How’s My Paddling?

®
Croydon Active Paddlers Newsletter

Issue 10 July 2007

Inside this issue:

Editorial
Cap That 2

Welcome HMP readers to summer the print button, fluff up a pillow, get
The World Turns Flat 3
and to our 10th edition, I hope you changed into something more com-
Hit Me Baby enjoy reading it. Features this time fortable and fill your boots.
include our quizzical quartermaster
questioning your commitment, lots of Meanwhile, if you are planning a
trip reports cataloguing the conse- summer holiday make sure to pack
Weekend On Uppers 4 your CAP-cap, send me a picture of
quences of your time spent on rivers
in every grade between one and five! you wearing it in an exotic, compro-
Easter In The Lakes 5 mising or comical situation and I’ll

"It is not intended that the series of articles we propose publishing in

these pages under the above title should in any way give rise to alarm or
Passionate About Pied- 6 be an incentive to disturbed and restless nights"
mont Strand magazine 1894

Love is in the air as Stuart tells us publish the results in the next issue,
WWSR 7 what his best buys have been in the with maybe a prize to the best one.
March On The Mole
spring sales. As well as a Cap That Which reminds me you’ll be needing a
which arrived from St Lucia by tele- CAP-cap to enter.. (available for only
gram. “Honestly Ivan that money was £7.50 in various colours). Delivered to
Lakes Part Two 8 just resting in my account” springs to your noggin direct from his Lordship’s
mind. tailor. CAP because you’re worth it!
So if you haven’t done so already, hit Lord Chas
A Question Of 9
Commitment

Kit Me Up 10 2007 Committee Officers

(Before You Go Go)

Last Of The Lakes 11

Chairman Mike Ransom
Secretary Amy Bell
Ten Loop The Loop 12 Treasurer Ivan Scattergood
Special Projects Simon Lloyd
Hurley AM
Family Member Pam Farmer
Quartermaster Stuart Reeve
Disclaimer 13 Newsletter Editor Chas Donnelly
Webmaster & Coaching Gary Ransom
Youth Member Jay Ransom
Paddlers Behaving Badly

Copyright © Croydon Active Paddlers Newsletter 2007

PAGE 2 H OW ’S MY PA DD LI NG ?® IS SUE 10

Cap That
The Chairman’s Chat

...... emailed live from St Lucia Thanks also for re-electing me as Chairman for the
next year, I appreciate your sign of confidence in me
Hi there...from the tropical shores of St Lucia. and hopefully we'll all enjoy some good and varied
paddling over the next twelve months.
Having spent the morning lazing by the pool and
then swimming in the clear blue waters, I've just Oh, just to mention, Lord Chas was selling his super
finished sailing a Catamaran off the palm tree new Club Tee-shirts and Cap Caps, a must for the
waving shores, (wearing my CAP-cap of course) trendy paddler, if you haven’t got yours... Lord Chas is
with blue skies, 80 degrees and an invigorating the man to contact.
and refreshing breeze.
Our next trip is the lovely Cuckmere river, meander-
What a difference to last weekend when eleven ing it's way through the South Downs, on Sunday 8th.
members of the Club spent the weekend in Dor- We land back at Gatwick on the Saturday, specially
set, paddling blue seas, admiring the rugged Dor- timed, I wouldn’t want to miss the Cuckmere trip, and
set Coastline and paddling in and out of natures I hope you don't either. Hope to see you there, apolo-
rocky features such as Durdle Dor and Hells gies in advance for my suntan !!
Staircase. Unfortunately, that was the dream
and not the reality. Best wishes, I'm off for a Pina Colada !!

Rains lashed down for most of the making it a

cold and somewhat miserable weekend. We did
paddle out of Lulworth Cove on the Saturday but
as soon as we were out of the shelter of the Cove
Mike
we were hit by strong winds, six foot waves and a
tide that kept throwing us backwards towards
the cliffs. We returned to the shelter of the Cove
and enjoyed some fun surfing.

Next day the weather had not improved so we

walked up over the cliffs and enjoyed the views
from aloft. A shame, Simon had planned a poten-
tially brilliant weekend but it was spoilt by the
rain, a commodity that during the Winter
months we are normally in short supply of.
We all had a good time however and have de-
cided to re-run the trip on a weekend with hope-
fully better weather.

Thanks for all of you that turned up at the recent

AGM. For the past couple of years we've had an
attendance of SIX, so to see some twenty five of
you attending along with very welcome families
and partners was brilliant. A big thanks to all
the Committee members and coaches that have
worked so hard over the past year and also on
the evening to Gary, for his brilliant video of our
last year's paddling, and also to Gary and Darren
for their pyrotechnic display that brought the
evening to and end.

