Nene Beginners White Water Kayaking

Congratulations to all the Participants, who took part in the Beginners White Water Kayaking Trip to the Nene White Water Centre on Tuesday 30th. It was a very successful evening, with very few swims and lots of smiles. If you are interested in trying white water kayaking for the first time, getting back into it or advancing the skills you already have, then get in touch with Lost Property Kayak Coaching

Sea Kayaking: Isle of Wight

In the middle of August, Me (John Boy), Sarah, Mark and our friend Little Rob went sea kayaking around the Isle of Wight. We started at Calshot on a sunny but windy Saturday Morning, paddled to Lepe then crossed the Solent over to the Isle of Wight. This crossing can be tricky due to traffic at the best of times, however we were trying to cross on the second weekend of Cowes Week! This meant we had to keep our witts about us to make sure we didn't get run down by sailing boats. We then paddled up to the needles and then round the corner to Freshwater bay, after 7 hours of paddling into the wind, we set up camp for our first night sleep. The second day we headed from Freshwater bay around St Catherins point and up to Sandown beach. We had the wind behind us which gave us a much easier days paddling and a far greater average speed. Sandown was having a festival which was very nice and the whether was Beautiful and Sunny. We Chilled out on the beach for a few hours, had fish and chips and an ice cream. We then jumped back on the water to paddle around the most Easterly point of the Isle of Wight to St Helens beach and finished our 9 hour paddling day. This beach is by far the nicest place I have ever bivied out, I highly recommend a camping trip there.

The last day we paddled into the wind again, up to Cowes. This section was very scenic and another recommended Section for the Budding Sea Kayaker. We then crossed back over the Solent to Calshot. There was a good amount of Swell which made for an exciting/scary at times crossing. This finished up another 7 hour Paddling day and 23 hours of total paddling. This was a superb trip around beautiful island and a brilliant intro to expedition sea kayaking. Great fun had by all!! Video Coming soon. John Boy

Scotland March 2011

At the beginning of March Jimbo and I headed to Roybridge in Scotland for a week of boating. Snow had fallen the week before, but we arrived to sunny skies and a nice moderate air temperature. This made for great conditions for paddling. We hit a good amount of the 'usual' classic runs of the area, Spean Gorge, Roy, Etive e.t.c But our real joy came from discovering rivers that we had thus far never visited.

The 2 most enjoyable and memorable in my mind were the Fassfern and Dubh Lighe. The Fassfern is a great grade 4(5) run full of rock slides and small drops. Excluding Tango, the one grade 5 rapid on the section, the whole river is easy to scout by boat, this means the fun never ends and you spend maximum time in a boat. Backwards Slab (4) is one of the last rapids on the river, the guidebook describes this rapid: 'This is begging to be run backwards; failure to do so will bring bad 'juju' for the rest of your trip'. Needless to say both Jimbo and I ran this backwards as bad juju did not sound like a good thing.

We then headed about 5 miles up the road to the Dubh Lighe 4(5). This river could not be any more different to the Fassfern. The get in was either above or below a narrow gorge that was seemingly near impossible to inspect, but looked like it had some nice grade 4-5 drops in it, we played it safe and got in below. The rest of the river made for a great afternoons technical creek boating. The river is very steep and we spent a lot of time jumping out of boats to see if the horizon line was runnable. Some drops we ran some we ran away from, but at the end of the river we were all very happy with the ones we did, and had no regrets about those that we did not.

One of the things that appeals to me about white water kayaking is being in remote, beautiful places with little to worry about apart from when to eat that penguin* in your buoyancy aid pocket. Scotland again made me feel this, and in my mind beats laying beside a pool in 30 degree heat every time.

Mark

*The chocolate bar, not the smartly dressed flightless bird. Other chocolate bars are available.

G.N.A.R

The Lost Property Team will be taking part in Kayaking GNAR. GNAR is a points game, similar to 'Man points' where a man or woman gain points for do crazy, dangerous and or more importantly embarrassing things. The game aims to keep kayaking fun and stop people taking themselves so serious. The idea is to get more points than your friends and tell everyone how good you are!!!

Check it out here and I recommend watching the original Ski film it’s great.
http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Kayak-GNAR-game/171480666237665

Hopefully see you on the water playing GNAR, and remember I'm so much better than you!!

Chertsey

While half of the lost Property team are in Scotland going massive, the other half are left back at home to cause mischief.

We decided to head to Chertsey for some pour over fun. This was my first time to Chertsey I have always meant to go but never got round to it. Having spent a beautiful sunny and fun day there, it confirmed to me that I hate pour overs. They are an evil, angry, loveless feature that do not like kayakers! At the first opportunity they will chew you up, throw you around a bit and spit you out. Looping in them is like the fastest wettest forward roll you have ever done, and all moves thrown are at least half luck.

All in all a great day had fun with the group, and battled the evil pour over.

Watch this space for a report on scotland!!

See you on the water!!

The Website

The website is live and nearly finished. Still a few bits to finish but pretty much there. Have a look(click on "The Website")

Intermediate White Water

We decided to do a trip for some of the intermediate white water paddlers in the University of Hertfordshire Canoe Club. These paddlers were all paddling confidently at grade 3, and we felt they were ready for the next step.

We headed down to Dartmoor. The plan being Two days of river trips, Day one solid grade 3, Day two grade 3 & 4.

We paddled the Walkham the first day. A realy good run, the whole group loved it. Some realy fun grade 3.

Day two we decided that the best section in the low water we had was going to be the upper Dart. We started with a kilometer of shallow, rocky, bumpyness. Then the river deepens and the rapids turn into grade 3, 3+ and 4. Probably the gratest stretch of white water in England. This river deliveres rapid after rapid, where you look back with a massive smile on your face, shout to eachother how brilliant that was, then move on to the next. There were a few swims but the group remained possitive remembering they were there to test themselves, and the whole group left with a massive sence to achievement and a whole load of stories.

If you are interested in advancing the level of your paddling and would like a guide to help you do it safely. Get in touch lostpropertycoaching@hotmail.com.



Some of the group imaginging we had the power to make rivers 20 times bigger.

Thames

We were contact by two gentlemen who were training for DW this year. They were interested in a bit of coaching on their technique and a bit more experience. So After two, hour long sessions on flat calm water on forward paddling techniques, we decided to gain some experience on the waters they were going to have to paddle. This meant a trip through central london on the tidal Thames.

A bit of caution ad consideration needs to be taken when considering this trip, as the nutorious undercurrents and other river craft can provide a challenge and with a spring tide the standing waves around tower bridge can get fairly sizable.

That being said,it is a great trip. There is no better way to see the sights of london and it is the closest you can get the houses of parliament and the london eye without going in them. A great day had by all, and a trip We intend to repeat as soon as the sun comes out.

I have done the stretch of the Thames from Putney to Wapping Twice now and both times have found a coconut floating down it. Very strange!