Owner: Rockratrobinson URL:http://rockratrobinson.blogspot.com Join Date: Thu, 08 Feb 2007 13:32:34 -0600 Rating:0 Site Description: The blog of a young kayaker from the North-West of England. Follow me, Iain Robinson, on my constant search for water, in the hope of discovering a truely unique paddling experience whilst trying to escape the challenges of everyday life. Site statistics:Click here
Adios 2007-05-02 14:05:00 I'm bunking off from my studies to go paddling. At the moment I'm just waiting for my lift and then I'm heading to Yorkshire for some dam release fun on the Washburn. I'll post tomorrow about the events, pictures will feature I promise.Good lines, stay safe and see you on the wet stuff...Iain
Read more:Adios
A bit of planning... 2007-05-05 17:45:00 I've just completed my Working Holiday Visa Assessment for the New Zealand section of my Gap Year and a Working Holiday Visa Consultant will be contacting me soon. I can't wait to have a chat with them about my plans.Good lines, stay safe and see you on the wet stuff...Iain
Read more:planning
Another Beginners Course... Another trip down the Lancaster Canal 2007-05-05 15:59:00 The canoe club I am a member of is, once again, running a Beginners Course with a 1 Star Assessment at the end of it, and like usual I am helping out, but not organising anything this time; that's my dad's job. Anyway, today was the first trip out, away from the comfort of the pool, but still in rather hospitable conditions. There wasn't a cloud in the sky, it was roasting hot and it was just wonderful to be out in Roger whilst keeping a beady eye on the beginners as they took their first tentative paddle strokes in the murky waters of the LancasterCanal
. We had one swim, which could be put down to some over-zealous tagging in Freeze Tag (Canoe and Kayak Games by Dave Ruse and Loel Collins, Game 94, Page 56).There was a fair number of other water users pottering around the canal, and with the warm weather everyone got along just fine, ensuring that their activities did not spoil the day for others. There was also quite a lot of wildlife pottering around the fringes of the canal. Read more:Lancaster Canal
Happy New Year 2007-01-01 11:24:00 Looking Back2006 wasn't that bad for me. I finished my first year of college and got four grade A's at AS Level and in the last couple of months was accepted by the University of Central Lancashire to study Outdoor Leadership at Newton Rigg, Penrith, which is soon to be known as the University of Cumbria. I also received student of the year as well as student of the month for 3D Design, but that is not of any real importance as paddling is my life and that is what matters most to me.Paddling wise 2006 was very good to me; 18% of my year was spent in my boat with some of the best people in the world exploring new places whilst doing something that means so much to me. I've had a weeks holiday in Scotland on some of the classic Scottish rivers and discovered my liking for the harder rivers and just in the last couple of months started exploring rivers, that are fairly local to me, which I've never really considered before. I also passed my 4 Star at the beginning of the year and Read more:Happy
, Happy New Year
Boxing Day 2006-12-26 18:39:00 Looking slightly sophisticated in the car parkI've been out paddling again today. I like this Christmas thing, there is so much paddling that can be done and there are nice shiny new pieces of kit to try whilst doing it all. For me I could try my nice Palm Stikine Extreme Suit, which is that new water just beads off it, for others it was new boats and the like. Oops... I've still not mentioned where we were paddling. It was Halton again. There hasn't been much water around recently and it would have been a bit of gamble driving higher up the Lune Valley so we took the easy option and had an even lower day at Halton than last Sunday.Me testing the dry suitI'm the small blob in the centre of the picture about a third of the way down from the topThere were quite a lot of people on the water today so I tried my best to avoid them all as I wanted to paddle on my own and have some me time on the water. I don't know what it is, but when paddling on your own everything just feels s
Christmas Eve 2006-12-24 16:37:00 It's Christmas
Eve and what better thing to do than go paddling and avoid all the mad rush at the shops and supermarkets. So it was an hour until mid-day and we parked up in the Halton Trainstation car park to be greeted by a cold winters day, with a little breeze. Getting changed was a bit unpleasent with temperatures just above freezing. Once on the water I warmed up quickly; even after having a couple of rolls.The river was quite low today and even in low levels there is usually something to do on the rapids, but I don't know what it was but I just couldn't get anything going and everything just felt mechanical and unsmooth. Strokes weren't really linking into each other and I just got a bit frustrated and it just got worse and worse. I think I could have been slightly off form because over the past three days I've only had about ten hours sleep, as we've been calling in on people most nights to do our Christmas duties, and I'm knackered.I should be back out on the water Read more:Christmas Eve
