3 Star White Water Training

 

 

The River Wye was the venue for last weeks 3 Star White Water training course and although the course was small, 4 of our members managed to get wet and enjoy it in a mixture of sunshine and rain.

The course covered the syllabus and all paddlers really showed some great improvements in their basic river skills throughout the weekend.

The assessment is to be held on the river Dart in October and hopefully there will be a full course with 6 of our members taking the 3 star White Water assessment.

Well done to all it was an exhausting but enjoyable weekend!

The ‘Not the Royal Wedding’ Celebratory Paddle

Ardent royalists that we are, members of Martlet Kayak Club decided to celebrate the marriage of Wills & Kate by paddling the River Ouse past the site of the Battle of Lewes. This was the event at which the royalists, led by Henry III were soundly defeated by Simon de Montfort in the year 1264.

The loyal band of Martlet paddlers met at Barcombe Mills at 10.00 am resplendant in regalia suited to this joyous occasion. Boats were decked out with pennants; red, white and blue bunting; union flags and even heart-shaped pictures of the happy couple.

Some people even wore tiaras, although paddling a banana was perhaps going a bit too far!

Before setting off Sanne & Sarah had a pre-trip cup of ‘royaltea’, complete with table, table cloth, teapot and matching bone china. (plus chocolate fingers!!)

We are thinking of making this a prerequisite for all future Club trips & including the necessary equipment on the Club trip kit list. Meanwhile the BCU is currently considering introducing a 3 Star Open Canoe (Buffet Car) Award. 

Fashion Note: It is rumoured that Sanne & Sarah were rather miffed at not being invited to the actual ceremony but – undeterred – they rose to the occasion and dressed accordingly. Sanne was wearing a charming full-length black evening dress.

And Sara’s pink dress perfectly matched the Spring day. 

At 11.00 am the party of 18 paddlers set off downriver; Andy paddling an ex- royal canoe (or was it royalex?). Against all expectations, it was a warm, sunny day. 

Frequent stops to discuss the hot topics of the day; such as the wedding guests

The Wedding Breakfast was held in a field by Hamsey Weir.  

Having recently acquired open boats, Andy & Paula were able to really up the stakes on the picnic front; wicker basket, tarten rug, matching napkins – the lot!

The rest of us had to make do with champagne, strawberries and a cream tea.

After lunch it was a short trip down to Lewes. 

Although it did appear that one or two people may have overdone the champagne! 

We arrived in Lewes at 2.00pm to a 21 gun salute and, having shuffled the cars, quickly retired to the pub to continue the celebrations.

Many thanks to Clive E. for organising the trip; it was a great day out. 

Martlet Winter Sports Team in Action

 A couple of days of heavy snow at the start of December enabled the Martlet Winter Sports (kayaking) Team to get out on the piste and practise some of their moves. The opportunity doesn’t come along very often so, after trekking in on foot from Fiveways, the kayak sledgers were soon making  good use of the sunny conditions out on the slopes of Hollingbury Golf Course. 

When kayak sledging, it is always a good tactic to get the local kids involved. 

For the price of a ride down the slope, youngsters will lend a willing hand to carry the boat back to the top of the slope. 

Just like on a river, scouting the best route down, between obstacles, is an essential skill. 

Crew boats are a popular feature of this sport. 

If a little terrifying at times. 

And, once again, there are more hands available to carry the boat back up the slope. 

There was some intensive one to one coaching during the session. (A new Level One Coach in action.)

Snow boarding Kayaks was also fun.

But it was a hard job finding the footrest.

The key was firm concentration.

And a good Stern Rudder.

Roll on the next snowfall.

River Ouse – November 2010

On a bracing November morning we joined Mick Orpin and some other paddlers from Arun Canoe Club for a local river jaunt. It was a lovely sunny cold morning and we had a brief respite from the wind on the days before and after.

Rich paddling one of MKC’s open canoes

Off we set, paddling with the tide past Hamsey Weir, then returning as the tide ebbed.

Next local river trip The Arun on 21st November – see your email for details!

Embrun, French Alps. July 2010

After a late night ferry crossing, 1 car, 2 people, 2 bikes and 2 boats arrived in Calais ready for an adventure.  Dropping by Paris (only 300km away) seemed like a good idea, so we spent the early hours driving round the empty city.  By the time we arrived at the Eiffel Tower it was dawn and we made our way south just as the morning traffic started.
2 hours of sleep later and several more hours of driving we hit the alps!  A glass of wine or two before putting up the tents and we had arrived.
The next day more happy campers came and we tested our boats out on the nearby lake, before taking on our first Alpine river – the Durance – the day after.  The Durance was great – turquoise blue waters, birds of prey wheeling overhead and Big and Bouncy Wave Trains the whole way down!  In fact it was so good that we did it again on the Tuesday!
On Wednesday people went their separate ways:  Some of the crazier paddlers headed off to tackle the Guil gorge section (one part of which Andy apparently decided to do on his head).  Other (perhaps even crazier) people flung themselves and their bikes down the mountain in full body armour.  Sarah and I decided to go to Italy for an icecream.  It seemed like the safer option, but rally car driving skills were required to negotiate the narrow winding mountain passes.  We climbed to over 2800 metres, saw 10 marmots and a camel, and sampled 3 flavours of icecream!  Success!
Back on the water for the next couple of days, we were joined by Niki and Bill from York Canoe Club.  On the Thursday we did the Upper Guil – with lots of eddy hopping and fantastic views of Chateaux Queryas as we neared the get out.

