Kevin McCabe

Ode to Prijon

2011-11-13T07:54:00.000Z

By Sonya

Everyone has seen them at the back of the club store lurking and refusing to die and of course they're too practical to dump as they still have that annual novice distance race use, they must have been really popular here at some stage! Made form serious HTP plastic these are the strongest boats on the market. The fact they need no structural pillar means that you have enough room in the back for all the rescue gear and everyone's sandwiches (a great incentive to rescue your boat first should you happen to swim!)

When did we fall out of love with them then? Especially in Ireland I've seen no recent models other than my own imported ones and generally we tend to stick with the popular models we've been exposed to by our instructors etc. The time has come to admit they get a lot right. I agree that yes, generally they're not always as pretty as the other boats (with tears in my eyes) and having a hatch in the front of your river boat for your mittens can be seen as far short of hard core cool but if I'm on a river I don't know then that's the boat that I want to be in! All those alpine paddlers can't be wrong, the boats seem to be breeding on popular runs out there and as far as rental centers go having a pretty much indestructible straightforward boat has got to be a major asset.

I recently tried another boat, shiny, new, popular with the other kids etc and well recommended, I thought I'd have a one night stand just to see t, the guilt was too much! As a replacement it would fall far short providing less stability, requiring serious aggression to put it anywhere and I found that generally it needed beaten to stay on a line. On handing it back the rep agreed with all of my complaints but didn't seem to have considered a world where you can waggle a carrot in front of your boat and it will stick fast to where you want to go and take you there on 1 good power stroke, why must we be aggressive to get down a river, have they realised that technical stretches of whitewater can be a calming experience similar to yogic chanting? My conclusion to the whole affair was a fresh bunch of flowers for the faithful mitten warmer before a nice wee stretch of grade 3 boulder garden to say sorry. I shan't be straying again for a while as there's no need, it's not like she'll be out on injury time or anything.... In short, there is a certain type of person buys prijon in these modern climes, they may not be totally sane but they have practical attributes, such as a strong sense of preservation and economics as well as finding the beauty in the use and realising that handsome is as handsome does...

Footnote by Kevin

Any boat that can pull off a 4 ender cartwheel, into a double pirouette phonics monkey-mcnasty combo ..... at 60mph on a country road and still be perfect to paddle - is alright in my book.

Thanks to the handling of my prijon cross, I have changed my style completely and now go into a calm, relaxing trance on grade 4 instead of the fitting stick insect of the past.

Tyne Tour 2011

2011-11-07T22:26:00.001Z

This year 16 fellow twits from LCP headed to Hexham for the Tyne Tour. This the largest recreation whitewater paddle in the UK.

Early on Thursday we met up for a breakfast fry in the Docks area before starting the long journey to Hexham via the ferry to Stranraer.

Thursday night - Blank

On Friday we met up with former LCP member, and Tyne area local Dave Draper who took us down the Lower Tees. This was a nice run, mostly grade2, with a bit of grade 3 with Abbey Rapids being the main feature on the run.

I paddled this in my C1 Cross, which handled everything nicely with no problems.

Friday Night - Blank

Saturday saw the actual Tyne Tour on the Tyne River as far as Hexham. In the morning before we went he annoyed the various vendors at the camp at Hexham Green. I accidentally bought a new c1 paddle, and temporarily stole a prototype Big Dog Force OC1.

The river itself was pretty flat and boring, but there were moments of interest where I got to test the Force OC1. The boat is so comfy, spins like a playboat, but boofs like a dream with the power to match - I instantly fell in love. There was even space for sandwiches.

The most fun part of the river was Warden Gorge, which on the Tour information was described as grade4, but I think that was just to scare the beginners away as I would have rated it as grade3. This was fun, if shortlived, but gave me plenty of chance to test the edges on the boat.

After a quick game of king-of-the-wave, we finished the float slog to the finish where I had to reluctantly give back the boat.

Saturday night - Blank

Up ~~bright~~ and early Sunday morning, we headed to the Upper Tees from High Force to Low Force.

This was more like it - solid continuous rapids, grade 4 sections, and a drop at the end - barely any flatwater in sight.

Somehow the group managed to make it to the last drop without any swims, although most people did portage the grade 4 section in the middle. Dave, and his paddling buddy Phil showed us the way down it, and Shug was up next with one of his first grade4 runs. He made one minor mistake, but recovered like a pro only to get beached on some rocks at the end - where he was unceremoniously dumped over by some locals - but rolled up with a smile.

I was the only remaining one in the group to run it - and I was back in the C1 creeker. I dropped into the section, and 4 strokes later was out the far end. I was extremely happy with my run down, especially as the last drop was a slot hard left - on my offside. I cant wait to see the video (coming soon) as I feel this is possible the best line I've take down a section like this.

At the end of the run is a nice 10foot drop, which most of the club ran - multiple times. I only managed 1 run, which resulted in a missed boof, a splat, and a roll resulting in a partially popped deck. Only realised about the deck when I found it difficult crossing the eddy line - must have been the extra water in the boat.

