Warning : wild, windy weather whips wind-chill warmth waywardly Westward!!! Now that’s out in the open let’s move swiftly on…
So, who was there? Fiona, Judes, Stu, Izzy, Jonathon, Alan, Gieve and me as 3 Star Sea aspirants and Kate for a refresher. Phil (organiser supremo) came along to provide coaching backup to Rob from Seapoint, and Jac, provided moral support and the photographs depicting our efforts to produce 3 Star Sea skills.
The Folkestone venue was perfect, except for the afore mentioned weather conditions, so options were debated. Only Gieve wanted to brave the sea, but this was quickly rejected by those of us with a stronger survival instinct; Dover harbour involved hours’ faff and drive; so for day one, the local canal became our arena. The water was even warmish, although the wind was funnelled along the canal providing a little bit of chop.
With instructions to forward paddle on a zigzag course using edging only, we head along the canal, carefully avoiding the fishermen’s lines. It seems that the 3 Star Sea syllabus is much the same as the 2 Star kayak bits, with an expectation that the strokes will be performed in a nearly exemplary fashion (save exemplary for 4 Star). A lot of the theory component was covered over lunch, huddled in the clubhouse aka ‘changing facilities container’. Lots of useful info was imparted, some new to some of us, some a good refresher and update.
Back onto the canal for the wet stuff, having not yet fully digested lunch, but not anticipating too much physical exertion! Bow rescues, paddle presentations, and deep water rescues both as victim and rescuer, oh boy, was that such fun? Who forgot their nose clips then? Followed by the really wet stuff – deep water rescues. CAPSIZE. SWIMMER. Shout it out we were told. Not just to embarrass the poor soul in the water (tee-hee), but to spotlight a paddlers’ predicament and ensure a swift rescue. Also suggested to us is that the swimmer shout ‘ Swimmer’ too, as it apparently helps to prevent cold water immersion gasping (I may just stick to ‘Help’!!). Izzy demonstrated how easy it is to hand roll a sea kayak (!), and I failed miserably to roll one with a semi-flooded cockpit but provided entertainment in the process…
For day two, the sea had calmed to the conditions that were suitable for 3 Star. Opting for completing the theory first was a smart move, as luckily the sun came out just as we were getting ready to go on the water. This time, Rob put those of us doing the assessment through our paces. Rolling mojos (a slang word for self-confidence, self-esteem or sex appeal as Word doesn’t recognise it..) were found by all except Judes, who made valiant efforts to overcome an unfortunate upsidedown mindset in the sea. Fortunately, the mislaid mojo returned in the canal at the end of the day, allowing her to join the elite group that call themselves 3 Star sea kayak paddlers (with the bit of paper to prove it).
All in all, a most pleasant way to spend a bank holiday couple of days. It was fun to be with a lovely crowd of fellow paddlers and developing our skills at the same time. Thank you to Rob for being our fabulous coach.
Thanks to Stu, for getting some of us tied up in knots in the evening, and many thanks to Fiona for sorting out five star accommodation for a few…
It’s not often I get to coach open canoeing, so when a small group of CKC paddlers asked me to provide them with a day’s coaching I was more than happy to oblige.
Feeling a little exhausted from the previous days paddling on the Solent I headed over to Thames Ditton to meet Gieve, Miranda, Judes and Abdul.
Taking them steadily through the canoe bits of the 2 Star syllabus– from tandem to solo and rescue skills – all progressed very well. Although it was their first time in an open canoe, as experienced kayakers Gieve and Miranda expertly drew on their kayak skills whilst for Judes this was an opportunity to practice and refresh the skills she learnt at Cremornelast summer.
The one drawback was that the westerly winds were a little too strong at times during the day particularly for solo work – however the great thing about the Thames Ditton venue is that you can usually find suitable shelter somewhere. So after lunch we battled against the wind to the island area a few hundred metres up river. This provided sufficient shelter to practice solo skills, more advanced turning (e.g. bow jam), rescue scenarios and low brace support strokes. In respect to the latter, much to Abdul’s dismay Gieve took this very seriously and attempted to edge the boat over as far as he possibly could.
