WKCC » River Trips

Wye 100 Mile Trip – May 2010

gpt27 — Sun, 20 Jun 2010 15:28:47 +0000

At long last I’ve got time to compress the 500mb of photos and load them so you can see what we got up to over the first May bank holiday 5 day paddle. Thanks to Eddie and Caroline for their articles. I’ve been promised more so maybe this will prompt you for more. I’ve pictures from Adam, Ben, Caryl, Eddie, Fitz and me.
I personally thought it was well organised by Adam as I know it was a lot of hard work with a lot of logistics and people changes. Additional special thanks go out to Tony for transporting is there and back in a minibus, to John G and Fitz for running ferries and John G for camping at Hereford rowing club and overnight trailer storage and safe car storage for the week , to John H for arranging camping at Monmouth and for Jackie for collecting those who could only do 3 days. Hopefully I’ve not forgotten anyone.

As you may know we had a collection for Adam as his kit was so bad and you should be able to see him on a river near you wearing his bright yellow Shred reddy Full Cut helmet as a result.

100 Mile Paddle Report from Caroline

100 mile wye trip by Eddie

Adam

Ben

Caryl

Eddie

Fitz

Graham

NEW BOYS ON THE LUGG

gpt27 — Tue, 18 May 2010 20:05:53 +0000

Up early Sunday morning, its raining! well I suppose they did forecast it. We load up all the kit and head off to Leominster but by the time we get there it had stopped raining and was getting warm.Things are starting to look up! We met up with Clive, Graham, Luke, John, Nick and Richard all piling into 3 cars and headed off to the start point.We all off load and all is going well until we go to drop mine and Richards truck back at Leominster. Mine decides to go on strike ,a quick diagnoses finding the battery cable has come out of the terminal at the starter motor, not a quick fix so with the aid of Richard in the Discovery, we tow it back to Leominster and dump it in the car park (out of site out of mind!).
Back to the river, the level was very low so meant that myself and Ross would be getting out of the canoe quite often and push it.
The first weir was easy going for the kayaks but we lined our canoe down. Ross and I were starting to get used to the sharp turns and bends successfully avoiding trees! great team work although im sure the little pet talk for Ross from Clive must of worked it’s charm.
The second weir, slightly easier with more water so all kayaks shot the weir and Ross abandoned canoe.Clive asked me if i wanted a go of which i reply why not. Things didn’t go quite to plan as the canoe went to one side and i couldn’t get a low brace in.Time for a sharp but wet exit !(but i did need to try out the dry cag!) We emptied the canoe and carried on successfully shooting the next 3 with no problems. We then lined one more of which Graham got stuck in it due to lack of water. All in all a great canoe trip with much thanks to all the advice and help given.What loyal people there are in the club all kindly waiting around for more than 2 hours to watch as we wait for the RAC to arrive and fix it.

Here are a few photos and there’s a few video clips on our YouTube site (see link on home page). There will be more to come

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Sunday 16th May River Lugg.

gpt27 — Sat, 15 May 2010 08:49:39 +0000

This Sundays paddle will be kayaks on the River Lugg from Lugg Green to Leominster. The river level is on the low side which makes it an ideal trip for all of our members. If you would like to come but are unsure of your suitability then please contact Clive or Graham by 3pm (FA final) today (Saturday 15th). It’s a great opportunity to experience an interesting river trip and pick up some new group paddling skills and personal skills on the way.

The plan is to meet at Leominster main car park (by the Fire Station) at 10am ready and changed to paddle. Shown on the map at the end of Arkwright Close.

Please make sure you have the appropriate kit for the trip including drinks, snacks and some lunch to take in your boat as you will not be back until mid afternoon. If you have any questions please do not hesitate to ask someone in the club for advice. If you need kit then we may be able to arrange but you have to contact us before the deadline and be flexible to suit our arrangements

Look forward to seeing you soon!!

WKCC Wye Canoe Trip

Clive — Mon, 03 May 2010 21:17:58 +0000

Trip report – Part 1. As some of you know we are doing 100 miles of the River Wye, from Glasbury to Chepstow over 5 days. In total there are 20 paddlers, 14 of whom are doing all 5 days, 1 doing 4 days. The other 5 were only able to do 3 of the days.The first 3 days were eventful, doing 25 miles on day 1, 11 miles on days 2 and the 23 miles on day 3. A full report of the trip will follow and it will be interesting reading. Find out how Paul H ‘frightened’ a guest at a Party at Hereford. How Fitz got Rita wet, how much rain there was on the first night, why Lyndon went over on day 3 and more to come.

What a great 3 days, shame the 5 of us could not make the full trip but I am sure they will have a great time.

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Stratford to Bidford 11/04/2010

gpt27 — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 20:21:43 +0000

Here are some photos and there are some great videos on our YouTube site (see link in our useful links section) all courtesy of Richard B.
If someone could write me a review I will update this article.

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The blond guide to kayaking

admin2 — Mon, 05 Apr 2010 20:36:00 +0000

The blond guide to kayaking
or
The Lugg, a dead sheep, a dead swan and two capsizes!

