Marlow Canoe Club

Newsletter 143 Spring 2014

www.marlowcc.org.uk

INSIDE YOUR SPRING 2014 ISSUE

3 Inland flatwater tours
With Andy's promotion to deity level, the baton has been passed to Michael Day to give your newsletter editor something to do at the weekend. Ceri and Penny go on a great adventure to track down and capture the Loch Ness Monster before Scotland becomes an independent nation, but it all goes horribly wrong when they spy a haunted house..... Look, I know it's boring to you and it's like some kind of tiresome engineering lecture, but in the absence of you lot sending me some copy to put in the newsletter this is the sort of thing you've gotta expect. Ok, deep breath, rant over. Where's Teddy? You can tell that Alex is really looking forward to having a fresh crop of innocents to re-programme. Well go on then.

EDITORIAL

4 Great Glen Canoe Trial

Submit an article to win a paddling prize

Any club member can submit articles for the newsletter. You do not need the literary talent of Shakespeare or the photographic skills of Annie Leibovitz. Just send us your raw words and/or photographs and the editor will apply the necessary polish. And there is no maximum or minimum size to articles. A single page with a photo would typically be only 350 words or so. But our sport is very visual and often it is good to have lots of photos with just a few lines of text in support. Equally if you do have plenty of text but no photos then that is OK as photos are often either not essential or the club can supply something suitable. Every member, young and old, experienced and newbie, is encouraged to share your paddling experience with others via the newsletter. And remember that every year a decent prize is awarded at the club AGM for the best newsletter article. But you have got to be in it to win it so email your words and/or photos to the editor at rbcasbierd@yahoo.co.uk

6 Tie down your kayaks

8 Coaching programme

10 Go canoeing 2014 11 Committee members & Retailers

Who are the beautiful people and where do I buy nice stuff for them. A full calendar, summer must be upon us.

12 Calendar

12 Sea kayak trip Buy Shades a pint and he will let you live.

COVER PHOTO

The cover photograph for this newsletter was supplied by Ceri Harris from the Great Glen trip.

A little legal stuff....

This newsletter is a free publication for the Marlow Canoe Club. Whilst every care is taken, the newsletter and the Marlow Canoe Club do not accept responsibility for the opinions expressed or the goods and services mentioned in this publication. 2014.

TOURING

Inland Flatwater Tours

by Michael Day
The club will once again be offering a monthly flat water touring programme this spring and summer giving members the opportunity to enjoy a variety of rivers within a reasonable travelling time from Marlow. Tour lengths vary between 11-16 km or around three-four hours paddling time. All trips are suitable for members paddling kayaks or canoes and a number of the scheduled tours follow the Canoe England selected paddles. The tours offer an ideal opportunity to log trip experience for the BCU Two Star and Three Star Touring Awards (see http://www.canoe-england.org.uk/tests-i-awards/personal-performance-awards/ paddlesport-start-i-1-to-3-star). There is no cost to MCC members to attend these events although guests will be asked to pay a day visit fee in the usual way to ensure insurance cover. All trips are planned to take place on Saturday start venue at 10:00 am and enabling members afternoon. Programme details are shown below, start and finish points, and have also been added or Sunday mornings, meeting at the to return to the Marlow area mid/late complete with grid references for the to the calendar on the club website.

Any offers from volunteers to lead or assist on these trips will, as always, be welcomed!

26 April

Thames/St Patrick's Stream Start : Waterside Centre (SU736739) Finish : Marsh Lock (SP487094) 11 km (7 miles) one-way trip A Thames classic taking in St Patrick's Stream and the Hennerton Backwater.

