Rab’s Club Newsletter November/December 2012
Download November/December 2012 Newsletter:
DCKC Newsletter November December 2012 | odt format
or read in the post below.
Now that the colder weather is upon us as is the darker night we can still manage to get out for a paddle or two. Hopefully there will be a bit more info in this Newsletter to inform everyone what has been happening within the Club over the next few months. We will hopefully also give you a bit more information on what paddles are coming up and any other relevant information that is useful for the members.
What is nice to see is that there are now a lot more members being proactive in planning and running trips for other members, which now means the Club is a lot more active, which is always good to see. And there are more trips up and coming. You just need to have a look at the Diary section of the newsletter!
Club Fees are now over due
If you have not paid your membership fees please see our new Clubs Treasurer, Janice. You had better pay up if you know what good for you. Or you will have Janice to answer to, and you don’t want that!
Tidal Planning
Rab will be running a series of Tidal Planning, and Navigation workshops early next year for anyone interested in sea paddling. As you will see from the Bell Rock Report there were some problems with our VHF Radios, so again I think we will have a day out on Loch Lomond early next year for all those with VHF radios, just to test them out. Some people were also requesting a “Sea Kayak packing session”, again I thing were can fit that into a paddle.
More “A” Trips
Andy Ligethy is co- coordinating a series of “A” type trips so please look in the diary section of the Newsletter for further info. Rab will also try to have his next year’s trip list ready early next year as well.
Past Trips
Holy Island: This trip was cancelled due to Force 5-7 winds being forecasted.
Bell Rock Light House: The planned Shiants trip again was cancelled due to do a very unsettled spell of weather. However, the Saturday was looking very good, so a quick look at some of the tides suggested that a paddle out to the Bell Rock Light House might be an option.
The normal route out to the Bell Rock is leaving from Arbroath, but we are not that normal! So we departed from Kingsbarns just to the West of Fife Ness. Four of us, Ron, Barry, myself and Paul Cromie from the Perth Club paddle out in a gentle Force 2 and a clear blue sky. The distance out to the Bell Rock from Kingsbarns is 22km, so we opted for a break around the halfway point. At around the 10km mark Barry was beginning to feel a bit sick. He put it down to a dodgy breakfast. I think it was sea sickness, as we were paddling straight out to sea with no visible land to our left or right and a gentle swell with only a distant Lighthouse on the far horizon to focus on. Ron very courageously opted to paddle back with Barry.
We planned to keep in touch with our VHF radios just to make sure that Barry was alright. However when we did use the radios we found that we had several problems with them. Ron’s and Barry’s Batteries both died almost straight away and I know from past experience I have had very dodgy reception with my radio!
Not long after Ron and Barry departed us we encountered a Yacht which the crew very kindly offered both Paul and myself some tea and sticky buns, it’s not that often you get the chance to have some fresh tea and sticky bun this far out at sea in your kayak, so we opted to have some.
Time was now beginning to press on us as you only have a limited amount of time on the Bell Rock before the tide starts to come back in. So we hurriedly finished our tea and paddled on to the Lighthouse. On arrival there was a gentle swell that was producing a bit of surf on one side of the Rock and we managed to find a gap through the rocks and swell to land right beside the landing stage.
We landed about one hour after Low Water at Arbroath and had just over 30 minutes on the Rock before they were covered by the tide. We then circumnavigated the Light House with its large population of Seals before setting back to Kingsbarns. This was not a usual paddle beside a coastline, but out to sea to visit one of the most iconic Lighthouses in the British Isles. And it was well worth the effort. It was sad to see that Barry could not make it and also a big thanks to Ron for escorting Barry back to safety.
River Clyde: Again, another planned trip was scuppered by unsettled weather, and the trip out to Rathlin Island is again put on hold. However the Sunday was looking a bit better and we did manage a consolation paddle on the Clyde, from Erskine up to the Tidal Weir at Glasgow Green. With High Tide at Glasgow at just after 1pm we would have the flood tide all the way up and the ebbing tide all the way back!
I have done this paddle many years ago, so it was nice to do it again. One thing that I did remember was that although you are paddling right through a large population centre there was very few places to land, which actually make this quite a committing paddle. This has now thankfully change and there are now many more pontoons and slipways along the Clyde.
