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Recent Posts
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Trip Reports / Re: Barle - November 08
« Last post by RichardS on November 06, 2008, 05:08:39 PM »Richard's are here
http://s123.photobucket.com/albums/o282/rszczepanski/Barle011108/
http://s123.photobucket.com/albums/o282/rszczepanski/Barle011108/
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Trip Reports / Barle - November 08
« Last post by Peter on November 02, 2008, 10:59:11 PM »Hils and Pete's photos can be found at...
http://s94.photobucket.com/albums/l90/squirrelphotos/Barle%20Nov%2008/
http://s94.photobucket.com/albums/l90/squirrelphotos/Barle%20Nov%2008/
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Trip Reports / Re: Thames source to sea - Erith to Gravesend
« Last post by Chris on October 30, 2008, 12:13:58 AM »Chris, Hilary, Bridget, Janine, Stephen and Richard Szc. managed to get on the water at Erith only half an hour after the planned time which was counted a great success. The ebb tide, three days off springs, was well underway making 2-3 knots and we covered the 10 miles between Erith and Gravesend in less than 2 hours. The water was flat for the most part and there was no wind and very little river traffic. The river is wide here and the banks are dominated by massive industrial and utility installations, factories, bulk freight terminals, power stations, wharves with large ships alongside and landfill sites. In a number of places new residential developments have been sited surprisingly close to the industrial sites. The QE II bridge presented an impressive and towering spectacle and on a much smaller scale Gravesend showed some attractive and interesting riverside architecture, particularly the recently refurbished Town Pier dating from 1834. The very friendly folk at Gravesend Rowing Club allowed us to park next to their club house and kindly invited Janine inside while she was waiting for the cars to arrive.
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Trip Reports / Re: Thames source to sea - Erith to Gravesend
« Last post by RichardS on October 29, 2008, 10:38:56 AM »An excellent trip on a powerful tide. One of the great shuttles - four hours!
Thanks Chris.
My pictures http://s123.photobucket.com/albums/o282/rszczepanski/Thames261008/
Thanks Chris.
My pictures http://s123.photobucket.com/albums/o282/rszczepanski/Thames261008/
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Trip Reports / Thames source to sea - Erith to Gravesend
« Last post by Peter on October 27, 2008, 11:01:31 PM »
Hils photos can be found here..
http://s94.photobucket.com/albums/l90/squirrelphotos/ThamesErithGravesend/
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Trip Reports / Thames Source to Sea - Shadwell to Erith
« Last post by Chris on October 13, 2008, 11:24:44 PM »
More pictures here.
Stephen, Eoin and Chris met Dan J (still not paddling) for steak and ale pie in the Prospect of Whitby after the shuttle had been run. An instructor at Shadwell Basin Outdoor Activity Centre kindly allowed us to leave our boats on SBOAC premises out of harms way.
Not long after we set off downstream on the ebbing tide, somewhere near Greenland Dock, Eoin tested Chris's deep water rescue skills which fortunately proved sufficient, aided by Eoin's calmness and co-operation, to get him safely back in his boat within a couple of minutes.
The weather could not have been better - sunny, warm and hardly any wind. The surface of the river was variable with a noticeable chop in some reaches but flat calm in others. We passed Canary Wharf, Greenwich College, the Dome, the Thames Barrier, the Woolwich Ferry and countless freight terminals, power stations, sewage treatment works, derelict wharfs, land fill sites and a surprising number of flat blocks and houses.
We arrived at Erith just after sunset but before dark. The distance covered was 15 land miles (24km, 12Nm).
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Trip Reports / Re: Dorset Coast - 23-25 August 2008
« Last post by Gordon on October 01, 2008, 11:14:48 PM »Sorry for the delay, had to marry off one daughter & holiday in Majorca. Hopefully this link will work http://s235.photobucket.com/albums/ee314/gordonanderson179/lulworth%20CSCC%20Aug08/
cheers Gordon
cheers Gordon
79
Trip Reports / Tryweryn - September 08
« Last post by Hils on September 29, 2008, 08:59:32 PM »Turtle and Richard were the first away from Chiswick on Friday evening, followed by Peter, Hilary and Amelia.
