Featured blog of the week: Kayaking is not a crime

Many new things, new website, new vid, new petition: 

The nooshmooshiny website is at http://www.kayakingisnotacrime.org.uk/ 

Here’s a short nootoob clip of the new video:

Here’s a previous post about the T Shirts.

Most important news, as per Martin’s email, please sign the new WCA petition on land access reform. This is the second petition – its the next stage in the campaigning, so its important that you sign this one even though you already signed the first one.

Tyne Tour and other upcoming events

Come on. Its the Tyne tour this weekend. Cmon. Other events are in the google calendar (links from sidebar), are summarized here. Hooray, the rain is here, feels like beginning of the paddling season.

Wed afternoon 31 Oct: Dee session: Lloyd

This weekend:  3 / 4 Nov: Tyne Tour  

Weekend 10 / 11 Nov: BUSA WWR Washburn

Sat 24th Nov: Day Trip, organised by Cath, wales or lake district

Weekend 1/2 Dec LUCC trip (TBC) organiser: Nev C

Friday 7th Dec Xmas Dinner: organiser Lloyd

Friday 14th Dec Xmas panto: organiser Laura G=Medic Dave

Sometime (TBA) trip to Brecons.

Choir of Angels

Singing seals, joining in with to the sound of lighthouse foghorns. Do they sound like a heavenly host of gilded angels?

 

No. Not much.

But they are very nice.

 

A lovely weekend in Wales. Dinny sea-kayaked round Bardsey island in the fog. Cath, Alison and Helen were “tumbled by friendly waves” at Hell’s mouth. Leo was 21 again (again).

  

On Sunday a trip round the Tudwalls. More singing seals and baby seals -

 

More seal pics from Alison and more surf pics that make the surf look loads smaller than it was, really! from Helen.

Discostu Waterfalls Vid

Stu doing some waterfalls on Dee, Conway and some rivers beginning with ‘T’? Love the new line-choosing technique near the end (at 02:00 minutes). Nice mellow vid.

Other recent vids:

   Andy R’s 2006/2007 a year of lucc

  Aussie Dave’s Norway taster

Video LUCC 2006 2007

Perfection: Yep, checked Andy Rahooo’s vid and its officially perfect. The ratio of:

Right-way-up:Not-right-way-up=0.842

is correct to 3 dec pl when compared with empirical evidence measured over all LUCC trips. This video is spot-on and also has very cool tunes.

Nice one!

Manchester Talks were tops

Some of us from LUCC came over for the Manchester kayak talks last Thurs and enjoyed them v much, thanks Manchester! Eight short talks in two hours, very fast paced and fascinating. Definitely makes you realise that there is a lot of boating out there to be had, at all levels and budgets and loads of great destinations which are possible for uni-aged folk. All these trips took place 2006/2007. Inspiring – get out there and get yourself an adventure.

Jo and Beth - Canada, 4 paddlers and a hire car. (The 4 paddlers survived fine…) Lots of boater-fests, great rivers, III/IV/V, guide book was basically “look at the road atlas and go,” met loads of nice people and paddled a lot.

Chris – Madagascar videos – serious expedition end of the spectrum – weeks of pre-scouting, lemurs, chameleons, no roads, no bridges, deep rain-forest, monster walk-outs in the dark, new rivers, two fantastic videos ne from Chris, one from the Poly boys.

Beth – went to New Zealand, just turned up, went to Bliss Stick, slept next to the Kayak-oven while they baked her new boats, went boating with new people on loads of Lord-of-the-rings mainly IV+ (some harder, gulp) rivers, sea kayaking on Milford sound, had a great time.

Maddy – Joined about 8 canoe clubs simultaneously during her year in Arizona, and did lots of I/II/III paddling there and in BC - exotic paddling doesn’t have to be gnarly.

Nic – Fresher insight into what the Alps is like 1st time round - extremely good talk reminding us what its all about, the pre-trip worries about whether its suitable, how its actually brilliant once you get there – a freshers-eye-view. Summary: Hey freshers, you should go to the Alps!

Skip Fairweather - Nepal- epic expedition, scary fly-in, great video of very continuous and serious stuff with strange German music, gnarl and a lot of goats.

Scuba Dave and Chris L – gollums living on a diet consisting solely of free coffee and campfire-grilled fish, running a bazillion Norwegian Waterfalls again and again until they get perfect pictures to show us.

Little Pete and Jo – “Dynamo man” – an experiment to see if rubber-dummy-man takes a better line than Jo and Pete over a selection of different waterfalls in NY state. Music hall antics.

The vids are not on line at the moment, although there are a bunch of other good ones from the same folk (Lazy and Inept productions) to browse, while Skip’s Nepal video will feature at Student Symposium and other events, and will be incorporated in a commercial DVD currently being produced in deepest Wales. If you get chance to see any of them, do, as they are very, very funny and inspiring.