All in all a great day and as ever a big thanks to Alan Pearson for allowing us to use the Thames Ditton facility and equipment. Glutton for punishment I headed back home for a brief rest before heading to Brixton Pool to take the session for Paddy as he was away.
Five CKC kayakers (Miranda, Toons, Jacquelin, Phil and I) loaded up at Cremorne and headed off for Lymington on Saturday 21 May. It was easy to find Richard B in the car park because he had left a kayak on his roof. The weather forecast indicated that a weather system bringing strong winds were going to come through earlier than expected, and so we modified our plans to travel east along the shore of the mainland to Lepe Country Park (7.5 nautical miles) and make an assessment as to whether or not we could ‘leap’ from Lepe over to Cowes on the Isle of Wight.
We headed off from Lymington marvelling at how tightly the Isle of Wight ferry fits into the Lymington channel, especially when two ferries are passing one another. Needless to say we kept out of their way! In the Solent we headed out into the main channel to get some tidal assistance (at one point we were paddling at~4knots) on the way to Lepe, and enjoyed judging when to cross through groups of yachts which were racing. Experienced sailors in the group gave accurate predictions about when the yachts were likely to tack to head round their next racing point, and so when it was best to head through them. At one point we were concerned that a fishing vessel was playing chicken with us or perhaps hadn’t seen us, as it was heading straight for us, but it soon became clear that it was going to a buoy directly between us to check the trap underneath.
We landed at Lepe Country Park and enjoyed picnicking outside, whilst the tide turned, and spray-covered kit dried in the sun. Discretion is the better part of valour, and so it was decided not to cross to Cowes, a decision which was reinforced when we heard on our return paddle a gale warning issued over the radio for “Later”. I was grateful to learn that “Later” had a specific meaning implying that the gales were likely to arrive after ~3hours from the warning, then they would have said imminent! Whilst on land we listened into the radio and heard a “Pan Pan” call which was slightly intriguing since we could only hear the coast guard’s side of the conversation.
On the way back to Lymington a couple of us enjoyed some surreptitious slipstreaming. Miranda was superb at proposing rests, which were so desired that they occurred a few minutes in advance of the designated time on the return trip! We also discovered that Richard B has amazing eyesight – spotting from miles away the ferry heading back into Lymington well in advance of the rest of us.
The tide was higher than when we left so we paddled through shallow waters of the mud flats – enjoying looking at the birds, feeling the noticeably warm water on our hands & judging which channel to take to avoid beaching! As we returned to the slipway we were serenaded with music from Lymington Sailing Club who were celebrating on their balcony at the end of a day of racing. Enjoying the evening sun in pub garden several of us discovered that the day had marked us! Odd looking suntan markings around where our sunglasses had been started to appear. The wind had disguised the strength of the sun!
All in all a very happy outing, with thanks to Miranda and Richard B for a great paddle, as well as nicely organising and taking care of the group. The first Chelsea Kayak Club trip crossing to the Isle of Wright has been saved for another day’s adventure!
The Club along with many other clubs and individual paddlers took part in a joint RSPB /Canoe England paddle around Wallasea Islandin Essex on Sunday 15th May. Wallasea Island is bound to the north by the River Crouch estuary, to the south east by the River Roach estuary, and to the west by Paglesham Pool and Paglesham Creek.
We met very early at Cremorne, and loaded the boats on to our new Club trailer – it had only been picked up the day before – great piece of kit and I am sure it will be of excellent service.
Our destination was the Royal Burnham Yacht Club. The car park was quite full necessitating some parking out on the road. After getting changed [the club has very good facilities], we had a briefing and launched from the club pontoon.
Going across the Crouch to the NW of the island [and back from the NE] was the most sea like part of the trip. We had to make a small portage over a road and into a creek then on to the River Roach then around both Wallasea and Potton Island (most paddlers choosing to take this longer route).
