Getting back into kayaking
Discussion
Having seen the Olympic canoe slalom, then realised quite how many watersports centres there are within a relatively short distance of my house (I live in Cambridgeshire - it's flat and full of lakes, plus Rutland Water isn't far away either), I've decided I want to get back into kayaking. I used to do it quite regularly as a teenager, going to Sale Water Park in Manchester for lessons and races. It was a lot of fun and I can't quite remember why I stopped.
This time I fancy getting my own. Question is - how much does it cost? I've checked the price of new kayaks and they're a lot more expensive than I was expecting (£350-£500 for the most basic - I'm not talking sea or slalom kayaks here, just a General Purpose), seems a lot for a big plastic tube with some polystyrene blocks in it.
However, there are also now inflatable canoes available. Doesn't seem quite right to me (how do you barrel-roll them?), plus I'm not sure I'd want to skim a submerged rock in one. Anyone got any experience?
Or is it worth buying a second-hand one? Or is that a bit of a liability?
Please help! The water is calling again!
This time I fancy getting my own. Question is - how much does it cost? I've checked the price of new kayaks and they're a lot more expensive than I was expecting (£350-£500 for the most basic - I'm not talking sea or slalom kayaks here, just a General Purpose), seems a lot for a big plastic tube with some polystyrene blocks in it.
However, there are also now inflatable canoes available. Doesn't seem quite right to me (how do you barrel-roll them?), plus I'm not sure I'd want to skim a submerged rock in one. Anyone got any experience?
Or is it worth buying a second-hand one? Or is that a bit of a liability?
Please help! The water is calling again!
Lots of advice and 2nd hand boats for sale here: http://www.ukriversguidebook.co.uk/forum
Lots of waffle here but they also list all your local clubs who'll be happy to help: http://www.canoe-england.org.uk/
This is a nice little centre in Cambs. who do courses: http://www.mepal.co.uk/
You don't have to paddle over the Victoria Falls to have fun in a boat, get paddling!
Lots of waffle here but they also list all your local clubs who'll be happy to help: http://www.canoe-england.org.uk/
This is a nice little centre in Cambs. who do courses: http://www.mepal.co.uk/
You don't have to paddle over the Victoria Falls to have fun in a boat, get paddling!
There are loads of second had boats about, but be carefull what you buy. My best advice would be to find a local club and take advice, boat design & construction has come on in leaps and bounds over the last few years, and they are designed for specific tasks, freestlye boats are short and stubby with flat hulls for pulling tricks on a wave. creek boats are a bit longer with semi- displacemebt hulls & extra strong rescue points, flat water tourers are longer, many with water tight compartments for kit.
My knowledge of inflatables is limited to my time as a whitewater raft guide, fantastic fun on white water but slow on the flat due to their lack of rigidity. Sit on tops are very popular but I would suspect that they are only usefull in the summer on flat water.
If you want to get into whitewater paddling you are a bit limited in Cambs, your nearest white water is probably the Nene Wite Water Center in Northampton (my hangout) or the Olympic site in Lea valley (definatly not for beginers!!) Most clubs do trips away to find good water, which is another reason to join a club.
Chris
My knowledge of inflatables is limited to my time as a whitewater raft guide, fantastic fun on white water but slow on the flat due to their lack of rigidity. Sit on tops are very popular but I would suspect that they are only usefull in the summer on flat water.
If you want to get into whitewater paddling you are a bit limited in Cambs, your nearest white water is probably the Nene Wite Water Center in Northampton (my hangout) or the Olympic site in Lea valley (definatly not for beginers!!) Most clubs do trips away to find good water, which is another reason to join a club.
Chris
Just had a look at a few websites. God it's got complicated!
Back when I kayaked regularly, there seemed to be a few body styles. Slalom canoes were heavier at one side so you could lean into turns more easily, sea kayaks were flatter and shorter for negotiating waves more easily and situpons were the sort of thing you hired at the beach when on holiday in Greece. Then there were Canadian Canoes which were big open 3-seaters that you paddled around in circles much to the frustration of your mates.
