Dear members, what a great year it has been. A summer for river paddling (but not much else)! There were several Wednesday evening trips down the upper and middle Derwent and a memorable trip down the Greta. All round the club has had a great year with some fantastic events getting really good turnouts, like the Derwent Quest, the Pirate Treasure Hunt, and more recently the safety and rescue training. Well done and thanks to all involved in making these events happen.
So, what’s all this you may be asking? Well, it’s that time of year again where we start asking for you to give a bit back to the club... It’s time to fill in your membership and rack forms again and the AGM is not far off, when we will be looking for volunteers to join the committee.
Also, we want to let you know what’s coming and also take the opportunity to remind you all of some of the important things that we all have to do to keep the club in good shape.
We've bought two sizes of Dagger GT for club paddlers wanting to move on to white water and also a Dagger Dynamo for our younger members. There is also another open canoe on the way.
Look at this cheeky chappie, this is just one
of many options in the new range of canoe club clothing. The first
order is already in, so you should be able to check out the products
for real. But don’t think you’ve missed out, we’ll
have some forms at the AGM ready for the second order. As well as
hoodies, you can choose from various t-shirts, hats, a gillet and if
there is enough interest we can even get pants!
This notice has already gone out to the club by email, but as not all of you use email we’d just like to remind you of one of our responsibilities with respect to using the marina. Last summer we had a complaint from the marina staff because a club member has been a little too liberal minded in their post paddle changing habits and had exposed themselves to the marina car park and all its inhabitants. Please make sure that you’re all discreet when changing and don’t forget that there are free changing rooms for your use at all times.
Here are just a few little pointers to remind you of some of the important issues that keep the club ticking over:
When using the marina at times other than Wednesday night, please make sure that you introduce yourself to the marina staff and show them your membership card. Can you then display your card in your vehicle if you’re using the car park. (Remember – this all helps the marina staff in looking after the interests of the club)
The club boats are for club members only. Whilst this may seem a little harsh, and the committee have agonised over the issue, we can’t really draw a line between one or two uses by friends of club members and whole groups of non-members using the boats.
If you do bring non-club members to paddle at the marina they need to pay launching and/or boat hire fees to the marina - or even better join the club!
Remember that this is a family oriented club and children need to be accompanied by their parents at all times, even on club nights. A great opportunity to have some family fun together! (See the club rules for more details)
For those of you who missed the annual West Cumbria Canoe Club Christmas dinner, then you certainly missed out. The event was held at the George Hotel in Keswick and we were certainly well looked after, with excellent food and quick and friendly service. We also enjoyed a pub quiz, although there were some complaints that there were too many questions about canoeing!
Two very special announcements were made:
Trevor Monk was awarded the title of Honorary President of the club for his huge contribution towards the club and towards paddle sports in Cumbria over the years. Trevor’s efforts and enthusiasm have and continue to be massive and we wanted to recognise this in the best way we could.
Andrew Webb was awarded a prize for his contributions to the club in organising his excellent treasure hunt.
Over the last year we’ve had some great events. Early in the summer Peter and Mark organised some more formal coaching in open canoe skills. These were well attended and since then we’ve had calls for a Canoe 2* test to be organised by the club. Keep an eye out for more news soon.
Inspired by the Ravenglass Seaquest event Matt organised a lake orienteering event – Lake Quest. More great attendance and the opportunity to get the grey matter working as well as the core muscle strength!
Inspired presumably by Pirates of the Caribbean Andrew Webb organised a fabulous fancy dress treasure hunt around Derwent Water. We had a great turn out and some fabulous costume efforts. Rob kindly (I think) took his camera and the results will be on the website soon!
Later in the summer we were blessed with a really good evening for the annual canoe club barbeque. Somehow there were enough sausages to keep the stunning turn out happy. Especially great for those who like a night paddle, and a great reminder of what we are lucky enough to have on our doorstep!