A lovely evening.

How to go on holiday without your kayak, by Rachel and Simon

Last week, Simon and I set off for our first non-paddling holiday together, to the lovely island of Tenerife. We arrived at our very touristy (but very lovely) hotel in 28c heat and took in the local sights. These consisted of a cool swimming pool, lots of cacti, English restaurants (!), rock pools in the sea, and sun! A lot of people seem to go to Tenerife to get drunk and sit on the beach, but we thought that a whole week of that would be a bit much, so we ran around and saw lots of amazing things. It’s probably a bit dull to describe all of them, so I’ll tell you about the best things we did.

 

Mount Teide is the highest point on the island, at 3718m making it the highest point in the Atlantic, and also still an active volcano. We decided that this would be a good place to see some cool views and we’d also heard that it was cold at the top, so to stop Simon moaning about the heat (didn’t drop below 20C the entire week) we decided to drive up to the top. It was a strange drive; sea-level is very dry and arid, lots of cacti and no greenery. As we got higher up, the air got wetter and we drove through pine forests. We stopped at a viewpoint to take some pictures of the misty forests and typically our car wouldn’t start again……not too much of a problem as it had just overheated due to steep roads and some enthusiastic driving with lots of 2^nd  gear. But it did give us a fright!

As we continued driving, the forests died out again, we drove into a huge crater and the landscape began to resemble the moon. The rocks were black, red and grey and not a green thing in sight.

After a quick stop to look at the Roques de Garcia, beautifully shaped top-heavy rock (above) we parked up at the cable-car base. The cable-car takes you from 2000m to 3500m in a speedy 8 minutes, and when we arrived at the top, it was freezing, windy and the air was very thin. Both of us struggled with the thin air and we found that we got out of breath and dizzy if we walked quickly. We didn’t quite look down the crater as you need a special permit to walk the last 200m to the top, but the views were incredible. It was even more moon-like at the top and there was a faint whiff of sulphur and smoke coming out of a couple of places to remind us that we were on a volcano! The drive back down was fantastic- the mist was really thick and it made the forest really atmospheric and creepy.

Towards the end of the week (and feeling the need to find a boat) we ventured to Los Gigantes, a coastal town on the south of the island next to the most incredible cliffs I’ve ever seen. We boarded a speedboat for our tour along the cliffs which rise vertically out of the sea for 600m, and as we zoomed along, we marvelled at the sheer rock formations all along the coast.

 

We also marvelled at two very brave sea kayakers who were battling the quite big waves and strong winds to paddle alongside the cliffs in a duo. The boat moved out into the open sea a little more, and we slowed right down to look for dolphins. After a lot of false alarms, we found a big pod of dolphins. They collected round the boat and after 5 minutes or so, there were 7 or 8 dolphins playing in the waves around us. Dolphins have always fascinated me and seeing them in the wild didn’t disappoint. They were playful and really enjoying themselves. When the boat turned and accelerated back towards land, the dolphins followed. They were surfing and jumping through the wake of the boat and trying to keep up, jumping out of the water and under the boat. They were really magical!

 As if that wasn’t enough, the boat stopped in a quiet bay so we could have a quick swim. We dived into the crystal clear water for some impromptu snorkelling without a snorkel and we saw huge numbers of different fish swimming around underneath the boat. Back on dry land, we drove up and over the mountains and came to the top of the infamous road to Masca (the photo doesnt do it justice).

 

This tiny town is nestled into a gorge in the middle of the sheer cliffs of Los Gigantes and it is so remote that the road to it was only built in 1991. Simon called on his best rally-driving skills and we tackled the hundreds of hair-pin bends to get to the bottom. The town itself has unfortunately been taken over by tourists (only cafes and souvenir shops) but it was stunning. The drive back up was more interesting…..and we were relieved to get back onto straighter roads!

On our last day we went to Playa las Americas to go surfing- well, bodyboarding. We hired a board and some cool flippers and then braved the waves. It was a pretty rubbish experience all round. Playa las Americas is the centre of British holiday resorts in Tenerife and it is awful. The town is a mass of run-down and grubby concrete hotels and bars. It’s like Blackpool on a bad day, but more tacky. However, the surf is really good. The waves were at least 4 foot, clean breaks, but they were breaking directly onto the reef. We both managed to surf a couple of waves in and both managed to get trashed in the shallows. I just swallowed a few pints of sea water; Simon gashed his leg on the rocks. We sat on the beach (more like gravel than sand) to recover, then went home wishing that we’d got our kayaks with us!