I did go off the falls one last time - but this was jumping in, with Sonya the only other from LCP to jump in.

Fun weekend, very tiring - now waiting for the video to appear

Busy Month - October 2011

2011-11-01T20:21:00.060Z

This October was a very busy month for me, with a major event every weekend.

The month started with the postponed Liffey Descent. The race had been put of for a month due to lack of rain all summer, which would have resulted in no flood for the traditional September race.

This year we finally managed a full race with no swims. We had a few close calls at the bottom of Lucan (pictured above) and another at Palmerstown.

Before the race started we were told about a tree in the normaly line at Palmerstown, and that we would have to run river left, but by the time we got the the lip we were told the normal line was clear. We didnt get across properly and got sucked into the left hand stopper of doom. Myself and Sonya held on and surfed the now fully swamped boat clear to the surprise of all onlookers.

A quick bail and we finished the race in a best yet of 9th place, but outside the 3 hour mark.

Next for me was the Sluice rodeo the following weekend. Lack of water, with what little there was being released for the descent the previous weekend resulted in a relocation to Stackallen wave on the Boyne.

A number of Team GB paddlers had come over for this, including double world champion Claire O'Hara, who not surprisingly cleaned up in the womans comp.

Myself and Orky had extra competition inthe form of Paul King who put up a good show, but not good enough for Orky and his shiny, McNasty throwing Gui-Gui.

Next up was the Crana BoaterX. This year I decided to convert my creeker to C1 to continue the tradition of paddling a different boat every year. My first run down was pretty good, although I dropped the wrong edge as i resurfaced from the stopper at the bottom, but managed to hang in for a nice roll and continued on my way.

I wouldn't be as fortunate with my second run. Even before dropping in I knew I had the wrong line. I held on the whole way down with an ever deepening low brace, but as soon as I hit the stopper my no-strap system let me down and I was sucked out of the boat. I would love to blame the lack of straps for the swim - but I am man enough to admit I simply messed up my line due to no straps.

The final weekend of the year was the UUJCC fresher trip to Gortin. This year there were over 30 people in attendance, with many novices.

Saturday we headed for the Owenkillew. The water level wasn't too high to start with, and nice and friendly for the first timers. Myself and Sonya were paddling a Jackson Dynamic Duo - which was lots of fun - and proved extremly useful in rescues - 2 pairs of hands are much better than 1.

My group powered on down the river, quickly moving from eddy to eddy and minimising swims. A heavy downpour early in the day caught up with us while waiting near the end for the other groups to run the gorge section. Quick rising water surprised many, but we finished the river without any major catastrophes.

Sunday we headed to the Mourne, which was at a quite high level. There were fewer eddies, and we decided on running the freshers straight through to the end of the fisheries section.

For this section I was joined by Zara, one of the freshers who didnt think she would be able to paddle it. Lucky for my should could, as pretty soon her deck imploded and the entire boat swamped, resulting in me practising my squirt boating skills while she paddled us through the remaining rapids safely reaching the bottom.

To say I was tired would be an understatement. Time for a rest? I think not - only 4 days until the Tyne Tour.

Upper Bann with 9 Year Old - 17-Sep-2011

2011-09-17T22:52:00.000+01:00

Its been a long time waiting - but finally there has been enough wet stuff to get back to the rivers.

Today, with a group from UUJ we were planning to paddle the Benburb, but having got there early it was obvious that it was actually too high to run with the group we had. Time for a quick jaunt over to run the Upper Bann from Banbridge instead.

The river wasn't huge - but at least had enough water to paddle down it with almost no scrapey bits at all - which is definitely a bonus.

For this trip I paddled the open boat, joined with India (age 9) on her first river run. She was great paddling through the rapids and stoppers, and soon was begging to start surfing the weirs. Luckily there were a few very good surf spots today.

The only slight mis-hap was on one of the slides near the end of the river. We ran down it fine, but at the bottom hit a rock which threw us forward into the boat, putting me into the thwart and India into the front seat. Despite the pain, both of us landed in a low brace and managed to right the almost capsized boat. Very impressive for her first time down a river.

The unbelievable highlight of the day was to go to Sonya. Somehow, she worked her magic at the bottom of a weir, chatted to a fisherman about his flies (or some other fishing mumbo jumbo) - and came away with a free brown trout. And who said paddlers and fishermen don't get along?

River Roe - 12 March 2011

2011-03-12T22:51:00.000Z

Today I had planned to go surfing.

Then unfortunately it rained last night, so instead I wanted some proper paddling and went to the Roe with some of the guys from LCP.

On the drive up, we started to pass lots of snow on the ground around the Glenshane pass. At the get in, the beach was half covered which meant it was going to be a nice average level. This didn't account for the snow that was melting. The river level rose quite a bit while we were on which made for a very fun trip.