Swimming Gala 2006-12-17 18:50:00 Well, I've just got back from another trip on the Kent, the river I paddled last week before we did the Duddon and lost a boat. This time the trip took a different path, which could probably be put down to the fact that it was an organised trip by the local canoe club. This means that the ability of the paddlers varies greatly and therefore some people are a bit out of their depth. It does, for some reason, with all club trips, work itself out and everyone pulls together to try and make sure everyone enjoys themselves on the water.Last week there was only two of us on the water and this week when we pulled up at Kendal Leisure Centre there were eight other paddlers waiting. I had managed to get a lift up to Kendal from Fulwood Leisure Centre, where the club runs pool sessions, and on this car was four more boats meaning the final number on the trip was twelve, which isn't to bad a number. So eventually, after managing to organise people we got changed and headed to the water. B Read more:Swimming
One car, two paddlers and no real plans 2006-12-10 20:29:00 It was Thursday when I sent an email out to everyone I paddle with on a regular basis and I only got a few replies back, and all of them, mark one, were a no for a paddle on the coming Sunday. So on the Saturday night I texted the person who had replied yes and at quarter-to-nine the next morning we were on the road heading for the Lakes and the Kent. As we only had one car the plan was to pull up at Seathwaite Bridge and get changed in the hope that some more paddlers had turned up and we could hitch to the top with them.It didn't look promising when we pulled up. Well the river looked good, it was the best level I had seen it at, but the chance of hitching a lift didn't look promising. However, as we started getting changed a car with a boat pulled up and out popped one of the chaps I had paddled the Ingleton Greta with. They were heading up to the Brathay Pool and had just called in to have a look at the rapids under Seathwaite Bridge. They kindly offered us a lift up to Sro Read more:plans
Rising water and punishing winds 2006-12-03 17:45:00 Well another day at Halton; there was no swapping of boats, kit or people to head off to better things this time because the water
wasn't coming over the whole weir at the get in. This in all honesty means that the grade 3/4 gems of Sedburgh, like the Clough and Rawthey wouldn't be up. So I stayed at Halton with the rest of the club. I had managed to persuade one of my paddling buddies to drop the club's Eskimo Topolino Duo off at my house on the Saturday so I had that to keep me entertained on what has become a very familiar stretch of rapids.Logistics were somewhat complicated seen as I had two boats, three seats and one person, myself, to get up the river to the rapids. It worked out that I shoved my All Star deck in my All Star and paddled the Topolino Duo up the river, towing my play boat from my chest harness. Once at the rapids I deposited the All Star on the island. I waited around for a while to see if there were any prospective candidates to go in the Topolino Duo, b Read more:Rising
Another car shuffle... Another Greta 2006-11-26 19:20:00 It was to Halton again today, like it was last week, however we arrived an hour earlier to allow for any change of venue, which some of us, me included, did, whilst others stayed at Halton. Those that stayed at Halton were the beginners from my club, but I felt it was a shame to waist all the water we had, had over the past week so four of us headed elsewhere in the general direction of Keswick, where we were meeting another paddler and one of their buddies. Whilst en-route to the motorway from Halton another paddler, who I've paddled with on several occasions, passed us going in the opposite direction, spun their car around and followed us to Keswick.I may just point out at this point that I had made unofficial arrangements of sorts, through the UK Rivers Guidebook, to meet the Design Crisis lads in the South Lakes to paddle with them. However, it didn't work out, but it didn't really matter as I had a group to paddle with and we were heading to check out Newlands Beck. A river