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PAGE 3 H OW ’S MY PA DD LI NG ?® IS SUE 10

The World Turns Flat

Our club boats, needed a rest, they’d had enough of bionic underwater vision following recent eye-
scraping along rocky rivers in Wales and the Lake surgery. So he pulls out a dramatic cream tea en-
District, they wanted a hot, lazy day on Grade 1... hanced seal launch; ‘Dive Dive Dive’, demonstrat-
The duo came too, it yearned to come out and play ing characteristic Ransom pluck as he took up front
especially after being stuck in the container and gunners position and went full steam ahead deep
only allowed out once a year to be dragged up to into the un-chartered Arun.
HPP and swiftly capsized.
The teashop, quick to make another buck and realiz-
So it was that us and them, found ourselves trying ing a live show was going on right opposite them, in-
to get on to the Arun, but where exactly was a suit- stantly doubled their
able get in? rates to £14 per tea-
pot… even the cows
The map came to look.
showed boat
launching Once the tide had de-
available cided it was no match
from Amber- for the duo’s tsunami-
ley, so we bow-wave, Kevin,
pulled in at Melanie and Karen all took to the water for the first
the riverside time in… ages. But the Leroux posse showed no
tea-shop, signs of being rusty and paddled up river with the
spent about now favourable tide. Lunch stop and improvised
£12 on teas sword-fencing with sharpened reeds at Bury pro-
but were only allowed to unload, absolutely No vided a timely break as the tide rose at least a foot,
Parking! At least we made good use of their garden then on to Houghton Bridge with not another boat on
as we waited for tides, sipped tea and felt the bene- the river. At Houghton we played slalom under all
fit of a midday sun on our necks, faces and legs, the different arches, a strong current and concrete
musing on the 30,000 currently pounding the re-enforced foundations meant some arches were
streets in the London Marathon. harder to get through than the rest. With the tide
In the end we didn’t even unload there, favouring a still rising, the last obstacle was how to get out of the
double yellow line and a dodgy human shuttle, car- boats without getting our feet muddy (and avoiding
rying the boats over a busy road-bridge, onto the some giant cobwebs).
cow-pat encrusted footpath on the opposite bank
that eventually led to the steep riverbank. A new section of river for everyone involved. Fresh
air, no rush, no fuss, no hurry, no worry…..My
Mike was so keen to get back paddling and test his thanks to all those who supported this trip.
Chas

Hit Me Baby
(….One More Time)

Have you seen Simon, Darren, Gary and Chas hucking on you-tube?

Our trip to South Wales back in the wet days of winter has now been hit over 8,000 times as well as appear-
ing on BBC TV Wales. Gary is currently working on re-launching our official CAP website, let’s wish him
the same success. In the interval ‘the best thing to come out of Croydon since the flyover’ continues to fly the
flag with regular updates.

Visit www.youtube.com/watch?v=igP66eYMh70 www.croydonactivepaddlers.blogspot.com

Chas

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PAGE 4 H OW ’S MY PA DD LI NG ?® IS SUE 10

Weekend On Uppers
The weather gods were meant to be smiling on us wide enough for my boat when on it side. I was stuck
in the week leading up to the trip and four inches of but ok as I was resting on the rock beside me. The
rain were expected. Did it rain? Of course not but troops kicked into action with their mentality that
that didn’t stop us from hitting the road at the we don’t leave anyone behind. Gary rescued my pad-
crack of dawn on a Saturday morning to enjoy the dle that I had to let go of as it was flexing in my
last bit of access on the Upper Dart for the season. hand and I knew that there was a chance of it snap-
The rapidly assembled posse consisted of the main ping. Chas threw me a line which was meant to at-
man Mike Ransom on point, driving the passion tach to the back of my boat so the he could pull me
wagon, Darren, Stuart, Lord Chasney fresh from through but it missed. Darren had now jumped into
his solo first descent of the Upper Rum Kola with the river to assist. I realised I had three options.
Gary and Amy bringing up the rear.
1. Pop my deck and climb out though I was worried
After a quick that the boat would fill with water and shift before I
boat swap, the managed to get out the boat.
crack (or is that 2. Wait for Darren to assist but that would still in-
CrAP) troops volve trying to exit the boat or
were quickly as- 3. Try and lift the boat with me in it so that it would
sembled and kit- release from the pin and then I could run the rest of
ted up in full the rapid sans paddle.
white water bat-
tle gear and I opted for the third option as I was fearful of
ready to take everything that the River Dart could damaging my knees trying to exit a fast filling boat
throw at them. Mike and Amy agreed the rendez- that could shift at any time. Gary threw back my
vous at Euthanasia Falls and then it was off to do paddles and we carried on down the rest of the Up-
battle with the river. The Upper Dart is technical per Dart and the Dart Loop. At the take out we sat
Grade III boulder garden for most of its 5 mile on a picnic table and put the bothy over us to keep
length with a few Grade IV drops at the levels we warm. The pickup had
were running it but with a lot more rain it can turn been slightly delayed as
into a horrendous river that expert avoid unless Mike had nobly volun-
they are in search of an epic. teered to act as her
The troops took turns at leading down the river crutch/support.
and playing on the waves until we got to the ren-
dezvous point. No Mike or Amy yet so we started to In the evening, Daniella,
get some film and photos of everyone running Chas’s daughter drove up
Euthanasia Falls. Some of the troops ran the rapid from Plymouth where
up to five times. Obviously eager to make the most she is studying. Obvi-
of the last bit of white water paddling for the sea- ously lured by the promise of free food and an excit-
son. ing evening with CrAPs resident daredevils. I feel
Mike turned up in time to see us strut our stuff that we failed to make an impression as due to the
down Euthanasia but where was Amy? Apparently early start and the exhausting paddling everyone
Mike had been assisting Amy across a stream when was falling asleep at dinner.
she slipped and twisted her ankle. Amy decided to Sunday morning and everyone rose around 8am. Kit
wait at the next rapid while Mike pushed on to was sorted, breakfast was eaten then it was back on
Euthanasia. the road again. Due to the lack of rain it was decided
The next rapid was Pandora’s Box where Amy that the best option was to run the Upper Dart
was waiting. After quickly scouting the rapid we all again. The highlights of the day included all of us
picked the lines we were going to take. Chas de- running Euthanasia with about a metre between
cided that his line was going to be along the bank each boat as we shot down and running Pandora’s
so that he could offer us bank support while the without incident.
rest of us ran it. All was going well until I hit a rock
and capsized, I rolled up hit a rock and went back After an excellent paddle it was back to Blighty
over again, went to roll up and discovered that I (Croydon) for tea and crumpets.
had managed to go through a gap that was only Stuart

