French Alps 2018 paddling trip Day 4 The Ubaye Race Course by Stuart Conway Today’s river was one of the best white water race courses in Europe, a variety of large rapids separated by calm pools, well that  what the guide book says. We reached the get in at Le Martinet after a 1.5 hrs journey from the campsite. We all set off in one group lead initially by Keith. The first section was full of boulders, quite a challenging introduction to the river. We all made it, and then Helen took the lead and we sped through the next couple of section till she was sent back to bring up the rear. 4 more major rapids were paddled before the first of many rafts caught us up. Having been down the river in previous years the “Shark Tooth” rapid was the one that bothered me the most, but we all managed to get through with no mishaps. The lead in to final rapid before the Roman Bridge and fabulous gorge proved no problem with all making the best line through. Only one more surprize lower down was when we came out of a right-hand bend there was a under cut that we all managed to avoid (except Nick but he did roll up).         Brilliant day on the river, then on to Lac Luazet for a swim and a well-deserved beer. The only casualty today was a crayfish, stunned when Hannah threw it back into the lake after it was dropped by a family of fishers. She will now research how to reintroduce crayfish to their natural environment, or how to cook them! More photographs……….

French Alps 2018 paddling trip Day 3 The Upper Durance by Michael O’Rourke We dropped in from a layby and ran the first half of the Upper Durance at brake neck speed lead by John or Helen, no one could quite see who, but every eddie and wave was missed. After a pause and quick word from Keith we slowed the pace a bit and did some actual kayaking eddie hopping, breaking in and out. We were spoilt for choice with the number of eddies to choose from. Entering the stinky river part of the Upper Durance Dom decided this would be a great place to go for a swim, while I decided to demonstrate breaking in to Hannah and ended up upside down in the eddie, but I think that still counts. We continued down the river to the weir passing not 1 but 2 stop signs. Kirk assured us this was fine, and we finally reached the slack waters before the weir and hauled our boats up a steep slope which was probably the hardest part of the day. While Keith cycled to collect the van Dom dished out the hand sanitiser to counteract the effects of the stinky river, and as of yet no one has been sick. More photographs……….  

French Alps 2018 paddling trip Day 3 The Upper Gyronde by Hannah Bellamy We had a leisurely start this morning, and after a good breakfast of fresh baguette and a few loads of washing we headed off to the Upper Gyronde about 10am. We stopped at the bridge at Les Vigneaux to have a look at the level and confirm our plan for the day and decided that rather than do a 500m portage to continue down to the campsite we would paddle the Upper Gyronde on the morning, get out at the bridge and the Upper Durance in the afternoon. The river is quite fast moving and technical with lots of rock ‘gardens’, a perfect warm up for the Ubaye planned for tomorrow. We split into smaller groups of 3s and 4s to give each other lots of space and off we went. We paddled our own lines around the rocks, watching out for each other and eddy hopping to keep the groups either side in sight. A few sneaky rocks caught a few of us out but all in all it was a great section of river, very different to the bouncy wave trains of yesterday, and enjoyed by everyone. More photographs……….  

French Alps 2018 paddling trip Day 2 The Lower Durance by John Cooke We were back on the water and set off in one large group, first stop was down to the slide rock were people got out and jumped in, only one idiot did it in a boat! Kirk showed off his gymnastic skills with a perfect 10 and earned the nickname Olga. A few small play waves and then the Rab wave was in sight. Everyone made it through making it 14 nil to LCC, may not happen next time as paddlers will be directed more towards the middle. After leaving the Rab we were on our way down river enjoying the wave trains that are great fun and put a smile on every paddlers face. The last main feature being Helens bridge and by now there was some tired paddlers, as I looked back Olga drifted over the wave and a little smile appeared on my face as he was slowly pulled back in. At the get out a bit off rolling practice and then up to get changed, it must have looked like a “wizard’s convention” as people stood round in a circle with towel robes getting undressed, small French children could be seen staring in amazement. A quick trip to the supermarket and then back to the campsite for a BBQ, does life get any better? More photographs……….  

