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Saturday 10th July 2010
What do pensioners, pre-teens, cardboard and the Thames have in common? If you’d asked me a week ago I would have been stumped. But last Saturday it became clear: cardboard canoe racing.
Saturday 10 July saw Cremorne Riverside hold its first ever cardboard canoe competition, attracting regulars and newbies, young kids and oldies alike.
25 participants, five teams, 600 metres of duct tape, a few tonnes of cardboard and one hour to build. The aim? Construct a canoe-shaped flotation device to race across 20 metres of open water.
The result? Sadly, two boats started to sink within seconds of hitting the water, but the racers put on brave smiles and ‘powered’ on. Our very own Andy was paddling his team’s boat (which looked more like a Star Wars prop than a kayak) and mighty impressive he looked. His courageous effort got him to within reach of the finishing line before the Thames took hold; however, this was enough to secure second place.
But the real story of the day was the team that won. Two kids – neither had paddled before – scrambled into the cockpit of their double ‘kayak’, and proceeded to paddle all the way to the finish line without a problem…and then gracefully turned around and paddled all the way back to the dock. Their boat was, ironically, called the Sinking saucepan.
The well-deserving participants and fantastic spectators were awarded with a barbeque on the jetty (although we proved that kayakers should stick to kayaking and not take up barbequing as a day job any time soon) and the winning team was presented with a fantastic trophy. Made out of cardboard and duct tape, of course.
And after five hours of sunshine, all that remained was a few tonnes of cardboard*, some left over chocolate bananas, a whole lot of sunburn, and the promise of another cardboard canoe competition in the near future.
* All cardboard was taken to the Riverside Waste Authority for recycling.
Judes
http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/event.php?eid=127140907326717&ref=ts
Check it out – hope to see a few members there flying the flag for the Club!
CKC Editor
Friday 11th – Monday 14th June 2010
Last weekend was the inaugural club trip and what better place to choose for getting on the sea than Kilchoan – a remote Scottish crofting village at the westernmost end of the Ardnamurchan peninsula, a two-hour drive to the west of Fort William.
Seven club members set off from London by train, plane and automobile to arrive in Kilchoan in time for a Friday evening paddle around Glas Eilean with a full escort from the inquisitive seal population.
On Saturday we set off up Loch Sunart pushed along by a brisk westerly wind with some fairly exciting paddling around Maclean’s Nose and Ardslignish Point (Rubha Aird Shlignich).
We stopped off at some beautiful deserted beaches on the way that are only accessible by sea. Once past Ardslignish Point, things became a little calmer and we had a leisurely paddle to the Nature Centre at Glenmore for a well deserved tea. All in all 7.7 nautical miles clocked up!
On Sunday we returned back to Kilchoan from Glenmore clocking up a distance of over 10 nautical miles, this time going into the wind and waves which proved to be a demanding exercise. Just to make things a little more interesting we crossed over Loch Sunart to Oronsay and a quick look into Loch Na Droma Buidhe (Loch Drumbuie) before heading back across Loch Sunart via Sligneach Mor to say hello to some seals and along the coast to Kilchoan. On the way we stopped for lunch at Port a Chamais, a deserted settlement at the foot of Ben Hiant. A couple of ruined crofter’s cottages on the shore front made a beautiful picnic spot.
As you would expect we experienced the full range of weather and sea conditions which was just what we were looking for. A special thanks to Jon Haylett and Trevor Potts for the loan of equipment and to John Chapple for the taxi service and much appreciated bottles of beer!
Geoff
6th June 2010
Some people would say that the VHF radio is perhaps the most important piece of safety equipment to have aboard a boat. VHF radios can be used to check the weather, communicate with other boats and land stations, and to hail people when you get into a jam or an emergency.
And so it was that a bunch of us armed with the Club’s newly acquired Icom M33 handheld radio headed over to Canary Wharf early on Sunday to do a VHF Radio course to obtain the Short Range Certificate. Given the relatively early start none of us were particularly upbeat (not least Debs who was nursing a hangover) but the day turned out to be pretty good thanks to Tim from Timuna Seawho did his best to make it as relevant as possible to sea kayaking and the nature of our activities.
Taking it in turns to use (non-transmitting) equipment we went through the process of learning the radio functions and the limited frequencies we should use if required, radio etiquette, and distress procedures. For instance, did you know that there are three different types of distress message that can be used? But then did you know that Toons looks like a younger version of President Logan from 24 – no, neither did he until the course  !