In the rest of the week we saw some pyramids, went to Santa Cruz (the capital), did a lot of swimming, ate fresh seafood and drank red wine! The wildlife was very different and interesting. We saw loads of lizards, hermit crabs in rock pools and some huge crabs that jumped from rock to rock. All in all, we had a lovely relaxing time and found some amazing sights on this small island.

Gnorway gnarlivision – DVD preview

DVD available soon, here’s a taster. Dave’s viddage of team troll styling those amazing waterfalls. Health warning: this video includes some damp, inverted moments which betrothed people may find disturbing. Nice touch with the screaming.

Report is here: Norway Was Tops.

Hooray for all the cool videos coming through!

Book review – English White Water

English White Water – Pesda Press, editor Franco Ferrero, BCU book.

Well, its quite comprehensive and you should probably get it for completeness of your library. You should definitely get it if you are planning on kayaking in the SW, or if want to know the paddling options near your home, and your home is not featured in its own personal guidebook.

This book is by the British Canoe Union. It is a consolidated attempt to provide a guidebook to the best white water in England.

That is a very good thing to do, because its not been done for a bit, and so it fills a gap. Previous to it, the most recent “bible of all rivers” is Terry Storry’s 100 best rivers of Britain. That is a great book, with lots of character, and a must for your library, but of course, its getting on a bit, and only has 100 rivers in it, because… well, because thats what it says in the title.

In contrast ”English White Water” describes 170 rivers just in England, and tallying up all sections and playspots, reaches about 250.

The introduction includes an explanation of access – and its a fairly pertinent one. Of course, it has to tow the BCU line. Nevertheless, it is informative I think, and not too bossy. But do refer back to the Storry book for the full gen on the history of access and some interesting philosophy and geology lessons.

So how useful is EWW as a guidebook?

Some very good bits. Some nice things about this book – the symbols indicating optimal river flow, danger/hazard ratings etc are all very clear. Some of the descriptions are quirky and characterful, though there are few funny anecdotes. The book includes lots of playspots and weirs, which have previously not really been featured much in guidebooks.  The river descriptions are all fine, very varied – presumably very many contributers. They do include some little gems not included in other books – e.g. Peak district rivers. Some descriptions are more detailed than others - in some cases, I would have liked a bit more detail, and certainly some more diagrams of the rivers. And its not as browsable as it could be.

Maps and diagrams are a bit of a problem, as is the organisation of the book. Basically, the format is not totally condusive to easy browsing and choosing of a river, nor of easily planning for a river you’ve chosen:

• There are no diagrams of the individual rivers. Boo.
• There are no summary tables - summary tables make choosing a suitable river of the right grade, length, condition etc a doddle. We’ve seen this in other books. But not here. Boo.
• The book divides the country into big regions and then those big regions into mini regions. So far so good. Sometimes the mini regions correspond to catchment, sometimes not - its a bit random, but still fine. However: There is no overview map anchoring the mini-regions within the big regions, so the reader unfamiliar with the region is not helped out much, and this too makes browsing really quite cumbersome. NB in the same series, “Scottish White Water” does have an overview map anchoring the sub-regions. Tick.
• The mini-regions do each have an overview map indicating all rivers therein. These are, however, labelled by numbers, not names of rivers. This makes things uncluttered, but the effect is not pleasing, or nice to browse. And I don’t feel at all confident to find a put-in based solely on those maps.

So Pesda press, if you read this, we love you very much, and your excellent series of books, and we can see the huge amount of work and local expertise which has gone into this book, but please could you improve the format when you do a 2nd edition: we are spoiled by books which give us diagrams of rivers, clear indications marking put in and take out, and, most of all, area summary tables by grade, lovability and amount of rain needed. We Want Those Things!

Should you get this book? 

If your boating is mainly N England, then the first few books you really need are your own area book, e.g. the excellent “White Water Lake District,” and Terry Storry’s British white water, for history and coverage of all of Britain. And then as you build up your collection, you’ll want this one for completeness.

If your boating is in the SW, SE or midlands or if you rely on playspots, then English White Water should be a lot further up your list – certainly we did rely on it and enjoy it when on holiday in Devon.

Weaknesses of EWW: The diagrams and maps, the lack of summary tables, and the impact of this on browsability. (NB these are things that could be changed in a later edition.)

Strengths of EWW: Combined knowledge from multiple contributors, the coverage of: South West rivers, playspots in the midlands and SE, local rivers for local people, and some other areas which were previously under-served by other guidebooks.

So, to sum up, if you want an up-to-date guide book with fairly broad coverage to rivers in England and, for example, are going to Devon for New Year, then put this book on your Santa list. Available from the excellent pesda press and probably also the BCU maze/website.

Focus on safety: How to cross a river

Equipment you will need: Green tights. A friar. A song about maids and castles.