18 May

Great Ouse Start : Huntingdon (TL245718) End : Huntingdon (TL245718) 11 km (7 miles) circular trip See Huntingdon and Godmanchester from the Ouse before diverting into the countryside via Cook's Stream

22 June

Thames/Cherwell Start : Donnington Bridge (SU525045) Finish : Donnington Bridge (SU525045) 13 km (8 miles) return trip A trip into the heart of Oxford and then through the water meadows to the 'Vickie' Arms and back

27 July

Hamble Start : Swanwick (SU495093) Finish : Swanwick (SU495093) 16 km (10 miles) return trip A tidal treat in the home of British yachting to the Horse & Jockey and back

24 August

Arun Start : The Black Rabbit (TQ025085) Finish : The Black Rabbit (TQ025085) 13 km (8 miles) return trip Another tidal trip paddling up river through the spectactular Arun Gap to the Bridge Inn and back

21 September

Kennet & Avon Canal Start : Newbury Wharf (SU473672) Finish : Aldermarston Wharf (SU603672) 14 km (9 miles) one-way trip Relaxed canal paddling with locks, swing bridges and pubs

TOURING

Great Glen Canoe Trial

by Ceri Harris
Does the Loch Ness monster really exist? This question has been the cause of many sleepness nights for the Marlow Canoe Club committee. So we despatched two of our most intrepid members to investigate. Would they ever come back - well Ceri obviously returned to tell the tale but what about Penny - read on to find out?

Day 1 Corpach to Gairlochy

After a cold and misty May morning, Penny Newton and I arrived at the Canal office at Corpach to register and pick up keys for the showers and toilets along the way. We unloaded the sea kayaks from the car and started to pack. With all our stuff spread out on the lock side and wondering how it would fit perhaps a practice pack may have been a good idea! Two hours later, a reassessment of what was really essential, tent and sleeping bags stuffed by our feet, water container between legs and the essential alcohol strapped in a bag on the back. A near hernia after getting the boats onto the water, a little wobbly with a fully (over)loaded kayak as we set off on our 60 mile paddle from coast to coast across Scotland. Day 1 took us along the canal to Loch Oich for a short initial day. We camped at Gairlochy by the loch and had use of the hot showers and toilets. A glass of wine with dinner as we watched the sun set.

Day 2 Gairlochy - Kytra

A still day as we set off across Loch Oich with perfect reflections of the snow capped mountains. We paddled on the North Shore as we made our way along the Loch. A welcome stop for lunch and on our way again. We passed a floating pub at the lock but resisted the temptation and paddled onto the Well of the Seven Heads and then onto the Loch at Kytra. A lovely setting to camp, under the trees and our first experience of the compost toilets that you find along the

TOURING
way. Built like a log cabin, clean, no smell and toilet paper supplied! A frantic swan across the lock that attacked its reflection until it was too dark for it to see.

Day 3 Kytra Foyers

A blustery day and a short paddle down to Fort Agustus and the start of Loch Ness. A 750m portage to avoid the 8 or so lochs and a chance to fill up with water (and beer). We kept to the Southern more remote shore of Loch Ness with cliffs and steep banks down to the waters edge, the horizon line hiding the end of the loch. A wild goat on the shore line but no sign of Nessie as we arrived at the wild camping site to find we were the only residents. Tent set up, dinner cooked and a camp fire to keep us warm ended the day.

Day 4 - Foyers to Dochgarroch

We woke to a squally day with 40-50mph gusts of wind as we peered out of the tent. We loaded up the kayaks and set off on our way, luckily the wind was behind us but care was needed with the waves and the gusts. Rain, sunshine and hail all made a show throughout the day with the end of Loch Ness now in sight. A paddle round a fish farm and past the Bona lighthouse as we entered Loch Dochfour. We approached our planned camp site for the night to see a ruined house there, danger keep out signs and an open door banging in the wind. With thoughts of a haunted house, Penny refused to land and we paddled onto Dochgarroch as an alternative to camp.

Day 5 Loch Dochfour to Inverness

The last day was along the canal, under swing bridges and into the wind. Ending at the Canal offices we portaged the last of the locks. I set up the tent to keep out of the rain and Penny caught a bus back to the start to pick up the car.

