Sea Kayak Support Session Number 1 by Roger Colman On a wet and windy Thursday evening I attended, as a student (not as an assistant) the first of Ian Bell’s Sea Kayak Support Sessions. You may have noticed that these sessions were entitled Ian Bell and Roger Colman, but let me assure you all, in the words of a famous, fictional Spanish waiter, ‘I know nothing’ when it comes to navigation and trip planning.  I got a lift there, did not lift a finger to help Ian and then got a lift home again (thanks Derek) so a good night all-round. The course was packed out, all places taken. It was a good thing that the Wallasey District Scout Centre was available to the club and I have little doubt that Ian also had the major role in organising the venue as well as delivering this Introduction to Coastal Navigation and Weather session. I was surprised to see so many faces that I not only recognised but having been at the club for a while now, could even put a fair few names too.  Obviously, there is no guarantee that it was always going to be a matching pair, right name – right face, but for such a big club with so many faces I am slowly getting better at this. I was also surprised to realise how many I had paddled with at one time or another. (Why were they here – I thought they knew what they were doing!) It was a good evening with plenty of questions, in addition to “when’s the tea break?”, and I learnt about available resources; tidal range and flow; stream atlas’ and diamonds; over falls and tide races. If I struggled with the maths, I could find a picture book thingy, oh […]

Photo of the Month Please send any photos to website@liverpoolcanoeclub.co.uk February 2020 # 1 Ron Wood seal launch – Dave Gentle 15 votes (42%) # 2 NW Youth League 2020 – Craig Ford 5 votes (14%) # 3 Festive Docks Paddle 2019 from Julie Brookes 5 votes (14%) # 4 Improvers Trip Bull Bay to Brick works 2020 Emily Stephenson 0001 4 votes (11%) # 5 Andy on the Improvers Trip Sea Kayak Trip – Vic Leather 4 votes (11%) # 6 Crazy kayaker on the Tryweryn – Jim Duffy 3 votes (8%)

The Paddler issue 51 Winter 2020 edition The International magazine for recreational paddlers The Paddler can be read in three ways: Free tablet and smart phone HTML5 optimised edition: http://paddlerezine.com Free Joomag desktop page-flip digital issue: https://joom.ag/p9me Perfect-bound 132-page printed: https://thepaddlermag.com/subs-print-paddler All the best Peter

Your club activities might be changing – new proposals by British Canoeing have been announced – Your comments online may be used in plans going forward. Of particular concern to us will be Proposal 9 – Coaching, Leadership and Instructing Qualifications Please click here for the anonymous online survey with British Canoeing…… 9: Coaching, Leadership and Instructing Qualifications Whilst the majority of coaches are qualified, our regulations allow for some individuals to lead and coach paddling activities on the basis of an assessment of their competence made by club committee members.  It is proposed to change this so that all coaches, leaders and instructors will be required to hold a certified British Canoeing qualification and be currently qualified with all necessary updates undertaken. This means that 95% of all coaching and leading in the club could stop. This together with the plan to remove peer paddling from being covered by any third party insurance or as a club activity would mean that the club could no longer operate or at least would be radically different from now. This would mean for LCC: Dock paddling would stop except for led groups of 4 (BC Qualified sheltered water leader with all updates) Most river trips would stop Most sea trips would stop Club weekends and residentials would not happen unless qualified leaders and coaches were available for all groups of 4. All other club activities would need to be reviewed including pool sessions and surfing etc. I would welcome all members to review the proposals and to respond with their views, especially to proposal 9, as this will have severe repercussions on all our paddling with the club if the proposal is approved and implemented in October 2020. Please click here for the anonymous online survey with British Canoeing……

NWC Youth League Canoe Polo Our two teams again played in the second tournament and it is clear many of the paddlers are developing confidence and skills. To find out more see the YouTube video of the match between our two teams (Embedded below or click here….) Photos of the tournament…. Junior paddlers from age 9 to 15 are welcome to join us in the league. If you want to come along to the last two tournaments, please register your interest here. All the boats and equipment needed is provided. You do not need to wear a spray deck unless you want to. Click here for more information……

