The Global Paddling Community

You may have followed the adventures of Team Slugs on Playak.com over the past year. Now you can watch the Slugs on your TV too as Fluid Dynamics, the video of the Slugs Tour, is out !

Team Slugs is a bunch of scottish paddlers who decided to take a year off work to go and discover the rivers of the world. They reported regularly on Playak.com and if you have not followed their adventures over the past year, here are the links to all the episodes:

• Slugs Tour, an introduction
• News from the Modi Khola
• News from the Kali Gandaki
• Report from the mighty Marsayangdi
• Christmas spent creeking in New-Zealand
• Heli-paddling on the West Coast of New-Zealand
• Wairoa Extreme race
• Steep creeking in California

Fluid Dynamics is the video diary of the trip and I was eager to discover it after the time spent editing the Slugs' trip reports for Playak.com. Well I have seen it now and it did live up to my expectations. [scroll down to watch the official trailer!]

The action starts with "Porno" Pete entering the Royal Infirmary in Edinburgh (Scotland) to get an appointment for his shoulder problems. That sets the tone for the rest of the movie where Pete's unfortunate mishaps will be recurring regularly. After that follows a short presentation of Team Slugs: a vet, a doctor, a radiographer ... and a film producer. It looks like the Slugs sent a medical team to represent them! It is just unfortunate that it's the doctor who gets hurt all the time ... Some local scottish creeking is also included to show the boys paddling at home.

Nepal follows. Gone is the low resolution of the video segments that the Slugs sent regularly from location. You now get sharp image and clear sound. The rivers look gorgeous, and intimidating at times. Dave was not afraid of showing other things than paddling in this video and you do get good commentaries about the the local life, the paddlers feelings, some epic portages, the odd pin etc ... I have to say that I was feeling sorry for Porno Pete, watching him getting hurt, ending up in hospital with a dislocated shoulder and following his friends on bus when they're paddling down river ... It's great to see him getting back on the water towards the end of the Nepali part of the trip.

The section about New-Zealand follows and the Slugs meet some of the locals and the White Water Warriors who take them down some entertaining creeks and other heli-runs. The action is a bit faster with less off the water scenes. Porno manages to make a star of himself again by getting lost in the woods a couple of times and finding the group at night close to exhaustion. Oh well ...

Overall, in this video, Dave has found the right balance between scenes on and of the water. He gave the movie a nice documentary feel by alternating between spoken sections about the logistics, the scenery, the river, the emotion of the paddlers and music sections when the guys are on the water. It does work very well and reminds me slightly of mountaineering documentaries, especially the Nepal section.

It is good to see 'normal' (!) people run this type of river as opposed to river warrior gods that you see in most other productions. Go and read the Slugs trip reports, if you like them, you are bound to love Fluid Dynamics.

Fluid Dynamics is a good movie. It is enjoyable to watch. Definitely not paddle porn though, it is more documentary like. The sections featuring the Modi Kohla and the Marsayangdi in Nepal have actually been selected by the National Geographic to be broadcast on their european channel "Adventure One" in a program entitled Total Adventure in early 2004.

All in all, the movie lasts 58 minutes. The DVD version comes with a free extra movie called "The Race". It is a little adventure that took place in the Highlands of Scotland last year and features a team of brave kayakers battling with a team of fierce mountain bikers for the title of "fastest down the mountain". Highly entertaining ... And guess who won? The DVD also contains the trailer for "The Opening of the Third Eye", a film featuring the Slugs creeking in Norway which was reviewed last year on Playak.com.

---

Official trailer in Quicktime format: [low-res 2.5Mb] - [high-res 5.3Mb ]

---

For more information about "Fluid Dynamics" and other work by Dave Kwant, visit 2at.com. To buy Fluid Dynamics in Europe, go the the Playboating Magazine website. Dave's other films are also distributed by Black Diamond in Europe. In North America, LVM will soon be distributing the movie. If you are located in the UK, it is maybe easier to just visit your local dealer who will almost certainly have copies of the DVD or VHS.

---

They support the Slugs. Visit their websites !