It was a beautiful start to the day with lots of sunshine on the journey to Leominster with Paul C. We met Graham, Clive, Steve and Frizz Ease at 10 am and after all the usual getting ready and ferry [this time Graham did remember to bring his spray deck!] we got on the water at about 11.

Almost straight away I managed not to negotiate a tree branch and tipped over. I stayed in my boat and tapped the bottom waiting for rescue…. and I waited…. and waited….. about an hour later when I really had no more breath left I bailed out. Graham was actually very close but couldn’t get a good angle to my boat because of the trees.
So back in my boat and dripping wet we carried on. We portaged the first weir which looked really nasty this time and paddled onto the next. I got lots of tips and advice on the way some of which I may even remember – let the river flow do the work, better to steer with a forward stroke rather than a backward stroke, using a hanging draw to turn… I got lots of practice breaking in and out, looking for eddies, and avoiding trees [evil things! I did try to park in an eddy with a dead sheep but avoided the dead swan which I think had got caught on some barbed wire.
The next weir was a natural one with a big wave at the bottom so I went down it hell for leather which was the wrong thing and I went over again! I thought about trying to roll but didn’t because I thought I would fail which is silly because it’s better to try and fail than not try at all. So I regret that. The guys rescued me again and I did a couple of very shaky ferry glides then got out and had a hot drink and watched the guys play in the wave. Paul was camera man and he caught a few of them surfing it and Frizz Ease going over and doing a very nice roll in the white stuff.
The next two weirs I went down I took Frizz Ease’s advice and went slowly down them and only paddled when I needed to which was just before the wave. It was much better doing it this way, I felt more in control and I may have even relaxed a bit! The guys had more of a play in the waves and the one in the pretty lilac boat did a nice bit of surfing. After this we headed off and the trip ended back in Leominster where we started.

As ever, I had a brilliant time and would do it all over again [minus the blond bits of course!]

Note there are a few clips on our You Tube site and photos below (ed).

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Sunday 4th April Lugg Paddle

graham — Sat, 03 Apr 2010 14:52:52 +0000

Sunday 4^th will be a kayak paddle. Lugg Green to Leominster based on who responded to comms.
Meet Leominster car park by fire station at 10:00. There is likely to be portaging due to high levels.
It may be a bit nippy so take a hot drink and snacks (doesn’t apply to me).

Easter Weekend Paddling

gpt27 — Fri, 02 Apr 2010 14:44:30 +0000

Surf report for Sunday is pants but it’s very good conditions for tomorrow (Saturday). The current situation is that Ben Brown (quartermaster) is going on Saturday and I may be joining him. If anyone else is wishes to go then contact Ben (number on programme).

We are also planning to do something on Sunday. We will have to monitor water levels on some of these sections as they wash out and are not worth visiting. Can I ask you to reply to me and Clive by early Saturday afternoon so we can make final plans.

These are all open to Kayaks and Canoes.
Symonds Yat
Lugg – Lugg Green to Leominster
Teme – Somewhere like to or from Bransford

Open Canoe Sunday 21st March 2010

gpt27 — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 21:12:59 +0000

For the second winter in a row, Caroline arranged a mainly open canoe paddle from Arley to Bewdley on the Severn although a few people kayaked.
This was to be part of the warm up series towards the 100 mile trip with an Adam coaching session of equipment packing and stowage before we started.

For those people who needed kit then we met at PRSC at 8:30 to collect boats and then headed up to the finish point at the car park opposite the rowing club in Bewdley at about 9:30. From here we travelled to the start at Arley and Caroline and me did a quick ferry while others got ready followed by Adams session on how to pack and load a weeks worth of paddling and camping gear for two in your canoe.
We all then got on the water which had a bit of flow at the start and warmed up before heading off. The weather was very nice with only a slight breeze. On the way down to Bewdley there were a few opportunities to practice breakouts, ferrygliding and resuce skills ( I fell in after getting my paddled wedged under my boat).
When we eventually got to Bewdley, Paul H completed his 2 star assessment of Jonathon and Phil which involved them getting wet. Everyone else sat around eating or getting changed and we then organised the car collecting ferry, loaded boats and headed off home or back to PRSC to return kit for some of us. A good day had by all.
Thanks to Richard for the following photos. I know others took photos and video so please can we have that as well.

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Nafford – 14/02/10

Clive — Sun, 14 Feb 2010 19:18:22 +0000

Well it was supposed to be a Valentines Day, but a few of us braved the cold weather, and it was cold, to have a session at Nafford this morning. Graham, Fitz, Richard W and Clive were there braving the cold.

It was a good level and it was a case of paddle till your hands were too cold, have a break to let them warm up and then have another go. After a while some Guys from
Evesham Paddle Sports turned up with their slalom polls and had a few goes which was different.

Over all we had a great time at Nafford, as we usually do.

Richard also had his open boats, and he and his wife paddle down to Eckington Bridge after we had finished.