Great Day Running the Lower Tryweryn. Thanks to John Allerton and the Lads for organising. Vids a bit on the long side but to much fun to cut out, looking forward to the next outing 😊 👍 https://youtu.be/f1fX7UwSVn8

We Prince William Sound Expedition – Alaska

Twelve paddlers from the club have landed in Anchorage after flights to Iceland.  We just had to go to Gwennie’s old Alaskan Restaurant just over the road from the motel.

Chester Weir or “a day at the Weird” The Junior club paddle to Sandy Lane was arranged for Sunday 12th August. We met at the compound and loaded up the kayaks and gear and headed through the tunnel towards Chester. Once at the Sandy Lane car park we met a few others and got changed and onto the water. We paddled down past some large houses with their own boat house and moorings. Chester Canoe Club was on the right while Deva Canoe Cub was on the left. We spotted a Heron on the river bank. Ella kept asking how far it was to the “weird” Once at the town centre we went over to the edge of the weir. It was about 150m wide with a small amount of water going over it. There were a series of steps on the left (Fish ladder). We slide over one at a time and headed down to the bottom where we practised some ferry gliding and breaking in. We carried back up the middle of the weir and shot it 4 times. Then the tide came in and gave us a lift back up each step and eventually swept us back to Sandy Lane. More Photos……..  

An Alps trip video from the olden days…can you recognise any rapids? Descente en canoë de la Clarée, la Durance et l’Ubaye dans les Alpes françaises en 1962 Canoeing in the bankffipt, durance and ubaye in the French Alps in 1962

Swimmer’s life saved by quick thinking brothers Matthew and Connor O’Donnell, both members of Liverpool Canoe Club. On Thursday, August 2, a man in his 50’s was enjoying an open water swim at Pennington Flash when he became unresponsive in the water but 17-year-old Matthew and 18-year-old Conner, who work for water safety control at Leigh and Lowton Sailing Club, sprang into action. Matthew pulled the man onto his boat and took him back to dry land where the pair began to deliver CPR and mouth-to-mouth. Another swimmer went to the entrance to retrieve the defibrillator. A total of three shocks were delivered to revive the man and an ambulance was called. He was taken to Manchester Royal for further treatment and is in a stable condition. Matthew said: “I noticed that he was unresponsive in the water, so I took him back to land at full power on my boat. I started CPR and mouth to mouth while drying him off then my brother Conner put the defib pads on him and shocked him. The outcome would have been very different if we didn’t have the defibrillator.” The gentleman remains in Manchester Royal and is in a stable condition. Since sharing their story, Matthew and Conner have been awarded with a Defibshop Lifesaver Award to recognise their bravery and actions when saving the man’s life. Defibshop have also donated a new set of electrode pads to ensure the life-saving device continues to be in a ready-for-use condition. A spokesman for Defibshop added: “We were thrilled to hear that another life had been saved by a defibrillator. “It’s stories like this that remind us why we do what we do. Quite simply, we save lives.”  

Photo of the Month Please send any photos to website@liverpoolcanoeclub.co.uk August 2018 Click here to see the photos and to vote for your favourite. Harvey Harwood at Tees Barrage – Fiona Barry What`s your thoughts !!! – Steve Bond Zac paddling at Pembroke Weekend – Steve Alcock Tees Barrage – Sarah Gille getting it back to front – Fiona Barry Bolton Iron Man – James Duffy Stand Up Paddling done Upside Down by- Jayne Rigby July 2018 # 1 Ella at a junior session in Liverpool by Steve Alcock 12 votes (32%) # 2 4 Mile Bridge by Elle Jackson 10 votes (27%) # 3 Toasting Marshmallows at Junior Club weekend by Elle Jackson 5 votes (14%) # 4 The end of another Perfect day by Mark Pawley 4 votes (11%) # 5 Maddie greets the return of her mistress by Mark Pawley 3 votes (8%) # 6 Alex Peacock floundering by Steve Alcock 3 votes (8%)

