Info for monthly WW Trips
So, who can go on the monthly club white water trips? Pretty much everyone!
As a minimum requirement paddlers need to be in complete control of their boat on flat water before they go on a white water trip. To this end we require you to be at the 2* standard in a white water kayak (you do not need to actually have your 2* award). You do not need to be able to roll.
Groups - We normally take three paddling groups on the monthly club trips; beginners, intermediates and a peer group, with the first two groups being taken out by a professional coach. A beginner is someone who has been away on three or fewer trips, an intermediate is someone who has been away on more than three trips but isn't yet at 3* white water standard and the peer group is for those at 3* white water standard or above. It is also very strongly recommended that those in the peer group have done a White Water Safety and Rescue (WWSR) course and we would expect anyone progressing into that group to have at least made arrangements to undertake the course. These are of course not rigid guidelines and the final decision as to which group people reside it will lie with the coaches and the trip organisers. Their decision will be final.
If you have any queries about which group you should be in, or if you are up to the standard to go on your first white water trip please ask the coach / organiser of the trip who will be able to advise.
Boat Type - Unless explicitly stated, all club white water trips will be kayak based.
Accommodation - This will generally be organised by the trip organiser. We try and keep costs down so usually it will be in the form of bunkhouse/hostel/campsite. Unless specified, rooms/beds will be on a first come-first-served basis (for the avoidance of doubt I mean first to arrive at the accommodation on the day). Please speak with the trip organiser if you have any queries or concerns about this or the accommodation choice.
Travel - In an effort to keep costs down we almost always try to car share. In practice this means that normally for every 4 people you need one car with roof racks to be able to take the paddlers, their kit and their boats. This is the hardest part of the trip to organise, so we expect everyone to help out and find a place for themselves and their kit/boat in a vehicle going on the trip. Please don’t wait to be assigned a place or for this to be organised for you as it may not happen. In the event that we can’t get enough vehicles from paddlers going on the trip we may have to hire a vehicle, in that eventuality we will discuss how the costs are divided. All the petrol costs for the trip are given to Lars. The owners of the cars taken each pay £1. The remaining petrol costs for all the cars are split between everyone else on the trip. This way those who own the car have a contribution towards the wear and tear on their vehicle, and those who happen to be in a car which didn't get completely filled up are not penalised. For more details on how this all works and why it is this way please speak to Lars.
Coaching - Where a group is taken by a professional coach the coaching fee will be split among those in the group.
Deposits - In order to secure your place on the trip you are required to pay a deposit which must be paid at least four weeks before the trip date in order to secure your place. For the coached groups it is £70 and for the non-coached groups it is £30. If you have not paid your deposit at the four week point you will lose your place on the trip and will be unable to sign up to any spare places until the following week. Any deposits taken become non-refundable once the four week point has been reached unless you find someone else to take your space. Empty spaces in a coached group will be filled before vacated ones.
Lars can be contacted at treasurer@towerhamletscanoeclub.co.uk
Timing - For weekend trips, we will generally leave after work on the Friday and head home mid-afternoon on Sunday. Traffic permitting you'll probably get back to the basin around 9-10 pm on the Sunday. This will all depend to an extent on where the trip is located and whose car you're going in.
Food and drink – What food to bring will be detailed by the trip organiser, but you will normally be expected to bring your own breakfast and some snacks and lunch for on the river. Food choices should be commensurate with undertaking a physical activity in a challenging environment. Saturday night dinner will normally be a visit to a local pub or a group meal cooked in the accommodation.
Kit
I’ll split this into three groups, kit you can borrow from the club, general kit and technical kit you need to find for yourself.
Club kit – you can borrow boats, paddles, buoyancy aids (only club ones – those stored in the private paddle cupboard) and helmets. Please pick out the appropriate kit beforehand and make sure you book it out on the relevant thread in the ‘equipment booking’ area of the forum. If you are unsure of what kit you should book out, please ask the trip organiser or one of the more experienced white water paddlers.
