Boat club restarts this week and so this blog comes back to life! To be honest, I was going to abandon it – let the domain expire, stop writing it altogether. I can’t keep it up over the winter despite my best attempts because I don’t paddle in the winter and this entire blog (and … More We’re back on for 2026!
This has been a really slow and quiet season for me. I’ve managed nine sessions, including the pre-season pool session. On the other hand, I’ve had three new experiences: raft-building, the shore evening and a unit session as run by an outside instructor. Counting the pool session, we had just sixteen sessions this term. Seven … More 2025 season at the boathouse
The last and for me, the second! I made it to the first boat club session and I was supposed to be at the fourth but it got cancelled. That worked for me – it meant we had to use today as our reserve date and Brownies has finished for the summer, so I can … More The last boat club session of 2025
A couple of months back now, County ran an adult watersports day for leaders, unit helpers and anyone else over eighteen who wanted to have the fun that the girls get to have. A week or so before this story opens, the Brownies and Guides had a day each (it’s too far for my Brownies … More County Rangers watersports day
This one feels weird because I’ve tagged as #girlguidingpaddles even though there was no paddling. But it was a boathouse event and the boathouse is definitely #girlguidingpaddles. We do these on-shore evenings every year as part of our fundraising and awareness, Guides one year, Brownies the next. In my first year at the boathouse, we … More On-shore evening at the boathouse with Guides
Because we all have lives outside of the boathouse and some of those lives are really busy (I’ve only been to one out of five boat club nights so far), we had an outside instructor in for our unit evening last week. We have what I call “a pet instructor” who runs our pool sessions, … More A unit evening with a Team GB member
A new activity for me! I’ve done raft-building once before, at a Girlguiding region event called Try Inspire Qualify (all the fun of activity camp but with no responsibility!) but I’ve never done it at the boathouse. It’s something we tend to keep in reserve. Kayaking is more fun but when the wind is too … More Raft-building at the boathouse
Day two dawned very hot and with another group choosing kayaks for 15 inexperienced paddlers with a higher average age than our group. I hung fiercely onto my Dagger Stratos 14.5 but the others were given to the recreational paddlers but the others all went for P&Hs today – the high volume Scorpio for the … More Paddlesport Leader training day 2
I don’t usually write about things as they’re happening but boat club two weeks ago got cancelled and that threw my blog schedule out, so I’m writing about my Paddlesport Leader training course halfway through it, on Wednesday evening. I emailed Paul, the instructor, several months back to ask if this was suitable for my … More Paddlesport Leader training day 1
Bumblebee Paddles was meant to be about paddling but it’s also going to have to be about Bumblebee – this particular identity, this blog, it’s about me as a Girlguiding volunteer. It’s about my kayaking journey, sure, but it’s also about the boathouse and the girls and what we do there – as volunteers. It’s … More A few thoughts on National Volunteers Week
Bumblebee Paddles 