In conclusion

The facilities were excellent, the showers and toilets at the locks and the wild camping with compost toilets. 10 for the keys during your trip with no fees for the campsites. Make sure you take a trolley for the portages. We went Early May, no midges and campsites to ourselves on three nights. We loved the trip, its a great mini expedition for your first trip of this kind. More information can be http://greatglencanoetrail.info/ found at

TOP GEAR

Tie down your kayaks

by Rodney Casbierd

Most paddlers happily shift their boats on roofracks with little more than a couple of straps and maybe some foam padding. That usually works fine but you should consider using bow and stern tie downs too. Late last year I was stopped at a red light minding my own business when suddenly, out of the blue, wallop! A vehicle behind me had apparently decided to use mine as a buffer in lieu of their brakes. And so, just days before Christmas, my poor car was declared an insurance write-off. I did not know it then, but this disaster would be the catalyst for commencing my education in how to properly transport kayaks. Because I had to get a new car. And once I had got the new car I had to get new roof bars. That is when I saw the warning notice for kayakers insisting that I should be using bow and stern tiedowns. What the heck is all that about?

can you guess what's missing?

Basically they were stating that, as well as securing your boat to the roof rack, you also have to tie the bow and stern to secure points, such as towing eyes, on the vehicle. Not only had I never done this before but I had never seen anyone at the club do this either. In my old car I had routinely moved a pair of sea kayaks strapped only to roof bars with no cradles or tie-downs as evidenced by the photo here on the left. So I asked around and was surprised at the inconsistency of the opinions out there.

A friend and very experienced seakayaking friend in Scotland was insistent that he never used tie downs. His rationale was that he had never seen a roof rack that did not move relative to the car and that using tie-downs would therefore stress the hull of the boats. Another opinion was that tie-downs were not really needed if you use J-bars to move the boats. The thinking behind this was that the J-bars prevented the boat from sliding about on the roof of the vehicle. And yet another opinion was that bow and stern tie-downs were essential, regardless of the size of the craft. Indeed the one thing that most people agreed upon, somewhat counter-intuitively, was that sea kayaks were rarely a cause of disaster. It was far more common for boats and roof-racks to come flying off when shifting shorter kayaks, presumably because of their less aerodynamic profile.

TOP GEAR

The clinching argument in favour of using tie-downs is pretty simple. If you do not follow the manufacturers guidelines for your roof rack when moving kayaks then, if disaster strikes and boats go flying and wreaking havoc with other road users, there is a risk that your insurance company will refuse to pay up. You may think that is a small risk but why take it given how easy it is to avoid such potential consequences? There are three main technical reasons why roof rack manufacturers recommend using tie-downs. Firstly to relieve the constant force exerted by the kayak on the roof rack when travelling at high speed. This is particularly a problem if you have a short roof rack, less of a problem for estate cars with long roof rails. Force increases in direct proportion to surface area so even a short kayak, if it is wide and catches the wind, will exert a big force on the roof rack. A long kayak has the added impact of the leverage increasing with the length of the boat. Some roof racks are only secured to the car by four relatively small bolts and it does not take much force for the entire roof rack to be ripped off the car. Tying the bow to the front of the car goes some way to taking some of the peak strain and thus reducing the worst forces experienced by the roof rack. The second reason is to minimise the boat flapping up and down too much and potentially working loose. This is more of a problem with plastic sea kayaks due to their flexible long hulls. And once again it is more of a problem with short roof racks due to those darned turning forces doing their damndest to try and lever the boat off the roof rack and/or the roof rack off the car. A third reason is to minimise the boat moving sideways on the roof rack or, worse still, rotating. If this starts happening then you are probably going to lose the boat fairly soon. Using a kayak cradle is obviously the best way to prevent this but, in the absence of a cradle, using front and rear tie downs can at least minimise the rotation movement. There are other reasons too but you get the gist by now. By far the best thing to do is use an estate car with a long roof rack. That means an E-class Mercedes estate if you live in Marlow, a Volvo estate if you live in Maidenhead, or a Focus estate for Slough folk. However for most of us without beards estate cars are not an option and we have to make do with shorter roof racks. In that case investing in a cradle, J-bars or similar will do the most to help secure your boat. Not only does a cradle keep your boat secured, it also can help with streamlining too. When you travel at speed the air is forced up by the bonnet and windscreen to meet your boat. Clearly the worst orientation for a kayak is therefore upside down as that presents a relatively wide flat surface and an open cockpit to the oncoming rushing air. On the other hand putting a boat the right way up in a cradle means that the air hits the sharp streamlined hull of you boat. Of course if the kayak is oriented the right way up then you need a cockpit cover to keep the rain out, but you should use a cover regardless of orientation as it always helps to streamline the boat. But, to be really sure of keeping your kayak on the vehicle, always use bow and stern tie downs too. They take seconds to fit and could make the difference between having a great day out rather than one of those days you end up wanting to forget.