T'other Greta 2006-11-25 19:21:00 This trip was organised about 10 hours before I was actually picked up, on the pool side at Fulwood Leisure Centre where I was instructing one of my paddling buddies to front deck roll. I just mentioned: "fancy paddling tomorrow?" and they did. So one simple text later at half-eight the following morning we had a destination sorted and I was picked up a couple of minutes later. We were on the road heading for a lay-by near Junction 34 where we were to meet another two paddlers; who I have never paddled with, but I do think I have met them before on some riverbank.Kit was sorted out in the lay-by, all the boats were thrown on the roof of the Transit van and dry gear was shoved in the other van once we were changed. Then it was back on the road to the get out for the Ingleton Greta. Here the van with all the dry kit in was abandoned on the grass verge and we all piled into the Transit van, which carried onto Ingleton.We put on the river about half-an-hour later with many other pa
In search of water... 2006-11-19 20:15:00 Today was suppose to be another day at Halton, whilst the canoe club I'm a part of ran an introduction to moving water
for some beginners. However, the rain gods blessed us this week and threw down some moisture to bring the levels up at Halton so that it was just not practical to take some newbies onto the fluffy white stuff. Therefore plans were hatched to take them else where, and I hatched plans with a couple of other dedicated soles to go in search of something harder and that is what we did.After rearranged boats, kit and people a van and car left the main group of people, who were going to do a section of grade 1/2 on the Lune, to take a look at the Clough. I was in this group and we flew up the motorway to Junction 37 and Sedburgh, the center of the Howgills where there are some real grade 3/4/4+ gems, and one of these is the Clough. With good conversation in the van time soon flew by and we were at the get out for the Rawthey and then in no time at a bridge over the Cloug
Local Paddling 2006-11-12 17:49:00 When November comes around many of the paddlers in the north-west head for Halton Rapids at, take a guess, Halton, just east of Lancaster. This section of river has some of the strictest, and most ridiculous access agreements in the country. Paddlers can only frequent the water in the months November, December and January and during the rest of the year they are 'unpaddleable'. Now this is the stupid part to the agreement; fisherman, the people who seem to have the upper hand when it comes to agreeing access to rivers, don't fish this section until the end of March and then when they can fish the river they don't. So why can't we paddle the river then? Well, know one is sure, but the agreement states we can only paddle it in the last two months and the first month of the year. Stupid isn't it?Well, today I paddled the river for the first time this season and it was pretty similar to every other time I've been there at this particular level.It was at a medium to high level Read more:Local
, Paddling
The Times Gap Year Show 2006-11-11 22:39:00 I've just got back from a day out in the busy metropolis of Manchester. It isn't often that I head into the big city of the north-west but I had bought tickets to go to the Times
Gap Year Show at the G-Mex so I thought it might be a good idea to go and see what was happening there.We had an early start and it was that early we arrived at the doors to the G-Mex and the exhibition was closed. We waited for a while in the biting cold wind before they eventually let us in to peruse the stands at our leisure. Our first port of call was the PGL stand, and then once finished here it was across the walk way to the Cotswold Outdoors garage climbing wall to pit my skills against a block of revolving metal. I lasted for two minutes two seconds - only twenty-three seconds behind the exhibition best, set by a member of the British Climbing Team - before falling off and hitting the deck. We were then finished and it was only just before eleven o'clock so we dragged the exhibition out a bit w
A Weekend of Paddling 2006-11-05 21:35:00 I've just got back from a weekend away up in the north-east at the Tyne Tour. This was the first 'Tour' for me and this was the case for the majority of people who had come from my canoe club.I finished college early on Friday so my Dad and I were on the road by 4pm, this meant we had a head start on many people, who we were meeting at Hexham, where we, and everyone else on the 'Tour' were camping. I thought the early start would allow us to drive up at a leisurely speed and arrive just as the sun was going down and pitch the tent. However, we arrived at the campsite in the dark to a very full Tyne Green where we were expected to find some of our party who had already arrived. It took us half-an-hour before we eventually located them - thank god for the mobile phone and texts- and a further fifteen minutes to pitch the tent, with the aid of head torches, and unload the car.Over the course of the night the rest of our group arrived and pitched their tents, and eventually we he Read more:Paddling
, Weekend
