Meridian Canoe Club

I am in the ealy stages of planning a second Thames trip on Sunday June 22nd.
Due to the tides we would have to run between Erith and Greenwich starting at abbout 10.30 and finishing at the Ahoy in Deptford at around 14.30 /15.00 . This would be a leisurely paddle passing much of the Thames' industrial landscape , plus features like the Barrier , the Dome, and historic Greenwich . Paddlers need to be about 2 Star standard with some experience of longer river paddles.
Are there any other clashing events , and if not how many people are up for this one?
Andy

Room for a small ginger one?

Jack_Lamer wrote:Room for a small ginger one?

Who hasn't...
(Ooerr missus.....)
Giles

Jack_Lamer wrote:Room for a small ginger one?

Jack
There is room for small , medium or large , and any colour under the sun, as long as you are of 2 Star standard and prepared to follow guidance from coaches on the day.
Regards
Andy

Having spent some time on the organisation of this trip, have produced a flyer for this trip which i will attempt to attach here (sorry it did not make it) , but copies will be in the club house and at pool sessions in the near future.
Regards
Andy

Jack is many colours under the sun! Usually red!
Andy I would like to say that Jack is a 4 star paddler and is a very competent and confident paddler and would be any asset to you on this trip.

Jack if you want some extra lessons, you now where to find us!

Cheers
Hannah

Aww thanks Hannah, ill pay you later

Red with blue freckles.

Jack

So how did it go? Sorry couldn’t come I was otherwise engaged...

Jack,
I wished you had let me know , I was still expecting you on Sunday morning when someone , I forget who, said you were not coming.

The trip was perhaps not the greatest success. The weather was warm and sunny, the tides were just right , we had everything planned down the route and all contingencies covered, but we could not contend with the wind . It was a steady Force 5 with gusts of 7 at Erith , which made us go for plan B. Some of the younger members decided to pullout in view of the conditions.
The first trip was a brief paddle downstream towards Dartford, the kayaks fared reasonably well downstream against the tide but with the wind, the opens less well, in fact not to put it mildly, they were next to uncontrollable in the conditions despite everything we tried. The return trip was more exciting as battling against the wind proved to be very difficult for some, and tiring for everyone. One polo player decided to practice his hand rolling (unsuccessfully) and had to be rescued by our support boat (RIB from Thamesmead YMCA) One open made it back under their own power, the other was towed in after a Herculean struggle.
Aftre some sustencance (aren't June's cakes great folks!) 6 of the braver (foolhardier?) kayakers set out for an upstream paddle, we took 20 minutes to cover the first mile or so into Erith Reach against the wind but with the tide, and encountered pretty formidable chop all the way. We turned for home , and it took 60 minutes of hard slog to return with the wind whipping up quite large surf waves which we could ride well , (but even they didn't help to get us back any quicker) It was an exhausting paddle, thank goodness we did not try to go for our original route to Deptford.

On the positive side we have established very good relations with Erith Yacht Cluband we have an open invite to return whenever we wish to repeat this or try other Thames tidal paddles. Also it was nice for parents/carers/helpers to accompany the trip (albeit only briefly) alongisde the paddlers in cruisers , whose skippers were determined to show them much good hospitality and a very warm welcome. The rescue boat was also a very welcome sight for some, and again they have offered to provide this for us again whenever we paddle this area of the Thames.

On balance, a day when many lessons were learned, and although we did not get the planned itinerary done, most people had at least one paddle and learned how to cope under very challenging conditions. Those who did both paddles all commented that their shoulders ached so it must doing something for our paddle fitness.

Regards
Andy