MANCHESTER CANOE CLUB

Newsletter August 2006

Chairman	Mark Davies
Editor	Kelly Paddock
Email:	newsletter@manchestercanoeclub.co.uk

Providing everything ran smoothly this has hopefully got out in time to ask for all hands on deck for the next working day at the site on the 13th August continuing the riverbed development……

Next newssheet……….End October. Please let me have anything by the 20th October, if it could be in Arial 10pt this would help me out, thanks

Editorial

Kelly Paddock

Well a lot has happened in the last six months in the world of MCC……there have been a whole range of trips of different forms, some a whole lot longer than others; the World cup came and went; we moved on in the tech world with the new message board being added to the website and coaches wed!

I hope everything was added, but for future reference if any of you do go on trips, even if not club organised, please do feel free to tell us all about it……you might just inspire someone to do something different.

Congratulations:

The past six months have seen a couple of weddings as well as paddling, congratulations to Tom Carlisle who married Sarah on the 10th June.

And also to our coaching couple; Mark Davies and Gill Hay who married on the 23rd July.

Northwest BCU Access Seminar 2006

Clive Howell Williams

Saturday 28th January Pete King & I attended the above meeting at the Burrs Activity Centre.

All were welcome to come and take part, listen to the talks and have your say in the discussions. It was attended by about 40 / 50 people mainly from canoe clubs in the northwest and hosted by Chris Cleaver NW Regional Access Officer & Chris Hawksworth BCU.

Presentations included:-

The Law on Access

Chris & Chris talked about the law as it stands. The land owner also owns half the river rights, only 2% of rivers in England & Wales have access rights to the public.

Environmental Agency

William Crookshank gave a talk about how they and the BCU work together on projects such as repairing weirs and putting in access steps.

Useful No's:
River level Information	0906 6197 733
River pollution 24H emergency	0800 807 060
River blockages (trees/debris)	08708 506 506

BCU Access Campaign

Tamsin Phipps from the BCU gave a talk on how the campaign is going and how we can all help.

EDM 957 river access for non-powered craft, white paper in parliament. Currently 111 MPs have signed up to it; ask your MP if they have signed up.

Clubs to help raise public awareness through the local media and Focus Magazine.

River clean ups / sponsored events for local charities such as Cheshire ring / rolling / carry a kayak.

(I have some leaflets posters and car stickers)

Keep an eye on what's happening at www.riversaccess.org

Stockport White Water Course

Roy Briscoe talked about the progress:

It is planned to pump up to 14 Commits of water and have a 4 metre drop over the 275 metre course which is Olympic standards.

It is supported by Stockport Council the BCU and sport England.

It is well advanced and ready for full planning application Stockport Council have put up £50,000 but about £60,000 is still needed to be found to be able to put forward.

Contact Roy Briscoe for more information.

Brighton University

Someone (?) talked about the Defra Study and the River Mersey Access agreement which is due to start soon (this year) from Stockport town centre to Carrington.

There is a link to further information about this on the MCC website at the bottom of the homepage

For more information or to attend the next meeting in 2007 contact:-

Chris Cleaver
BCU NW Region Access Officer
chcleaver@tiscali.co.uk or telephone 01625 878838 and leave a message.

Devizes to Westminster - Easter 2006

Ned Price

Last year after a break of almost 20 years I was persuaded to take part in the Cheshire Ring Race and forced to re-acquaint myself with the discipline of Marathon paddling.

After a successful attempt at the Ring I started taking part in a number of local marathon races, Macclesfield, Chester, Adlington etc. all usually around 8 miles. I also took part in a longer race at Nottingham for the first time in many years paddling K2 and later the 27 mile Bollington Cut race.

Around this time the beginnings of an idea to paddle Britain's premier Marathon race, Devizes to Westminster, began to surface. This was a race that I had always wanted to do but never had the courage/time/determination. I knew that John Kavannagh from MADCC was looking for a partner and finally just after Christmas I committed myself to taking part.

This left us with just 14 weeks to prepare and to begin with it was simply a case of getting in as many miles as possible. Individual paddling sessions started to creep up from 1 hour / 5 miles to 8 then 10, 13, 16 and eventually 20+ miles, 2 and sometimes 3 times a week.

On Sundays we paddled K2 eventually building up to 36+ miles - some 6 hours of paddling. On some occasions it was simply distance, on others we portaged repeatedly in preparation for the many locks on the race. On some occasions we managed to race even travelling south on one weekend to race on the Thames, this proved to be a useful race; paddling in the daylight a section that we were later to paddle in the night.

Training in the winter is hard, paddling in the dark is not too bad but keeping warm and dodging the ice flows in a very unstable racing boat can be a problem. On a number of occasions ice on the canal forced us to travel further a field to Runcorn or to Chester. On one Sunday even the Weaver at Runcorn was frozen, on another after 20 plus miles on the Dee returning to Chester we were met by a rising tide and masses of floating debris which made the last 3 miles of paddling very difficult. The next time we travelled to Chester we were faced by gale force winds and blizzard conditions. Blisters were commonplace and at times sitting was painful but slowly and steadily we improved. On top of all of this paddling cross training was important, I was running most mornings, using a rowing machine and cycling whenever possible, obviously all on top of busy days at work.