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PAGE 5 H OW ’S MY PA DD LI NG ?® IS SUE 10

Easter In The Lakes

Working on usual Ransom time of course we set more serious drops the first, terrified me and in-
volved muchos swearing and promising to hate Dar-
off for the lakes about 7.30 (following Lockey’s little ren forever. But I made it and even thanked him for
excursion to Sainsbury’s for much needed beer). Af- making me do it. The second one had a sticky stop-
ter an uneventful drive we reached the M6 per at the bottom, which made Bob swim, oh, and
Travelodge where we spent our first night. My Gary but then his was more a technical dismount, as
room having not quite adjusted to Ransom time ar- he wasn’t properly in his boat to start with. Next was
rived promptly downstairs at 8am for breakfast to the waterfall that looked scarier than it was and we
find no one there. Naturally everyone else was still all managed it successfully.
in bed, so we went on our own to get our extortion-
ately priced breakfast. About an hour later every- The climax of the river was force falls and is grade 4,
one had managed to surface and Darren and I took one look and politely declined, my little
Lockey after a little light fingered work managed to brother of course did it, didn’t swim and generally
magic a couple of free breakfasts. showed me up and not even for drunkenness this
time! Bob managed to smack his face at the bottom
The first river we arrived at was unpaddle-able so and due to pain was forced to pull his deck. Knack-
after a long ‘Old Man’ meeting (like a Mother’s ered we made it back late for dinner, and then on to
meeting only about paddling and less productive!) the local village sports club. It was a proper locals
We decided to go and test the above Kendal section bar with plenty of outsized chain smoking horses!!
of the river Kent. It was a bit of a ‘take your boat (Simon you missed out).
for a walk in the river’ day but we all enjoyed a spot
of golf ball fishing and taunting the yokels sorry lo- Sunday we decided to attack the Leven, after a lot of
cals. Lockey managed the ‘Old Man’ meeting style scouting I
first swim of the weekend, declined to partake in what appeared
after a few lame attempts to be another ‘taking my boat for a
to rescue him myself in- walk in a river’ day, apparently I
cluded. Anyway once “ While the rest of us were ready was wrong and Darren will fill you in
changed and boats back on on the details. In the afternoon we
the trailer we cracked on to go out we waited for Darren, went gorge walking which for me
with the beers and headed was the best part of the trip. It
to the youth hostel. Where Gary and Lockey to do their hair; started out well and we all made it
we met the twitching man up most of the way, however the less
who ran it. Unfortunately I I kid you not they were in front
agile of us found the sheer 30ft ish
was stuck in a ladies room,
with a crap bed, snoring, of the mirror longer than I was ”
rock face a bit too much of a chal-
lenge and had to slide down a water-
sleep-talking etc while the fall instead damn! Darren, Lockey
boys had a nice restful and Bob made it all the way to the
sleep. top, as the details are liable to make
Mothers panic I will spare you them. While the rest
Anyway back to the rivers, in nice dry kit, well of us were ready to go out we waited for Darren,
most of us Lockey made the mistake of assuming Gary and Lockey to do their hair I kid you not they
that someone would have hung his kit up!!! We were in front of the mirror longer than I was, bloody
then had a bit of a struggle to get down the town bit women!
of the Kent as it was VERY shallow, but the river
did pick up once we got past the town after lunch To end the weekend we opted out of youth hostel din-
and turned into some ‘lovely’ grade 3 drops (feel ner and a fantastic meal in a hotel instead. The next
free to insert swear and hate Darren drops in- morning in a tired/hangover state we opted out of the
stead). The first feature was a long slide weir, that Tees much to Mike’s dismay and got on the road. Fi-
almost all of us struggled to get onto, then there nally a big thank you to Mike for organising the
was a little drop under the bridge were we all got weekend and running the shuttles.
out and did throw line practise and jumped off the
bridge, some of the stupider members of the group Hannah
even seal launched. After this there were three