AJ Bell London Triathlon and Kayak Safety by James Duffy It was an awesome but exhausting weekend in London for four intrepid members of Liverpool Canoe Club at the AJ Bell London Triathlon. Dave R, John W, Pete McC and Jim D were part of the safety team. Some 9,400 competitors took to the London Docklands to swim, bike and run the iconic route in temperatures of 30 Celsius with a water temperature of 24.2. Men’s Results: 1st. Simon Lessing 1.48:17 2nd. Richard Allen 1.50:42 3rd. Richard Jones 1.50:54 4th. Stuart Hayes 1.51:09 5th. Craig Ball 1.51:25 Women’s Results: 1st. Loretta Sellars 2.06:30 2nd. Jess Harrison 2.08:49 3rd. Metaja Simic 2.10:15 4th. Ceris Gilfillan 2.10:45 5th. Heather Williams 2.12:04 There were four different distances available from Super-Sprint, Sprint, Olympic and Olympic Plus, as well as the variety of wave types from team-relay, age-group, youth, mixed, male and female only waves. Attracting first timers, seasoned amateur triathletes, charity fundraisers, celebrities and elites, London Triathlon still draws huge interest from athletes and spectators alike. Competition for places at the event was high as ever, particularly following the relocation of the ITU World Triathlon from London to Leeds, making the London Triathlon the capital’s only major triathlon in 2018. The four members of Liverpool Canoe Club formed part of the safety kayak team of forty kayakers and the full safety team of lifeguards, rib crew and kayakers came to over 65.  

2018 – Bardsey Island (slides) The day before the trip, there was a lot of sea mist. It was to be an early start, and in the morning the mist was dense with visibility of about 100 metres. Top of Form GPS track on: Bing Maps Google Maps Bottom of Form   By 8:15 at the beach we were in sunshine. But as we reached Pen y Cil, Bardsey came into view shrouded in mist. As we started the crossing the conditions were benign and we soon made it to Bardsey. Rounding the Northern end of the island the mist had cleared and we were heading south towards the lighthouse. After rounding the southern tip, the buildings invisible from the mainland, became clear. Arriving at the Cafn Enlli slipway. At the cafe we were joined by some locals. We climbed the path up Mynydd Enlli with views over the farmland. At the summit the views were superb. We watched the flood tide racing beneath the cliff. Then headed back down the ridge. The day trippers boat came and went frequently and was hauled out of the water by a modified dump truck. The local seals have a basking area and were on song. Returning to the mainland. Completing the trip at Aberdaron.  

I’m not really one for posting on forums so I thought I’d save my first post for something special. I joined the club back at the end of May when we moved back to Liverpool.  I’d bought a 14ft Perception Expression a couple of years ago when we lived by the Basingstoke canal in Hampshire but as we were moving to a flat with nowhere to store it, I contacted the club asking if I could store it at the compound.  I also wanted to join the club to improve my kayaking skills.  I found out just this weekend that my brother and I started kayaking roughly at ages 8 and 10 respectively but aside from a little canal paddling  in the last few years, I’ve not really paddled much in the last 33 years or so. When I was younger, I always wanted to learn to roll, but I never got taught.  I was a skinny little runt back then so could probably not come close to gripping the inside of a kayak, plus they were horrible fibreglass things and I hated itchy knees. I’ve been to the docks a few times in the last few months, but have regularly attended the pool sessions to refresh my memory of the basics and build my confidence.  As I’ve always been one to try and run before I can walk, over the last few weeks I’ve been trying quite unsuccessfully to roll.  With some help last thursday, I managed to get upright in my Kayak down at the docks, just once mind but I put it down to the help more than anything I did myself. Tonight however, roughly 35 years after I started kayaking, I’m celebrating my first, second and third rolls, completely unaided.  My technique started off poor but […]

River Weaver Midweek Paddle A midweek paddle saw seven meet at the Leigh Arms to paddle the River Weaver. LCC members Irene Jackson, Dave Allinson, julie Brookes, John Fay and Bob Hamilton were joined by Ste and Julie Fay to paddle the quiet stretch of the River Weaver. A nice leisurely pace took us to the loch at which point we headed right into the narrower and overgrown branch. Dave described the section as “magical” whilst Julie said it “was like going through the Everglades.” The paddle from the Leigh Arms to the Weir before the Anderton Boat lift and back was recorded reliably as 9.6 miles on Bobs Garmin 64s GPS. Back at the Leigh Arms the small group enjoyed nice cool drinks whilst little birds feasted on Dave’s crisps and Julie’s sausage rolls. Another great day. Report by John Fay More photographs……….  