But I got used to this sort of thing, which is what I'm after:
Nothing special, nothing designed to win Olympic gold or rocket down some rapids, but the sort of thing you get in, pull the spraydeck on and paddle away. I just like making vehicles move, frankly! And I see doing circuits of my local lakes as preferable to the rowing machine at the gym. It needs to be fairly light though, as I want to be able to carry it on a roofrack, bearing in mind I have an MR2 and there's not much room for said 'rack.
Back when I kayaked regularly, there seemed to be a few body styles. Slalom canoes were heavier at one side so you could lean into turns more easily, sea kayaks were flatter and shorter for negotiating waves more easily and situpons were the sort of thing you hired at the beach when on holiday in Greece. Then there were Canadian Canoes which were big open 3-seaters that you paddled around in circles much to the frustration of your mates.
But I got used to this sort of thing, which is what I'm after:
Nothing special, nothing designed to win Olympic gold or rocket down some rapids, but the sort of thing you get in, pull the spraydeck on and paddle away. I just like making vehicles move, frankly! And I see doing circuits of my local lakes as preferable to the rowing machine at the gym. It needs to be fairly light though, as I want to be able to carry it on a roofrack, bearing in mind I have an MR2 and there's not much room for said 'rack.
Bookmarked this thread.
I've wanting to get in to kayaking for the last couple of years but haven't done anything about it.
My partner has a canoe which she never uses, had when she was younger in the cadets etc. Her brother and his partner also has them. Wanting to get my self involved so this thread might have just made me have a look at clubs around my area and places to go.
Looking at the picture you are looking at perception dancers / mirages from the 1980s, whilst cutting edge in their day they are far far behind modern designs. They have basic round or displacement hulls,which are inherently unstable, small cockpits and very basic fittings. A more modern design will have a flat or semi rounded hull which offers much more stability.And a larger cockpit that is much easier to get in and out of. The genereal fit and finish is much better. In terms of weight, getting boats on most car roofs is not an issue as long as you obay simple manual handling rules.
In over forty years of paddling, including over ten years as a slalomist and being a coach for nearly twenty years I have NEVER heard of slalom boats being heavier on one side to help turning, what hapens when you want to turn the other way? Sea kayaks are much longer and thinner than river boats and are a very specialised design of boat. there are now boats being offererd from most manufactures that are a hybrid cross between sea boats and river boats, they are usualy at the cheeper end of the scale, have bigger cockpits and good basic stability. Designed for flat water touring thay are equally at home on rivers or the sea & might just be what you are looking for.
As before, check out your local clubs and try out as many different boats as you can. We are probably a bit to far away for you but here in Northampton we have a fantastic club that has a comprehensive fleet of boats to try and we can offer courses to get you afloat safely. I'm sure other clubs can offer similar facilities.
All the best in getting back on the water, and no matter what you paddle, get out and do it.
Chris
In over forty years of paddling, including over ten years as a slalomist and being a coach for nearly twenty years I have NEVER heard of slalom boats being heavier on one side to help turning, what hapens when you want to turn the other way? Sea kayaks are much longer and thinner than river boats and are a very specialised design of boat. there are now boats being offererd from most manufactures that are a hybrid cross between sea boats and river boats, they are usualy at the cheeper end of the scale, have bigger cockpits and good basic stability. Designed for flat water touring thay are equally at home on rivers or the sea & might just be what you are looking for.
As before, check out your local clubs and try out as many different boats as you can. We are probably a bit to far away for you but here in Northampton we have a fantastic club that has a comprehensive fleet of boats to try and we can offer courses to get you afloat safely. I'm sure other clubs can offer similar facilities.
All the best in getting back on the water, and no matter what you paddle, get out and do it.