On Friday we headed for the Ubaye, where we pretty much all practiced our swimming and boat retrieval skills!  But any nominations for swimmer of the year were more than compensated for by the surrounding mountains, non-stop rapids and paddling (or swimming) through the gorge and under the Roman bridge.
We headed to Embrun that evening for Mussels night and stumbled on some traditional French dancing.  The rather heighty Duncan dancing with the rather less tall 6 year old was quite a sight to behold.
Saturday there was still time for some more downhill mountain biking and walking before Martina and I set off back on the long road to Calais.  It was hard to leave the Alps and all the others still having fun.
All in all, spectacular scenery, fabulous company and great paddling!
Highlights:
Andy (said casually) ‘Sanne, is that your table on fire?’
Sarah being picked up by her BA by a French raft guy and then, realising it wasn’t one of his rafters, cast like a sack of potatoes into the eddy
Waking up to coffee and fresh pain au chocolat every morning (even when we were sleeping on the side of the motorway) – thanks Martina!

So… Same time, same place, next year, anyone?

Pier to Pier Swim – Safety Cover

Each year MKC is asked to help provide safety cover for a variety of water based events. One such community event we have traditionally supported is the Brighton Swimming Club’s annual Pier to Pier swimming race. Our paddlers paddle from the club to the start at the West Pier and escort the swimmers on their swim to the Palace Pier. This year a lot of our regular paddlers were away either on their own holidays or at our increasingly popular Alps trip.

Saturday arrived with flattish seas and sunshine, near perfect conditions for the bib swim. My main concern for the event was paddlers getting sunstroke!

……and they’re off! The first wave of Male swimmers enter the water.

Clive waits patiently to follow the Women’s wave 2 minutes later!

Pre-race banter by Safety Cover Veterans Clive, Graham, Cliff and Graham.

Newer members got their first experience of providing Safety Cover. Georgie and Harry taking a breather before the race begins.

A big thank you to all members who gave up their Saturday morning to help Brighton Swimming Club. I hope you all enjoyed the event. Rob

Martlet Open Day. Sunday July 4th

 Whilst a significant portion of the known world celebrated Independence Day, the rest came down to Martlet Kayak Club, to take part in our Open Day. A large number of members came down to the Club to help and, as early as 9.00am everyone was busy getting out boats & equipment, putting up the banner etc and generally getting prepared for the day.

This was just as well as, by 10.00am, there were already large queues of punters forming – all keen to get on the sea in a kayak. It was a hot sunny day, which attracted even more people, but it was also quite windy and the wind strengthened significantly during the day. This made it a lot harder for novice paddlers to get afloat and stay upright. Our carefully laid plans to send people out from the beach in small groups – each supervised by a coach – were quickly abandoned as it quickly became apparent that the youngsters in particular were having great difficulty in coping with the conditions. Plan ‘B’ was to supervise the paddlers one-to-one, with Club members wading into the sea and walking the paddlers out through the surf and keeping their boats headed into the waves. This worked well until the tide came in and water started getting deeper. The vision of our esteemed chair accompanying a member of the public out to sea, swimming after them and determinedly hanging on their boat as the waves washed over him, was a sight to see.

 In the end, over 100 people took part (the vast majority local) and everyone seemed to enjoy the experience, despite the conditions. In fact many people enjoyed themslves more because the conditions were a little bit challenging. Hopefully a number of them will return and get involved inthe Club.

The Open Day was part of Brighton & Hove’s ‘International Festival of Sport’ Take Part. (The ‘Paddle Round the Pier was going on at the Hove end of the beach.) This was a new involvement for us but it seemed to fit with the celebration of sport & physical activity rather better than with the May Fringe Festival which we have participated in previously. So many thanks to all the helpers, we were in danger of being overwhelmed by numbers early on in the day and we desperately needed the help of every one of you. Whilst it is invidious to mention names, Paula did a great job as the initial contact who had to sort out eveyone as they arrived: Trevor’s team did their usual amazing (and back breaking) work getting people afloat and back ashore; and Martina took on the role of Beach Marshal, injecting some much needed German organisation & efficiency (as evidenced by their football team nights previously) into sorting out the hordes pouring down the beach towards the sea.

We finished a little early at 1.30, as the wind & waves got stronger and, after hauling all the boats & equipment back up to the Club & putting it all away, we enjoyed a celebratory barbeque outside the arches.