It was only at this point that I started to find out just what the race involved: 125 miles non-stop. Half of this on the Kennet and Avon canal, the rest on the Thames with the last 17 miles beyond Teddington on the tidal section finally finishing under Westminster Bridge. 1 tunnel which could be paddled and something like 77 portages round locks some of which on the Thames were to prove very tricky.

The race has several classes but the main race is undertaken non-stop in double boats usually kayaks although some people compete in canoes. Most people paddle racing boats these are 21ft long very unstable and steered with a foot-operated rudder, most paddlers use winged blades. There are also slower more stable touring boats taking part in this class. Junior K2s race over 4 days starting on Good Friday. Senior K1s also race over 4 days and I believe there is also now a class for mixed senior junior K2 pairs over a number of days and some crews relay the race rather like the Cheshire Ring.

Because of the tidal section the key to the race is to arrive at Teddington to catch the falling tide, there is a window of opportunity of about 3-hours during which to do this so start times needed to be chosen accordingly. John had done the race several times before and was determined on this occasion to beat 24 hours. From our training times he was sure we could manage 23 hours. At this point all I wanted to do was finish!

Our final big training paddle took place 2 weeks before the race paddling upstream on the Weaver navigation from Runcorn canoe club to Winsford flash and back a distance of some 36 miles in around 6 hours and then we tapered down as the race approached. At this time I got my first cold of the winter and started to wonder if I would be fit for the race but by Good Friday I was feeling as fit and as well as could be expected.

On Good Friday having filled the car with all manner of paddling gear, spare rudders and paddles etc. plus mountains of food and drink we set off down south. The team consisted of the two paddlers plus two support crews, my wife and younger daughter Helen and Vicky and John's wife Rosemary and later his brother in-law Lin. We were lucky to be able to stay at Lin's house near Wantage about an hours drive from Devizes. A good meal and a reasonable night's sleep saw us arriving in Devizes at about 8.30. The boat and paddlers were scrutinised to make sure we had all of our emergency kit, spare clothing, bivi bag, drink, chocolate (400gm. each - 3 Yorkie bars!) head torch, light sticks etc. Identity tags were strapped to our wrists (in case of drowning!) the number was stuck on the boat and we were ready.

At 9.55 we were on our way. The start seemed like a bit of an anticlimax starting on our own but we soon settled into our rhythm. On a race like this pacing one-self is vitally important so we set off at a steady speed trying to maintain a steady 6 miles per hour. Our rhythm was very quickly upset when barely a mile into the race we met a very aggressive swan which required a portage and quite a long run. Unbelievably at this point the zip puller on Johns spray-deck broke although this was soon fixed, all be it temporarily, with a hairgrip. The first 15 miles involve no locks and the short tunnel along the way was traversed without problem. One boat passed us early on although we were to retake it later and we slowly started to overtake a number of boats that had set out before us.

The weather was generally good, not too warm but also not too cold, I wore a thermal top and cag. All the way and although I was a little chilly at one point in the night this was sufficient. Buoyancy aids are compulsory on the race and we each carried a 'Camelback' type drinking system to maintain hydration whilst paddling.

Our support crews met us at regular intervals and offered us various high carbohydrate delicacies which were quickly devoured, and water bottles full of carbohydrate drinks were regularly topped up. As far as possible we tried to eat on the move and stop as little as possible. There were times after feeding stops when it felt quite strange to taste the remains of a pork pie on one side of the mouth and a Jaffa cake on the other. Early portages were taken on the run and significant distances became the landmarks, 10 miles, 20 miles, 25 miles - one fifth of the way, 36 miles a landmark for me as I moved into unknown territory since this was the furthest we had covered in training. The countryside was impressive but like most canals it was often hard to see and a lot of the time concentration was fully taken up on just maintaining pace, rhythm and technique. Our support crews continued to keep us well fuelled although on occasions there seemed to be long gaps between their appearances. As the day wore on we maintained our pace and generally felt quite comfortable and our target time began to look achievable so long as nothing went badly wrong.

On the lower reaches of the Kennet and Avon we picked up a slight flow and we dropped onto the Thames just below Reading just before dark. Here there is a compulsory halt/portage to check paddler's condition etc. A 5-minute stop allowed time for a bowl of rice and some soup and then with light sticks activated we were off into the gloom of the night.

Paddling at night held no fears for either of us having done it many times before but it wasn't a particularly bright night and navigation was difficult at times, there are many islands and bends on the Thames, which were at times difficult to see. Also the many locks and weirs needed approaching or avoiding correctly. The steady if not spectacular flow on the Thames allowed our overall speed to creep up and as we passed boat after boat we began to dare to hope that we were doing well. I kept expecting to see faster boats passing us and this just never seemed to happen. Much of the night passed in a blur just maintaining a steady rhythm trying to make sure we portaged each lock successfully and stayed the right way up. I do remember one or two places clearly, the long straight at Henley, Shepperton Weir - the sight of a near death experience at a slalom many years ago and Marlow weir the finish of our earlier Thameside race.