This was the largest group of paddlers that I have seen and by this time we were well spread out. We had a stop on the island, tea and coffee and some biscuits were provided, getting out of the wind was the priority.
As for the wild/birdlife side of the trip I did not see very much – some seals were seen [just their heads] I think that there is more to see on our Thames trips.
I thought that it was a good days paddling and a good day out, quite social, many people met with old acquaintances.
Burnham Yacht Club was good, and Burnam on Crouch seems a nice place I would like to spend a day there.
Congratulations to Harry Whelan and Jeff Allen for completing their sea kayak circumnavigation of the Emerald Isle in record time. The pair, paddling Rockpool Taran sea kayaks, completed the 1000 mile trip around Ireland in only 25 days and according to their blog, Around Ireland 2011, it was “an amazing journey”.
As many of you know, Harry is the centre manager of CKC’s very own base of action – Cremorne Riverside Activity Centre, and Jeff has paddled with many of us over the years too. The monster expedition is something that many of our members would love to do one day – but perhaps at a more leisurely pace.
Well done guys – we’ll continue to look out for more news, you’re becoming quite famous!
This month’s issue of Canoe & Kayak UK magazine is dedicated to sea kayaking, something close to the heart of all Chelsea Kayak Club members – and is jam packed to overflowing with features, trip suggestions and tips – so much so, there’s a 24 page mini-mag pull out.
What to expect inside the cover of the June isssue:
A review of the new Greenland-style Anglesey Stick sea kayak paddle
As well as features about touring down the Suwannee river and sea paddling around Brittany
Whilst the dedicated supplement focuses on some smashing UK destinations including a two day circumnavigation of the Isle of White, heading out to Bardsey Island and sea kayaking to The Skerries. The team at Canoe & Kayak have also gone all out on the website too, posting a few informative videos for sea kayakers to get hints and tips from the pros, check these out:
Heads up – there’s also going to be a a free sea kayaking DVD attached to the July issue (#124), so keep your eyes peeled for the next issue too, or get yourself a subscription so you don’t have to fret about it! There are a couple of nice subscription deals going on at the moment, including a free Coleman Stove & Lantern worth £45 for subscriptions before 6/7/11 quoting CKUK-JUNE11, as well as discounts for BCU and CKC members (check club emails for details).
Always keen to help fuel interest in the great sport of kayaking – Chelsea Kayak Club is working with Lucozade to offer free taster sessions as part of its SPORT FREE60 campaign that launched this month.
People can try out any number of sports and activities for gratis, thanks to the isotonic drink company and some generous sports organisations/clubs. So if you fancy trying something new or you need an energy boost to paddle on the Thames or one of our trips around the country outside of London, pick up a promo bottle and get stuck in.
Now, the science bit… Keeping hydrated while paddling can often slip to the back of the mind – as we’re surrounded by water – but it shouldn’t! When out on even the shortest of paddles, and especially when on the sea, make sure you take fluids with you and that you regularly take a sip or three to replace lost liquids and salts.
Also, all members of the British Canoe Union (BCU) qualify for a 15% discount on all Lucozade Sport products purchased at the LSSA’s Online Shop – visit www.thelssa.com/shop and enter the BCU’s unique code (log into the Canoe England Member’s only area for details).
The day was a great success, lots of people rocked up to find out about padding and how they can get involved – in part due to some last minute fancy bunting and car-stickering at Cremorne and one particular mug standing outside of Imperial Wharf station for half a day in full wet gear!
That aside, the unpredicted nice weather also helped a great deal in raising the number of attendees, as well as the promise of some delicious cakes in our bake sale and the chance of bagging some pretty sweet prizes in our raffle.*
Clive Whitton from Canoe England also came along with some nifty new tech for us all to play with – a couple of kayaking ergo machines. These are the mutts nuts – and – are a lot harder than they look, which pretty much everyone who tried them would agree too (so long as you gave them enough time to catch the breath afterwards!).