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PAGE 6 H OW ’S MY PA DD LI NG ?® IS SUE 10

Passionate About Piedmont

Why is Italy shaped like a boot? Because you can’t most as if she were glad to see the back of me. And
fit that much quality whitewater in to a shoe. no she won’t be joining us for a local paddle thank
you very much, or be swapping her bright orange
An 8am flight so I was allowed to check my luggage uniform for a trendy CAP T-shirt and CAP-cap en-
in the night before at Gatwick, thanks easyjet! semble. Sigh, yet another could-be member slips
Driving the van meant I couldn’t actually fit in the through the net, I even promised her a night out
airport’s multi story, so had to park at the over- with the chuckle brothers. Maybe next time boys?
height car park, way down the runway, just be-
fore…. Calais, then struggle to get the 30kg boat At Milan the hours passed slowly, affording an op-
and 20kg bag onto a portunity to observe that
trolley and back over the legs of the Alitalia trol-
to West Sussex. ley dollies were significantly
less dumpy than their Easy
The dedicated walk- English counterparts, by the
ways which provided time I’d finished this
official access to the lengthy research (Alitialia
terminal were too nar- flight crew do have exceed-
row. Time to go off ingly long legs), my bag was
road and manoeuvre getting giddy on the now
through car-parks A,B, deserted carousel with my
C & D… the shortcut. boat and paddle huddled
NCP stands for ‘Need nervously alongside each
Canoe Porter’ at least other on the cold marble
that’s what I convinced floor, like a fish out of water
their night shift who or.. a kayak out of the river.
eventually helped me Close inspection revealed
get inside the terminal everything had arrived in-
building where I qui- tact so we danced around
etly announced my each other to celebrate this
kayak’s arrival by triumvirate’s triumphant
twatting an overhead transportation to terra
sign the size of a dou- firma. No euro coin meant
ble bed. Seeing how no trolley; an American
the sign was fixed by cousin in the same pickle
rigid steel poles it did discovered that a quarter or
swing remarkably some such coinage depicting
well, a fitting tribute Colonel Sanders? worked
to our rich heritage of just as well, he kindly sorted
Polish workmanship! me out too. Buddy can you
spare a dime?
As the dust settled and British transport police
were stood back down to condition yellow. I turned Over the next week I got to represent the UK in a
my attention to the Easy check-in supervisor who close run Anglo-American snoring competition with
tappety tapped on her keyboard while giving her Tony my Alabamanian room-mate eventually conced-
eyebrows a work out that would have impressed ing defeat on the very last morning. Dining on Don-
Jane Fonda herself, scanning the monitor for sim- key-meat, a really nice piece of ass was another first.
ply ages…What to do? I needed to play my joker The internationalé of kayak-junkies were a great
and after exchanging familiarities, discovered she bunch both on and off the rivers, many of them prac-
was actually… a Croydon girl. So that’s why she tising for the Teva extreme games festival later in
had ‘Easy’ written across her chest !! Had she un- the week. Simon Westgarth fresh from his honey-
wittingly revealed an Achilles heel on that dumpy moon was in excellent spirits, and we enjoyed a week
leg? Time to break out the secret CAP handshake, of pedigree coaching much of it on a 1:1 ratio. The
which worked a treat as she waved me through al- Teva race winner, who eventually completed the

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PAGE 7 H OW ’S MY PA DD LI NG ?® IS SUE 10

Egua river in 8 minutes, shaving

our previous day’s descent of 3 WWSR
hours was a deserved champion.
But could he snore for Italy...? Gene17 has been selected by
I don’t think so. the club to supply a bespoke
whitewater safety & rescue
Now if I ever become the next weekend on the rivers Upper
Berlosconi; By law, the Italian Dart & East Lynne over the
flag will become green white and weekend of November 3/4th.
blue.. Crystal clear green riv- Deposit has been paid and
ers, distant white snow peaks acommodation has now been
and azure blue sky are the col- booked at FoxTor bunkhouse
ourful memory that I’ve taken in Princetown.
home. Which kind of match some
of the bruises on my limbs. Places are limited so let your
money do the talking…. £60.00
Back in Gatwick, as I loaded my deposits sent to the Club’s
boat onto the roof-rack in the set- Just another day in paddlers paradise. Treasurer, first class and
down (handily doubles as a pick- marked WWSR.
up) point, a traffic warden busied
himself filling my particulars quickly we can adapt to our ever Further details to follow. Any
into his little black book, as we changing surroundings? questions to the trip leader;
drove off I heard a familiar voice Darren Ransom.
shouting much abuse in his di- Chas
rection! Isn’t it funny how www.gene17.com/kayaking