Liverpool International Canoe Polo Tournament  Click here to pay for your part of the entry for a team. We need 6 per team before the club will enter a team. Saturday 9th and Sunday 10th May ’20   Princes Parade, Liverpool, L3 1DL Liverpool International Canoe Polo Tournament The Princes Dock venue lies within the shadows of the world-famous Liver Birds as such is an excellent opportunity to showcase our sport. With other events and activities within the River Festival all within sight we expect to generate a lot of interest. Please note under our event licence we have been allocated a number of car parking spaces at 2 cars per team. More information……. Instructions You will be allocated to one of our teams. We need 6 people per team before we will enter – If there are not enough players we will refund the money to you. We usually have 3 teams. Contact the Polo representative if you have any questions…(polo@liverpoolcanoeclub.co.uk) LCC entry for International Polo tournaments this summer on our bookwhen pages is now open.   If you want to be included in any of the teams this year please sign up and pay now. You will be allocated to one of our teams. We need 6 people per team before we will enter – If there are not enough players we will refund the money to you. We usually have 3 teams. Contact the Polo representative if you have any questions…(polo@liverpoolcanoeclub.co.uk) Liverpool International  9 -10th  May 2020  https://bookwhen.com/lcc/e/ev-sd73-20200509000000 Canoe Polo National Championships 13-14th June 2020 https://bookwhen.com/lcc/e/ev-soch-20200613000000 Hull International 4 – 5th July 2020  https://bookwhen.com/lcc/e/ev-s2b5-20200704000000

Quite a few people said they were also interested in buying a PLB and asked me to pass on what I found out so I thought I should post back to the LCC email list. Here’s a summary – thanks to the replies I got from Bob Hamilton, Kris D’Aout, Pete Burgess, Mike Alter and Simon Webster. I want a PLB – these are small enough to fit in a BA pocket (EPIRBs are much bigger and are designed to be attached to a boat and they are registered to the boat whereas PLBs are registered to the individual). Most PLBs need manual activation. PLBs are registered to Falmouth coastguard and you can specify which sports you are doing eg walking plus kayaking. Nobody had used them in anger so there was no feedback on that but you should test the batteries every 3 years or so. People used two different PLB manufacturers: McMurdo – FastFind / Find Me / FastFind 220 – (Kris, Pete, Bob) fits in BA/PFD and can be used inland as well as at sea. Waterproof so doesn’t need to be in a case. The 220 floats when it is in its neoprene cover and needs to be sent away to replace the battery but battery lasts at least 3 years. Ocean Signal – rescueME – (Simon, Mike) easily fits in your PFD, has a  funky neoprene case that makes it float, but still allows easy activation. Good battery life. Requires manual activation including pulling out aerial. Getting the aerial out with cold hands might be a bit fiddly. £194 via Amazon. 

My first tournament with Liverpool Canoe Club by Jake O`Connell So, after only 2 training sessions I was allowed to play for the LCC team in the league. Everybody has been nothing but welcoming and the coaching has been amazing… Play and pick up as you go along! Everybody is more than happy to help you out and share tips and info on the game! I competed in my first competitive league game and within 15 second had already scored my first goal!! Tips picked up from the coaches and teammates helped massively and as the games progressed, we dominated the game and scoring 4 goals total in the games. So happy to be a part of LCC. Jake! More Photos…….

Photo of the Month Please send any photos to website@liverpoolcanoeclub.co.uk February 2020 Click here to see the photos and to vote for your favourite.

Results of the Liverpool Canoe Club Youth Polo 18th January 2020 See our junior teams in action at Speke Pool last weekend https://youtu.be/OQVcE96JKDM We are always keen to have young paddlers trying canoe polo. Ask at Junior club on a Tuesday or put your name down for the next tournament on 8th February. More details here…….. You will play in a team with other Under 16s. All equipment is provided. More Photos…….

