Y Paddle Canoe Club

Following a lead from Roger, Alice and I pursued the chance of a free day on the river paddling big open boats.
The catch? We were to be students on a Level 3 OC (Open Canadian) coaching assessment. One of the examinees was world famous Mr Kayakojacko himself, who had been hunting for willing guinea pigs like us.
The other catch? It was January.

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Our new beginners’ course begins on Monday (6th Feb) - it leads to the BCU 1 and 2 star awards.

If you’re looking for an activity that will give you exercise, get you out and about, and out of London, this is a great time to start paddling.

To sign up contact the Y on 020 7343 1700 or http://www.ymcaclub.co.uk

There won’t be the usual pool session on Monday 19th December. Instead, we’ll be convening for our traditional Christmas Curry.

Venue, etc. to be confirmed.

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The year’s drawing to a close, and we’re already looking at our final sessions of 2005, and the first of 2006.

I’ll post more details here as I get them, but for now:

Monday 19th Dec, Christmas Curry

Monday 26th Dec, Monday 2nd January: No pool session

Monday 30th Jan: Likely start date of BCU 1*/2* course

Pictures from the Shepperton Slalom
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September 26th sees the start of our 5-week beginners course.

It leads to BCU 1-star and 2-star qualifications.

To book, please contact the Central YMCA on 020 7343 1700

News reaches us from Sweden that John and Louisa have finished their marathon effort.

We did it !!! On the evening of Sunday 31st July, we pulled into Haparanda on the Swedish-Finnish border to complete our journey around the coast of Sweden. After 56 days of paddling, nearly 1.5 million paddle strokes and dozens of mosquito bites, we are lean, tanned and in surprisingly good condition. 2220 was an amazing adventure: surprising, grueling, thrilling and very demanding.

Lots more at 2220 Expedition

John writes:

Congratulations to Jemima, who starred for Y Paddle at the Shepperton slalom this weekend, she earned promotion to D3 on her very first attempt. Well done to Richie and Patrick, and thanks to Roger for his help.

I’ve just posted a handful of photos from the 2005 Ironbridge Slalom. You’ll see Roger and Olaf doing quite nicely in Div 2, and one of the reasons why I came last in D3 - at least I got some good rolling practice (and the applause of the crowd)!