“I THOUGHT THAT INSTEAD OF ROLLING YOU JUST FLIPPED OVER AND THEN LAID DOWN IN THE BOAT AND
BREATHED THROUGH THE BAGS. THAT JUST MADE SENSE TO ME.”
--Reno Whitewater Festival winner Jay Kincaid, on getting his first fibreglass kayak at age 12

March On The Mole

Ivan and myself met early one Sunday, with yet As well as finding a paddle which has since been donated
another new Jackson making it’s first descent… to the club stock, we twitched our boots full, on Heron’s,
of anything. Kingfishers and thriving escapees Rose-ringed Parakeets;
one of the few things common about this part of Surrey.
Did you know there is a colony of several thousand in
Esher?

I’ve been on this river a few times in the past but while
looking at the scratches on Ivan’s hull today it suddenly
dawned on me that this really is a dish best served imme-
diately after some decent rain.

Chas

We decided to experience our local river the Mole

and got to play on two or three nice weirs on the
way from Leatherhead down to Cobham.

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PAGE 8 H OW ’S MY PA DD LI NG ?® IS SUE 10

Lakes Part Two

The whole Lake District trip looked as though it Fairly simple entry, just follow the flow, position
would be a flop. No water to be found anywhere, yourself in the middle, and hang on for the ride. I
barely any paddleable rivers, and a bunch of nut- ran it first and waited in the eddy at the very bot-
ters with more time on their hands than sense. tom, and then directed everyone else to come down
one by one. After a long weekend of whitewater pad-
But as you have already read in Hannah’s article, dling, they where all ready for this last drop. Every-
we managed to source some really beautiful rivers body came down it perfectly, perfect positioning,
with just enough water to make them work. We de- good speed, and ready with a brace at the bottom. It
cided to leave the best till last, give the guys a put a smile on my face to see everyone handle it with
chance to warm themselves up on the easier rivers so much ease, after spending the last 3 days showing
and get used to their surroundings. Once they had them the ropes. The drop didn’t faze them, they were
got their hair wet and got a taste of some real just like, “Wow, look at that drop. Can I go first?”
whitewater action, they were ready to take on the
big boy! After some more bridge jumping off Back Barrow
Bridge, a quick race back to the van to finish the af-
Our final river of the weekend was the Leven, one ternoon with a new activity, just a stones throw
of the Lakes classic paddles. It starts away from our luxury hotel. We were
just by a genuine working steam rail- about to take on a little known stream
way, which happened to roll in just as that cuts through the very heart of a
we were setting up. A short carry down mountain, dropping a massive height
the road and we were on our final river in just over a kilometer. It was called
of the weekend. It started off with a Church Beck. We had looked at this
bang, with the river siphoning through every day on the drive down from our
two concrete walls placed in the middle apartments, to the local town. Just
of the river, which formed the most low volume drops, one after each
beautiful play way you could possibly other, continuous carrying on down
imagine. It was shallow but once you through the mountain and out of
were on it, you would sit there for as sight.
long as you wanted, just carving from
one side to the other, slow, gentle move- We had a plan! Quite a few of us had
ments kept you on the wave, whilst the a good knowledge when it comes to
water rushed beneath you. I jumped out climbing and abseiling. Having been
on the side and grabbed my tow lines. By clicking into outdoor activities for the past 7 years, you get to
the crabs on the front of the boats, I managed to learn the ropes (excuse the pun!). We walked down
pull most people up onto the wave and give them the path all suited and booted, and into a field with
the chance to surf on one of the best waves they bulls and cows greeting us at the gate. After ex-
would probably get the chance to see in a very long changing friendly hello’s we carried on down the
time. steep slope and into the river. It was more of a large
trickle coming down a tight gorge and over big slabs
We carried on down through lots of shallow boul- of rock.
ders gardens, skillfully picking out the most hassle
free lines all the way. We came across quite a few We reached our first major obstacle, a huge lump of
fun, yet challenging grade 3 rapids that tested eve- rock leading up to the next part of the river was. You
ryone’s ability to handle themselves then we car- could walk up the left hand side and then there was
ried on down the river until we came across the in- a long slide running down and over a 10ft drop to the
famous Back Barrow Bridge The river narrows and right. Water was rushing down creating a waterfall
starts to pick up pace, turning round a left hand over the drop. We set up a belay system with Gary
corner and suddenly the river drops down and un- working the ropes at the top. A few us abseiled down
der an arched bridge, producing a mass of whitewa- over the waterfall, emerged ourselves in the water
ter at the very entrance to the arch. From the top below, and then climbed back up to the top. Even our
this drop looks intimidating by anyone’s standards. one and only chairman took it upon his self to not let
We pulled up in an eddy just to the right of the lip this pile of rocks get in his way. Although maybe not
of the fall, jumped out and inspected the drop. in the most elegant of fashions. (continued on p11)

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PAGE 9 H OW ’S MY PA DD LI NG ?® IS SUE 10

A Question Of Commitment...
Answer Yes or No to the following questions.
17) Have you not swum on a river in the past 12
months?
1) Have you been to 4 or more pool sessions in
the last 8 months? 18) Do you own your own boat?

