The Barle - First Experience

Since the Barle run this weekend (7th Feb) was my first kayak river outing with the club since joining late last year, I thought I’d take my turn to record the event from the eyes of a newcomer. … read more?

By gpt27, on February 8, 2010, 8:45 pm ,Print this post ,email This Post email This Post,

River Barle - Exmoor Sunday 7th Feb

This weekend’s trip is on the River Barle in the Exmore National Park.  The trip will be from Tarr Steps down to the Bridge Inn at Dulverton (about 6 miles).
It’s categorised as a grade 2 river with a few grade 3 bits that can be portaged but as it’s a 130 mile drive each way and it’s difficulty can vary depending on level then this is only suitable for people who are reasonably competent on water like Symonds Yat.
We will meet at The Bridge Inn at Dulverton (the finish) as we drive past this on the way to Tarr Steps. If we can meet at 9:30 and we then arrange the ferry from there.
Map below. Please allow about 2.5 hours for the journey (based on my driving speeds).

The Bridge Inn, Dulverton

Contact Clive or Graham by 12:00 Saturday at the latest to confirm if you are coming. If you leave it after that you will not be included in our travel/ ferry plans.

By gpt27, on February 6, 2010, 10:22 am ,Print this post ,email This Post email This Post,

Pershore Paddle Sunday 24th January 2010

We had a great paddle this morning at Pershore with conditions that were quite unusual making the weir a great place to practice today. There was a reasonable amount of flow on the main part of the river but it was very high downstream of the weir which resulted in the stopper line moving half way up the slope and the traditional rocks being completely out of the way. … read more?

By gpt27, on January 24, 2010, 4:22 pm ,Print this post ,email This Post email This Post,

Sunday 24th January Paddle

Due to Symonds Yat rapids being washed out and the Avon being nice and high today that we will just do some local work tomorrow at PRSC for a few hours so you should be home in time for dinner.
We will meet there and be ready to paddle by 9:30. You can paddle open canoes or kayaks and we can hopefully practice some moving water skills either on the flat or just below Pershore weir.

See you there in the morning.

By gpt27, on January 23, 2010, 3:33 pm ,Print this post ,email This Post email This Post,

Back at the Pool

After a snowy interlude we had a good turn-out on Thursday at the pool, especially the juniors, who arrived in their new hoodies and some with new boats and kit!  The junior session was split between a poolside equipment briefing from Clive, with help from Paul H; and a water based session led by Adam, supported by Caroline.  The water based skills covered a warm up, some games with sweep strokes and then the session focused on X rescues with teams of 3 rotating roles.  After lots of practice the junior session finished with a recovery race – the length of the pool with a swimmer on the back.  It was a dead heat between the 2 teams.  The senior session was quieter, but provided time to plan the next few weeks of coaching and some of the spring progamme.

By CarolineAR, on January 15, 2010, 7:44 pm ,Print this post ,email This Post email This Post,

River Trip Sunday 10th January

Just a short paddle to come out and burn a few calories. It’s a great chance for anyone who has not paddled in the cold to experiment on what to wear. The keys are multiple thin layers under your cag or windproof top. Glove wise it’s personal choice.  Some people find neoprene gloves reduce their feel of the paddle. I’ve got no sense so I don’t wear gloves but you can try, pogies, sailing gloves (see Tony), neoprene gloves, washing  up gloves or I’ve been told those disposible latex gloves are good as they are thin and cheap but keep the wind off a bit.
Also consider head layers under your helmet for some.
Meet at Eckington Bridge car park at 9:30 but please let Clive know that you are coming by 5pm Saturday so he knows to expect you.  Eckington map can be found by searching site for previous Eckington posts.

By gpt27, on January 9, 2010, 3:09 pm ,Print this post ,email This Post email This Post,

Thursday 7th January – Pool Session Cancelled !

Chairman Clive has just confirmed that there is no pool session tonight. Hopefully we will be back to normal next week.
Cheers

By gpt27, on January 7, 2010, 1:32 pm ,Print this post ,email This Post email This Post,

First programme for 2010 is now available

See programme page for details.

By gpt27, on January 5, 2010, 6:16 pm ,Print this post ,email This Post email This Post,

Xmas Paddle 2009

We had a very pleasant paddle this morning on the Avon. There was Caroline, Tony, Clive, Lyndon, Caryl and me.   
We were all ready on time and left PRSC at 9:30 and headed to Fladbury as planned only to be met with a really impressive water level downstream of the weir (see pics).  The usual part of the weir which is usually a scrape to go down had a deep stopper running full length so we all shot it on the right which had a nice wave train running through the middle. This was Lyndon and Caryls first river trip so they were already off to a challenging start.

… read more?

By gpt27, on December 31, 2009, 4:31 pm ,Print this post ,email This Post email This Post,

Where did the water come from?

Well today’s trip to Symonds Yat was a washout as you can see from the photos. So instead I did something which I have never done before and went up the hill to Yat Rock and had a look around there. You get amazing views and can really see how the river meanders. I took these pics from high up looking down on the rapids which didn’t even have a wave on them. 
If anyone is doing any paddling over the coming week then let us know and we will spread the word.

By gpt27, on December 27, 2009, 3:34 pm ,Print this post ,email This Post email This Post,
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