The worst moment in the night was being hit by a bird. The honking of geese was fairly commonplace so neither of us reacted as one approached firstly catching John a glancing blow on the head and then crashing into my paddle blade leaving me with a numb arm for some time after. How we stayed upright I do not know!

As the night wore on our pace on the water was maintained although our portages were getting slower and slower. Short bursts of chatter; tall tales of past canoeing exploits and the like were interspersed with long periods of silence. I took to doing mental maths to stay awake, what is our speed in miles per hour? How many minutes is that to the mile? What is that in kilometres? How many paddle strokes to the next stop? The boats pump was not working well and so the boat needed to be emptied each time we carried it. Getting in and out of the boat became harder and harder as muscles tired and cramp became a problem. No outside assistance is allowed with portaging. For the last few miles down to Teddington it simply became a case of thinking about the next 2 or 3 miles to the next portage/lock, we simply couldn't look beyond this point in time but by the time we reached 100 miles as the grey light of dawn began to very slowly filter into the sky we were sure that we would make it. It was at about this point that my left shoulder started to hurt having wrenched it on an earlier portage and John began to find sitting uncomfortable. However as we reached Teddington we were ahead of our schedule. Our tired brains were struggling with the maths but we realised that we were on course for a good time. John took a brief swim as we manoeuvred down the rollers on one portage and getting in on the tideway proved quite difficult but we were only 40 or 50 minutes after the turn of the tide and so had the best of the tidal flow to assist us.

Those last 17 miles were the longest of my life. By now my left shoulder was in real agony and we were forced to stop three times to stretch. The river at this point was quite wide and there were strong eddy currents under the bridges, the thought of a swim at this point was definitely a scary one. Luckily there was virtually no traffic at this time of the morning because some of the huge ships that we passed would certainly have created a big wake and a potential capsize. It was really hard on this section to know where we were as the river meandered back and forward but eventually the London Eye and Westminster Bridge hove into view with the clock on Westminster Tower reading just after 8:15 and we crossed the finish line with a time of 22 hours and 22 minutes.

We then had to paddle about 300 metres to the get out point which seemed like forever. We were then helped out of the boat and finally we stood on the shore and congratulated each other. I must admit that I was close to tears having successfully achieved such a feat. We were presented with our finisher's medals there and then and after changing and breakfasting returned to Wantage for some much needed and well deserved sleep. That short drive seemed to take forever! After 3 or 4 hours sleep we returned home.

That night was agony, it was hard to know where to lie with pain wracking my entire body but after a few days I began to feel O.K. My left shoulder was painful for sometime afterwards and I did not paddle for a week. When I did paddle again I felt like a complete novice nearly capsizing several times, but by the time another week had passed we were both competing again in K2 on the Conway ascent (another very interesting race). Overall though I would say that it probably took me the best part of 3 months to recover fully and some of my race results during that time were less than impressive.

Our result in the end was better than we had expected. John wanted to break 24 hours and hoped for 23, I just wanted to finish. Our time of 22.22 placed us 18th overall out of 112 starters 86 finishers and we were 5th veterans (vets. are paddlers over 35 and we are both in our late 40s) None of this would have been possible without the support of our families, not only as support crew but also in putting up with the hours and hours of training, the wet kit and the aches and pains in the months before and the weeks after.

Would I do it again? I don't know, probably! With the right partner and the right training and the right support crew who knows? John claims to have finished with DW but I would certainly paddle with him again, he was an excellent partner throughout and his experience certainly played a large part in our success. This year's support crew were also outstanding. Will I paddle next year? I don't know, maybe the 4 day K1 race? Who knows, ask me in January.

Should you do it? Why not? It was a real experience, the atmosphere was fantastic and I certainly don't regret having done it.

If you have never tried marathon racing then why not give it a go, there are plenty of local races, Macclesf1eld, Chester, Adlington etc. In the lower divisions race distances are only four miles and there are lightning races or fun races for juniors and beginners. You don't need a specialised boat to start with any boat will do but a river racer would be a good starting point, I know the club has some Wavehoppers and I believe even some marathon boats. It would be good to see another club on the local racing scene and possibly to see some diversification within MCC. If anybody wants some advice or information about marathon paddling I would be more than happy to talk to you, my phone number and e-mail address are in the yearbook.

P.S. As I sit and write this I am just recovering from this years Cheshire Ring Race which I again completed as part of a 3 man K1 relay crew managing to just pip the record set last year by a mere 7 minutes in a time of 16 hours and 19 minutes for the 96 miles. Thanks to my team mates John Kavannagh (MADCC) and Adrian Fisher (Freestyle) and our support crew of Helen and Vicky. Thanks also to MADCC for organising an excellent event.

(I don't know if photos are a usual occurrence in the newsletters but after reading the article I was completely amazed by the achievement so.....Ed)

One Star Assessment - Debdale 30th April

Andrew Bickerton

The day of our one star test and we couldn't have wished for better weather. It was absolutely glorious. I arrived bright and early, but had been beaten to the venue by 'the paddler with a dodgy alarm clock, leaving me thinking either the alarm clock had been replaced / repaired or said paddler hadn't been out the night before (any thoughts on this Ed?) - (no comment Ed :).

