1. Make sure everyone in your group applies for the Visa on time. Subnote: try to avoid flying through Chicago in the winter 2. Now that everyone is in the country spend the extra money and get at least one 4-wheel drive vehicle. If you have a car be ready to go where it shouldn’t go. (probably a good idea to get the $9 per day insurance policy)

3. Buy a good set of roof racks or the equivalent.

4. Portuguese is really not that similar to Spanish, no matter how good you think your Spanish is.

5. Invest in a machete, make that two machetes.

6. Make sure you are very aware of the contour intervals on your map. If they are 500 ft. intervals you probably don’t want to cross more than two possibly three of those in a day.

7. Check the depth at the bottom of every drop, even if it looks really deep because it probably isn’t. 8 . If someone says “oh its only two days on the river” make sure you pack for at least three 9 . Bring an Ipod. Brazil is a very big country. 10 . Be ready to do at least one “jesus that was the worst portage I’ve ever done in my life” for every river. Realistically you’ll do more but there’s no sense in being to down about.

Now the river is around here somewhere?

And another one Bonus: If it all fails head to the beach and find some surfboards!

Wonderful Brazil beach company

Mountains to sea

And now a little Brazilian adventure on the Rio Mambocaba, enjoy!!!

Marcello, the man that made it all possible After connecting with John and Pat we decide that our next mission is the Rio Mambocaba. After Marcello made the necessary arrangements we drove an hour and a half into the hills then proceeded to load our kayaks on to horses for the 15 kilometer hike to the putin.

Over the hills and through the fields!

We camped at the put-in that night wondering if a classic run lay downstream in the jungle lined canyon. After the first couple of drops we began to think that we had found the gem, but then we bumped into our first unrunable gorge. Not to worry, nothing that an hour hacking through the jungle can’t solve! By the way if you’re going kayaking in Brazil invest in a machete or two, don’t ask just do it. The rest of the day was characterized by a couple of runable drops (very fun) in between very not runable gorges. Let’s just say the machetes came in very useful. Right around 4 pm (it gets dark around 6) we hit the granddaddy of them all: a 150 foot waterfall that then disappeared around the corner.

We could tell that we wanted no part of what was immediately below the waterfall so after a short discussion we elected to portage up and out of the canyon then down a ridge in hopes that we would drop back in below the rapids after the falls. Well at 5:50 or so we fell/slid/walked/dragged back to the river and found a place to camp for the night. That night bets where on how many more days we would be on the river (a little side note we had planned for two days on the river).

The next morning started well with 2-3 kilometers of excellent whitewater. Just when we started to think we had passed the worse of the portages we ran smack into the proverbial 1000 footer as John put it. Standing at the lip and looking out we could see a small green pasture way down in the distance. That pasture was our goal, at the conservative guess a 4-5 hour portage through the jungle away. That day someone was smiling on us. 45 minutes into our little hike we happened onto a trail, 1 hour later we where sitting in said green pasture.

Another 45 minutes had us sitting next to Polk’s boat; he had met up with Marcello and was waiting for us for the final run out section of river. I’ve got to admit it has been awhile since I’ve been that excited to see a yellow kayak sitting on the side of the river. In hindsight, at the takeout beers in hand I might add, we all told ourselves that we really had a good time out there. After all it just builds character, right………

Now I don’t want to scare you off, there are some good drops in Brazil….

Pat styling it out

Andrew rolling over the lip

Outdoor Retailer - In the thick of it...

We’ve had a great show Salt Lake City. Firstly we were pretty much in the centre of things in the kayak hall, right next to the biggest kayak brands and secondly our range is now stronger than ever and really well received by reps and dealers.

So what’s new from Palm…?

Ladies first. We introduced the Element ladies semi dry top and Element immersion suit over the last few years, but Tim our designer hasn’t stopped there. He’s been out with Team Palm paddlers Fiona Jarvie, Rosie Cripps and current world freestyle Champion Jutta Kiaser working up a whole new system. The AMARIS pant and NIYA Jacket made their first appearance at the show and they look awesome.

The Amaris (the water nymph) is based on a jazz pant style with a wide cut to the bottom and pre-bent articulation in the knee. The double waist is Velcro tab adjustable, so easy to get on and off. The inner waist is raised high to stop water gushing in. Booties are as standard and of course you get Palm’s cut in Cordura seat, knee and ankle panels to reduce wear increase durability and of course movement.

To go with this we’ve made the Niya jacket (a child of the moon). This really is a leap forward as far as female paddle wear goes. The body, arms and waist have all been developed to fit female paddlers from first sketch to final product. And it looks fantastic. Tab adjustable neck, cuffs and waist makes getting the top on and off easy and without fuss. The waist is asymmetric to reduce bulk and the chest cut for comfort. Finishing details like the reflective piping and re-in forced Kevlar elbow pads make this top the one to want.

Our suits have done really well here in the States. They have all the performance of more expensive brands and always feature Palm’s legendary attention to detail and quality. The latest addition to this really stands out as King of the hill. Taking what we have learned from our Aleutian paddle jacket we have developed the Aleutian suit. Its got to be the most well featured and highly spec’d piece we have ever done…

The Articulated cut and pre bent knee keeps movement unrestricted. A Ti Zip rear entry helps reduce bulk and doesn’t impede paddling comfort. The Tab waist and cuffs are easy to adjust for fit and comfort. Latex neck and wrist prevent water ingress and as with all Palm immersion suits it features breathable and waterproof dry booties. But the real key features of this suit have to be the Ti zip covered relief zipper and the roll away hood. This hood has a wired peak and is sized to work with or without a helmet. It features a volume adjustment system that allows complete closure around the face but will rotate if your head is turned. Its neat.

All of this new gear is coming on-line in spring 06, so go check it out by using the dealer finder section on the site.

Palm USA- opening news

Hi There- this is the NEWS!

If you are returning to this site then you’ll know its changed completely, if its your first time then this is the way it is!

We have now got this site operating like the one used by Palm Europe. This means a nice easy to use structure where you can find things fast and most importantly carries loads of info.

This section is where you’ll find all sorts of items that we think are ‘ news’ . This may be stuff to do with new products or just paddling info and gossip. Most importantly bookmark this and check back regularly to see what’s going on – if you have anything to do with Palm that you reckon is worthy then mail it here.

Also it's worth checking the events page. We cover all sorts of occasions on there - you may even have something that is worthy of a listing- ask your local store to contact their rep - you’ll find them here.

We hope this site helps you and please get to the stores and check out the gear, we think its worthy of your paddling.