Chris
Its of a bump but this was the most recent thread I could find. Thought I'd do my bit for the environment and recycle this rather than start a new thread.
At 55 I am about to sign up for my first formal canoeing course at Lee Valley. Paddled about a bit in younger days and a couple of times in the last few years.
The plan is, assuming I can manage it, is to work through the courses to get good enough for a bit of white water. Certainly the legacy course there but why not aim for the Olympic course.
Been needing an activity to get into and have been thinking about it for some time. To have a truly world class venue 10 mins from home is quite an incentive.
So, am I crazy?
At 55 I am about to sign up for my first formal canoeing course at Lee Valley. Paddled about a bit in younger days and a couple of times in the last few years.
The plan is, assuming I can manage it, is to work through the courses to get good enough for a bit of white water. Certainly the legacy course there but why not aim for the Olympic course.
Been needing an activity to get into and have been thinking about it for some time. To have a truly world class venue 10 mins from home is quite an incentive.
So, am I crazy?
silverthorn2151 said:
Its of a bump but this was the most recent thread I could find. Thought I'd do my bit for the environment and recycle this rather than start a new thread.
At 55 I am about to sign up for my first formal canoeing course at Lee Valley. Paddled about a bit in younger days and a couple of times in the last few years.
The plan is, assuming I can manage it, is to work through the courses to get good enough for a bit of white water. Certainly the legacy course there but why not aim for the Olympic course.
Been needing an activity to get into and have been thinking about it for some time. To have a truly world class venue 10 mins from home is quite an incentive.
So, am I crazy?
Nope. Definitely not. If I lived next to that course I would be on it every day, apparently it's amazing and the olympic course is close to an alpine river experience. It has chlorinated water as well which makes it clear. I live in France surrounded by French/Italian/Swiss white water and so rarely go to parks as there is always something running, but my friends in the UK paddle Lee Valley regularly and even some of the best paddlers have had a swim on the Olympic course at the high flow. Legacy course is a bit more chilled out as far as I know and both courses have a lift to take you back up to the top so you really can get a lot of paddling done in an hour.At 55 I am about to sign up for my first formal canoeing course at Lee Valley. Paddled about a bit in younger days and a couple of times in the last few years.
The plan is, assuming I can manage it, is to work through the courses to get good enough for a bit of white water. Certainly the legacy course there but why not aim for the Olympic course.
Been needing an activity to get into and have been thinking about it for some time. To have a truly world class venue 10 mins from home is quite an incentive.
So, am I crazy?
I have been paddling for 15 years now and regularly paddle some pretty big stuff, but even those days where I am just in a boat, it's perfect. It is by far my favourite sport. I say, go for it!
bulldong said:
silverthorn2151 said:
Its of a bump but this was the most recent thread I could find. Thought I'd do my bit for the environment and recycle this rather than start a new thread.
At 55 I am about to sign up for my first formal canoeing course at Lee Valley. Paddled about a bit in younger days and a couple of times in the last few years.
The plan is, assuming I can manage it, is to work through the courses to get good enough for a bit of white water. Certainly the legacy course there but why not aim for the Olympic course.
Been needing an activity to get into and have been thinking about it for some time. To have a truly world class venue 10 mins from home is quite an incentive.
So, am I crazy?
Nope. Definitely not. If I lived next to that course I would be on it every day, apparently it's amazing and the olympic course is close to an alpine river experience. It has chlorinated water as well which makes it clear. I live in France surrounded by French/Italian/Swiss white water and so rarely go to parks as there is always something running, but my friends in the UK paddle Lee Valley regularly and even some of the best paddlers have had a swim on the Olympic course at the high flow. Legacy course is a bit more chilled out as far as I know and both courses have a lift to take you back up to the top so you really can get a lot of paddling done in an hour.At 55 I am about to sign up for my first formal canoeing course at Lee Valley. Paddled about a bit in younger days and a couple of times in the last few years.