2) Have you been to 8 or more pool sessions in 19) Have you paddled 3 or more new rivers in the
the last 8 months? past 12 months?

3) Have you acquired a new skill in the past year 20) Have you organised any club trips in the past
i.e. sculling, rolling, boofing, cartwheeling etc? 12 months? Have a point for each trip.
Have a point for each new skill you have learnt.

4) Have you passed your one or two star in the

past 12 months?
How many Yes’s did you score?
5) Have you attended 3 or more flat water trips
in the past year? 1-5
You are doing well, seek out anyone who scored 13 or
6) Have you passed your Nene safety test in the more and ask them to give you some coaching.
past 12 months? Keep with it, kayaking is a state of mind.

7) Have you attended 3 or more white water 6-9

trips in the past year? (Yes the Nene does count as Try and come along on a few more trips.
one) Don’t be scared to ask for advice and try to push
yourself to try new things in your boat.
8) Do you dream about kayaking when you
sleep? 10-12
Your club is proud of you and your commitment.
9) Do you regularly check the weather forecast Life is all about experiences and the more you have,
and pray for rain? the richer you will be.

10) Do you actively use any of the kayaking forums 13-18

as a mean of getting your kayaking fix? Stop being flash and help out with some coaching.
You are obviously pushing yourself and are eager to
11) Have you paid for any extra tuition or trips learn. A paddler of the year award most certainly
outside of the club in the past 18 months? awaits you.

12) Have you spent £100 or more on your kayaking 19 or more

equipment in the past 12 months? Be careful, our illustrious Chairman has his eye on
you and is lining you up to be his successor should he
13) Have you paddled at Hurley by yourself or with choose to retire.
members of the club and had it to yourself in the
past 12 months?
Stuart
14) Does your partner/family complain about you
going paddling again?

15) Including pool sessions, have you been in a

boat more than 10 times in the past year?

16) Including pool sessions, have you been in a

boat more than 20 times in the past year?

Copyright © Croydon Active Paddlers Newsletter 2007

IS SUE 10 H OW ’S MY PA DD LI NG ?® PAGE 10

Kit Me Up (Before You Go-Go)

661 Race Forearm & Elbow Pads enough volume to loop (2 skills that I am eager to
develop).
After taking some heavy blows to the arms on river The problem then arose of
trips I decided to invest in some pads. Hopefully it where could I get myself
would stop me from hurting myself and reduce the one. The boat is brand new
risk of damaging my drysuit on rocks. There are model and the only place
several brands out there but I’ve used 661 pads in that had a hope of getting
the past for BMXing and found them to be bomb- the boat before the end of
proof. July was White Water The
661 must make pads for giants. Canoe Centre. I eventually
I know I am quite thin but I ended got my new craft after a bit
up having to get the small size of a delay courtesy of the
pads as all the other pads were HM Customs & Excise and
lose even over thermals, jumper it was off to Hurley which
and drysuit. They do youth size had kindly gone up to 4
which would definitely be an op- gates at the beginning of June just to allow me to
tion for a lot of people. put the good ship Jackson through her paces. I was
Kayaking with pads on is always going to be impressed how quickly the boat could be set up and
more restrictive than not wearing them but the ad- how much room I had in a boat that is only 183cm
vantage is that they protect you and get you to the long. In fact I could put the seat as far forward as it
bottom of the river in one piece. If you are looking would go which gave the boat a nice balanced feel.
at running Grade IV regularly then pads are defi- First impressions were good with a flat water cart-
nitely worth considering. wheel on the river on the way up to Hurley Weir.
Once on the wave she handled her own very well
Seal Skinz Socks and was stable like Jackson boats of the past but
quick as well. The Jackson Allstar 07 just wants to
When you have been in your boat all day the feet get to the bottom of the wave as quick as possible
can start to get a bit chilly so I decided to invest in a but I never found the speed overwhelming and the
pair of Seal Skinz Waterproof socks to wear under boat would do exactly what I wanted.
the drysuit. They were not cheap at £25 but they There is a lot of bounce here that will help the boat
certainly did the job and kept my feet toasty and get air born in the future. This boat has a lot of po-
dry while the outside was the nor- tential that I can’t wait to unlock. Let hope it keeps
mal dampness that I have come to raining like it did for the test day and there is water
expect when wearing my drysuit. I on the weirs all summer.
could still get my creeking boats on
over them and have to say that I Mitchell Blades
was certainly impressed after 2 days
of paddling on the River Dart. The new paddles had been
purchased about a month
before but there had been no
Jackson Allstar kayak
chance to test them since
After the recent trip to the Nene White Water Cen- their arrival. What can I say
tre one thing became apparent, although I liked my about the blades except for
nice shiny Red Dragorossi Squashtail we were going they are powerful but I was
to have to part company. She was a lovely vessel to expecting that as the sur-
surf and play in but one of the prerequisites I have face area is about double that of my trusty worn
for a boat is that I must be able to get out of it down Werners. The 30 degree feather angle took a
quickly if I need to. This was not the case as anyone bit of getting used to but they easily pulled me into
at the Nene will bare testament to. So what should the eddy. They were exactly the right length for me
I get? I had a look on Playak.com and the boat that as well which was good as I had done all the meas-
seemed to meet all of my requirements was the urements and would have had no one to blame but
Jackson Allstar 07. A modern short playboat that myself if they had been wrong. So what is the ad-
would surf, was short enough to cartwheel but with vantage of Mitchell Blades? Well I consulted with