We also went through some specifics for the Thames and how to interact with London VTS (Vessel Traffic Services – Port of London Authority) in respect to kayaking on the tideway and figured out that a whilst in a kayak a handheld has an approximate range of 2.25 nautical miles.
All in all a great day and well worth doing – I certainly feel able to use a radio should I need to even if it’s just to check for weather broadcasts.
Phil
Saturday 22nd and Sunday 23rd May 2010
Whilst I have maintained a full First Aid at Work qualification for well over a decade now given most of my free time is either spent up a mountain or on the water I figured I really should top up my skills with a course specific to the outdoors and tailored to my activities. So I took it upon myself to organise a course for Chelsea Kayak Club and Battersea Canoe Club and after a bit of research decided that the ITC Level 2 Certificate in Outdoor First Aid was the most appropriate one to do. The course comprised two 1 day units leading to a full certificate – Unit 1 “Outdoor First Aid Emergency Action” and Unit 2 “Emergency Incident Management” and was delivered by Charlie Holmes from React First an ITC accredited provider.
Whilst I was pretty clear in my mind what I wanted (and hoped) to get out of the course I have to confess I was also slightly apprehensive. This was because other first aid courses I had attended (albeit largely office orientated) had always left me a little wanting. Happily my apprehension was misplaced and from the outset the course took a very different tack to the others I had experienced before. It was very fast paced, hands on, practical, pragmatic and realistic.
We learnt the essential emergency lifesaving skills and protocols which provided us with a framework to a systematically manage first aid incidents including improvised techniques – let’s face it you’re limited in what you might have up a hill or on the water (and stuff like duct tape and cling film is definitely really handy to have in your first aid kit)! The incident management scenarios really helped me reinforce what we were being taught and reflect on what I did wrong or missed. We were also shown some advanced techniques such as how to safely remove a helmet if the need arose. We also took the opportunity to constructively work through how we might remove an unconscious casualty from a kayak – which proved to be no easy task, although we did reach a conclusion.
Clearly until faced with an actual incident (god forbid) it is difficult to say how well I will perform properly under pressure (although the course certainly gave me an insight into this). However, I certainly feel better equipped than I did before and can definitely say the course was well worth doing and would recommend it to anyone who spends a significant amount of time in the outdoors.
Phil
Saturday 8th and Sunday 9th May 2010
“What’s the weather usually like on the Isle of Wight in May?” I asked Mitch from Isle of Wight Sea Kayaking – “In May it’s usually pretty good”, she replied.
And so it was that seven of us from the Club headed over to the Isle of Wight for two days of 4 Star Training armed only with an enthusiasm to learn. Well the weather was definitely not great but do you want perfect conditions when you’re doing your 4 Star Sea Leader Training…? Probably not… ok the weather wasn’t completely terrible but it was too much for certain individuals in the group so they opted for a hotel instead of camping (wimps!).
The new 4 Star Award is a leadership award, it is not a coaching award and it is not suitable for leading beginners or relative novices. That said there are a lot of synergies with coaching. You need to be able to judge the conditions and standard of the group and make appropriate decisions about route planning, pass on sufficient information to help achieve your objectives, and modify plans if the need arises. For instance, a leader needs to have the skill to pass on tips to improve the group’s overall paddling ability and confidence. If the weather is bad and you can’t do the trip you wanted to do – you could head for the pub – or if the opportunity presents itself you can always do a skills session where everyone gets to practice stuff receiving feedback from others.
After receiving a briefing from Owen Burson on the remit of the award he told us the weather forecast for the day (a modest north easterly), and set us to work on a tabletop coastal planning exercise. Splitting into groups we pored over nautical and OS maps desperately trying to remember what we’d previously been taught on the coastal navigation course. A rough plan started to emerge – I say rough, one group decided to opt to stop in a pub, and another group opted for a route which would involve a hell of a walkout (top tip – remember to check “local knowledge”!), I’m pleased to say Miranda and I had the best route proposing a trip which would take us along the south of the island to Whitecliff Bay and back again.
We then headed off to Fort Victoria (near Yarmouth) and split into two groups to plan an open crossing over the Solent to Hurst Castle spit. Our group headed straight for the lighthouse, with the other opting for a slightly different and less direct route – but we all got there safely and after a spot of lunch we were off again. The only problem was the tide conditions had totally changed (wind was now against tide) which made things interesting for group management, and even more interesting when Owen got us to do some skills stuff… After a further skills session, which included the use of various towlines and ways of using them, we finished up for the day and headed back for some much deserved food and drink.