that's slightly better

COACHING

Marlow canoe club coaching programme 2014/15

By Alex Shiell
Marlow Canoe Club operates its own training courses, to the British Canoe Union (BCU) syllabus. We not only get you started with paddlesport but, with our breadth and depth of coaching expertise, we provide the facilities for you to continue to develop your skills. Here is a summary of our in-house coaching programme for the next year, see the club website for full details.

MCC1 - Introduction to paddlesport (including BCU 1-star)

Beyond just an introduction to paddling technique, this weekend course will prepare new members to enjoy club sessions. You will be given a tour of the club facilities and equipment, walked through how club sessions work and taught the basic skills to get started. Also includes the BCU One Star Award. This course runs 9.30am to 4.30pm and costs 35, plus membership. May 10th 11th June 7th 8th July 5th 6th August 2nd 3rd September 6th 7th

MCC2 - Improvers paddlesport (including BCU 2-star)

Take the next step from your introduction to paddlesport with these day courses. Suitable for those who have been paddling regularly with us for a few months, these courses will give paddlers the fundamental skills in kayaking and canoeing. They will follow the BCU Two Star syllabus and there is a chance to take the assessment if you want the additional feedback (and certificate!). This course runs 9.30am to 4.30pm at Marlow Canoe Club. Each day costs 15 per person, or book all three for 40. May 17th May 24th May 31st October 18th October 11th October 18th Kayak Canoe Assessment Kayak Canoe Assessment

MCC3 - Introduction to whitewater kayaking

Braved the weirs, but now want to take it to the next level? Our introductory trips will fully prepare you to join in with the whitewater warriors as they travel across the country. Beginning gently with private sessions at the Nene Whitewater Centre, we will equip you with the basic skills and

COACHING

knowledge to attend the weekend trip. The weekend will run exactly like a standard whitewater trip with plenty of coaches and leaders to ease you in. The day trips cost 15 per person and the weekend costs 30 for the coaching only (not including accommodation, travel, food or beer). May 1st November 8th November 22nd 23rd Nene Whitewater Centre 5pm to 7pm Nene Whitewater Centre 5pm to 7pm River Usk, South Wales

MCC4 - Rolling clinics

These dedicated pool sessions will help those who wish to learn the eskimo roll, or develop/improve their existing skills. Working with our experienced coaches, we will work through the physical and technical aspects of the most suitable rolling style for you. These two hour sessions run at Chalfont Leisure Centre from 6pm to 8pm, and cost 20 per person. June 21st September 20th December 20th March 21st

MCC5 - BCU 3-star whitewater kayak training+assessment

Once you have completed a whitewater season, you may wish to consider consolidating your experience with this course. Working through the BCU syllabus, this training course brings together skills presented in the introductory trips. Competent paddlers at this level can consider themselves an intermediate whitewater kayaker. This course takes the form of a weekend trip, where there will be the option to take the assessment on the second day. The trip will cost 40 per person, plus certification fees. February 21st 22nd Location to be confirmed