With seven of us there safe and sound, paddling gear and sunscreen on, we hit the water, under the leadership and assessment of Gill and Mark. No going back now, this was the one star. Those assembled for assessment were; Team Paddock (Kelly and Laura), Darren, Ben (Dad and Son) and myself (Andy B). We went forwards, backwards, sideways, round in circles, figure of eights and a lot more. At all times with a smile or a grimace!!

Despite frequent splashing, Ben was keen to get even wetter. I'm convinced that this is why we rafted up in the middle of the lake and removed our spraydecks. From my limited experience of all things kayaks and kayaking coaches, this normally means; you are going to get wet now. First we bounced the boats, but suspected there was more to come, and there was!! It was time to walk the raft. Ben went first and showed us how to stay dry. With varying degrees of success, the rest of us gave it our best shot. Needless to say some got wetter than others!! At this point, may I say a big thanks to those responsible for doing a good job of swamping my boat (aren't airbags a wonderful thing?), resulting in cross rescue practice.

With the end of the session in sight, we moved closer to land for the 'capsize and swim to shore' part of the test. But first Team Paddock wanted to practice their rolls. Laura was first and rolled up without problem, however, it was Kelly that got my vote. She executed the slowest and most graceful capsize I've ever seen. I've since heard, her spraydeck actually came off as she capsized!! One by one the 'capsize and swim to shore' was completed successfully, leaving us to prove our swimming ability. Confused? So were we. Was this more entertainment for Ben, or just Gill and Mark? Anyway, back into water to swim out to Marks boat and back to shore (Ed, have you checked the 1 star syllabus yet?), (Mmm, think they got us on that one! Ed).

With the presentation of pass certificates to all candidates and a brief discussion on the way forward through the awards scheme, it was time to go our separate ways. Some ended the day as others had started it (via McDonalds) others went home to lawnmowers and paintbrushes.

Wagon Lane Division 3/4 Slalom - 6th/7th May 2006

Dave Bradshaw

Wagon Lane slalom is based on the River Aire in Bingley, near Bradford. It is a pleasant site for slalom, being sandwiched between a cricket pitch and a rugby pitch. The river itself is rather tame, being somewhat less exciting than our own site, but it makes for a nice division 3/4 slalom.

Though it was only just over an hour away, we needed to get off early, as the race was due to start at 10.00 in the morning. Representing Manchester in the race was Rachel Bradshaw, in her second ever race paddling in division 4, and Tom Raper, who needed about 740 points to get promoted to division 2. Tom could only race on Saturday, as he was going Go-karting on Sunday to celebrate his 11th birthday.

The course was very long - the fastest official recorded 122 seconds for his run - and he is one of the top Premier paddlers. The division 3 race was first, so we were all rooting for Tom. He did a tidy enough run, but on looking at the results, he was 20 seconds off the pace. He had lost some time on gate three, an upstream just after the only real feature of the course, a small stopper, but it did not account for him being so far behind.

Next we followed Rachel, paddling my old yellow Touch 3 slalom kayak. Rachel was steady, but hit a lot of gates. However, when we looked at the results, she was in second place, out of a field of nine. Second place meant promotion so everyone had their fingers crossed for the second runs in the afternoon.

Tom took advantage of the lunch break to have a practice run and nail gate three, and with this and some incentive from his dad, he was fired up for his second run. This time he was much tighter on gate three, and he generally improved on all his breakouts down the course, after getting used to the very flat and shallow water. When we got back to the scoreboard there was a delay in the results coming out, but when it did, he had improved by 21 seconds, which gave him fourth place, and more than enough points to get promoted.

Rachel did not manage to improve on her second run, while two of the other girls did, and pushed her down to fourth place, still an excellent result for only her second race.

Rachel spent most of the daylight hours after tea to practice the course with her friend from Bradford and Bingley Canoe Club, Bethan Latham, while some of us sloped off to the Rugby club to sample the surprisingly good Tetleys.

The weather on Saturday had been warm and sunny, but we woke to cooler and damper conditions on Sunday. The dampness was set to last all day. Rachel was the only Manchester paddler this day in the ranking race, and her sister lent her boat to her to encourage her to do well. This time she netted a 50 second penalty on her first run, due to a bit of confusion about the rules on the awkward gate three. Her time was good enough to get first place, but the fifty had put her down into second place. With six paddlers in the class, this was still good enough for promotion, but there was every chance that one of the other paddlers could get rid of their fifties, and push her down.

Her second run was crucial. Rachel avoided any fifties, but collected a lot of two second penalties. Was it going to be good enough? I was judging at the time, and Rachel signalled across the river that she had come second. Well, I was hoping that she would come first, but second was still good enough for promotion. I never got a chance to look at the results myself, so it was a surprise when she was awarded first place in the presentation ceremony at the end.

All in all it was an excellent weekend, and one that more people could enjoy. Put it into your diary for next year.