I passed 2006-10-28 18:29:00 I've just got back from the Burrs Activity Centre where my Level 2 Assessment was today and I passed
, which was nice.The day kicked off at 10am in the car park at the centre where all the administration was done along with the written examination. We then moved onto the water with our four guinnee pigs. There were four trainee coaches going for assessment and I was the first to take the practical sessions so I had to do the warm up, which is always my favourite bit, and then get them on the canal to start the day off. I covered forwards and backwards paddling using normal coaching methods and then moved on to a few games to enhance these skills before introducing sweep strokes, where the next trainee took over. The next hour-and-a-half involved me stood on the canal bank chatting with two of the trainee's whilst the other one did their session. Not bad for an assessment really.Before breaking for lunch we had to simulate a repair on our boats. This was left on during lunch and
Drive North and Hope for the Best 2006-10-27 20:23:00 Well I've been out paddling again today. This trip was organised last night by text after 8pm so it was a bit of a rush to get anything organised properly. All I really knew was that I was getting picked up at a quarter-to-nine the next day, today, Friday, and we were going to paddle some grade three.So I got picked up just after a quarter-to-nine and we headed south to someone else's house I have only paddled with on a few occasions. Here boats were transferred and we headed south again before hitting the motorway and heading north. Then after a couple of miles, it was probably more as we got on the M6 at the Tickle Trout, we turned off for Forton Services and met up with some other paddlers, that I have paddled with on more than a few occasions. Here I transferred cars for a different group of people to chat with, and my kit stayed on/in the car it had been on for the last part of the journey, and we headed north again after some discussions on where we would paddle.A couple o Read more:North
A mid-week Paddle 2006-10-24 21:16:00 Well I haven't been out on a proper river run for a long time, so last night I made plans with my Dad to run the Rothay the following day seen as we were both on holiday. We tried a couple of people to see if they were up for the paddle but there was little interest. So Tuesday saw three of us, my parents and myself, heading north to the Lake District and Ambleside.We pulled into the car park at Waterhead with blue skies overhead and a crisp morning air gently blowing. It was going to be a nice day. Canoeing gear was pulled out of the car and put on before we left the car park and headed through Ambleside, and along the edges of Rydal Water and Grasmere. The trip began on a small beach on the shores of Grasmere. To reach the beach involves lowering the boats over a very high wall straight from the roadside. When we usually do this trip we get a couple of car horns tooted at us, but there was nothing of the sort today, there was just another group getting on the water.We got
Birthday Shenanigans 2006-10-21 18:49:00 I've just got back from Garstang Wear where I had roughly two hours on the water. I've never been to Garstang Wear before so that was a bit of an experience. However, I don't think it was anything to write home about.We got on the water soon after getting changed and the get in was a bit different. It wasn't just a normal slide off a shingle beach into the water, or a small drop into the water. Oh no. It was a full on four-to-five foot seal launch into really deep water. Once on the water we messed around on the flats where I got a couple of ends before heading down to the first of two wears. The first wear was quite shallow on the peripherey but in the middle where the current was the strongest it was deep and airated. Just perfect for cartwheels, though I only got a couple of ends and some really nice stern squirts.When I got bored I headed back up the other side of the river where the drop from the bank to the river was higher than on the other side, where we initially g Read more:Birthday
Lancaster Canal... Again 2006-10-07 16:36:00 It's been a long time since I've been out, out on the water; both this Friday and the Friday before that I've been in the swimming pool. That's in on the water. The latter of these two sessions I was instructing and on the former session I was ripping it up trying to flatwater cartwheel and do other silly acrobatics without much success. In fact the last time I had been on the water was a very similar trip to this one.The trip I talk about is the one where I lead a group of six beginners down the LancasterCanal
