River Awe 26/07/15

For one reason or another only the two club kayakers, Sandy Johnston and Richard Lord,  met up with Graham Swanson in his open boat to take part in this classic river descent. There was a scheduled dam release on the River Awe and when we got there we found that all three gates were open on the dam releasing so much water that the top wave, normally found just below the dam, was completely washed out. There were plenty of other boaters about with parties from Glasgow Kayak Club, Stirling and Falkirk Canoe Club and Kyle Kayak Club all making the most of the excellent conditions on the river. A quick shuttle got one car and our dry clothes to the Taynuilt pier and then we set off on what proved to be an excellent trip in big volume warm(ish) water. The graveyard section provided the first test however it was nowhere near as technical as it is when there is less...
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Try Watersports Open Days – July 2015

The club, along with Loch Lomond Rowing Club, Lomond triatlon Club and Loch Lomond waterski Club ran 2 very successful "try watersports" days on the 11th and 19th July. With over 100 participants each day and 15 club members along to help each day with coaching, rescue boating, putting up tents, getting people into wetsuits, collating consent forms and moving kit about it was a massive effort and everyone's help was really appreciated. We even remembered to have a donations jar on the second day and have £40 for club funds. A big thank you to Garry o'Donnel and David MacDonald who helped out massively with the preparations needed to make it happen. we were helped with the costs by the Cashback for Communities Fund - thank you to the police and fiscals for catching some bad guys - keep up the good work....
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Skills Session Loch Lomond 2nd March 2015

The weather forecast had everything, sun, wind, rain, snow, cold to start and warming a little,but being a Graham trip and to our regular haunt at Balloch it wasn't cancelled! So we met up, 5 sea kayakers with a wide range of skills and experience under the enthusiastic instruction of Graham. Jo as the (relative) novice Canadian solo canoeist had the benefit of instruction from Glen and Garry, as well as a helping breeze which is a challenge for any solo open canoe paddler. In the sea kayak group we spent most of the day practicing with one theme which Graham repeated a few times in his chats.... "SEA KAYAKS ARE DESIGNED TO GO STRAIGHT". With the day being about turning sea kayaks the main message was to edge the kayak so it actually wants to turn and then use the paddle to make the turns more effective as no matter how strong and skillful the paddler is, it is...
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Helensburgh to Cove and around sugar boat. 27/12/2014

A chilly start on Helensburgh pier with just about everything frozen solid!, myself. Barry, Donald, Janice, and Sandy set out for Cove and possible Adentinny  pending the daylight, with a really low tide we paddled with practically no wind or gusts making it easy to make good headway, With the sun in our face and a big smile on it we chatting most of the way and before we knew it had reached our destination we  pulled in at Cove for lunch, Sandy showing of his huge expensive camera and taking am sure some exceptional snaps whilst we tucked in to some warm tea to heat us up! On return  Barry popped up his sail in hope of wind (which there were none!) The wind you see when putting up a sail disappears almost like magic! (Barry will testify to this!) Onward we rounded the sugar boat with a debate on when it sunk! I said 1512 Janice said 1960 Sandy said 1950 Barry said 1972/79...
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Club Development Meeting- November 2014

An early 10am start at Graham's house let Bernie, Colin, Tony, Lori and Moira do some "development planning". After coffee and kitkats of course. A day of chatting though what the club could look like in 3 to 5 years time: a second clubhouse in Hawaii, a fleet of carbon kevlar sea kayaks, Lithium Ion electrically heated seats in all boats were discussed until we settled for a more sensible group of ambitions: Development Plan Themes 1. More and Better Trips 2. More Social Club 3. Robust Training and Development Activities 4. Encourage and Develop more Volunteers 5. Have the Right Equipment 6. Run the Club from the Right Venues 7. Improve Membership Retention and Alumni Links 8. Good Admin and Infrastructure Graham has the exciting job of writing everything up and we will share it soon....
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Loch Lomond “A” Trip 16/11/2014

