This one has sat in the blog schedule since March but it was only two weeks ago that I got confirmation it was even going to happen. I’d finally decided to just go to Croatia, found myself heading for Dubrovnik and discovered it’s a bit of a haven for sea kayaking. There was a company … More Sea kayaking off Dubrovnik
Girlguiding South West does an event most year called Wet & Wild At Wimbleball, which is a weekend of watersports & adventurous activities on and around a lake on Exmoor called Wimbleball. I’ve not been. I wish I could but I can’t figure out the logistics of getting four Rangers there – it’s not worth … More Kayaking in the wind on a reservoir
A couple of weeks ago – over a month ago now! – I did the post on the pool/assessment session for the new boat club girls and now finally I’m doing the first boat club session of 2024. Yes, there’s a big gap. There wasn’t such a big gap in real life but 1) I … More The first boat club session of 2024
By this point, I was starting to consider my paddling future. I’d run an archery session in a named storm for our local Inspire group – that’s Girlguiding’s newish 18-30 not-a-section – and one of them had mentioned having access to 24 kayaks and wondered out loud what qualifications someone would need to take Inspire … More Learning to capsize
At this point, I’ve had a little go at stand-up paddleboarding – and to be honest, discovered that I can’t stand up. Both times have been on Poole Park Lake, which is fairly salty, linked to the harbour on the other side of the railway line, fairly small and pretty shallow. I suspect it’s not … More SUP on a really deep reservoir
I thought I might do a post where I show you around the boathouse. Actually, that’s going to come later, in the “I joined the boathouse!” post later in the summer. But let’s see what kayaks we’re working with here. We have 22 altogether and although I don’t know exactly where most of them came … More What kayaks do we have at the boathouse?
I’ve spent weeks watching the weather, watching the rain, watching the river levels and wishing it would all align so I could get outside and do some paddling. Spending the winter writing a blog that contains every detail of every paddling experience you’ve ever had (and I’ve written twice as much as has gone live … More My first paddle of 2024
Because I’ve been telling my paddling story chronologically here, I haven’t mentioned the boathouse yet but the season is upon us! Eventually, we’ll catch up – you’ll find out how I came across the boathouse and how I joined it and what happened there last year but for now, we’ll jump straight into 2024. The … More Boat club 2024 season: the pool session
This is still up in my top three paddle experiences. This is what I had to get comfortable in a sea kayak for: a night navigation trip, paddling in the dark. This was in October 2021 so we were past the worst of the lockdowns and restrictions but Fore/Adventure still had the requirement that you … More Night navigation by sea kayak
By this point, I’d got into a bit of a habit of hiring a canoe and paddling up the river on nice Sunday mornings. Up the river? Yes, I think so. Up river to the road bridge, which is a little way before the weir. If you go down the river, you have to get … More A canoeing lesson
Bumblebee Paddles 