News

Tesco Bag Fund Nov & Dec 2017

02/11/201702/11/2017 By graham Comment Closed

We have been chosen as one of three Tesco "Bag fund" good causes and we need you to vote using a token in store for us during November and December.The award will makea real differnce by helping fund new boats and coach and trip leader training. 1st Place recieves £4000, 2nd place £2000 and 3rd place £1000. You can vote at: Hardgate Tesco Express, Place Hardgate Clydebank Helensburgh Tesco Express, Clyde St Helensburgh. Helensburgh Tesco Metro, Sinclair St Helensburgh Milngavie Tesco Superstore, Milngavie More info Tesco teamed up with Groundwork to launch its community funding scheme, which sees grants of £4,000, £2,000 and £1,000 – raised fromcarrier bag sales in Tesco stores - being awarded to local communityprojects. greenspace scotland is working with Groundwork to provide support to communities in Scotland Three groups in every Tesco region have been shortlisted to receive the cash award and shoppers are being invited to head along to Tesco stores to vote for who they think should take away the top grant. DRUMCHAPEL AND CLYDEBANK KAYAK CLUB...

August 26 2017 – Great Scottish Swim – And should we do other events?

30/10/2017 By Sandy Johnston Comment Closed

Thanks to all 22 kayakers who took part in the Great Scottish Swim and raised £2200 for the Club funds. This was a long day for all that took part. The initial briefing was described by one participant as occurring at an ungodly hour and everyone had to be there changed and ready to go! However everyone was kept busy and the day went without incident. (Or at least that was what I was told - any stories can be added below in the comments section below). We are approached from time to time asking for safety kayakers for various swim events with the normal payment being around £40 to £50 per kayaker. I haven't used these for fundraising in the past as I felt that this payment was insufficient compensation to people to give up their days off. However after discussing it with several club members who took part in the Great Scottish Swim these additional relatively local events could...

Autumn Winter River Trips 2017

Autumn Winter River Trips 2017

08/09/201727/10/2017 By graham Comment Closed

We have started adding some new river trips for the Autumn 2017 season. You can download our planning sheet at https://www.dropbox.com/s/72rha9et50m38cx/DCKC%20Autumn%20Winter%20River%20Series.docx?dl=0 but the calendar has the only current/live view. You can find out more by asking Sandy, Graham, Misha or any of the coaches at the pool session. If you are thinking about leading or seconding one of the trips please get in touch. Pinkston sessions are also a great way to develop some river skills. Some info on Grades is shown below. Rivers Although there is an International River Grading System (see below), we have a useful description to help you know which river trips you could consider attending. Easy (River) Trip – Suitable for beginners who have done forward paddling, capsize drill etc. E.g. someone working towards 2* standard and covered the basics. Easy rivers are typically Grade 1. May also suit anyone who fancies a nice paddle! Improver River Trips – A trip on moving water where you can learn breaking in and out, ferry gliding etc. You...

Eight New Canoe Polo Paddles – with help from Sports Council for Glasgow

07/09/2017 By graham Comment Closed

Our new canoe polo paddles have been in action. These were bought with the help of the Sports Council for Glasgow to help us run open canoe polo sessions over the summer. These have been a great success (no Donald Trump irony in the phrasing) and over 40 new people have tried polo and a good number of people have been hooked. We have committed to running Autumn/Winter sessions (see link for how to get involved) and are getting close to needing a second team for the national leagues. ...

Islay Sea and Surf Kayaking Weekend August 2017

Islay Sea and Surf Kayaking Weekend August 2017

10/08/201727/10/2017 By graham Comment Closed

Allegedly, Misha had suggested to Graham a couple of days paddling on Islay. Ever enthusiastic, Graham’s response led to the pair of them organising and leading a full-on club trip to the island. Thus, on the evening of Friday 4th August, a number of club members and their vehicles joined the queue at Kennacraig ferry terminal on West Loch Tarbert to board the 6pm sailing to Port Askaig on Islay. After a two hour crossing that included a meal on board we disembarked for a quick drive across the island to the scenic Machir bay on the west coast where wild camping behind the sand dunes had been proposed as our luxury accommodation for the weekend. On arriving in the Bay we were met by the advance party consisting of Pat, Graham and the Starship Enterprise, aka Pat’s motorhome, who’d all caught the earlier ferry to Port Ellen on the south of the island. After pitching tents, a camp fire...

