My county has got into the habit over the last few years of running watersports days for the girls. Brownies tend to have a shorter, easier day as an introduction and the Rangers tend to get something more interesting so that your day gets upgraded as you move up through Brownies, Guides and Rangers – … More County adult leaders watersports day
As part of my quest to not be scared of being in the water rather than on it, I had a go at getting into sea swimming a couple of years ago. I will never love sea swimming – I don’t love chlorine in my nose or other people swimming at the wrong speed in … More Sea pools are terrifying
I’m almost surprised I haven’t done this yet. Get to know our boathouse! I talk a lot about the boathouse because a huge part of my paddling life – or least the paddling life as documented on this blog – takes place there. So I thought it was about time I showed you around the … More A tour of the boathouse
I can’t often get to actual boat club because it’s the same night as Brownies but if we plan it in advance and put it in the programme, the other leaders know when I won’t be there and I like to be there on the first night of the term’s boat club. I get to … More The first boat club session of 2025
Summer is approaching, I’m at the boathouse right as this post goes live and summer holidayers are starting to look speculatively at the water. Paddling is a joy but how do you get started? Go on a guided tour with a professional The absolute best way to get started on the water is to go … More How do I get started in paddling?
Yep, that’s it, that’s the post. I don’t really do sports (insert tangent where I wonder out loud about archery, fencing and kayaking as sports and my relationship to the sporting aspects) and I definitely don’t watch them. But I make an exception for the Boat Race. I don’t know why I watch the Boat … More I watched the Boat Race so I thought I’d talk about rowing
This is something of a ritual, to go out canoeing on the river on the first tolerably sunny Sunday that the hire place is open. And then I write about it, even though there’s nothing in particular to say that I didn’t say last year. Look, I like paddling, I like writing, I like writing … More I went canoeing for the first time this year!
It’s time for boat club to get started again already! Last year we only had 5 girls in our boat club. This year we have 9 definites and 3 that we’re still unsure of this stage. Last year, I gave them all codenames from Taylor Swift songs, starting at A and going through the alphabet … More Boat club pre-season pool session 2025
Since the season is about to start again, I thought I’d do a reintroduction! Hello, I’m Julie but my Brownies call me Bumblebee. I’m a Brownie and Ranger leader (and sometimes Guide leader but not currently) coming up on my 18th anniversary but for the purposes of this blog, we’ll focus on a different Girlguiding … More Hi, I’m Bumblebee: a reintroduction for 2025
Winter is a really bad time for a summer paddler to try to maintain a paddling blog. I swore back in January that after missing all of December and most of November, I’d get back into it and keep it up until I got back out on the water and had new stuff to blog … More My journey into sea kayaking
Bumblebee Paddles 