The plan is, assuming I can manage it, is to work through the courses to get good enough for a bit of white water. Certainly the legacy course there but why not aim for the Olympic course.
Been needing an activity to get into and have been thinking about it for some time. To have a truly world class venue 10 mins from home is quite an incentive.
So, am I crazy?
I have been paddling for 15 years now and regularly paddle some pretty big stuff, but even those days where I am just in a boat, it's perfect. It is by far my favourite sport. I say, go for it!
We have been there several time and we went to the world slalom championship last year. You have to reach a certain standard to use the legacy course which, as you say, is a more gentle ride and then further tests are necessary to plunge down the Olympic.
My daughter now works at the centre and is getting to know the GB team who train there and the GB rafting team. The Olympic course is currently set up to replicate elements of the Rio course. From an engineering perspective it's such a fabulous place a well.
A paddling I will go!
Signed up to BCU 1* a couple of years ago with my Daughter, we then progressed to 2*, halfway through I developed cold shoulder which rendered me useless 
My Daughter discovered a talent for racing kayaks & has been doing very well in K2 so far this season
Tempted to join the racing side though sea kayaking looks very tempting, just not keen on getting cold & wet any longer - wuss!
Most of the guys at the club are middle aged or older, one is 80!
My Daughter discovered a talent for racing kayaks & has been doing very well in K2 so far this season
Tempted to join the racing side though sea kayaking looks very tempting, just not keen on getting cold & wet any longer - wuss!
Most of the guys at the club are middle aged or older, one is 80!
I paddled quite seriously up to my mid 20s, (slalom, sprint, polo,surfing) but then it fell away for a few years because of job,wife kids etc. I decided to return to it in my mid 40s when my kids wanted to try. As has been said previously, things have moved on a huge amount, new styles and different disciplines and I was very glad that I joined a local club and tried various different types of boat before buying something for myself. As it was, I eventually got into open canadian canoes rather than kayaks in the long run, partly because there is a bit more scope for leisure and relaxation, but mostly because I'm about 6 stone heavier and a little bit slower than I was.
Ten years on and I'm loving it as much as ever.
Ten years on and I'm loving it as much as ever.
Well this coming weekend I have my 2 day course at the White Water Centre. My plan / ambition is that during the summer of 2017 I will be sufficiently competent / qualified to 'do' the Olympic course at Waltham Abbey. From the course I am doing its then on to the 'introduction to white water' at the centre which uses the smaller of the 2 white water runs. Then, a bit more training and perhaps some coaching to get signed off.
Really looking forwards to it. 6 hours both days.
Excited!
Really looking forwards to it. 6 hours both days.
Excited!
silverthorn2151 said:
Well this coming weekend I have my 2 day course at the White Water Centre. My plan / ambition is that during the summer of 2017 I will be sufficiently competent / qualified to 'do' the Olympic course at Waltham Abbey. From the course I am doing its then on to the 'introduction to white water' at the centre which uses the smaller of the 2 white water runs. Then, a bit more training and perhaps some coaching to get signed off.
Really looking forwards to it. 6 hours both days.
Excited!
Great! Good luck with it. Post some pics up if you can.Really looking forwards to it. 6 hours both days.
Excited!
good luck on the training, you'll be down the Olympic course before you know.
I used to race in slalom (raced prem for a few seasons), stopped paddling for a few years, then got back into it about 5 years ago. infact just picked up my new slalom boat this week and excited to gte back to training this week. I generally train twice a week (one flat one moving water session, we have an awesome little course in Glasgow called 'pinkston white water'). def a good way of getting out and exercising and doing something fun/ challenging.
I used to race in slalom (raced prem for a few seasons), stopped paddling for a few years, then got back into it about 5 years ago. infact just picked up my new slalom boat this week and excited to gte back to training this week. I generally train twice a week (one flat one moving water session, we have an awesome little course in Glasgow called 'pinkston white water'). def a good way of getting out and exercising and doing something fun/ challenging.