on their first tast of paddling outside. Prior to this they had only been in a boat on two occasions and both of these times were in a swimming pool. Well today I took ten of the sixteen people, which had been attending the course in the swimming pool, my boss from the paper shop and another lad who had just joined the club down the canal on a repeat trip. Four of the people who attended this first canal session returned, so my return rate is looking rather healthy at Read more:Lancaster Canal
, Again
Lancaster Canal 2006-09-23 16:26:00 I've just got back (well not just got back - I've had to sort my kit out, have something to eat and fill in my coaching logbook) from the canal where I was in charge of a short trip for all the people who have been attending the sessions in the swimming pool.The four-and-a-bit hour session went really well. I got the six students fitted out in the best boats the club had on offer which they could fit in before sizing them up for helmets and buoyancy aids. Then it was a case of routing through a pile of nylon decks to find the ones with the least amount of holes in and which would fit their boats. Once this was done I was about to give the briefing and start getting them on the water when I realised they could all do with a paddle. So it was back into the club's container to route these out. Now I could give the briefing, so I did.It was then just a case of heading down to the canal side, en-route there was a busy road to cross and a flight of stairs to descend with the boats b Read more:Lancaster
, Canal
, Lancaster Canal
Follow up to 'Adios' 2007-05-03 19:53:00 I eventually made it to the Washburn yesterday. The chap that had arranged to pick me up arrived soon after I made yesterday's hurried post and from my house we headed to another paddlers house. From here we headed along the A59 to West End and the usually summer haunt for the north-west white water paddler, the Washburn. On pulling up in the car park and paying our fees to the man it looked like any usual Washburn release: the water was surging out from the bottom of the dam, it had a considerable flow, it looked cold and there were numerous paddlers milling around the car park kitting themselves up for what would be some of there best paddling over the next few months.Looking upstream to the dam, which holds the freezing waters of Thruscross Reservoir back. This dam once featured on a Touch of Frost episode.Once the group I was with had kitted up, two of us headed to the water and the other two headed off down the bank to have a quick peak at the river. For one of these it was Read more:Adios
To the canal we go again 2007-05-12 15:13:00 I've just got back from another trip along the canal for the 1 Star Course students, which I have been coaching for the last couple of weeks. Nothing interesting happened, however when I got home this was on my doorstep. I'm going to go and watch it now. Bye.Good lines, stay safe and see you on the wet stuff...Iain
Once again... it's finally over 2007-05-19 16:01:00 Today was the day that the 1 Star Course I have been working on came to an end after three pool sessions and two outdoor sessions. This course seems to have been exceptionally hard to run and work on: what with coaches dropping out at the last minute meaning that there are only two, instead of the normal four instructors to run the two final pool sessions; having trouble getting boats to fit students; and today seemed the hardest day out of the lot to successfully pull off as we had to transport eleven boats to Garstang on only three cars.Garstang was the venue we had picked for the assessments and it has been used for such purposes in the past, so we thought it would be perfect for the finale of this course. However, over the week leading up to the assessment there was a lot more precipitation compared to last time meaning the river was a bit higher and had slightly stouter flows making it difficult at times for the beginners to show us their strokes whilst we watched on.Once I had
Eventually... we hit the river 2007-05-24 13:20:00 Roger; eager to get on the water after being restrained on a car roof for the best part of a day.We eventually reached the Washburn at six (that's three hours of travelling for me and just under ten and a half hours for Roger) and unloaded the boats, paid our subs, got changed and eventually headed to the river.In total there were thirteen paddlers associated with the canoe club I am a member of so on this I decided that I would keep myself and Roger to ourselves for the evening and enjoy a bit of time together with out any other paddler getting in our 'zone'. Don't get me wrong I'm not some antisocial boater that likes to paddle on their own without interacting with the paddlers around them - I smiled and said "hello" to fellow paddlers and shared the odd word in the eddies - but I felt that to get the most out of the evening I would be better left to myself and anyway it is advised to paddle the Washburn in small groups and obviously one is the smallest group physically possibl