The Mighty Teith – June 17th 2017

26/06/201728/06/2017 By Leigh Murray Comment Closed

On a calm overcast morning, 4 of us set off from Miller St all kitted up – Leigh (our trip leader), Marcus, Clive and myself. We met up with Graham Roy at Callander car park with his open boat. After leaving some cars at the Torrie lay-by some miles downriver, Leigh gave us an excellent pre-trip brief of the day ahead of us, safety checks, signals, etc. and we all showed off our individual kayak experience (or lack of). It was a busy car park. It looked like we were sharing the river Teith with a big group of kayakers from the Stirling Kayak Club. To get us warmed up we went upriver a bit to practice ferry gliding and breaking in and out of the current, which allowed the Stirling group to go on ahead. Leigh went to the front of the group to show us the correct lines, with Graham bringing up the rear in...

Beginners Trip – Loch Lubnaig – Sunday 7th May

10/05/2017 By Sandy Johnston Comment Closed

The weather has been glorious over the last few days and that was no exception this Sunday when Sandy, Paul, Alison, Ellen, Jim, Connor, Paul, David, Clive, me (Geri) and Matthew met at the Miller Street container for what looked like a positive start to the day. It was a fairly straight forward drive up to the Loch although it was fairly clear that traffic might be an issue at some point in the day. Significantly smaller than the major lakes of the area, but easily accessible along the A84, Loch Lubnaig is popular with picnicker, walkers and cyclists. There are two car parks providing easy access to the southern end of the loch, both close to pleasant beaches. A parking fee applied of £4 for the day but the new pound coin didn’t work, neither apparently did a card, so for some, parking was free. In all we were 11 paddlers (with two junior kayakers joining us). It was the...

Safety Kayakers – Great Scottish Swim – 26 August 2017

06/04/2017 By Sandy Johnston Comment Closed

Great Scottish Swim - Safety Kayakers wanted for Club Fundraising Opportunity Hi everyone, Last year we made about £2000 for the club funds by providing safety kayakers for the Great Scottish Swim. This year we have the opportunity to do this again and hopefully raise another £2000. The event is taking place on Saturday the 26th of August at Loch Lomond. The requirements are similar to last year. To be considered for the team kayakers must have at least one of the following qualifications OR previous Great Swim event experience: Swim Event Safety Award (SESA) BCU 2 star BCU Coach Level 1+ Foundation Safety and Rescue Training (FSRT) On behalf of the club I have offered to provide 20 kayakers. If you are available on 26 August and want to help out with a bit of fundraising please contact Sandy sandy.johnston@sky.com I will be running FS&RT training courses on Sunday 9 July and also on Sunday 13 August. These dates will provide training opportunities for those that need them, but this is...

Foundation Safety and Rescue Training – Only one place left!

06/04/201722/07/2017 By Sandy Johnston Comment Closed

This course is free to club members (apart from certificate fee) who are volunteering as rescue kayakers at the Great Scottish Swim on Saturday 26 August 2017. Otherwise the fee for club members for this course is £30. This course is the British Canoe Union Safety course that all other safety courses are built on and is often a prerequisite for future development. The next course will take place on Loch Lomond on Sunday 13 August 2017. There is only one place left on this course. This course is designed for all paddlers irrespective of craft. The objective is to teach simple and safe skills that can be applied appropriately across a variety of paddlesport craft including kayaks and canoes. These skills will then form the basis of all safety and rescue training throughout the BCU Scheme. The course aims to provide the student with the key safety and rescue skills required to operate safely in a sheltered water environment and to be able to deal...

2017 Dam Releases in Scotland

29/03/201701/04/2017 By graham Comment Closed

The SEPA freshnet schedule is show on http://canoescotland.org/where-go/water-releases.To make it easier to read / plan I have added them all to a google calendar but please check the SCA page before travelling: Club (and Peer) river trips over the summer may include some of these dates! The original SEPA document is at document: 2017 Freshnets...

