Mother's day paddle - boats big and small

A delightful A-grade paddle on the upper Hamble on Mothering Sunday saw club 9 paddlers meander their way up to Botley.

It was a day of boats big and small, boats old and new and a different view or take on the sport/pursuit of kayaking.

Compare & contrast! Safety gear - what's that? No BA, no cag, no tow line, flares, VHF or spare paddles - just a supermarket carrier bag with some energy bars and a drink! Our competitive brothers take a very different view to the risks, especially as they paddle very tippy, super light K1 race boats.

Easy does it.

Last one to the head of the river's a sissy!

The all important briefing. Note the pre-ordered Sunny Weather appearing on command!

A new boat for some - the first few paddle strokes.

Making our way upstream. Sadly (?) we couldn't afford the big blue boat on the right.

A cheaper alternative?

Turn around at the top of the river before an easy tide assisted early return to Swanwick and home in time for Sunday lunch.

WW weekend

Here is a video from Richard H

Nab Off and Calshot On

Two separate trips this week. Spence & Sprucey's aborted attempt (due to fog - only 300m to 1nm maximum visibility) and the very windy Sunday paddle from Stokes Bay to Calshot.

On the beach at Bembridge- visibility getting better - do we stay or do we go? It was good watching the big fat heron in the background stalking the water's edge.

Bembridge - ready to start a Nav Ex on the way home

The amount of plastic floating on a tidal eddy was very sad. If we all picked up just one piece of plastic on every trip we went on and brought it home for safe disposal, the sea would be a much nicer place?

Sunday's trip from Stokes Bay to Calshot was wet, windy and bumpy. The wind on the return leg was up to 32knots at times. Of course (due to excellent planning by the trip leader!) we had wind and tide behind us both ways! It's not often that happens.

Calshot for lunch. It was bit too windy for photography on the way home!

New Club Double Kayak

The club have just purchased a new Rainbow Atlantis Double sea kayak to add to the fleet of club boats that members can rent.

We hope it will see a lot of use both on Monday night training sessions to help introduce new paddlers to the sport or as a tool to help demonstrate stroke work and technique.

I'm sure the more experienced members will be keen to practice their rolling skills.

It's also a good way for a less experienced or less strong paddler to join in some longer and more technical trips.

Apologies for the poor quality pictures - it was only delivered yesterday and, as you can see, is still wrapped in it's protective wrapping but we wanted to announce the news as soon as we could.