General personal kit – Learning to paddle on white water often involves swimming when things don’t work out, so you should plan to swim both days and pack your clothing accordingly. If you have a wetsuit, definitely bring that (if you don’t you can pick one up from Decathlon for £35 which might not be a bad investment. As with paddling on the basin in the cold, synthetic layers (technical thermals, fleeces, etc) are better than natural fibres as they hold less water when wet. Jeans and woollens are a definite no-no. As you may swim on the first day you should try to ensure you have separate dry clothes to paddle in on the second day. It is also worth considering temperature. Paddling in a natural river in Wales/Devon/Yorkshire will be colder than paddling on the basin (especially if there are swims!), and chances are you will be on the river all day. It is much easier to cool down than to warm up on the river, so if in doubt dress warmer!
Technical personal kit - You will need to have (or borrow) a waterproof top and spraydeck. The club is unable to lend the centre waterproof tops which people use on a Tuesday night. I would recommend that you have a neoprene spraydeck for paddling on white water as the club canvas ones are not particularly watertight. I have included information at the bottom of this post for anyone thinking about buying a cag or spraydeck. They are among the first kit any paddler should be looking to acquire and will serve you well for any paddling you might do (not just on ww), so this might be just the excuse you’ve been looking for to go gear shopping!
Good entry level kit might consist of the following: A cheap long-john wetsuit, a thermal top, a fleece top, socks, water shoes. A cheap cag and deck and a BA and helmet borrowed from the club.
Feel free to ask the trip organizer or an experienced club white water paddler if you have any queries about kit.
Buying guides
Spraydecks - Get a neoprene one. Prices range from about £30 up to about £150 and for the most part I feel you get what you pay for (though as will all things there are diminishing returns at the upper end of the price range).
There are two main measurements you need to be aware of when buying a deck. The first is the waist size. That is down to the individual. The second is the cockpit size. There are two options here: Keyhole this will fit most of the club boats (with the notable exception being the pyranha boats). This is the ‘normal size’ and will create a snug seal on most boats.
Bigdeck – If you favour one of the boats with a larger cockpit this should fit. You may also want to consider one of these if you have a lot of trouble putting a neoprene deck on. Though please be aware that while it will be easier to put on it will also come off more easily, so may be something of a double edged sword. As for recommendations… you can get them as cheap as this at £30, but I can’t help but feel you’ll get what you pay for so I would be inclined to spend a bit more on one and as a minimum go for something like this at £45 or if you want to spend a bit more, for £60 you can get one of these.
If in doubt, ask one of the experienced club paddlers what they would recommend (and if you can give theirs a go).
Cags - Prices for cags vary wildly. They start at around £80 and can go up to silly money (I think the Sweet Prophecy cag costs £400 – the price of a good drysuit!). There are too many for me to list them all so I will instead talk about some of the features I feel are important for white water instead:
Dry vs semi-dry - A ‘dry’ cag is one with latex seals at the neck and wrists. A ‘semi-dry’ has latex seals at the wrists and neoprene at the neck. Latex seals generally keep more water out. Neoprene seals are more comfortable and cheaper. An entry-level semi-dry cag will probably be around £80 an entry level dry cag around £130.
A semi-dry cag is not a bad choice for a first cag as they are much cheaper and the difference in dryness between a neoprene neck and a latex neck only becomes significant if you have a solid roll (otherwise how often is your neck underwater without you coming out of your boat?).
Double waist - All paddling cags should feature a double waist. This is where there are two layers at the waist which your spraydeck goes between. This makes for a more waterproof seal between the two and keep your deck from slipping to around your waist.
Material thickness - This is a personal choice more than anything, the thicker the material the warmer and tougher the cag will be. I think this depends on how much abuse your cag is going to get and how many layers you are happy to wear under the cag. Personally I think most cags will die (the waterproofing fail) after about 2 years and wear a drysuit when it gets cold so am happy with a cheap thin cag. I did own a thicker, tougher cag when I didn’t own a drysuit though. Your choice.
