French Alps 2018 paddling trip Day 6 Via ferrata at Château-Queyras by Michael O’Rourke and Trevor Strain We turned up after our mornings paddle and had a walk to do a recce of Chateau-Queyras gorge at Via ferrata. After seeing the raging running torrent through the gorge five of us decided we really wanted to do some climbing for instead. Mike, Hannah, Dom, Ciaran and Trevor parted with 5 euros to hire some Via Ferrata harnesses and headed up to the gorge. Lead by Dom we slowly traversed through the gorge, clipping and unclipping on the safety wire. There was a variety of rock holds, metal fixings and a tight rope to navigate. Two thirds of the way through, Mike, Hannah and Trevor decided it was time for a refreshing drink while hardened climbers Dom and Ciaran saw the traverse through to the end. Hannah and Trevor made up for not finishing the traverse by running up a really steep hill to a medieval hut, Hannah impressed us all by running all the way without stopping. After kayaking a section of the Guil with the Liverpool canoe club five intrepid kayakers went to explore the via ferrata at Château Queyras. First of all we went to the rafting Centre to hire our safety harnesses. Each included two lanyards each with a carabiner to ensure that when traversing the via ferrata each person is always connected to the safety line with at least one lanyard when moving past the anchor punts on the safety line. Dom led the way on to the via ferrata with more than one of the group thinking whose idea was this ? After the first 50 metres working along the cliff face the group started to relax a little. Our white knuckles started to change colour, […]

French Alps 2018 paddling trip Day 6 Château-Queyras by Ron Wood Once we had picked up everyone from various lay-bys along the side of the road we made our way up to Château-Queyras. People quickly found their needs for the afternoon, ice-cream for some, a classic gorge Via Farrata for others, and a small team unable to resist the frothy charms of the Château-Queyras gorge. A brief isnpection confirmed there was more water than usual from previous years at this time of year, but our hardy team weren’t going to back out now. Well, what a blast! The guide book “toilet flush”, or the Cresta Run, really do convey the feeling as you pick up speed through the increasingly narrow channel between sheer rock walls. The trick (apparently) is to follow the water and stay straight while avoiding bouncing off too many walls. Easier said than done with plenty of fast approaching boulder drops and, the crux of the run, a narrow corkscrew halfway down that requires you to trying to keep left before sliding right and holding your balance to ride it through. On this occasion, the river gods decided it was John’s turn to take one to feed the team’s banter, but most of us know it’s only a matter of another run or two for our lesson to arrive. Even at these approaching medium levels there is a useable eddy ½ way down for reuniting the seperated and a quick breather before taking on the calmer final section. Below the eddy is not without its challenges, starting with another small drop with some awkward boulders in the middle to navigate around. We wound down paddling past a couple of small gorge-side waterfalls and down to the get out by the road bridge high above us. It was […]

French Alps 2018 paddling trip Day 5 Upper Durance by Kirk Williams We decided to return to an afternoon stalwart, the Upper Durance, with only a few of the team deciding to give it a miss for different reasons (done it, no boat & tired). We set off without our intrepid shuttle cyclist who was going to catch us up, so plenty of opportunity for taking our time and enjoying playing the many friendly water features along the way. With the rain booster, the levels were higher than our previous run and this perhaps explained why Helen & Roy soon disappeared into the distance. We did manage to encourage the team to get closer together and work on making small mid-river eddies, surfing small waves and venturing into some small holes/pour overs. All good practice for the bigger stuff we will be encountering on other days. As we paddled past the smelly bridge towards the jaws of the barrage John reminded me of our daily rolling programme, so a murky water flip had to be executed (successfully) but when we looked for Helen she was already heading up the bank faster than we’ve ever seen her go to the bar. There’s always tomorrow. More photographs……….  

French Alps 2018 paddling trip Day 5 Upper Guisane by Kirk Williams The 9am departure was a bit of a shock after yesterday’s leisurely departure, but we managed to get everyone loaded and up to the get in, after a quick stop for a view of the S Bends rapid, highlight of the Upper Guisane. The drive in past slightly murky water suggested that runoff from last night’s storms had brought the rivers up a touch and this proved to be the case. This made it even more important on a relatively narrow river with limited/small eddies to split into smaller groups to manage our run safely. The top of the river is an introduction warm-up and all the groups made it to the eddy above S Bends safely, with only one or two mishaps along the way. For those who didn’t know the river from previous years, we had the added safety of some excellent traffic direction/instruction from Keith. The safety of the bank gave everyone a chance to have a look at the rapid from the top down perspective before making their go-no go choice. With the limited feasible bank & on river safety organized, the group set off in buddy pairs. Most made it the bottom without any mishaps and everyone seemed to be smiling or grimacing nicely for the photos. Our slick organization was interrupted by the appearance of a solo raft that managed to get itself quite seriously pinned at the top end of the rapid but the only casualty was a raft paddle so all good. Our fool proof river signal of John running most of the way down to the bottom eventually managed to get Kirk to come back up to the top of the river for the final pair descent. Luckily the […]

Tuesday saw a flotilla of 32 juniors and parents paddle around the docks. It was great to see paddlers sat waiting patiently on the beach the full length, and more, of the compound despite the hot sun, though the more enterprising worked out how to keep cool. A little delay before paddling off as a number of first timers had joined, so it was a quick introduction to buoyancy aids, paddles and boats, for both juniors and paddling parents. Everybody ready to go, assisting adults in the water, and then go juniors! Dave led everyone off with a reminder to keep away from the boats, which everyone including the first timers managed. It was great to see, with a little encouragement, Ellie and Ella helping teach how to hold the paddle and keep the kayak in a straight line. Others helping to solve that question of “Why does my boat just go around?” At the far end of Coburg Dock it was time to practice paddling in a straight line, paddling with a glide and general paddling skills. For those that needed a bit more time getting used to paddling a more one on one help was provided. A paddle down Queens Dock keeping to the right out of the way of the yachts. Dave in his open soon became a transfer point as we moved juniors between kayaks trying to pair the more inexperienced with better fitting, easier to paddle, kayaks. At the end of the Dock it was time to practice getting out of boats, with the inevitable splash as junior met water, followed by practicing getting back in with varying degrees of success. And for the more experienced juniors a little bit of T-rescuing (hopefully more next week!). With a number of wet juniors and the sun […]

  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 […]