The next morning, after a comfortable night in B&B accommodation in Bala we met up with David Mannering and crowd from the other CSCC (Chippenham Sailing and Canoe Club). Some of us started from the top (chipper) picking up the others after the tricky bits. Pete and Hilary took turns looking after Amelia. Dave M’s daughter Laura, was on her second Tryweryn trip and did very well despite having what looked like an uncomfortable swim down the graveyard. We picked up another guy called Bob who proved to be a useful asset for the trip.
The lower section proved fairly uneventful with a couple of swims on Bala mill.
There was time for another run down the top section with Turtle happy to babysit, Amelia enjoyed watching from the bank. There were a few more swims, both Laura and Pete came out on the graveyard and Simon from the other CSCC swam at Federgog with his boat eventually captured at the campsite by Dave who had his own little epic chasing the boat. Luckily a rescue course was being held and they got plenty of practice. Pete also had another dip while doing a tricky manoeuvre on the lip of chapel falls.
That evening the choice was Pizza restaurant and the White Royal Lion bar or the Pyranha fest party.
Next morning there was a start from the chipper with Turtle opting to look after Amelia and swap over with Pete below chapel falls. The tricky graveyard section caused problems again and for a while Laura thought her expensive new paddles would never be seen again. However after Hilary had carried her boat back up part of the rapid and had chance to make a few more eddies the paddles were spotted floating down the rapid and duly retrieved. There was another swim for Simon I think on the S bend with Dave M again getting some boat chasing practice in. The lower section caused relatively few problems for the newcomers but Bala Mill exerted its authority as usual. It was noticeable that Turtles paddling technique was coming back and Richard just how consistently good a paddler he is.
Great weather, great company, great paddling. If only it could always be like this.
Photos
Richard's http://s123.photobucket.com/albums/o282/rszczepanski/Tryweryn200908/
and http://www.civilservicecanoeclub.org.uk/csccgallery/thumbnails.php?album=9
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Trip Reports / Re: Boat Shed Tidy September 2008
« Last post by dan jones on September 29, 2008, 06:49:55 PM »Picnic report.
Richard, our equipment officer, organised a very enjoyable picnic in the sunshine at Chiswick on Sunday 28th September. As usual he had acquired some tasty sour-dough bread and charcuterie from Borough Market and made some delicious salads. Martin brought along a lovely lemon cake baked by Julia.
We built up an appetite first by making some improvements to the boat shed storage arrangements and carrying out our annual clean-up. The most noticeable change was extending the racking so that we now have storage space for three more kayaks. Chris showed off his abilities at angle grinding and then tested the strength of the new arrangement by performing chin ups from the scaffolding. Richard mended the cupboard (which I had broken by standing on a shelf) and fitted foam padding to the paddle racks so that paddles now sit more snugly.
Pete, Martin and Stephen carried out minor boat repair work. I was excused heavy lifting duties and checked and scrubbed clean the spraydecks and airbags.
Amelia who is now walking about seemed to enjoy her day too and Hilary had her work cut out keeping an eye on her.
Thanks go to Joanna for keeping us supplied with hot drinks.
Dan
Richard, our equipment officer, organised a very enjoyable picnic in the sunshine at Chiswick on Sunday 28th September. As usual he had acquired some tasty sour-dough bread and charcuterie from Borough Market and made some delicious salads. Martin brought along a lovely lemon cake baked by Julia.
We built up an appetite first by making some improvements to the boat shed storage arrangements and carrying out our annual clean-up. The most noticeable change was extending the racking so that we now have storage space for three more kayaks. Chris showed off his abilities at angle grinding and then tested the strength of the new arrangement by performing chin ups from the scaffolding. Richard mended the cupboard (which I had broken by standing on a shelf) and fitted foam padding to the paddle racks so that paddles now sit more snugly.
Pete, Martin and Stephen carried out minor boat repair work. I was excused heavy lifting duties and checked and scrubbed clean the spraydecks and airbags.
Amelia who is now walking about seemed to enjoy her day too and Hilary had her work cut out keeping an eye on her.
Thanks go to Joanna for keeping us supplied with hot drinks.
Dan