Another fine day on the river – little did we know Lock down 2 was just around the corner.

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A Sunday morning with very few club members in slightly challenging conditions. It was our last opportunity to paddle pre lockdown. We set out in a pod of four. The pod was led by coach Elaine and Steve with Liz and a new club member Polly. Coach Elaine launched each of us at almost low water. We had previously discussed a basic strategy for the session. We would paddle a little way upstream before turning … Read more

Training day

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We had a pretty bad forecast for our paddle to Teddington but a great team of highly motivated sea kayakers. We had to work pretty hard through strong winds and heavy rain… …Character building, team building, paddling and manoeuvring through wind and rain… testing gear and hats… On our way back to Chiswick: Dark, gloomy and still very stormy… But the sun came through and bits of blue sky. Thames prettiness… ….and a last beautiful … Read more

It’s always great when a plan comes together.

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As per usual, not only did the weather play ball so did the river. So this week’s plan was to take out one of my fabulous four (those that attended coach Elaine’s and Steve’s) beginners kayak course a couple of weeks ago out for their longer trip session, which is part of the course. Unfortunately Coach Elaine was on other duties with the club and it was up to Coach Steve to finish off the … Read more

HAMMERSMITH BYPASS – 23/10/20

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Kayak Paddle with Colin and Federico 11-5.45. Return trip from Chiswick Pier to Chelsea Bridge. The majestic Hammersmith Bridge when it worked!! Like all of us I was tired of waiting for Hammersmith & Fulham council to sort out their tug of war with the government, trying to hold them to ransom and foot the hefty bill of between £141 million (if repairs would be done in 3 years) or £163million (for a quick 12 … Read more

18th October Sunday paddle

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Given the tide was ebbing until ~12.30 our original plan was to go to Hammersmith bridge and return with the tide. However we were warned of a sculling race that would be starting at Hammersmith at 2pm so, fearing there may be lots of folk at the pubs by Hammersmith, we changed plan to aim for the Black Lion Pub in Chiswick instead as it has a large outdoor area. David Cleverly and I teamed … Read more

CPCC visits the Queen

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All my plans to do any meaningful trips out at sea this week were blown away by the weather. Again! Well it’s autumn.  We had to get creative! Windsor Castle Jules, Heather, Carlos & Michelle Luckily our man in Marlow came up with another fantastic plan. A trip from Maidenhead to Windsor castle and a pub visit – cos’ the Queen wasn’t home. The voyage to Windsor was nice and easy. Reflections, autumn colours and even the … Read more

Gorgeous weather to be paddling the River Thames

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What might have been a complicated paddle turned out to be easy. A complicated paddle only because of the time of low water and the fact it was a high water paddle (over 6.0 m). Initially it was a paddle to Hammersmith Bridge as I wanted to see what they were doing to the bridge. There was talk of abseiling off the bridge to create supports for a replacement foot bridge, whether that was true … Read more

Lovely sunny day for a longer paddle – to Richmond!

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It was a fabulous sunny day and worth getting up early to head upriver! We wanted to get above Kew Rail Bridge before the 99 rowing and sculling boats would be getting into position for The Pairs Head Race – their first, and perhaps only, race of the year, so they would be very excited! We approached Chiswick Bridge with caution as the RNLI had warned Steve there was a “hidden obstacle under arch 1”. … Read more

A little trip to Richmond and back.

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This is what I call a pyjama paddle, suffice it to say it was an early start for me. During the week Coach Elaine and I spoke about the necessary timings for the day. Coach Elaine put together a comprehensive map of our route and timings to reach various points on our route. Both Coach’s Elaine and Steve were concerned about clearing the head of the river rowing race before they started. This required our … Read more