Balmaha Trip 16/11/2014 Joe,Barry,Ross,Ian,Dave,Richard,Kevin,Iain,Andy,Ron and myself headed to Balmaha for 9:30am. With thick fog covering most of the Loch we set out heading along the fault-line using Inchcailoch as a guide till the fog lifted. Still lying quite heavily we passed the small Isle of Torrinch, then rounding Creinch in the hope by that time the fog would finally be gone! It lifted enough for us to head to the "Geggles" (narrow passage between Inchmoan and Inchcruin) The clearing fog brought a sunny pictorial Loch Lomond and a few jokes from new paddler Dave! (not repeating them anytime soon!). Having spun Jo around 360 degrees (Again) I thought enough fun/bullying lets have lunch. We opted for the southerly tip of Inchconnachan (Wallabieless Island) with the sun in our faces and bellies full headed through the Narrows known as the jewel of the Loch! It was so beautiful Barry and Benny decided to have a swim. Been in some rough waters with barry and...
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Loch Awe Trip – Saturday 8th November

Loch Awe Trip – Saturday 8th November By Geraldine O’Sullivan   This is my first time writing up one of these reports so... bear with me.   This trip was one of the options available during the Loch Awe weekend.  After a late start out (slow puncture in my old banger)  Vicky and I headed up to the Village Hall after stopping off at the chippy in Inverary.  The rain was bouncing off the road and didn’t bode well for the weekend ahead.  However, we arrived to a warm welcome and some amazing stinky cheeses courtesy of Janice.   We all bedded down and made a brave attempt at shut eye amid the cacophony of snores and grunts.  Well done Andrew for bringing along the ear plugs.   The morning started well, albeit waking up with a crick in the neck and bags under the eyes from lack of sleep (my fault – only had yoga mats to sleep on unlike Tony – with his four poster).  Thanks...
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River Paddling over the winter

Hi Looking at the following dates for river trips Sunday 23.11.14 Sunday 07.12.14 Sunday 14.12.14 Sunday 28.12.14 Sunday 11.01.15 Sunday 25.01.15 Sunday 08.02.15 Sunday 22.02.15 Sunday 08.03.15 Sunday 22.03.15 These will be open to kayakers and open boaters and will be tailored to suit the people taking part. The trips will lead up to a long weekend around Easter- time which will be more of an expedition type paddle, descending a river or rivers over several days....
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Police escort for VIP’s (Very important paddlers)

By: Andy L Coulport to Carrick Castle (and back): 12th October 2014 This was a hastily arranged day trip, simply because the weather forecast for the weekend looked promising (how often have we heard that?). Five paddlers in total: Anne Howard, Jo Grant, Geraldine O’Sullivan, Iain Love and myself. For the keen observers amongst us, you will note that the girls outnumbered the boys….not often this occurs on club trips….hope the trend continues. After loading the boats and gear, we set off from the container and began the short journey to the put-in (a layby just outside RNAD Coulport – OS grid ref. NS 213 867). The forecast was pretty accurate throughout the day; cool to start, with very low cloud… warming as the cloud thinned and little or no wind as the day progressed…..just perfect. I've done this trip several times in the past, so I wasn't surprised to find the military police taking a certain interest in our party; however, we didn't expect...
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Ross’s Trip report – Pinkston 8th Oct 2014

Another evening session at Pinkston and the first night with a chill in the air. Fortunately there was a good proportion of dry suits or dry cags and again Graham turned up with only one wet suit sock and wetsuit shorts - leading to one quite chilly foot. The "how many pumps" decision was made - three, slightly more powerful than two pumps but deeper water. We had 2 guest paddlers, with the SCA playboating session having been published with the wrong date and time. It did mean we got to see what a short (11") open canoe looks like on Pinkston - pretty impressive in the right hands!   Being Ross McKillop's first paddling visit he was taken under the wing/paddle of Graham (he had seen the course in use before- quite a good idea for any prospective Pinkston paddlers). First run: after a briefing and watching some others he navigation the exit from the top pool and down the first two drops then followed...
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