The question is: Do you recognise the merry man on the right bank?

Book review – Welsh Sea Kayaking – 50 Great Sea Kayak Voyages

Welsh Sea Kayaking – Fifty Great Sea Kayak Voyages – Jim Krawiecki & Andy Biggs

Pesda Press 

What is it? This is a sea kayak guide covering virtually the whole Welsh coast, divided into trip-size pieces. The chapters are very thorough, with overview and trip detail, diagrams, tide explanations, difficulty ratings and colour photos. Some of the photos are aerial, which is a nice touch. All the pointers you need.

Is it readable? Yes, it is. As well as the technical stuff on how to do the trip, there are descriptions of natural or local history, warnings about which islands are snake-infested, and tales of ancient shipwrecks.

Is it a replacement for Snowdonia Whitewater, Sea and Surf? Snowdonia whitewater sea and surf is a super book, and for years was the only guide with enough inshore detail on currents for kayak use. WSK certainly builds on that, with great new charts, and obviously it contains trips in South and Mid Wales not covered by the Terry Storry book, and gives you more up-to-date gen on where to eat and camp as well. Two great books which will sit nicely together on your shelf, great charts in the WSK, and character and anecdotes from the SWSS

Can any of these trips be done using General Purpose kayaks? Well, this is a sea-kayaking guide, and as the saying goes, ”When in Rome, buy a sea kayak, and then walk away from Rome and towards the sea, then go sea-kayaking.” 

You need the right kit for the job.

Having said that, the trips are divided into 3 difficulty ratings, green=”not as hard as blue,” blue=”middling” and yellow=”challenging.” While many/most trips would be plainly beyond sensible thought in a short boat, some of the green ones, or shorter parts of some trips, are ones we have done, or might do, in GP boats. E.g. Puffin island, Greenscar, Llandwyn island, Roscolyn Beacon and the Tudwells trip can all be feasible, in the right conditions, in river boats.

Any gripes? No, none. Its a lovely book. It doesn’t always have time estimates in it for how long trips take, but then that will vary depending on many things, and users should anyway have the know-how to estimate expected journey times based on the maps provided and the tidal features described. With regard to the maps: In any sea kayak guide, authors have to decide how to balance detail vs clarity – mentioning every last overfall, flow variation or feature, or giving a clear view of the trip and the main markers of the journey. In Welsh Sea Kayaking, its good to see the clear, attractive solution they have chosen - the diagrams are certainly very clean and consistent in format, and do the job well.

All in all, this is a great guide for planning your sea trips and getting new ideas about beautiful places to explore. Its also very nice for reading in your armchair even if you have no intention of getting salty. I love it, and feel that it opens up endless possibilities for future trips - its going to be very well thumbed.

This term’s events on Google Calendar

LUCC events are all on the LUCC Google Calendar. You can bookmark it, add it among your own google calendars, or set it to radio your moon-pet in morse-bips on your space-phone. Google calendar rocks.

Rainbow T shirt

Gene17 have announced new T-shirts of UKRGB. Fits in with current retro trends. But luckily choosing two rather tasteful shades of ”not neon”.  

Currently miming: “Drinking Beer.”

Very convincing too

LUCC: 30 students dressed as mime artisits, classic! Pic from Flic.

Manchester Boater Talks – Thurs 18th Oct – 7.30pm

What: A packed set of mini-talks by whitewater  boaters, on the theme: “Have yourself an adventure.”

Topics: “First descents in Madagascar,” “Arizona, dry or WET,” “How to sort a trip to Nepal,” “Adventures in NY State.”

Speakers: Chris Smith, some variety of Fairweather + a bunch of other university-age-folk-who-have-been-to-very-cool-places. 

Where: The Firs Pavillion of the Armitage Centre (Manchester Uni Sports Area).

Directions by car: Buy a Tomtom. Type in M14 6HE . Allow 1hr ish.

Directions by public transport: Train to Manchester Oxford Road (40 mins from Liverpool). Get off train. Walk out of station. On Oxford Rd find bus stop. Catch 42 or 43 to “Owens park” (student residences), or the stop after, (15 mins by bus). Ask one of the 30 student-looking-persons on the bus for directions for walking to the Armitage Centre (10 minute walk.)

When: 7.30pm for 8pm start, til probably about 10pm (after which time it is illegal for kayakers to not go to the pub).

What to do about it: Just turn up.

The point of these talks is show how to get out there and have an adventure. The speakers are all university-age-or-so, and have all been to some amazing places, including first descents and ”proper” expeditions, as well as some of the more usual-but-exotic kayaking destinations, with advice and practical tips on how to “get on and get out there.”

Contact: Dave Goadby – you can contact MUCC through their forum or webpage.