Squrr Mor

Dave Roberts

On the journey to Scotland the weather was excellent. A quick meal in Morrison's at Fort William then on ward to Loch Quoich.

A new guide book has made a lot more people are aware of the trips you can undertake in this area, so it was no surprise to come across 2 vans and canoe trailers. We parked at our normal spot, unloaded our Canadian and my Caralina, packed them then set off on our paddle down then across the loch. The sun was beaming down but there was a stiff breeze we opted for a direct paddle to our bivvy site, to be greeted by 8 canadians, 8 kayaks and 14 tents, so much for solitude.

The day after no blue skies cloud base 100 metres but no rain for our walk. The first peak was Squrr an Fhuarain reached by an excellent stalkers path some times obscured with snow. The top is 901 metres but with visibility of 20 metres we didn't see much. To reach the new peak we descended to the top of Squrr Mor. Here the mist parted giving a view of a next peak Squrr Beag; it was covered in a lot more snow so we decided to drop off the ridge early.

The route back was over steep and rough ground which took ages but the weather was bright and sunny so it was nice and quite. I tried spinning for a trout for tea but to no avail.

We turned in about 10pm. At 12am it started to rain and continued until we packed the boats the next morning. Very low cloud with no wind gave us a very easy paddle back to the van, and the end of a very good trip. Using canoes saved us a 9 mile walk in over a paddle less terrain.

River Weaver

Hannah Tott

On the 14th May we went to the River Weaver. From the lovely sight of the grass and flowers and if you were lucky a fish jumping out of the water and the big salt factory so very nice to see? The trip was really fun and laughing with one of the dogs trying to jump out of the boat. We stopped for lunch, where some got into the others open boats and had a go. After having a good stop for about an hour or so we made our way back and we stopped in a pub for a cooling drink.

(Hannah' shout at every Heron that passed was also quite amusing, something I see she has kept up for future trips…per heron too! Ed)

Teeside - 3rd June

Alastair Kennedy

Due to conflicting events, and other commitments, unfortunately only five members managed the trip to Teeside White Water course in June.

Those who didn't come should look at the pictures on the website (or I hope these are some by now!), and make a mental note to go next time. The weather was perfect, the roads (despite the distance) were mainly congestion free, and the water was AMAZING! We got there before the barrage release time, and studied the course. Lance was making notes for river bottom improvements to the clubs river bed at Marple...(all things are possible Lance except the timed release of a deluge of thousands of cubic metres of water which transforms this course from innocuous to exciting!

All of us Kennedy's swam at various times, Lance and Mike Cambden stayed in their boats despite multiple rolls. This despite the fact that Lance had turned up in his slalom kayak... and didn't manage to break it.

After three hours I was exhausted, Lance had to leave to move Bens stuff from Uni. Mike and the two younger Kennedy's were finally coaxed off the water after close to four hours, tired but exhilarated. It was a great day out: highly recommended.

Two Star Assessment - Club site 6&13 June

Andrew Bickerton

After recently passing the one star award, the natural progression seemed to be the two star. This consisted of four evening coaching sessions at the club site and a further evening for the assessment itself. The usual format was; practical skills carried out above the top weir, followed by theory in the warmth of the club hut. Don't be put off by mention of theory, it consisted of presentations by the coaches (pay attention as there will be questions).

Without going into the syllabus (this can be found on the Clubs notice board or British Canoe Union web site), existing paddling strokes were developed and new skills taught and practiced. Every session ended with participants getting wet, refining their rescue skills.

On the day of the assessment the butterflies were a little bit bigger than those for the one star and, as expected, the practical assessment was physically tougher. There's was more to be assessed on and there was the X rescue, as rescuer and victim. The theory element was conducted off water and consisted of a number of questions about paddle sport.

For those considering it, it's a course well worth doing, even if only to get on the water with a small group of paddlers of similar ability, under the guidance of a coach. Your confidence and paddling will benefit from it.

Have I any advice to anyone considering the course? Dress appropriately and practice.

A big thank you to the coaches.

Anglesey Sea Kayaking Meet

Wendy Riggs

A perfect Saturday morning at Rhoscolyn; bacon and egg sizzling outside tents, sun shining, still air. Mark and Gill arrived from a sortie to collect sea kayaks with excellent news - we had a chance to have a day's FREE coaching! They had run into 4 young, keen chaps who were going through their 3* coaching assessment, and would we like to be their guinea-pigs? How could we possibly turn it down! So the play-boater section trotted off to Stanley Embankment to play on the wave, and the 8 of us - all pretty well beginners for sea kayaking - packed our butties and set off to meet our instructors & their assessors for the day. With a ratio of 6 experts to 8 beginners, (plus Gill to keep an eye on us all!) we were in for a good day out.

The wind, tide and sunshine could not have been better. Also it seems that the nice young instructors were pretty good - at least the younger female element looked pretty happy… We set out from Porth Dafarch and headed out for Trearddur Bay, round rocky headlands. We had good company and regular coaching, with Gill laughing all the way as these rather nervous young chaps tried to keep us all in order (when their assessors were around). We had plenty of good and sometime hilarious coaching - I had a slight problem having been told to go round the buoy. Having been surrounded by a sea of buoys, pink ones, yellow ones, orange ones, I headed for the most likely, to yells of "Left Wendy! Stop! That's the wrong buoy!!" I never did find out which was the 'right' one, but I stopped before I reached Ireland).