Chelsea Kayak Club had its own stand and displayed a range of safety and paddling equipment to talk through, as well as details and images from some of the exciting trips we’ve managed to cram in since the Club was founded last year. Kayaking London did an amazing job of taking out three complete beginner’s taster sessions on the Thames and we’ve no doubt that we’ll be seeing some of those people again as members, once they have discovered their sea legs.
We also had an impressive display of deep water rescue skills from the young people who use the activity centre, many of whom stayed around to help out on the other stands and chat to all the interested people.
All together, the sunshine and enthusiasm of all the people involved help make this a really enjoyable and fun day – and one I’m sure we’ll repeat again in the future.
Thanks again to all of our supporters and friends who kindly donated prizes for the raffle, the winners drawn from the tub were:
Jacks of all trades – getting ready for a Royal Wedding Paddle
Groovy-baby! With the help of Katie W and Richard H, I was able to turn our two Atlantic’s into a couple of floating Union Jack’s that would make Austin Powers weep with envy. These boats have been made to resemble our national flag to show CKC’s support for the Royal wedding on Friday 29 April, and to lead a very special river trip down the Thames to watch the ceremony from the water.
To honour the occasion, the boats have also been renamed ‘Will’ and ‘Kate’ and – as I’m sure you’ll agree look fantastic together. It took a couple of hours in the sunshine on Saturday morning, along with about 100m of coloured tape to transform these simple looking boats into things of beauty that turned quite a few heads and prompted quite a few enquiries from the locals. At one point we even found ourselves with a potential new member, although he needs to celebrate another 15 or so birthdays first.
Any Club members wanting to get themselves on this special Royal Wedding Paddle and travel down to Westminster Bridge with our very own Will and Kate, make sure you show your interest on the trip sign-up page as soon as possible.
Always up for an interesting paddle and to push our kayaking skills, we arranged for the club to head out to sea for a few miles in search of a wind farm, off the Kent coast at Herne Bay. We found it, along with the upper limits of our endurance after five solid hours sat in a boat on a sunny Spring day, clocking up around 12 nautical miles there and back.
Nine of us took up the challenge including Rob Davis from SeaPoint who headed up the armada, when we left shore just before 11am on Sunday morning – having made the getaway from London relatively pain free and in good time. Our destination and visual bearing was the furthest wind turbine we could see to the right, which squatted on the horizon line – almost due North from our get-in point next to the harbour.
Holding tight formation, we paddled across an incoming (up estuary) tide and into the North-easterly that reached Force 4 at times. The swells and breaking waves picked up every now and then, but apart from a little discomfort from the side on pitching it all went well, if only seaming to take longer and longer to make headway. Geoff, always keen for some extra fun – kept paddling off, only to come surfing back to the group minutes later, before repeating his little side excursion over again.
Taking hourly rest-breaks for much needed hydration (although conscious of the lack of loo-stop-opps) and a bite to eat, we kept both motivation and energy levels high as we persevered to make those tiny pinwheels turn into the whopping 123m tall power machines that they are.
When we finally made it there, I found myself suffering from a kind of reverse-vertigo – legs trembling, caught breath – as I sat in my boat stared up at the dynamic force of the three blades gracefully moving around and around so far up into the sky. These truly are the new colossal centurions of the South East estuary.
Turning back for land, we were thankful for both our maps, compasses and (brought along) local knowledge as the distant coastline, although visible, was a long brown – almost indistinct – smudge across the horizon. So with our sights firmly set on Herne Bay’s water tower ‘wine glass’ sticking up above the smudge we started to paddle back.
The return journey was slower than the outbound despite the tailwind as energy levels within the group began to flag and distraction overtook desire for the toilet, as we all began to focus on getting back ‘as quickly as possible’.
Back on terra firma we all rushed to the ‘building with the turrets’ then changed, packed up kit and boats and went to sample some of the local delights and hospitality in the nearest pub – although, to be honest the consensus was that the car park was better! So we ditched the pub sharpish, grabbed some well earned fish’n’chips and propped ourselves up against the cars and watched the seagulls before heading back to the big smoke.