French Alps 2018 paddling trip Day 14 The Lower Gyronde by Mark Benson Sometimes it rains on the last evening before departure homeward. It is inconvenient for packing up and (this year) BBQ cooking. Yet, at the back of some people’s mind, mine included, is one good thought; the Gyronde will be rising. Saturday morning then, six of us have put packing aside, plus John Cooke who is kindly driving us up to the put-in at the start of the Lower Gyronde grade 3 section. The Gyronde has indeed risen, covering most of the rocks and promising a fast run through small stoppers and over and around the larger boulders, down to join the Durance for the final run back to the campsite. Keith, Sara, Hannah and Michael put on below the bridge. Ron and I, squeezing every moment out of the river, seal launch in from just above. Giving each other a little room, we head off into the mist that blankets the river, helter-skelter through the frothing white-water. Very soon, we are at the weir.  Normally a portage, it seems different. The leftmost route to the normal portage point is choked with boulders and gravel. Ron and Keith lead us to an eddy just above the weir on river right. Keith scouts and guides us to a narrow line over the right hand of weir. Now the river eases a little, still fast flowing but a little more open as it joins the Durance at L’Argentiere. The Durance is also high enough to cover most of the shallows in this part of the river but gets considerably higher once re-joined by run-off from the power station. The river thunders into the slalom course and we follow Keith down, using the slalom gates as a guide to the line. […]

French Alps 2018 paddling trip Day 12 The Middle Guil by Gareth Jones We arrived at ‘Montbardon Bridge’, unloaded the boats, got out kit together and got on the water. Once on the water we organised ourselves into about four groups. Keith called me over to his group along with Dom, Hannah and Sara. Once we had our group together we set off down. The introduction to the Middle Guil from our get on provided a gentle warmup with a few large boulders to avoid but, otherwise it was a straight forward introduction with an opportunity to observe the impressive scenery that towered over us on both sides. At fairly regular intervals the river started to present more technical sections that started to redirect my gaze from the scenery to the challenges presented to us by the river (staying in the boat, upright). As we approached a bend in the river with a small drop through some boulders we tried to keep river left. One paddler took an interesting, more central line. Watching the extra effort required to get through this route caused me to get stuck broad side to the flow. The stern on one rock and the bow on another. Inexperienced showed as I sat there for what felt like minute before I sussed a way out that didn’t involve getting wet. A little later a similar section flipped a kayaker. Out went the call, ‘swimmer’. The swimmer got themselves and the paddle out of the water promptly whilst other paddlers made themselves safe and/or useful for the rescue. Keith chased the boat down the river and others tracked down the bank to help remove the boat from the water. Once paddler and gear were reunited we continued downstream. At a large eddy the group pulled in and […]

French Alps 2018 paddling trip Day 13 The Durance 39km by the Murphy’s Campsite to St Clements Slalom Course 19 paddlers set out from the campsite at 10:30 some with sore heads after a long night in Briancon. The first stretch of our journey to Embrum was relatively calm except from one incident involving Mark Benson being pinned up against a rock without his paddle; it took a very big effort from Keith to pull him free. We journeyed on to St Clements with only one swimmer who got caught in a wave after attempting to play in it. Once we reached the slalom course some stayed to play on the waves while others had a well deserved lunch break. Ollie      St Clements to Rabouix Wave After we had our lunch we headed off for Rabouix Wave (Raby Wave). Along the way we came to a small cliff where Steve, Chris, Ollie  & I (Charlie) jumped off, whilst John and Kieran seal launched off the cliff. At Raby Wave we stopped at an eddy just before it. Keith went down first to set up cover for us. At one point Steve went down before Keith signalled for him to come so he had to eddy out and wait for Keith to tell him to come down. Mike hit a rock before the wave but managed to roll up just in time to run Raby successfully. Nick, unintentionally hit the same rock that flipped mike over but somehow managed to survive after sitting on top of it for a few seconds. I followed Ollie down with my dad behind me videoing.  I went slightly to the right of Ollie which stopped me from hitting him as he tried to roll up after a  capsize on the Rab. We only had one swimmer and a few […]

French Alps 2018 paddling trip Day 12 Lower Guil by Sarah Jones We had an earliest start at 8am and the get in wasn`t far away. It was going to be a busy day with 3 sections of the river to do. I was told it was an easy paddle with good views but still felt a little nervous getting on the water. We got in at Eygliers Bridge, spitting into 4 groups of 4 or 5 people. I was in the last group with Keith , Sara and Ron. Thy all helped guide me down the river, catching some eddies on the way. In between the trickier sections we had a chance to admire the views, a high waterfall, Mont Dauphin Fort, tall pillars of conglomerate rock and high cliffs. There were no dramas on the river and after about 7km we arrived at Eygliers Bridge to get out and onto the next section. I did really enjoy this section of the river and to my relief I didn’t swim. It is one river to put on my list for next time. More photographs……….