Liverpool Canoe Club Youth Polo Jan 2020 See our junior teams in action at Speke Pool last weekend https://youtu.be/OQVcE96JKDM We are always keen to have young paddlers trying canoe polo. Ask at Junior club on a Tuesday or put your name down for the next tournament on 8th February. More details here…….. You will play in a team with other Under 16s. All equipment is provided. More Photos…….

Sea Trip Sunday (Improvers Sea Kayak Trip) by Emily Stephenson Sea kayakers were out in force, with a group of over twenty splitting into three groups, in a long-anticipated Anglesey good weather sea trip. Group C consisted of the experienced leading the nervous. After too much practice being rescued while in the sea, opposed to time on it, a little confidence building was needed. I crack jokes when I am nervous. I was in good company with Nadezda’s singing and Kayleigh’s nail biting. After a safety briefing and a few more last-minute wisecracks, we were ready to go. We set off from Bull Bay, Porth Llechog, left around the North coast of Anglesey. We initially familiarised ourselves with the light swell and Westerly wind, practicing manoeuvres. From there we stayed close to the cliff edges, with beautiful views and exotic sea birds, like seagulls. We were not as lucky as the other group to see saw seals and a dolphin but were happy to see diving Cormorants and stunning geology. We set to rock hopping with the swell of the tide, building confidence finding paths through the rocks. We pulled into an eddy with a narrow path, watching group B form a traffic jam. Our group happily piled in, while I supervised from the rear. Around the next corner was a large cave only accessible by the sea. One of many spectacular views on the trip. We happily bumper carted around the cave before continuing our journey along Trwynbychan. Lunch was at Porth Wen, commonly known as ‘The Brickworks’. Group B joined us for lunch and Julie set to dishing out sausage rolls, to remind us all it was Sunday after all. We climbed back into our boats and went around Porth Wen before heading back around the coast in an […]

Photo of the Month Please send any photos to website@liverpoolcanoeclub.co.uk January 2020 # 1 Thursday Dock Paddle – Sharon Walters 17 votes (22%) # 2 Christrmas Paddle Conway Estuary – KS 15 votes (19%) # 3 Martin Aldridge poling in the Okavango Delta – Nikki 13 votes (17%) # 4 Steve Alcock on the Tees Barrage 12 votes (15%) # 5 Festive Docks Paddle – Steve Alcock 11 votes (14%) # 6 Trevor Roger Peter and Marty preparing for the Swellies on the Menai Straits – Paul Goetzee 10 votes (13%)

 BULL BAY PADDLE  19.01.2020 (Improvers Sea Kayak Trip) by Vic Leather On a cold foggy Sunday morning we descended on the Bull bay hotel car park in Anglesey. We unloaded the boats onto the slipway and then split into 3 groups. Our group consisted of Jim Krawiecki, Jon Dyson, Olivia Oldham, Andy Garland, Roger Colman, Martin Sinnott and me, Vic Leather.   SETTING OFF  Jim led our group along with Roger and Andy. As we paddled out of Bull Bay Jim gave us some pointers for the day using – Bow rudder Extended sweep stroke The box (for turning while protecting the shoulders) We rock hopped along trying the new tips we had picked up, weaving in between rock formations and paddling in and out of sea caves. We passed the Brickworks and made our way along the coast. We could see middle mouse island in the distance … MOUSE ISLAND  As we paddled up Jim let Andy and Roger lead the group as we reached the stopping point. It was from here we would paddle directly across to the island at its shortest route aiming off for wind and tide.  Following Jim, we paddled across in a tight group, there and back to then pull into a little cove for lunch. It was then Andy told us he had had a hip replacement 3 months ago so to be out on the water was a major achievement (Well done Andy).    AN EDGE TOO FAR  As we paddled back to Bull Bay, we were the last group in. As we pulled the boats up onto the beach, I could hear John Fay say “oh well at least there was no casualties “!  I soon found out that this was not the case … there in fact had been a casualty and […]

Photo of the Month Please send any photos to website@liverpoolcanoeclub.co.uk January 2020 Click here to see the photos and to vote for your favourite.