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
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
It’s very early but we’ve now had our first boathouse meeting of the year! We do this in January – get a tide timetable, go through our calendars and our requests and put all our boat club and unit sessions in so everyone’s ready for the summer term. Unfortunately, it does mean that anyone who … More Getting the boathouse back together for 2025
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
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
Well, we’ve come to the end of the 2024 season, my second season, at our Girlguiding boathouse and so it’s time to reflect on the last few months. First of all, this so-called summer has done its level best to sabotage us! We had 19 dates in the calendar, seven boat club sessions and twelve … More 2024 season at the boathouse
And so, at the end of the last week of the 2024 season at the boathouse, I finally reach my first season, 2023, on the blog! My first proper visit was in mid-April when a couple of us went to clear up after the long winter, check on the boats and their airbags and generally … More 2023 season at the boathouse
Well, this one wasn’t in my blog schedule but here it is nonetheless! We recently had a group of Guides at the boathouse, eight girls and three leaders, including the region chief commissioner (in her role as leader of said Guides; it wasn’t a region event) and long story short, I capsized. It was a … More Seven things I learned capsizing at the boathouse
Bumblebee Paddles 