Copyright © Croydon Active Paddlers Newsletter 2007

ISSUE 10 H OW ’S MY PA DD LI NG ?® PAGE 11

Lance Mitchell and told him of the paddling I did, where my current blades were lack-
ing, what I did like about them and what I didn’t and he came up with the Mitchell
Blades Sphinx made to my specifications. A large blade that would give me the leverage
to pull myself in and out of eddys. These blades have been put on to a carbon Kevlar
shaft that should hopefully be bomb proof. To stop the blades wearing down he has also
put a material called glass flake into the tip of the paddle and just in case I do lose this
paddle on the river my name and mobile number have been put on the paddle. All in a
sexy carbon black and silver colour, very nice and BLING.

Stuart.

Last Of The Lakes

(From page 8). We reached the next major drop on the river. Huge rocks were wedged in the middle, giving
the water only one place to go. Straight through the middle!
This created an 8 ft waterfall pouring down into the river. I swam into the base and using the rock to either
side, managed to start climbing up and through it. If any one reading this is a climber, then you will under-
stand what I mean when I say it was like a chimney. Wedged myself into the rock and slowly started to
climb up the 8ft waterfall and to the top. It felt amazing to have taken on this intimidating fall and then be
able to conquer it.

We managed to get most people through it or around it and then carry on up the river to the final drop for
most. Had to climb an 8ft drop to reach the top, and then it was like God had had purposely made a slide for
our sole use. Just a smooth, flat piece of rock angled perfectly to launch you off into the depths below. Every-
one had ago at this and then most headed back down the river and to an easy get out.

A couple of us carried on, over some very tricky rock climbs and met them at the top. After a short walk
back to our penthouse and just in time for dinner, we headed
Writeout
a lottoofashit
localhere.
karaoke bar to end the weekend
on a high. Next morning we woke up, sorted out our stuff and went into the local town for a proper fry up to
send us on our way. 7 Hours later and we were back on home soil.

This weekend was one of the most enjoyable I have ever been on. Although the water levels were low, we
ended up making the most of what was available to us, and not letting a day slip by. Everybody’s paddling
ability on the trip moved up to the next level. They are now ready to take on the next season when it arrives
and start seriously progressing and experiencing different rivers. I’d like to Ivan and Mike for doing all the
Driving and for the effort they put in, because it is a long way up there, but I am sure we are all agreed, it
was well worth it!

Darren Ransom

Future Trips
Please repeat the mantra… ‘There is no such thing as certainty, only opportunity’. Then keep checking your
email and hitting the blog for the very latest news. We aim to run a varied program of club trips on differing
waters, coast, canals, flat, slow-moving and white water rivers as well as pool sessions, some of these have
been poorly attended.

If there is a specific paddle/event or venue you fancy trying –then please tell us! You never know we might
want to do it too. This also goes for coaching, if you want help to achieve a specific paddling goal - let us
know. Club members often get together for social trips to the Thames weirs. The club has a wide range of
boats, paddles, spray decks and buoyancy aids for member’s use.
Chas