Hard work, but an enjoyable and very successful day for the Club.

 

Sundae Paddlers conquer Beachy Head

Sunday June 13th

In their never- ending pursuit of the ultimate ice cream sundae, four members of the Sundae Paddlers Group extended their search to the Beachy Head area this weekend. Avoiding the double temptation of an ice cream van and a small cafe, right next to the launch point, the group set off from Seaford at 10.15 on a 15 mile return trip along the coast. It was overcast as we set off but we soon encountered one of the forecast sunny intervals that amazingly lasted for the whole trip.

 With the tides in our favour, we quickly passed Seaford Head, Cuckmere Haven & the Seven Sisters. En route we were overtaken by the Newhaven Lifeboat & we could watch them in the distance, carrying out a towing exercise with the smaller Eastbourne boat.

Pausing for a quick break at Birling Gap, we continued past the cliffs at Beachy Head to the lighthouse. (Has anyone else noticed the uncanny resemblance to the Lyons Maid ‘Zoom’ rocket lolly?) The lighthouse is now unmanned and was being serviced by a tender from a large Trinity House vessel anchored offshore.

 Returning we sampled the ice cream offered by the cafe at Birling Gap – well worth the climb up the cliffs via the staitcase tower. Then, arriving back at Seaford at 3.00pm, a celebratory ’99’ was enjoyed by all at the little cafe by the Martello Tower on Seaford Beach.

Quite a strenous paddle for those of us who haven’t sat in our sea kayaks for a while; but a classic trip. The sun was out, the tides were in our favour, the white cliffs were at their best and even the winds were kind. Two ice cream stops in one trip! What more could you ask for? Watch mkcgooglenews for the next Sundae Paddlers adventure. Chris C.     

New Club Opening Times

 At the January Committee Meeting it was decided to make a change to the Club opening times. During the summer the Club will be open on Tuesday & Thursday evenings as usual but – at weekends – the Club session will be held on Sunday mornings. The old arrangement of opening the Club on Saturdays & Sundays at midday didn’t work very well this year & it was felt that new members in particular need a definite time when they can turn up and guarantee that the Club will be open.  All Keyholders are required to commit to opening the Club at weekends and, by limiting this to a Sunday and making it earlier in the day, we hope that it will be possible to run weekend sessions a lot more efficiently.

With immediate effect the Club will be open every Sunday from 10.00am. We want to run these sessions throughout the year, including wintertime. The Club session will start at 10.00 am promptly and it will finish at 12.00 midday. Unlike evening opening, when members have trouble getting away from work at a specific time, it will not be possible for people to come along at 10.30 or 11.00 am and join in the session. This is in fairness to the person opening the Club & running the morning. Once the session has started, the organiser cannot abandon their group to keep running up the beach to open the club. And, in any case, some of the sessions may involve a paddle to the Pier or even to Rottingdean.

If the sea conditions make it impossible to paddle, then the organiser will turn up to let people know but they may close the Club soon after 10.00 o’clock on that day. On certain specified Sundays the Club activity will be a trip on a local river, in which case the there will be no organised paddling from the arches on those days. (Make sure you subscribe to MKC News by clicking on ‘Newsletter’ at the top of the home page. This will keep you up to date with events.)

The aim is to create a regular weekly club session when members can feel confident that the Club will be open and that there will be somebody available to take them out. Hopefully it will be an occasion which everyone  – young and old (both in terms of their age and their length of membership), salty seadogs and those new to paddling – can enjoy.

See you Sunday at 10.00am.

River Arun – Stopham to Greatham Report

Saturday arrived at last and the morning was ….. bright and crisp, as befitting a December paddle. The sun shone and everyone arrived in time for the 11.00 am departure from the club. Everyone, that is, except for Adrian! When he finally arrived he was very late, with no reasonable excuse, but impeccably dressed. After the drive we met up with Mike C and a friend from Adur Canoe Club, and with Mick O of Arun Canoe club. They’d been forced into sampling the beer early at “The White Hart”, conveniently situated just next to the get in bridge whilst they waited for us. All in we had 13 paddlers on the water, an excellent turnout for our first Arun paddle. As a club we are just “dipping our toes in the water” of the possibilities of the Arun. We will be paddling it again next year and further exploring its sections.

After retrieving Mike C we got changed and ready to shuttle,

Mike still able to balance apres pre-paddle drinks,

Whilst we were there we detoured up the last 100 metres of the Rother to check out Pulborough Weir,

Club members Sanna and Sara took advantage of the placid water to practice their canoeing skills,

Although I’m not sure the paddling duties were split evenly,

Nikki with her stealth pogies,

Martina looking very photogenic!

Ruth and Aidrian, and some bearded geezer in a red suit!

The get-out at Greatham Bridge, two hours later!

Thanks to all who came along. A great way to spend a Saturday in the run up to Christmas!

Rob