Sunday morning arrived and after another quick tabletop exercise we headed out into Freshwater Bay for leadership training and a bit of rock hopping. However, not before a slight comedy moment which involved John doing a failed roll and swimming, and Jacqui deftly moving in for a deep water rescue which started well but ended with her swimming too as she was unprepared for John’s shift in weight… “Oh well” I thought, I guess I’d better move in to rescue them. Little did I know that only a short amount of time later I would end up swimming myself after get caught off guard being sideways on a steep crashing wave!
We learnt about CLAP-T in the context of leading on the sea and group management – Communications, Line of Sight, Avoidance is better than cure, Position of Maximum Usefulness, and Top Tips – several of us were already familiar with this concept in the context of whitewater paddling. We also went through the theory behind surf landings (unfortunately there was no real surf around to practice this – something for us to action later).
After lunch we went through some incident scenarios on the water with a bit of problem solving thrown in for good measure (e.g. how to patch up a breached hull whilst on the water, dealing with a lost hatch, or paddle) and then a load of wet work involving deep water rescues and self-rescues, as well as the opportunity to practice rolling if people wanted it.
We headed back for a session on safety kit, a debrief and chat about the actual assessment before all going our separate ways back to London. All in all a great weekend and a great training course which is well worth doing – even if you don’t actually end up doing the assessment. Lot’s for us to think about, and put into practice on salt water which is why Chelsea Kayak Club came about in the first place – here’s to our many trips and expeditions and eventually putting putting in for our assessment!
Phil
Monday 17th May 2010
CKC would like to say a big well done to Cremorne Riverside which has just become the first kayaking centre to receive the London 2012 Inspire Mark for its “Future Paddling” project!
The project aims to engage year 5 and 6 students in paddlesport. Worksheets will be used to learn about local history and as part of this they will discover boats hidden in the park which are all classes of canoes and kayaks used during the Olympic Games. After this students get the opportunity to kayak on the Tidal Thames and work towards a nationally recognised award.
An Olympic and Paralympic first, the London 2012 Inspire programme officially recognises outstanding non-commercial projects and events inspired by the Games.
CKC Editor
2nd – 9th May 2010
Ok – this was not my first sea symposium, not by a long way. I’ve been at three in Ireland, back in the early days: Connemara, Donegal and Ballycastle. All good fun, but the nearest thing we got to foreigners was having Nigel Foster give a talk. And his ex-wife, Sharon. But that’s for another time…
THIS symposium, on the other hand, has people from all over Europe and even a couple all the way from the USA. Dutch, Norwegians, Danes, Swedes, Italians, British, Irish, French, Estonians and even a couple of Swiss. Yes really – Swiss sea kayakers. There are hundreds of people for the main weekend and it’s a full programme of paddles, talks, workshops, courses and so on.
I arrived there on the Sunday evening just as things were beginning to quieten down, with none other than Harry Whelan from Cremorne. Harry is very well known in the sea paddling fraternity, and arriving with him is a quick route to fame. Or possibly infamy.
A curry in downtown Holyhead was his plan and we met up with quite a few mates of his; legends of the sea paddling mob. All that networking proved to be a good idea as one of the curry munchers turned out to be Chris Reed, who then gave me an excellent deal on a paddling suit the next day – the “friends and family rate”, further sweetened on hearing the news of Chelsea Kayak Club.
Sleeping arrangements were basic enough, and there was a fairly lax approach to registering and bed allocation, so I took pot luck and jumped in a room. After a night of no sleep at all, thanks to some supersonic snoring (which eventually saw me giving up and sleeping on the floor of the shower room), I moved into a room full of friendly high tech Norwegians who were webbed, wirelessed and wideo-enabled to the max. And they hardly snored at all. They were serial sea symposiumers, and were in Anglesea mostly for the huge tidal races so our paths rarely crossed. But I did learn to say “you are my hero” in Norwegian. ”Du er min held”, as you ask. I wonder if it will do me any good in Sweden in August?
The rest of the week looked like this:
- Monday – 26 k paddle to Skerries and back from Soldiers’ Point . This was the “hard option”. I nearly switched groups when I discovered that one of my co-paddlers was Freya Hoffmeister, who was just back from her solo paddle around Australia. Yes, Australia. All of it. Took nearly a year. But I stuck it out and was rewarded with a stunning day, sunshine, seals and a thorough explore of the lighthouse.