Copyright © Croydon Active Paddlers Newsletter 2007

IS SUE 10 H OW ’S MY PA DD LI NG ?® PAGE 12

Ten Loop The Loop

…and so we returned for only our second ever trip a little,……..took a few more deep breaths,
looping The Arun Loop. A Sunday morning lay in ……………………….and stood there a little longer.
and then a leisurely set off for Arundel, and despite Little (12 yrs old) Katy meanwhile had jumped off
getting lost en route we still reached Arundel within the bridge, climbed back up, jumped off the bridge,
the hour. climbed back up, gone to a higher level, jumped back
off ……So Vicky decided on positive action… she
This trip was driven by the two Mike’s, Mike R with breathed in deeply….. stood there for a little
a mere nine boats and four people either in or on the longer… took a final deep breath….. and with a loud
passion wagon and Mike Prior with another four ea- scream disappeared into the waters below. We did
ger paddlers. Upon arrival at The Black Rabbit Inn look for the bubbles, but she did stop screaming once
we met up with Katie, Vicky’s twelve year old sister, under the water.
(and her parents) on her first outing with the Club.
The only way in was with a 6ft seal launch down a Great to see Steve the Viking and his two apprentice
muddy bank, with a tree trunk that tried to flip you Vikings, David and Peter back on the water with us,
sideways as you slithered towards the water below. all appeared to enjoy themselves, as did Tom on one
Gary and Darren took charge up above with Chair- of his first day trips out with us.
man Mike waiting below to catch the unwary as they
plummeted into the murky depths. After much fun jumping off the bridge we eventually
set paddle back towards the beckoning Black Rabbit
So far, so good, we let the incoming tide carry us off Inn.. Darren and poor innocent 12 yr old Katie were
around the Arun Loop. Basically the River Arun is paddling the Duo and he made sure that she was
split by a large island in the middle of it, on the way- well mollycoddled and wrapped in cotton wool, for
out we took the more meandering route through this her first trip, apart that is from hurling herself
grassy fields and under willow trees and then home- off the 12 ft bridge countless times, paddling full pelt
ward was pretty much a straight line along the main into the bulrushes at every opportunity together
River. After about an hour’s easy paddle, being car- with a few rolls of the Duo, just for good measure !!.
ried along by the tide we arrived at South Stoke and Darren and Katie were just all smiles, from start to
climbed ashore for our picnic lunch.. finish. Katie, you’re a marvel, and we hope see you
Lunch having gone down and sunbathing over, we on many a trip with us again in the future.
set about the task of jumping into the waters below, We ended the day in the gardens of the Black Rab-
off the footbridge, some twelve foot above the River. bit Inn, looking back over a fun trip ! Not a long trip,
not a challenging one, but certainly one just to have
Vicky was one of the first on the bridge’s structure, fun in the Sun !
determined to show little Katie how to do it, She
took a deep breath, …..closed her eyes, …..screamed Mike

Hurley a.m.

04:15 Alarm goes off session all to myself.

04:25 Car is loaded and I’m on my way. 07:18 Finish getting changed and set off on the jour-
05:30 Arrive at Hurley ney back to Croydon.
05:40 Catch my first wave. 08:15 Arrive back in Croydon.
06:10 Get out the boat to try and rearrange the seat
to make it more comfortable A job well done and home in time for breakfast.
07:02 Get off the water having had Hurley on 3
gates all to myself. Stuart
07:05 Meet the locals getting on the river who are
shocked to find out that I have already had a decent

Copyright © Croydon Active Paddlers Newsletter 2007

Contact details have been removed from the
electronic version of your newsletter for reasons
of personal privacy. If you need to contact the DISCLAIMER & WARNING: The information in this newslet-
Editor or any other Committee member then ter is incomplete, semi-inaccurate, and possibly unreliable. Use
please use a tin can with a long piece of string,
send a gorilla-gram or just try sneaking up on us with caution. Whitewater paddling is a dangerous sport and the
from behind! information here is not a substitute for actual knowledge and skill.
Ed. The authors are not liable for your actions. The tips and tech-
niques presented in our newsletter are meant to be used only as
guides and are not substitutes for professional instruction or real
world experience.

The editor reserves the right to change the content of any sub-
mission without prior notification.
Croydon Active Paddlers

Acknowledgements:
CAP ...Come And Play!
The Editor’s thanks go out to the following for their assistance
in contributing to this issue of How’s My Paddling?

We’re on the web, visit us at Mike Ransom, Stuart Reeve, Hannah Kindler,
www.croydonactivepaddlers.blogspot.com Darren Ransom

Paddlers Behaving Badly

A paddler who was camping at Confluence Watersports, makers
Escalante Creek in western Colo- of Wavesport, Dagger, Wilder-
rado, reported that a couple of ness Systems and other paddling
kayakers violated his person as gear asked approximately 30 em-
they became intoxicated during ployees to take a random drugs
the night –nothing new there – test and fired all those who
and then started shooting off tested negative.
firearms. He also complained
that the rowdy kayakers acted The random tests were spurred
rudely towards him and stole his by the discovery of a pipe-- used
bottle of Tequila, which was left for smoking substances other
out by the fire. than marijuana—found sitting
on an employee’s desk on the
Of course this sort of thing could production floor.
never happen at CAP…. as we
have a strict club policy banning It’s also rumoured that even
No smoke without fire!
campfires on our trips. more employees walked out after
refusing to take tests of their
own.
Source: mountainbuzz.com
Source: paddlinglife.net

Copyright © Croydon Active Paddlers Newsletter 2007