The first weeks club trips have got off to a good start with Tam, Yolanda, Rachel, Ross and Gerry kayaking from Ireland over to St Ninians on Tuesday 6th May and kayaking again on Saturday 10th May kayaking from Mavis Grind to Hillswick. Next Tuesday Whiteness to Scalloway.
Category: Club Trip Report Page 2 of 3
a quick report on how club trips have gone, numbers of paddlers etc
After what can only be described as a wet and blustery Friday, Saturday proved a lovely day for a paddle. The conditions: cold – yes, but not too bad; very light winds, occasional rain showers; definitely some confused sea out past Vaila, calmer water in by. The group: six of this year’s beginners plus four others.
Setting off south from the Walls Regatta Club slip and keeping close to the east shore, we could feel the swell building as we got closer to Ram’s Head, and after crossing over and after sticking heads round Humla Stack, the decision was to follow the west shore of Easter Sound back towards Walls. Time was spent rock hopping, surfing through a lovely little tunnel, watching a flock of cormorants launching off of the banks, waiting for blowholes to blow, and chatting until the get out for a bit of a leg stretch. As conditions in Wester Sound were pretty similar to the other end of Vaila, after a bit of a play in some waves we headed almost due north to Burrastow , then back in to Walls by way of the other side of Linga.
Now, normally we’d have loaded up trailers and headed home, happy paddlers. Today we headed over to Janet’s house for a very tasty selection of goodies and an extended natter about all things paddling.
All in all, a great way to spend a Saturday in November.
Many thanks to: Janet for getting a lot of the organisation done and hosting the after-paddle get together; Janet, Laureen, Tracy and Christina for sorting out all that wonderful food; Wendy and Craig (Nicol) for sorting the trailer; and Angus and Catriona for leading the trip.
Spectacular close to the canoe club 2013 Thursday evening outdoor sessions. A group of 10 set off from Bridge End at 7 o’clock for a ten mile paddle. As the photos show conditions were perfect for this event.
Setting off
In the dark
Paddling in the moonlight
Paddle through Scalloway Harbour at night
On Friday evening, nine intrepid paddlers braved a poor forecast and set forth from Clousta for an overnight camp. After a bit of a breezy crossing with a just a touch of swell, they arrived in Vementry, promptly set up camp before the sun set and, with a good fire burning on the beach and the sky clearing, it turned into a lovely evening. Overnight the promised rain also arrived in Vementry, accompanied by some very strong gusts to test everyone’s tent-setting skills and keep the temperature down.The morning dawned wet and wild, a gathering in Angus’s tent porch led to copious amounts of tea and hot fluids being consumed while Jim ate his bacon, and a group set off to walk round to the gun emplacements while others snuck back to their tents for a little additional shut-eye. As the walkers returned tents were struck, kayaks packed and another quick cuppa drunk before getting back on the water and the return leg to Clousta. It was again a bit of a blustery paddle with a little wind-blown waves to give a gentle workout before the shelter of the voe at Clousta was reached.
Many thanks to Angus and Tam for sorting out a great little trip!
19 paddlers took to the water last night to make the most of one of the best Thursday nights we’ve had this season. Despite headaches with getting enough boats together, got on the water at the Lerwick Marina and paddled across to Bressay.
As the clouds gave us a stunning display of colours over Bressay, we paddled round to the Bressay Ferry Terminal and turned to cross back to the mainland, and by the time we were going by the Lerwick Boating Club the shadows had got longer and night fall was close.
Getting back to the marina provided a different view of Lerwick as the street light came on and the paddling in the dusk was a first for many.
Coming ashore, night had fallen and everyone worked hard to get the boats back on the trailer, gear away and took the chance of a chat before heading away home.
Many thanks to Tam for sorting Trailer, Angus for arranging and loaning additional boats/ paddles and so on.
Getting enough boats and being sure of what we needed was really difficult this trip. Please please please make sure you give the trip organiser as much notice that you’re coming as possible as we want to get everyone out on the water that wants to be. Thank you.
It might have been a foggy evening, it might have been a bit breezy at the put in point down at Quarff. It didn’t stop 16 paddlers taking to the water on another Thursday night club beginners trip!
The individual organisational aspect of going on a trip were tested as cars drew up at Quarff, boats came off trailers and gear out of boots, cags pulled on and the multiple portages down to the sea commenced. The put-in itself proved trickier than many had encountered before – rocks, seaweed, mud, a low tide and a heavy boat aren’t a great combination. However, everyone made it safely onto the water without incident, and once round the corner we were in the lee for the rest of the trip.
While the cloud was down on the hills and almost to the road, we had a lovely evening paddle in very atmospheric lighting conditions and the sea seemed to get calmer and calmer the further we went. Caves were entered, gullies paddled through, cliffs passed under as we made our way north into almost still conditions at Gulberwick.
A classic easy trip in some of the best conditions encountered this year (so far), much nicer afloat than ashore.
Despite it being another evening of strong winds with Force 6 plus gusts, last night saw thirteen paddlers on the water at Bridge End. Heading into wind, they set off to Banamin and, to quote one of the coaches, took the opportunity to “focus on their forward paddling technique” before turning for the ride home.
Thursday saw a large turnout of paddlers again, and the evening was shaping up to be a stunning one with winds due to fall away as the evening went on. With one thing and another, it was decided to split into two groups. One group of seven did some canoe sailing down from Bridge End, the other 20+ paddlers went to Hamnavoe and a trip round the isles.
Turned out a lovely night!
Grabbing a quick weather window, a group of five of us (Bryan, Jim, Fiona and Steve plus myself) took the opportunity for a few hours paddling. Swell forecast wasn’t great and some of us weren’t wanting too late a night, so a shortish paddle in a relatively sheltered area was in order! Unfortunately the swell was in completely the wrong direction for the really good caves on the Northwest side of Muckle Roe, so thought we’d give the south side a go. Great evening despite not being able to go into the best caves on the south side either. Good way to spend the Simmer Dim.
Photo looking out into St Magnus Bay, taken just off of Picts Ness by Fiona.
This trip was organised through the club forum and was open to all club members.
Ever wonder what 28 paddlers setting off from Bridge End would look like? This week we found out!
With a good number of coaches and assistants, the beginners group did its first real trip this week. Conditions were ‘Shetland Breezy’ as we set out under from Bridge End and snuck south, hugging the east side of Lang Sound, did a quick regroup before entering Stream Sound and into what we knew was going to be the windy section of the trip. Trying to paddle NE while the wind came from S/SSE was guaranteed to be ‘interesting’ and the section between Kalee Ness and Hjogaland definitely tested comfort levels!
Despite getting a bit unnerved, and some a bit wetter than others, we all ended up sitting in the middle of Clift Sound and managed to stay more-or-less together as a group as we came under the bridge into East Voe and the get-out point at the Marina.
Prior planing and preparation meant a number of cars and the trailer were waiting there for us as we queued up to get off of the water, and the ensuing chaos of trying to get all 28 off of the water and back to Bridge End was well managed by all.
Everyone played their part and provided help carrying kayaks around, giving lifts back to BE and so on, which is all about being a group member on a trip. I would just like to thank Chris, Craig, Debs, Angus, Jim, Iain D and Iwan, without whom it really couldn’t have happened.