- Tuesday – Day One of Four Star Training. Led by two excellent coaches, Phil Hadley from Dudley and Jen Kleck from California. Phil and I yapped away in Black Country dialect which was a good laugh. “Owroight?” “Ow am ya?” and so on. Made the Norwegian seem straightforward enough.
- Wednesday – Day Two of Four Star Training. Led by another excellent coach, Trys.
- Thursday – Did my Foundation Safety and Rescue Course with three others, led by Tom Thomas. A small Danish woman called Mariete and I were also assessed at the end for our Two Star; the other two were not anywhere close to the standard in open canoes. Happily Mariete and I both were and were signed off. Also went as a guinea pig on the night navigation on the five star assessment – which was particularly amazing as at the end of the night we were called on to take part in a real life search and rescue – flares, helicopters, lifeboats, the whole works.
- Friday – a trip to South Stack from Porth Dafoch. Pleasant day – sunny, lots of birds, a nice swell at the stack, time to explore caves and chill out. Harry was on this trip too – and so the blackguarding started. A bit of a tidal race near Porth Dafoch, just enough to get the idea of surfing.
- Saturday – day one of tidal races and overfalls. Out from Church Beach to a point where it really got pretty big and lumpy, after some really good coaching from Phil Clegg. Some advanced blackguarding from Harry – unknown to me he attached a tow line to the stern of my boat as I was launching through the surf and then he ran sideways along the beach. I fell over, and as I hadn’t my deck on, I fell out. In front of everyone. Nice.
- Sunday – day two of tidal races and overfalls. I was ready for Harry this day, but he still managed to stick a couple of boulders in my day hatch. Nice again. I did get him back by towing away his boat when he was sat on a rock. This trip went from Soldiers’ Point to North Stack and then around to Porth Dafoch. Harry also managed to press gang some poor Danish woman into attaching a throw line to my stern, but it was close enough to the cockpit that I could release it. Then it sank. Which was bad. For him. Oh how we laughed…
There wasn’t too much social life, just the same crowd drinking in the on-site bar, although on the Wednesday night there was some whisky-fueled competitive acrobatics and party games by a few of the coaches. All good fun, and pretty impressive how strong and flexible some of the younger coaches are. If Phil Clegg ever challenges you to a trial of strength or flexibility, be warned. I did have a go or two, just to try and raise the profile of the Chelsea Kayak Club. It could have been worse, I suppose. The things your Chairman does for you.
Then it was home time, carrying Harry’s lovely new Rapier on the roof and trying not to fall asleep. This symposium gets a lot of repeat custom, and I can see why. If you get the chance next year, go.
Andy
Some of Cremorne’s Over 60’s Kayak Group, took part last weekend in the London Kayakathon. With a combined age of 136 years, and only 2 years paddling experience, “The Chelsea Coffin Dodgers” paddled 26.2 miles in a double sea kayak and raised over £1000 for charity. Moya and Daisy – you show us how sea kayaking can truly be open to all and be a lifelong passion.
Chelsea Kayak Club congratulates you!
Andy McM
Thursday 29th April 2010
Our smallest group yet – Phil, Andy, Tim and guest Judy Armstrong, all the way from Stellenbosch, South Africa, via Southfields.
Pleasant weather and a strong ebb tide saw us go up river. The idea was to take it fairly easy but seemingly little effort saw us all the way up past Putney Bridge to the ramp that Battersea Canoe Club use to access the river. This saw us right across from Craven Cottage where Fulham were playing Hamburg for a place in the Europa League final. We were there at half time, with Fulham trailing 0-1 and the mood of the fans grim. Tim and Andy hung about to hear the roar of the crowd when the half started up again – if there had only been a big screen we could have watched it would have been like being in the grounds.
A nice paddle back, with the ebb tide, and a chance to have a look at a couple of drilling rigs on the river that are working on the super sewer. Think oil rigs only smaller.
As we approached Wandsworth Tim noticed the sound of a huge, but distant, roar – “Fulham must have scored!”
Back to the centre, Andy set a precedent by NOT going for a drink (he was blaming babysitter issues – WEAK) but Judy was impressed enough with us and we with her that she joined up.
And Fulham won 2-1 and went through to the final.
Andy McM
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