We landed on a small beach (without capsizing!) for lunch in the sun. Then we set off back again, this time into a stronger wind and bigger, bouncier waves, rounding small rocky islands with cormorants spreading their wings in the sun. What a place to be! Back at Porth Dafarch we had a swim or two - mostly on purpose, although there was good entertainment watching attempted rolls (and some impressive ones too - well done Laura!). All in all a perfect day out on the sea.

Sunday did not bode well - high wind and rain. But our stalwart leaders were not going to let us off. We drove over to the inland sea, where Gill and Mark gave us an excellent day despite the weather, with more practice and excellent advice, manoeuvring our kayaks in the strong wind.

When can we go again????

As a pointer to anyone interested in sea kayaking it is worth keeping an eye on the message board that has now been created on the website, generally a lot of last minute trips will be posted on there with sea kayaking being a possibility, check with those organising the trips if suitable, Ed.

4-Week MCC Moving Water Course (and the world cup) - Tuesday 20th June 06

Kevin McQue

The World Cup 2006 football fest has started. England are to play Sweden at 8pm. Still at work chained to the PC but just enough time to get a curry, a few beers and home for the kick off. It's dark and gloomy outside and the sky looks like I'll need an Ark to get home. This is not summer, but it doesn't matter, curry, beer and footy on the telly are all I need, come on England.

Then the realisation, I've previously enrolled on the MCC Moving water course that is going to clash with the footy. Aargh! I must start being responsible and organising my priorities! So I am left with a gargantuan decision, England, curry and beer versus a chance of a cold drowning!!!!

A quick call to the MCC and Mark Davies assures me there is only one decision. So the footy is sacked and here I am nervously perched on the water, I haven't been here for good 6-months.

We are being encouraged to "break in and out" and "ferry glide" and how it would be a good idea to edge my Piranha more than ½ an inch. He can do it, why can't I??? Actually my ½ inch feels more (but doesn't it always). Thankfully the weather has held off raining and it seems quite warm (probably the effort I'm putting in to keep balanced and dry). I'm informed that by the end of the course we'll be doing it backwards. (What - this guy's mad????) A few brave paddlers roll, impressive. After a couple of hours we're out getting dried and reflecting. That was great.

England-v-Sweden, 2-2 draw, they should have defended better and were probably lucky for the draw and we've qualified to the next round.

Wednesday 21st June 06

Can't stop smiling, bring on next Tuesday.

Tuesday 27th June 06

This week the water appears a lot lower, we're getting more basic training by Pete (the first person I've met who is older than me!) "slalom paddling", "bracing", "support strokes", "turning strokes", "breaking in and out" by simply "edging", then a "turning stroke", "bow rudders" and generally combining the lot.

Technical but fun and getting a bit more confident (I bet I edged it 1inch more!).

Looks like ferry gliding backwards is next week!!!

25th June England-v-Ecuador, 1-0 win, the result is all that counts.

Wednesday 28th June 06

Can't stop smiling, bring on next Tuesday.

1st July England-v-Portugal, Rooney sent off, the rest are clueless and we're out!

Tuesday 4th July 06

My son's school orchestra takes precedent over the course. No paddling.

Receive an email from Gill to advise we are all going to the Burrs Country Park in Bury for the next Tuesday. A quick check of the pictures on the club web site and I realise that I am going to die.

Wednesday 5th July 06

Tuesday's a long wait.

Saturday 9th July 06

Buy an inflatable roof rack from Brookbank. Drool and kick the tyres on the boats then buy a cheap pair of water shoes.

Italy wins the cup!

Monday 10th July 06

Collect a boat from MCC, I can sense my excitement, but more important, does my roof rack work and where are the instructions for tying a boat onto it? Several hours later, we are home.

Tuesday 11th July 06

I can't help steeling a couple of more glances at the site photos during the day. Then the evening, I arrive easily due to the good web directions and the clear traffic. I obviously wasn't the only one excited; one of our fellow paddlers had been there for over 2-hours (probably warming up and carb bulking).

It's a beautiful warm still night and the flies aren't biting too much (respect to the Stockport Market dual action aftershave). Gill gives us an expert guided tour of the site then we're off.

After a nervous entrance onto the canal, I try to keep upright and straight. This is hard, need to relax and not be so delicate with my strokes! A quick exit from the canal, up a step, a short portage then we are faced with our Nemesis, The Weir. The photos appear correct, I am going to die. I am assured it is fun and Ben gives the expert demonstration (does he whiten his teeth?) (care to comment Ben?....next issue, Ed)

In a blink it's over (didn't even have time to repent) but fun, even in the low water.

All down safely with Ben having a second go, we are now taught the finer points of surfing on the stopper (or what's left of it due to the low water) and the dangers. Nervously with the bow forward it's fun, go sideways, it's best described as "an out of control wobble", but good for practising our bracing, edging and support strokes.

