Oban to Garvellachs and surrounds Those who served:    Ian Bell, Simon Howlett, Roger Colman, Catriona , Julian Todd, Becka Lawson, Anthony Vaccaro I’m proud of under-planning and not thinking ahead, especially when doing something new.  Becka and I had never been out for more than one night in a sea kayak, and this trip was supposed to be five nights in the Scottish wilderness.  We had the kayaks, we had a Trangia stove and enough old soda bottles to carry our regulation supply of water.  At the last minute we grabbed our one working tent that wasn’t the pop-up kind.  I was sure we could simply shovel enough packets of random food from the larder into the holes around this gear to make something up each day. Becka drove us up to Oban while I provided the entertainment by reading aloud a food list for a French kayakers’ fortnight-long trip from the kayarchy website (including an oyster knife and one winkle-pick per person). By the time we reached Glasgow Becka insisted on some panic buying so she stocked up at Aldis and we arrived quite late. Other last minute decisions that happened frantically the next morning included packing our thickest sleeping bags (which could barely be rammed into a hold, even when you fed them right up to the bow through the hatch), and our choice to wear our skinny wetsuits for the whole trip because we didn’t have enough confidence that we weren’t going to capsize and be unable to roll.  The rest of the group (in their comfy, dry gear) were polite enough not to make it obvious that we were holding them up as we squabbled over what to take and Becka tried to cram in her mound of fresh fruit and veggies (it turns out […]

Saving Sheep on the Severn by John Vogler On Sunday last, 13th May, a group of us led by Carl Leung were quietly paddling down the Severn, when rounding a bend a sad bleating was heard. A sheep had fallen down a steep and overgrown bank. Condemned to stand in the water and unable to climb back to safety its situation seemed dire. What to do? One option would be to land somewhere nearby and attempt to alert the person farming the land. But the spot seemed pretty remote with no nearby buildings. Another possibility, that we began to explore, was to land and use what lines we had to haul the sheep up the bank. However, the subject of our attention seemed very unwilling to submit to being tied up and rescued in this way. At this point John Fay paddled forward to save the situation. Exiting his kayak into thick riverside mud he began to scale the bank with a view to assisting the sheep to climb back itself. The initial result was that the sad animal fell into the river. But, John persevered and finally managed to shove the sheep sufficiently far up the bank for it to get a footing. With a few bounds it was free and trotted off to join the rest of its flock – much to the general relief. Such a humane act deserves to be reported, but it is probably not unique. There are stories of cows being rescued by determined kayakers and even CPR being performed on half drowned ducks. Readers will surely know of other examples that deserve to be publicised.

My first time to Llangollen on Saturday. John showed me the way through Serpents Tail, tried to get me stuck in a stopper then tried to run me over on the bottom wave. Great day out on very busy river. Paul Harwood

14 paddlers turned out for a day out on the Mawddach Estuary and a trip to Penmaenpool and back. We set off in the morning with the last one paddling off at 10:30 and we arrived at Pen around Noon but minus 2 who had got stuck after going down a blind alley. After waiting 5 minutes for the water to rise they carried on and joined us at Pen. As soon as high water reached Pen we headed back down the estuary weaving around it trying to retain deep water and avoid getting beached. The estuary can leave you stranded if you don’t pay attention and the re was the odd scraping of sand with paddles and a couple of very short walks of shame during the day but overall no dramas and everyone survived. Thanks to those who turned up and made it into an enjoyable day out on the water.      

Photo of the Month May 2018 Click here to see the photos and to vote for your favourite. Please send any photos to website@liverpoolcanoeclub.co.uk April 2018 # 1 River Mersey Paddle – photo by Kristiaan D’Août 28 votes (36%) # 2 Surf Ski in Tarifa 2018 Julian Tod 27 votes (35%) # 3 Craig and Ian at the Burrs – Photo by Neil Jones 7 votes (9%) # 4 Sunday morning paddle at the docks 2018 John Allerton 6 votes (8%) # 5 Hilbre Island 2018 Pete Massey 5 votes (6%) # 6 Group at the Burrs – Submitted by John Allerton 4 votes (5%) March 2018 Top of Form # 1 Bonfire paddle River of Light on the Mersey by Kris D Aout 27 votes (34%) # 2 Craig surfing at Burrs Weir by Steve Stanford 16 votes (20%) # 3 Pete discovers he is a zen master somewhere near Glenuig by Kathy Morton 15 votes (19%) # 4 Late entry for paddler of the year, Olivia 3 years old by Martin Eley‎ 11 votes (14%) # 5 How stable is a sit-on-top by Chris Fay 9 votes (11%) # 6 Hilbre Island 2018 Phil and Isobel 2 votes (3%) Bottom of Form

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Firstly thank you all for all your help during the tournaments; reffing, helping with the goals, and doing the table (a shout out here is deserved to the man from Dolly’s who looked after the table single-handedly on Saturday). Thank you also for your understanding with date and pool changes, I think this last tournament was a really good one in the end! So, the final results are…. Liverpool in first place and Dolly Mixtures in second! Congratulations to both teams and I hope everyone enjoyed themselves during the league. Team P W D L GF GA GD PTS Liverpool 15 13 0 2 52 18 34 39 Dolly Mixtures 15 9 1 5 51 26 25 28 Durham Uni 15 8 0 7 36 31 5 24 Lancaster 15 6 2 7 43 38 5 20 MUCC 15 5 2 8 34 48 -14 17 Hallam 15 1 1 13 7 62 -55 4 Finally, I just want to advertise the Ladies Development weekend which is being ran in Liverpool in September. Any individuals can go of any level, there is no need to enter as a team. Best wishes! Rachel