Booking information
To book any of these modules, please follow the link on the club website to the module booking form. All bookings are confirmed upon receipt of payment which can be via BACS or cheque (payable to Marlow Canoe Club). For BACS payments please use the reference format [COURSECODE][SURNAME] e.g. MCC1SHIELL (see contact details on page 11). The clubs bank details are: Barclays (Marlow branch), sort code 20-40-71, account number 60057975. Most modules are run by volunteer club coaches and therefore are only open to club members. All dates are subject to change and availability. If you are interested in any training or assessment courses not listed within, please contact the coaching officer (see contact details on page 11). Those wishing to book an Introduction to Paddlesport course, or who have a general enquiry about the club, should contact the new starters coordinator (see contact details on page 11). Finally, I would welcome any feedback on this coaching programme, the booking process or the coaching you receive. This vital information can then be used to improve the experience of all members.i

COMMITTEE
President
Tim Ward 01494 482959 wards@btinternet.com

11
Chairman
Andy Maxted andymcoaching@gmail.com

Secretary

Penny Newton secretary@marlowcc.org.uk

Treasurer

Kelvin Abbott 01753 654923 kelvin.abbott@btinternet.com

Membership

Rod Edmonds 01753 671389 r.edmonds@etoncollege.org.uk

Coaching

Alex Shiell shiellalex@yahoo.co.uk

Equipment

Tom Bailey blast1102@ymail.com

1* Course Co-ordinator
Simon Knowles 07786 836012 simonknowles16@googlemail.com Vacant

Women's Representative
Catherine Harris harrc014@rbwm.org

Youth Representative

Social Secretary

Melinda Livett melinda.livett@yahoo.com

Whitewater

Chris Weston chriskayaks@gmail.com

Touring

Michael Day michael.day53@btinternet.com

Sea

Mark "Shades" Steel 07900 900302 shadescanoe@gmail.com

Newsletter Editor
Rodney Casbierd rbcasbierd@yahoo.co.uk

Website Editor

Chris Porteous chrisps@marlowcc.org.uk

Feel free to contact us to discuss a relevant issue or share your views

LOCAL RETAILERS
Marsport, Reading
01189 665912 http://www.marsport.co.uk

WWC, Shepperton
01932 247978
http://www.whitewaterthecanoecentre.co.uk

Paddlesport, Warwick
01926 640573 http://www.paddlesport.co.uk

CALENDAR
Saturday 3 May Saturday 3 May
Pool session 7.00 pm 8.00 pm Introduction to Whitewater Kayaking 5.00 7.00 pm, Nene Whitewater Centre

12

CLUB SESSIONS
Every Sunday
Doors open at 9.30 am. On the water for 10 am.

Weekend 10-11 May

Introduction to Paddlesport 9.30 am 4.30 pm

Saturday 17 May
Improvers Kayaking 9.30 am 4.30 pm Great Ouse tour

Sunday 18 May Saturday 24 May

Improvers Canoeing 9.30 am 4.30 pm

Every Tuesday
Doors open at 6.30 pm. On the water for 7 pm.

Saturday 31 May
BCU Two Star Assessment 9.30 am 4.30 pm

Weekend 7-8 June

Introduction to Paddlesport 9.30 am 4.30 pm

POOL SESSION
Once per month
Saturday 7.00 - 8.00 pm, see calendar for dates
Chalfont Leisure Centre, Nicol Road, Chalfont St Peter, SL9 9LR. 5 adults, 3 juniors

Saturday 7 June
Pool session 7.00 pm 8.00 pm Rolling Clinic 6.00 pm 8.00 pm

Saturday 21 June Sunday 22 June

Thames/Cherwell tour

Weekend 28-29 June

Jurassic Coast Sea Kayak trip

MEMBERSHIP RATES
Adult 42 Family 65 Junior 23 Senior 23 Storage 19 per boat

Weekend 5-6 July

Introduction to Paddlesport 9.30 am 4.30 pm

Saturday 5 July
Pool session 7.00 pm 8.00 pm

SEA KAYAK TRIPS

There will be a Sea Kayak trip to the Jurassic coast on the weekend of 28-29 June. We will be camping at Woodyhyde, Corfe castle, Dorset. For more info call or email our Sea rep, contact details on page 11.

Monday 7 July

Committee meeting 7.30 pm, The Fat Duck in Bray.

Sunday 27 July
Hamble tour