I injured my shoulder a few weeks ago falling off a bike at full whack so have been taking it easy on gentle runs recently. Annoyingly I was at the top of my game before I did that and it has really set me back. I don't have any white water courses nearby but I do have these 30mins each way from my place:
Upper Dranse de Thonon at high flow
Saine in the Jura at medium flow
Semine absolutely tanking it down (not a very clear pic).
Spoiled for choice really. Within 1.5-3 hours there are maybe 100 decent rivers which I am working my way through. Moving to Basel next year which will open up further local runs.
Upper Dranse de Thonon at high flow
Saine in the Jura at medium flow
Semine absolutely tanking it down (not a very clear pic).
Spoiled for choice really. Within 1.5-3 hours there are maybe 100 decent rivers which I am working my way through. Moving to Basel next year which will open up further local runs.
Well, what a brilliant weekend I've had.
12 - 6 Saturday and 11-5 today. There were 17 on the course and we split into 2 groups with an instructor each. We went through so much technical stuff relating to positioning / posture, power transfer and so on that the time flew by. I have aching muscles in a whole new set of places.
I will certainly be back for level 2 in September but we were all passed off as lake safe which means we can arrive and hire equipment to free paddle and practice.
Its all a very efficient set up at Lea Valley even though it might seem chaotic with teams of white water rafter, kids on the inflatable, hydrospeeding (bodyboarding) kayaking and so on.
The difference in ability between the wobbly going in circles people on Saturday and the confident, spray deck wearing team getting off the water was vast and that's because we covered something, practiced, moved on and the coaches structured it in such a way that each follow on activity seemed to incorporate and build in the previous one.
I loved it and can heartily recommend it to anyone remotely interested in having a go. All sorts of shapes and sizes from tiny little ladies who were very bendy to gentlemanly shaped chartered surveyors (that would be me).
12 - 6 Saturday and 11-5 today. There were 17 on the course and we split into 2 groups with an instructor each. We went through so much technical stuff relating to positioning / posture, power transfer and so on that the time flew by. I have aching muscles in a whole new set of places.
I will certainly be back for level 2 in September but we were all passed off as lake safe which means we can arrive and hire equipment to free paddle and practice.
Its all a very efficient set up at Lea Valley even though it might seem chaotic with teams of white water rafter, kids on the inflatable, hydrospeeding (bodyboarding) kayaking and so on.
The difference in ability between the wobbly going in circles people on Saturday and the confident, spray deck wearing team getting off the water was vast and that's because we covered something, practiced, moved on and the coaches structured it in such a way that each follow on activity seemed to incorporate and build in the previous one.
I loved it and can heartily recommend it to anyone remotely interested in having a go. All sorts of shapes and sizes from tiny little ladies who were very bendy to gentlemanly shaped chartered surveyors (that would be me).
Start stage 2 at Lee Valley next week. "An introduction to white water."
Going to do this one on a weekly evening session basis. The 2 day intensive course killed my lower back and hips. Been bent and tweaked by the chiropractor so away I go!
I shall report progress is anyone is interested.
Going to do this one on a weekly evening session basis. The 2 day intensive course killed my lower back and hips. Been bent and tweaked by the chiropractor so away I go!
I shall report progress is anyone is interested.
silverthorn2151 said:
Start stage 2 at Lee Valley next week. "An introduction to white water."
Going to do this one on a weekly evening session basis. The 2 day intensive course killed my lower back and hips. Been bent and tweaked by the chiropractor so away I go!
I shall report progress is anyone is interested.
Please do. I have just realised that Lee Valley is only 30mins from where my parents live so next time I am in the country, a visit is in order.Going to do this one on a weekly evening session basis. The 2 day intensive course killed my lower back and hips. Been bent and tweaked by the chiropractor so away I go!
I shall report progress is anyone is interested.
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