French Alps 2018 paddling trip Day 2 The Lower Guil by Keith We were away by nine and headed down towards the lower Guil. Overnight rain had put a little volume in the rivers and it looked like a good choice. A short stop at a boulangerie for some more pain (bread) and breakfast pastries and we were off. The get in was over a small bridge at the end of a rough track. After nearly running over a breakfasting family (who had set up a table in the middle of the turning circle) we quickly unloaded the trailer and were on the river. Someone had created a small dam and model waterwheel near the start – quite a work of art. A delightful paddle down through the gorge and valley below took us to a hanging waterfall pouring from the cliff top. Some paddled into a small cave and overhand on river left and then under a Tyrolian Traverse setup by a school group who were abseiling down a cliff. The river then led down through a straight section with a number of “wing dikes” or walls which created great eddies for breaking in and out. We then met the river Durance and there was a distinct boundary between the two rivers (clear mixing with glacial grey meltwater). We passed under a limestone overhang and on down to St Clement Slalom course and rafting centre. We spent some time playing on the waves there before having lunch and fetching the minibus. More photographs……….  

“On Saturday 21st July 2018 a brave group of seven LCC sea kayakers made the pilgrimage to Bardsey Island led by Mark Pawley. Setting out from the beach at Aberdaron at 1000hrs on the dying ebb tide, we quickly covered the 2.5km to the headland at Pen y Cil  from where you can stare across Bardsey sound to the Island itself and also assess conditions for the crossing before committing to it. The wind was fresh (F4) Northerly so the sea was far from smooth, but the swell was reasonable. The dying ebb was still running and producing a few white tops, but everybody was eager to make the crossing and we set a ferry glide angle to land us directly under the steep cliffs on the East coast of the Island. Andy Garland led off and Mark took a shepherding position keeping an eye on our progress. We made good steady progress across the sound through the slightly choppy but predictable tide race. On the way across we had a very good and clear sighting of a Rissos dolphin with its distinctively large pointed dorsal fin and light colouring. The crossing was executed with no dramas, but there were a few sighs of relief when the island was reached, and some shelter was found from the sideways waves. After reaching Bardsey, the plan was to circumnavigate it anticlockwise during the final hour of the ebb and reach the safe harbour of Cafn Enlli  on the lower East side as the tide turned and the flood kicked in. We would then take time off the water to rest and explore the island during the flood tide and put back on again around the final hour or so of the flood to give a relatively simple ferry glide crossing back to […]

Check out Harveys latest video from Stanley Embankment. Probably his weirdest to date!

River Dee on Wednesday Evening A handful of us (7) turned up at Horseshoe car park for a lap of the Dee. We surfed a couple of waves below the weir and then had an uneventful paddle down to Serpents Tail where we did a couple of runs of the tail. We then headed down to JJs for plenty of playboating on the top two features then met Paul, Harvey and Dom on the bottom wave for an hour or so of surfing and flat spinning. An excellent opportunity in the future for other boaters looking to progress. More photos…….  

French Alps 2018 paddling trip Day 1 The Durance from the campsite to St Clement by Sarah Gille After the usual long journey to get to the alps for our yearly Liverpool canoe club whitewater paddling trip. We decided to start off with an easy grade ½ paddle from the campsite down to St Clement. The aim would be to get our paddling legs/arms ready before we advanced onto the much harder sections of rivers within the Southern Alps. As we drifted down the flowing river we caught a few eddies and bounced along the wave trains whilst admiring the spectacular scenery. We had set off a bit later so had the river too ourselves and chatted about what we could cook for tea and what we had been up to since the last trip. We approached a sweeping bend and suddenly noticed graham upside down in his boat. Its ok we thought as he is a highly competent whitewater paddler however if we push our limits sometimes the best of paddlers can get a bit wet. Out of his boat Keith dashed to his rescue but with only a camera in hand and on the opposing side of the river Graham was left to perform a self-rescue. A paddler of the year contender some suggested. Keep your eye out on the website when voting opens?? Soon we were at St clement where we practiced throw lines in case anyone else was to have a similar misfortune to that of Graham. (most likely me for writing this piece) Then back to the campsite for the more willing paddlers for a few runs of the slalom course. More photographs……….  