Day 4 – The Search for Wind – Loch Eck, March 2017

29/03/201729/03/2017 By Leigh Murray Comment Closed

The last day of Graham’s killer canoeing sessions and he couldn’t have booked a better day, if he had a hotline to the big man himself! The sun was splitting the skies, predictions of 18°, and apparently no wind. So I cast off my old faithful dry-suit and didn’t bother bringing my pop-up sail. I was totally up for a nice leisurely paddle on Loch Eck and shades were at the ready. The scenery didn’t fail, it was picture perfect as we were kitting out our Open Boats. Having passed around the 5L bottle of screen wash Graham R. kindly helped me carve my very own bailer. Graham S then declared we were going to get wet – great, the one day I didn’t bring my dry suit! Fortunately you can always count on Sandy to save the day, he only had a spare dry-suit. On the water we did a warm-up. Stupidly I thought it was genuinely “warm-up” and got caught out...

Spring River Bunkhouse Weekend 10th – 12th March 2017

22/03/201729/03/2017 By graham Comment Closed

With a dry February and start of March we weren’t very optimistic on finding much water for our weekend of awesome river paddling. Thankfully storm Doris gave us a deluge the weekend before which probably saved the trip. Blair, Campbell, Derek, Graham and Grant set off for Aviemore on the Friday evening, not a particularly nice drive as drizzly rain fell for most of the journey. Reaching Aviemore we checked into the Youth Hostel which we could not praise higher, friendly staff, clean comfortable rooms and excellent communal lounge. Off to the local for some refreshments then back to hostel to prepare for Saturdays paddle, note: always take room key when you need to visit the wee boys’ room, corridor carpet not that comfy. Saturday morning we decide over breakfast that we will paddle the mighty Findhorn upper and mid-section 19km grade 2/3 with the odd grade 4 for a challenge. Off we set taking the B9007 over the Cairngorms with...

Day 3 of Graham – The Seach for the Wind

06/03/201714/07/2017 By graham Comment Closed

Day 3 of Graham's hunt for the wind took us on a trip down Loch Arachay in to Loch Venachar. After finding little wind and mirror flat water on our previous trips to Loch Lomond and Rhu , Graham was feeling optimistic on the back of Storm Doris. After a drive through the flooded Trossachs things were looking promising, we dragged the canoes through a flooded swamp and got onto the water. The put in was pretty sheltered and gave us time to warm up by practicing some of the skills we had learnt previously. We then headed down the Loch and true to form the Scottish winter failed to deliver the wind; however Graham kept us working by challenging us to think about what was happening during the catch and power phase of our strokes and to focus on the angle of the blade and what we were doing at each stage. As always I found that making fine adjustments has a noticeable difference on the...

River Allan – 19.02.17 – Tristan Armstrong

26/02/2017 By Sandy Johnston Comment Closed

Another planned day out by Sandy, making use of whatsapp to keep everyone up to date, and allowing myself, Derek, Chris, Leigh, and Campbell sign up for the day. An exciting river trip in the grade of 3+. We were all looking for a challenge, something to push us a little bit. Checking the river levels the night before confirmed my worries, very little rain around. Where would we go? We all meet up at Miller Street container and Sandy drops the bomb, Allan Water is his hope. My instant thoughts go back to my last paddle there....lots of swims. My chances of staying dry had just diminished. The back ups were the Teith and the Tay which will go in most levels. So off we went in hope with 4 kayaks and two open canoes, making use of the trailer to cut back on cars at the get out. On arrival we checked the level, a little lower than we...

Regular Beginners Trip, Regular Skills Sessions and Intermediate Sea Kayaking Series

25/02/2017 By graham Comment Closed

We have just added 4 new sets of events which offer lots of chances to go paddling. - Beginners Trips (1st Weekedn of month) - Skills Sessions (3rd Weekend of month) - Intermediate sea kayaking (A series of trips/paddles through the summer - we are taking names for these as places are limited)) - Intro to moving water and currents (Wed evenings at Pinkston in March) Find out more about them on the calendar!...