PM

    Awesome photos as always!!!! I like them a lot :)

    Cheers
    Frode

    ReplyDelete
  12. The Ocean DragonsMay 14, 2013 at 10:23 PM

    Thanks Frode !!!

    ReplyDelete
  13. Tony JohnsonJune 1, 2013 at 10:47 PM

    Cool photos!!
    I'm also wondering the same thing as Ruskin,how much repairs are required to keep those composite boat in the action?
    My stern area was getting damaged often. Mostly from sharp blows against barnacled covered rock. Hoping this will help, Iron man inspired armor, Stainless steel!

    https://plus.google.com/photos/107709068384636814318/albums/5883834219615316609

    ReplyDelete
  14. The Ocean DragonsJune 2, 2013 at 12:23 PM

    Thanks Tony.

    Well, I can not say you the number of repairs needed. My Kitiwec for example, is a bit more than one year old and always in the action, 2-3 days per week and it never went to the garage for serious damages.
    Berto´s, Óscar´s or Xose´s boat, the same case.
    Minor damages, of course !!!, but they are repaired by oneself from time to time.
    Everyone of us have their own technique to repair.
    The skeg is always a problem in rockgardens. Until now, seakayaks are not designed for play in the rocks, so the skeg box are not protected in any way, nor construction nor location.
    We are working in a new idea to minimize this damages.

    Ooops, you said the stern not the skeg, sorry. Right, we use kevlar and epoxy as protection. Works well. Once in a while you have to sand and epoxy again. It´s the same idea you did with the stainless steel in your Iron kayak (good job !!!)

    Let us know how your armor works.

    Best Huge,

    THOD

    ReplyDelete
  15. UnknownMarch 7, 2014 at 1:55 PM

    Thanks for sharing your post, it is really awesome and thrilling. Safe life from any danger at any moment with Skeg protector. Thanks again for pictures.

    ReplyDelete

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