Nominations for our 2018 Awards are now requested – If you would like to nominate a fellow paddler please send an email to: website@liverpoolcanoeclub.co.uk with a brief (no more than 60 words) summary of why they are being nominated and ideally a photo of them. (please include any video or other material you may have.) Winners of our four Club “Paddler of the year” Awards will be presented at our AGM on Wednesday 17th October 2018 . During August/ September we will be taking nominations from club members for: 2018 Nominations for Paddler of the year (club member who has either made the most progress or achievement in paddlesport) 2018 Nominations for Young Paddler of the year (Under 18 club member who has made either the most progress or achievement in paddlesport) 2018 Nominations for Volunteer of the year (Club member who has given their services to help the club) 2018 Nominations for Swimmer of the year (Club member who has had the best out-of-boat experience) Historical Record 2017 Paddler of the Year 2017 Junior of the Year 2017 Volunteer of the Year 2017 Swimmer of the Year Hannah Bellamy John Smullen Dominic Fahey Helen Siertsema Since joining the club in 2016 Hannah has been on almost every trip going: FSRT, SESA and white-water and sea kayaking courses. She has also tried Canoe Polo, Murder ball, Hilbre Race, Scotland White Water, Alpine white water, Pembroke and Anglesey weekends, guide leader’s sessions and just about every other paddling opportunity going. She has recently started purchasing her own fleet of boats, I think Hannah has caught the boating bug! John has immersed himself in the club this year, a keen member of the U18 canoe polo team paddling at Liverpool and Hull. He loves the Anglesey weekends; paddling his Machno at 4 […]

Hilbre Island Sea Kayak Race 2018 This was the eighth year that Liverpool Canoe Club has run the Hilbre Island Sea Kayak Race based at Dee Sailing Club in Thurstaston. With the tide rolling in at a fast rate of knots it was decided to go for an on-the-water start this year. Precisely at 1pm our secretary, Carole Thomas blasted the hooter and the flotilla was off. With almost perfect conditions and a later start time it was sure to be a fast race this year as the leaders would be rounding the islands at high water. Paddlers had been advised to head inshore of the racing dinghy’s at West Kirby and then to head out to the shallows around the Little Eye. The hot weather brought its own problems, paddlers needed to stay hydrated. It was great to see the numerous safety kayakers this year marked with yellow High Visibility Vests. The little eye racers rounded and returned inshore while those heading for Hilbre set off to the outside of Middle Eye and small overfalls on the end of Hilbre. When all kayaks were heading for home the 4 rescue boats (Ridged Hull Inflatables) practised rescuing paddlers with some of the safety kayakers and then shadowed the paddlers back past West Kirby and on to Thurstaston. The tide had changed so the remaining paddlers had to fight hard against the ever-quickening ebb tide. Back at the sailing club we tidied up, showered and enjoyed the BBQ and drinks provided by our hosts Dee Sailing Club. This year Go Kayaking provided a number of demo sea kayaks and items from the shop. Andy Lees, shop manager also presented the prizes for the Hilbre Island Races while System X and Manchester Canoes donated prizes for the Little Eye and West Kirby […]

A team of nine kayakers from Liverpool Canoe Club were part of the safety support for the Bolton Ironman at Pennington Flash, Lowton on Sunday 15th July starting at 5.00am! Some 2,600 competitors took part in this gruelling event which was won by Britain’s Joe Skipper. Lucy Gossage won the women’s event. Her domination of this event continued and a fifth IRONMAN UK title brings her M-Dot full distance victory total to ten and career iron-distance wins now up to 11 from 20 starts.  

Brilliant day at the Tees yesterday, thanks to those that came along. Check out the video:  

Thanks to Carl, Richie and Colin for the time and expertise given. I doubt that many would willingly capsize, but the experience is invaluable and having others to assist is a big bonus. Practice is essential. I feel that the small whitewater type kayaks and their use come into quite a different category to the seaboats and it will have been obvious to any that watched, just how  slick a rescue can be in those. Saturday was a lovely warm and Balmy day. Things would be very different when conditions get colder. Just the amount of clothing and maybe heavier gloves makes things that much more difficult. I came across a video that may be worth watching. Here is the link :- Good luck to all Bob

Photo of the Month Please send any photos to website@liverpoolcanoeclub.co.uk July 2018 Click here to see the photos and to vote for your favourite. June 2018 # 1 Stanley Embankment by Keith Steer 15 votes (31%) # 2 Ladies Polo team win Div 2 by Hannah Bellamy 10 votes (21%) # 3 Jack Hopper Playboating on Stanley Wave by Keith Steer 7 votes (15%) # 4 Craig Ellingham rolling at the Docks by Neil Jones 6 votes (13%) # 5 Sea Arch near Rhoscolyn by Kirk Williams 5 votes (10%) # 6 North Coast of Anglesey by Kirk Williams 5 votes (10%)