Newsflash
| Youth Freestyle Series 2010 |
The dates for the Youth Freestyle series have just been announced. A series of five events across the country for young paddlers interested in freestyle. |
| Read more... |
| March Newsletter available to download. |
The March 2010 Newsletter is available to members to download. Material for the next edition by the end of April please. Amanda |
| Level 1 Coaching - Urgent |
If anyone is interested in Level 1 Coaching course, please contact me urgently (if not already done so). At the moment, it looks positive that a course will be booked mid / end April. thanks, |
| Devizes to Westminster 2010 |
Richard Bennett is recruiting a volunteer support crew for this years DW race. Click here for more info. |
| Membership Due |
Membership renewals are due as of 1st March 2010. If you haven't already done so, please download the membership form, complete and return to our new membership secretary, Tim Clifford |
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Syndication
| Sea Kayaking Trip - Severn Estuary - Aug 2009 |
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| Trip Reports - Sea Kayaking Trips | |||
| Sunday, 03 January 2010 16:45 | |||
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In August, I went on my first sea kayaking trip. I was looking forward to the expedition nature of it and to a good day's exercise, but what I wasn't expecting was the exhilarating nature of the paddle!
As we were packing our boats, I learnt that due to the volume of these boats and being designed to be paddled fully loaded, sea kayakers do day trips in luxury! I clearly didn't have enough 'stuff'! Wayne, Esther and I got in at Severn Beach, where it was a little tippy but the waves were steady and fairly predictable and I soon settled down into a rhythm. By the time we approached Denny Island, the waves had got a little larger and the water was moving quite fast. After paddling hard against the current (to find somewhere to land) and getting nowhere, Esther and I followed Wayne through some choppy stuff into the lee of the island, where all was calm. We got out onto the island, had our lunch and enjoyed the view.
Before leaving the island, I was given some instruction on how to ferryglide across the standing waves. Off we headed towards Portishead. Meanwhile, the wind had changed direction slightly and was now coming straight up the Bristol Channel.
This provided us with some fairly large swell - it was quite exciting surfing down some of the waves, but also a little scary cutting into/over them. But I was comforted by the appearance of Wayne right on my tail! Once a little closer to land, the swell died down and just a little more hard work was required to cross the tidal stream rushing round the headland before we could have a nice break on the mud - I mean beach! From here to Clevedon was an 'easy' paddle, with just a headwind to challenge us. The final lesson of the day was that the jetty at Clevedon doesn't go all the way down to the sea at spring low water! After a few gruelling metres, I decided the best way to cross the mud is to slide with your weight on the kayak, running with your legs. It's efficient but quite messy! Total distance = 10 + 3 + 7 = 20 kilometres. Thanks to Wayne for an exhilarating day on the water/mud! Check out all the photos by clicking here
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