Then down the river, more ferry gliding, Alpine canoeing, a few smaller rapids and weirs and more surfing on the stoppers.

Respect to my fellow paddler's for rolling - I was the only one in our group not to swim! I obviously need to push it a bit more. 3-hours later, it's over. It was definitely exhilarating and exciting; the water was clean and even saw a fish.

Wednesday 12th July 06

More smug smiling and dreaming of the next course?

Many thanks to the organisers and instructors for their patience and giving up their valuable time for our benefit:

Thanks to:

• Lance Davenport
• Clive Howell
• Mike Cambden
• Peter ?
• Mark Davies
• Gill Hay

Apologies if I missed anyone.

Beginners Slalom Course / Marple Slalom Race - 24th June - 15th July / 15th July

Kelly Paddock

Both myself and Laura had taken part in the Slalom at the club earlier in the year and although we were not thinking of getting into slalom as such at that point, we were planning on taking part in the next one in July, especially as though Laura had been promoted (great for her, not so great for me - now there was added pressure!) so we decided to attend the slalom training course.

Start of the first session Dave went through the 'rules' of slalom with us; up and down gates; their relevant colours, penalties and such and proceeded to complete entry cards with us all for the Manchester Slalom taking part in July, which turned out was all included with the training fee.

We were only a small group of five; myself, Laura, Rachel, Tom & Piers. Dave decided it best to take the boys and Ian took us girls. We squeezed into our slalom boats (some more so than others, those boats are tight!) and hit the water.

We were in the middle section of the river getting used to the slalom boats, it is something that most of us hadn't done a lot of and there is a big difference in feel and sturdy-ness of a slalom boat to a plastic. Ian showed us how to break into the flow and explained where we should be aiming to get through the gates and prepare for the next one. A small course of two gates was set; a down and an up gate, and introduced the sweep, bow rudder combination. We each took it in turns to go through the course and kept going in circular motions practicing. It was a good session, a good grounding for what was to come.

Second session: I think we all came back with a little more confidence than the previous week. Tom came along as coach this week as Ian was away and Kay was around giving a helping hand too. We moved to the top part of the river this week and the sweep, bow rudder, pull stroke combination began. Practicing the week before I was managing to get through the gates with albeit a weak bow rudder, this week the gates were my enemy! It seemed there was too much concentration on getting through the gates and trying to get myself in the right position for the next gate that the bow rudder had gone out of the window!! Tom kindly took me aside and suggested bettering the stokes minus the gates and really drilled into me the positioning of your arm and paddle for the strokes to work effectively. Although I didn't go through the gates again that session I finished feeling slightly better about the combination.

Week three: Unfortunately I was away and so was unable to put what I'd learnt the previous week into practice with the gates, that was until week four…which was also the weekend of the MCC Slalom race.

Week four: We arrived at the site on Saturday nice and early, as we were helping to put the course up that Kay had set out for the race on the Sunday. The poles went up slowly but surely and I learnt never to use knots when tying the ropes off - really difficult to undo again! The session was broken up today with the sports relief run taking part in the middle. When it was time to start with the final session we did so slightly unenergetically, which could have been something to do with the lager shandy, burger and chips that was had at the pub before hand! But we were no fools and were all too happy to take advantage of Tom's instruction on the course we would be racing the day after.

We paddled down in sections taking on a few gates at a time, spending more time around gates 8 to 13 then anywhere else - (Kay - this was really tight, you really were testing us on that part!), ending the day with a full run of the course.

Big thanks to Dave Bradshaw, Ian Carpenter and Tom Carlisle for sharing their slalom wisdom. The course was great and even if I don't go onto do a lot of slalom, I've learnt valuable stokes and (a bit more) control over my paddle!

Marple Slalom

Now Laura was supposed to be doing this write up for me (it comes to something when I can't even get my own sister to do a write up!) but unfortunately summer holidays happened and well she had other things to do - but not to worry she now owes me two!

It was a bright sunny day, the temperature getting near to 20oC before the time had even reached 10am - it was to be a scorcher. It was a big turn out with people coming from different clubs.

People started arriving and breakfasts were being ordered from the kitchen (which Karen did a fantastic job of running). Wet gear was changed into and the boats came out for the all important practice runs, of which I was lucky to have had an afternoon of the day before. I got on again and had a couple of practice runs to try mainly to get to grips with gates 8 to 10 which flummoxed me, however a few encouraging words and pointers from coach Tom and Pete King, who was taking part in the day, and I got off the water felling okay.

I watched Laura and Rachel do their runs, the training had paid off they both did very well.

