OC Trip – River Spey 01-03.04.16

By Sandy Johnston Comment Closed
07.00 hrs on Friday 1 April 2016 saw Sandy, Leigh, Bernie, Derek and Graham Roy meeting at the Clubs Outdoor Store in Clydebank. Was this some elaborate April fool prank? No, we were meeting to start our three day open canoe descent of the River Spey. 3 hrs took us to our starting point at Kincraig on the north end of loch Insh where we unloaded the boats and then a further 3 hrs were needed to shuttle a car to Spey Bay and return to the start point. Eventually we were off! It was a fairly windy and wet day but we were thankful that the wind was coming from the south west so it was at our backs as we paddled north. 10 km of paddling took us to Aviemore, but no stops for us and a further 11 km took us to Boat of Garten. We then paddled on to our first campsite on an island which was...
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Open Canoe Weekend 1 to 3 April 2016

By Sandy Johnston Comment Closed
Hi, the 1 to 3 April has been set aside for our normal Easter-ish Open Canoe trip. Various ideas have been floated (if you pardon the pun) for this event. These are: Glasgow to Edinburgh canal trip Great Glen Canoe Paddle (slightly more strenuous) Another attempt on the River Tweed Another attempt at the River Dee The River Spey The River Tay No decision has been made as yet so I suggest that anyone interested come along to a meeting at the Pool session on Tuesday 15 March at 21.00 hrs (start of adult session). This trip will be open to beginners as we would seek to pair people up (experienced with beginner) to paddle tandem. Sandy...
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National Go Canoeing Week

By Sandy Johnston Comment Closed
FROM THE SCA National Go Canoeing Week happening 28th May – 5th June 2016. There are now a number of great initiatives planned in Scotland, and we are extending the date to the include the weekend before and after - effectively making National Go Canoeing ‘Week’ span FOUR weeks! Here is an idea of some key events happening as part of the Go Canoeing campaign: 22nd May: National Celebration of Para Water Sport and Para Cycling 28th May – 4th June: Starter sessions, mile builders and family trips at Port Edgar 28th May – 4th June: Starter Sessions and evening paddles at Aboyne CC 4th June: Go Canoeing Tour – Loch Tay 10th June: Go Canoeing Tour – Largs – Big Cumbrae 11th June: Go Canoeing Tour – Islands of Loch Lomond 12th June: Go Canoeing Community Day at Pinkston Watersports  Please register your event or sessions with us asap! This is so that your club can take full advantage of the marketing and promotional material available from BU and...
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River Trips – Spring/Summer 2016

By Sandy Johnston Comment Closed
I have published the dates for a number of river trips which I will be running between April and July 2016 with two aims in mind: I want to provide a varied programme of river trips to allow  club members to develop their experience and their river paddling expertise whilst in the company of an experienced Coach and River Leader I want to provide coaching and training that will allow club members to gain and practise the skills required to pass the BCU 3 Star Award in White Water Kayak. I plan to have a progression over the year and to frequently re-visit skills in each trip so that it isn't necessary to attend all the trips to be prepared for the assessment. However the more you attend, the more prepared you shall be! The rivers I am looking to include are the Teith, the Doon, the Clyde, the Tay, the Nith, the Avon, the Awe and the Ayr. Any comments, questions or concerns, give me...
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Arran Excursion – Saturday 05 March 2016

By Sandy Johnston Comment Closed
Rab, Barry, Sue, Tony and Sandy took the first ferry across to Arran on Saturday 5 March. Lovely weather, cold with sunny skies and a force 4 wind looked like it would make for an excellent days paddling. Once off the ferry we found that the usual put-in was being developed and as a result was fenced off. However a short walk took us to a beach next to the ferry terminal where we could launch. We get changed and sorted out the boats while taking in the amazing view of Goat Fell with a snowy covering surrounded by cloudless blue skies. The wind was blowing from the north so the first 3 kms to Corrygills Point  meant we were paddling with a side wind, disconcerting at first but fine when you relaxed into it and applied a little skeg to make life a little easier. After Corrygills point we turned south and with a following sea we made a fair...
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Trip Leader Meeting March 2016

By graham Comment Closed
12 of the clubs trip leaders and coaches met to go over some of the recent changes and improvements to how the club runs trips, and to answer any burning questions. Graham hosted with pizza, coffee and cake a plenty. Some of the main things covered were:- - the club has adopted a pragmatic approach to who can be trip leaders, formal qualifications aren't needed but a base of training, experience and willingness are the key. - Where junior members are involved a qualified coach and an up to date first aider are needed. - the club has had to consider these things and to address them a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) pulls everything together. The SOP is supported by things such as top tip sheets, club trip forms etc. All the club document are available on the club website - http://dckc.co.uk/members-pages/club-documents/ (there is a generic club password for members to access the club pages - ask a committee member or coach to...
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2015 The Year in Photos

By graham Comment Closed
Club photos are displayed on the awesome Smugmug site at dckc.smugmug.com See what we got up to or if you have images to add or a whole trip that has been missed then email graham at grahammswanson@gmail.com and he will get you an upload link. We now have the ability to "insert" images into posts and trip reports directly from smugmug... so if anyone fancies doing a trip report let me know as you can easily add images. Here are 3 from November's adventures....
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Club AGM Wednesday 7th October

By graham Comment Closed
Just a reminder that the club AGM is on Wednesday 7th October at Pinkston Watersports Centre. More info is at http://dckc.co.uk/event/club-2015-agm/?instance_id=1506 Please come along, add your voice and ideas in the meeting, consider joining the committee, and meet up on dry land....
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Foundation Safety and Rescue Course – Sunday 13 September 2015

By Sandy Johnston Comment Closed
There are still spaces available for 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 with common emergencies.  - See more at: http://canoescotland.org/courses-training/bcu-safety-training#sthash.o2tELjiB.dpuf Contact Sandy for further details 07962226280  ...
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Finland Trip. May 2015

By Tony Clarke Comment Closed
Trip report Finland. Arriving in Helsinki we were met by Eeva, Joachim and baby J who held aloft a paddle bearing a Scottish saltire to grab out attention. From our mini bus driven by Joachim we could see ten kayaks on a trailer being towed by Eeva who just for this trip sat and passed her trailer test, ( well done Eeva) we were now on our way to Cape Ally for our first taste of Finland. The Mokki was magnificent in the surrounding scenery too, on our first trip we set off enthusiastically in our new boats at a fair pace and in no time at all : / with help from the force five wind we landed on Seili. In the 16/17 hundreds it was used as a final resting place for people with leprosy and later a woman's mental institute and now owned by a University as a research facility. We met a group of visitors from...
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