The journey 2007-05-24 11:55:00 I posted early yesterday morning about how Roger had left home at 7:40am heading for Nelson with my dad on his way to work. This was all so that I was able to use him later in the day on the evening release at the Washburn. Well here is the follow up to that post and how I managed to meet up with Roger nine hours and twenty minutes later. I set off from my house at 3pm heading for Preston Train Station and the 15:31 to Colne.I purchased my ticket and then sat on the platform until the Northern Rail train pulled in so I could hop aboard and take my seat for the hour long journey.We went through many delightful towns including Blackburn and Burnley.I eventually reached my final destination, Brierfield, two stops from Colne, just before half four. Here I got off and started walking.I walked down Colne Road heading for the M61 motorway junction and Lomeshaye Industrial Estate.Eventually at five o'clock I was reunited with Roger, I jumped in the car once my dad had clocked off work and
The journey begins... 2007-05-23 03:03:00 I'm going paddling tonight; paddling on the Washburn that is. However the journey should prove quite interesting as Roger has already set off and I'm at home about to settle down to some revision. Why is this? Revision - my exams are in a couple of weeks; Roger already on the way - my usual source for lifts is working outside of the area and will be going straight to the Washburn so will be unable to come through my way to pick Roger and I up. Instead my dad has taken Roger with him to work at Nelson, where I will meet them later and from here we'll head onto Yorkshire for some dam release fun.Come back tomorrow for the follow-up to this post and maybe I'll have got around to tapping out something for the actual river trip.Good lines, stay safe and see you on the wet stuff...Iain
Nice Shoes 2007-05-26 03:10:00 My Teva Sunkosi Water Shoes arrived again today and this time they fitted. Hurray!!! It took a bit of time for them to arrive - I ordered them on the 29th April, they first came on the 4th May and didn't fit so they were dispatched back to Wiggle and now I've got a replacement pair, which do fit. Throughout this whole palaver Wiggle have been top notch with their customer service constantly sending me emails when something changed in relation to the order. This meant that I didn't have to worry about the order going AWOL or contact them to find out about the shoes in a moaning tone.Anyway first impression of the shoes are all positive. They are super comfy, well fitted so they can't get sucked off your feet in a swim situation and look rather HOT in jeans. I've just got to go and try them in Roger and change all the outfitting so I can get in comfortably.Good lines, stay safe and see you on the wet stuff...Iain
A water free weekend in Wales 2007-06-04 01:15:00 I had booked on my Five Star Training at the beginning of April thinking it was a long time off, however the weekend rolled around fairly sharpish. Friday afternoon saw me packing up my clobber and getting an early night so that I could be up at the crack of dawn to make the 8:45am registration in Wales
. We packed everything up on Saturday and were leaving sunny Preston at 6am heading south for the M6 and then onto the M56, M53, A55 and finally the A494. This would bring us into Bala and then there was just the short drive up the side of the Tryweryn to the The National Whitewater
Centre, Canolfan Tryweryn, where we arrived in good time with a half hour to wait before I could register.It was however unfortunate that the weekend I had chosen to do my training for the highest BCU personal award was a weekend Wales was with little water and the Llyn Celyn Dam was not releasing for the whole weekend. This meant that once registered we loaded our stuff into the back of a centre minibus
Catch up time 2007-06-13 09:58:00 I've not posted for a while, OK I have posted twice this month, but they were looking at paddling trips and on re-reading them they were a bit stale and boring. Sorry about that. I have however not posted any rambling posts (using them lovely 'Categories' down the side I can see that the last entry under 'Ramblings' was made on the 26th May) about anything and everything to do with my paddling life so this post is to make up for that.The picture has no relevance. I took it some while ago and also photo shopped it a long time ago. I just thought I'd tag it along with this post as it is totally random, just like this post.I started my A Level exams yesterday and now have only four left, which is nice. However, what is not nice is the fact that I can hardly bend my thumb's because of Sunday's hand V's rock incident. This would not have been a problem if it had just been my right thumb, but it is also my left, which basically means I can hardly hold my pen to write and answe Read more:Catch
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