It came to Div 4 Women - my group - and there was a bit of a hold up before getting on the water but it gave me chance to speak with the other girls in the group and it would seem that we were all at very similar standards, with only one or two races under our belts. We got on the water and nerves were building up slightly whilst waiting my turn, but it was nice to see a familiar face at the starting line when it was eventually my turn. Off I went, trying desperately to remember everything Tom had taught me the day before. I was going well, only hit a couple of the gates from what I remembered and hadn't missed any, got to gates 8 - 10, not my best, and managed to get through them all which is all I wanted to do, with some encouraging shouts from the river bank from the Div 3 girls and Pete I pushed forward to the bottom part of the river and through the finish line. I forgot just how tiring the race actually is when you are trying to go as fast as you can but as good as you can too. A break for lunch and then it was round 2. Ran the course again, and felt distinctively slower than the first run, missed dreaded gate 10 but was able to go back for it before moving on down the river to what was a grateful finish.

The result cards were all filled out by control and put out to so we could all see how we had done. I was happy Laura came first in her Div 3 group, she did a good job, and I came in at second in my Div 4 group.

The day was over and the course came down. The presentations were arranged and Dave Higson gave out medals and promotions, of which there were a few from MCC myself included, so now the sibling rivalry is back, we're back in the same division again, oh no! Others promoted were Tom Rawlings, Aaron Kelly and Simon Harper (hope I didn't miss anyone out). Full listings of the results are posted on the website…Ed

A big thanks to Dave Higson for organising the Slalom weekend, the weather was fantastic I thought it was a great event even though the water was a bit too low. Dave Bradshaw

The next Marple Slalom takes place on the 2nd and 3rd September. Help constructing the course would be appreciated on the Friday afternoon and any help available during the two days; there is always something to be done; judging / kitchen hands / control, speak to Dave Higson to see how you could help out, Ed.

Mrs Rohleder

Peter King

I have just heard of the death of Mrs Rohleder. Mrs Rohleder was the mother of Martin who died tragically. She presented the club with a Trophy in his memory which was awarded to the winner of the Serpents Tail Slalom, by her in person, for many years.

With recent access problems we have not run the 'Tail for some years but in the Hut is a montage of photos taken at the penultimate event.

The Trophy has been awarded in the meantime to the clubs top ranking paddler, but Dave tells me that there is a real chance of our being able to run the Tail again.

Sports Relief - 15th July

Steve Tott

Thanks to all who came along on the 15th and paddled to Otterspool. Good to raise some money for sport relief (£50). Sorry to those who didn't get the e-mail for whatever reason. I've got the hang of the message board on the website now so will use that as well next time.

Big thanks to Brookbank for lending us the van.

Sports Relief

Kelly Paddock

It's that charity time of year and it had been all over the TV that you could run a mile for sports relief, well Steve came up with a better idea….paddle a mile.

There was a group of ten that set off from the club to paddle down to Otterspool. It was quite a nice bimble down the river, with only the odd scrape here and there where the sunshine and not the usual rain has caused the river to be lower than usual. A ball was found on the way down and the usual splashing occurred some getting wetter than others….Hannah!! but it was quite a nice way to cool down with the sun beating down.

We eventually came to the weir at the end of the road, of which Tom and Lawrence stopped at checking the best route down. Not only were there possible spikes to contend with this was also apparently a vertical drop! Well when they said vertical I expected a slight angle on the drop but nope…I sat at the top and watched Lawrence go first and literally disappear over the edge! This was the last point to change my mind being the get out point if not doing the drop. But when people started going one by one I thought what the hec and had a go….so with a bit of a yelp down I went…..great fun!

The end of the trip was met with food and a quick drink at the local pub, of which were thoroughly enjoyed, although slightly regretted by those having to do slalom training in the afternoon!

With the food and drink finished the boats and some of us were piled into the back of the van and it was a cosy bumpy ride back to site.

New Members

Welcome to the following new members:

Ben & Darren Annable	Woodley, Stockport
Simon Power	Sale
Eveline, Paul & Gill Airey	Reddish
Trevor Edwards	Edgeley
Shaun Grommell	Cheadle Heath
Andrew, Tania & Daniel Brookes	Bramhall

Up & Coming:

There aren't many trips on the site's calendar past July, however there are some to look forward to:

8th October - Ribble

From the club site to the lower section of the Ribble.

Contact Steve Tott 0161 427 6517 or email Stephen Tott

31st October - Halloween Paddle

Not sure if the venue for this paddle has been organised as yet but I'm sure it will be fun and spooky, there was also some talk of fancy dress!

Contact Mark Davies

2nd December - Lune river trip

Wrap up warm for this one!

Contact Dave Bradshaw for details

Keep an eye on the message board for any last minute trips that may be organised in the future.

The bath sessions will be starting up again the first week of October. These take place at Hazel Grove swimming baths. Contact Gill Hay for any courses that may be taking place (if there are sill places) or just to book in for a practice session.

Pete King will be at the site most FRIDAY MORNINGS from 10am to 12noon. Not a training session but a chance to paddle in company. Boat hire available at 10 but Peter's there to paddle and may not be too pleased if you arrive at twenty past and try to drag him off the water (you may well fail). It may be best to phone in advance to make sure he will be there on a particular day (children under 14 must be accompanied).

A request to all using club boats, could you please ensure that the boats are emptied of water before putting back into the store.

Another big thanks for all of those who have contributed to the newsletter……keep them coming! Don't forget next newssheet end of October get your print to me by the 20th October, thanks