Paddling can, potentially, be a very expensive hobby. Look at the people who take it semi-seriously who own (multiple) boats that cost almost as much as my car, the price of good drysuits, the carbon fibre paddles and the list goes on. But the cost of entry doesn’t need to be prohibitive – you do … More What kit you need as a beginner paddler
Since it’s Halloween today, I wish I had something spooooky for this blog but I don’t. I’ve hung up my wetsuit by October and I can’t even think of anything relevant from Guiding, other than that we did apple bobbing and cooking smores over candles at Rangers last week – not exactly spooky but reasonably … More How to get kids into kayaking
The disaster that was the Great Big Paddle Parade gave my confidence a bit of a dent – or perhaps I should say that it happening right at the end of my paddling season might have. To spend the entire winter knowing that was what happened last time I went out on the water, that … More Getting my paddling mojo back (again)
One thing that we – and by “we”, I mean, the instructor, three assistants, manager & treasurer of our boathouse – have noticed over the last few years is a lack of resilence in the girls we take out to sea. It’s very easy to talk about “kids these days!” but a lot of the … More Kayaking, Guides and resilience
Normally our boathouse season runs throughout the summer term. Other than the boat club’s pre-season pool session which happens roughly during the Easter holidays, subject to availability of instructor and pool, we squish in all the unit evenings and all the boat club evenings between coming back after Easter and breaking up for the summer. … More The last boat club session of 2024
I started this blog to chronicle my paddling adventures, leading up to becoming an instructor at our Girlguiding boathouse and so I want to veer slightly off the subject of paddling and onto adventures and Girlguiding. The Scouts were founded 116 years ago and on the surface, little has changed in that time. They still … More Girlguiding vs adventure
This is something I’ve been thinking about writing for a while – a take on the 2014-ish YouTube “what’s in my bag?” trend. Let’s take a look in my buoyancy aid and see what I take out paddling! I’m a big fan of the buoyancy aid, mostly because it’s the single most important bit of … More What’s in my buoyancy aid?
A couple of weeks ago now, it was the Great Big Paddle Parade. It was my first time so I don’t know exactly what it is but this year it was a parade that departed Torquay, picked up batches of paddlers from two beaches and finished with a photoshoot and lunch afloat in a cove … More The Great Big Paddle Parade: the worst paddling decision I ever made
And at last we come to the end of my paddling story! I don’t know what date this will end up being published because I’m writing it before we reopen the boat club for the season, so there might be stuff about boat club and my 2024 paddling and this might not end up where … More I did my Paddlesport Safety & Rescue training
With the knowledge that I’m now on my way towards some kind of leadership or coaching qualification, I became acutely aware that I can’t roll a kayak. Wouldn’t know where to start. But actually, this came about because I was looking at doing my PRS training, which was still called FSRT when I started looking … More A roll-practice pool session
Bumblebee Paddles 