Once on the water it’s quite remarkable how much the Clydeside landscape has been rejuvenated over those intervening years. We also encounter a tug boat coming down the Clyde when they passed us they gave us a blast on their horn and did an amazing 360’ spin on a sixpence before heading of down the Clyde, that was real showboating! The wildlife we encountered was also quite remarkable from Heron’s to Buzzards, and even a Mink and a Seal right up at the Tidal Weir were spotted, as was the occasional “Ned”, although they were not that exciting to watch!
If you have a chance to do this paddle I would certainly recommend it to anyone, as it is a bit different from the usual paddling we do.
Banff Coast: I unfortunately had to pull out of this trip due to Baby Sitter problems. Which was just as well as it also was far too windy to paddle, coupled with a huge swell.
Trips to look forward to
On the 17th of November we have a paddle in the Sound of Luing area, departing Glasgow at 0700 and going to Easdale for 0900, from here we set up a shuttle down to Crinan and need to be on the water for around 1045. From Crinan we take the Spring Flood tide through the “Doris Mor” up through the Sound of Luing past Fladda and Belnahua to Easdale to finish. The distance is between 25km to 30km depending on the route taken. With a Spring tide with us all the way this should be a “fast” paddle!
Big November Weekend Club Paddling Weekend
Sat & Sun 24th and 25th November
A weekend of paddling suitable for all with available options including some inland loch trips, sea trips and even the nice gentle Grade 2 lower River Orchy, ideal for Canadians. Based in Lochawe Village Hall accommodation is low cost bunkhouse dormitory style (one large room and bring your own beds and no showers on site I am afraid, but clean toilets, a small kitchen and plenty heating – also some space in Graham’s cottage and a couple of showers too). We are planning to make this a 2 day opportunity to do some loch, river and sea paddling (LochAwe, Loch Etive etc). We also think this could a great chance for newly qualified coaches and 4 star aspirants to practice leading and coaching in a safe environment or just to have a couple of days out. This trip should suit adults and children over 10. Single day options available too! Please contact Graham at least one week in advance of this trip.
Organisor: Graham (grahammswanson@gmail.com) but volunteer helpers appreciated.
On Wednesday the 28th of November if the weather is good we will have a night paddle on Loch Lomond meeting at the Stores for 1830 or Balmaha for 1915. We plan to be of the water for around 2200.
On the 8th of December we a gentle paddle on the Clyde going from Largs over Millport and back. Meeting time is 0900 at the Stores or 1000 at Largs.
Janice is running this years “Mince Pie Paddle” the meeting time is 0930 at the stores.
As for next years big trip to Orkney, and now having done some initial planning of some possible trips, I can now say with a fair bit of confidence that this will be an “interesting” trip. The average tidal streams around Orkney are around the 4-7 knots range with some going up to 12 knots. So therefore the initial thoughts are that this trip was going to be a Grade “B” trip. But given the location and the tides around this area, everyone that attends this trip must be very confident in Grade “C” conditions as well as their personal skills for those conditions.
The date of the trip has still not been decided yet, and will not until early next year. Anyone that is possibly interested in attending this trip could you please let me know as soon as you can so I can keep you in the loop.
Diary
November
17 Oban Area B 0700 Rab
24/25 Loch Awe All TBC Graham
26 Mon Committee Meeting All 1900 Bill
28 Wednesday Loch Lomond Night Paddle A 1830 Rab
December
2 River Balvaig Grade 1 TBC Janice
8 Firth of Clyde A 0900 Rab
23 Mince Pie Paddle A 0930 Janice
27/28 Loch Lomond A TBC Iain
Bill Davis Tel: 07831 789215
Andy Ligethy Tel: 07866 559840
Rab Burns Tel: 01877 382141
Shona Tel: 07507 500996
Graham (grahammswanson@gmail.com)
Please remember to give the respective trip leader at least ONE WEEKS notice if you intend to borrow club equipment. Also please contact the Trip leader the night before to check for any final updates regarding information. (Weather, Meeting points, etc.)
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