We didn't actually spend too much time playing at any of the weirs, there was too much exciting stuff around the corner.

Halfway down the river we came to the Dogs Leap. After having a quick look, most of us decided to run it. This is normally a tricky run in through a narrow constriction, but the high water levels removed this hazard, but still left a big and bouncy run through.

From this point down things just got better. Most of the river from this point is all natural, with big water and boulders providing lots of fun.

The last man-made weir was different to any other time I had paddled it. Two big holes were protecting the only lines of interest, which just meant it would be more challenging.

I decided on the most difficult line, which was tricky in the Spanish Fly due to my lack of speed and inability to correct the 2 paddle strokes I had time for through it. This just mde it even more fun.

A good clean run down one of my favourite rivers in the north. I really need to paddle this more often.

Shaws Slalom - 6 March 2011

2011-03-07T18:10:00.028Z

Sunday saw one of the first slalom competition since the redevelopment of the Shaws Bridge site. I entered in C1 and C2 with Niall Cockbill from WWKC.

The course set up had a few tricky gates set-up, with one of the most annoying ones, gate 5, at the first weir not quite in the eddy or the flow, and very close to the weir itself.

In my first run in the c1 I attacked this gate a bit too hard and caught an edge causing me to capsize. As I rolled back up my strap popped, which meant I wasn't able to commit to any of the turns on the rest of the course as I wanted to. I got back up and through the gate and finished the run in a respectable enough time clipping only 1 gate at the end.

Next up was my first c2 run with Niall. For once I was able to paddle on my strong side at the front, and we put in a decent time hitting 3 gates. We probably lost time due to my natural tendency to do cross bow strokes.

After the break it was time for second runs. Since I already had a decent time time in c1 (beating some actual slalom paddlers) I went all out to do the fastest run I could manage. I was dipping under the gates and hitting them all very high, and everything was going well until I was surfing back across the third weir. My srap popped again, causing me to capsize, and since I was in the stopper I was pulled straight out of the boat. Not to worry, there was a local news crew there to record the whole thing. Good to know my swims are news worthy.

When it came to the second run in the c2, I was concentrating on not doing cross bow strokes, and it worked really well. Myself and Niall really worked well together and we got a very good line through all the gates hitting just one. We were dipping the boat comfortably which was unexpected due to the heavier paddler being in the front.

We finished 4th out of 7 crews, which I was very happy with especially considering I was the only non slalom paddler in c2.

I still managed 7th (out of 9) in C1 despite only 1 run which had a roll in it. Next time I will outfit the boat myself and try and get even closer to the full time slalom paddlers.

Thanks to Navarat Turner for the photos.

River Lagan with LCP

2011-02-26T17:40:00.000Z

Today a large group from LCP headed for a ran down the Lagan from Lambeg to Shaws Bridge. This is quite a long run, about 4-5miles, so I wimped out and took the big boat and dog.

Whilst most of the river is flat, there are a number of wiers to keep yourself interested. There was a decent enough water level, with very few scrapey parts, which is weird for this river.

The first of the bigger weirs was Church Hill weir, which had a nice, yet retentive wave at the bottom. I only got stuck in it twice whilst surfing. Not too bad the first time as I got out with only a foot of water, but the second time I ended up having to swamp fully to get out. Didnt help much that Brian was pushing down on the back of my boat when I was trying to surf out of it backwards.

The weir at Drumbeg had quite a large towback on it, so Graeme lined his boat into it to demonstrate to the group exactly what it looks like when a boat is stuck in a stopper - something we never want to see with a person still in it.

Eels Weir at Edenderry was a very nice level, and I was very impressed at managing a completly dry line through it.

Not to much of a paddle left until we finished up at Shaws bridge. Unfortunately I had left my wheels at home so had to carry the boat back up to the carpark, much easier with the wheels - at least the dog can pull it then.

Thanks to Derek for the photos.

Mourne Race - 23-Jan-2011

2011-01-23T21:59:00.000Z

With weather and car problems conspiring against me, I havnt got much paddling done recently. Today saw the Mourne race which was rescheduled from its usual December date due to a frozen river.

Today still wasn't the warmest, but at least we got into positive temperature figures.. just.

A large group from Lisburn headed over to Newtownstewart for the race which was on a low water river Mourne. Unfortunatley Sonya was unable to come today, so instead of racing the open boat completly alone I brought Qiqi with me for company.

There was quite a large turnout, with 8 open boats in total, 5 of which (including me) were put in a separate category for solo paddlers.

At the start the tandems, as expected, took the lead. However, both myself and Paul Strawbridge managed to keep fairly close to them for the first 1km or so. I pulled very slightly ahead of Paul coming into the fisheries, which was the first, and most challenging whitewater section of the 7mile race. I was right behind the last of the tandems, who took a spill at the top, but recovered quickly, but allowed me to cut through the inside of the main wave of the section.

I made it through all the whitewater sections of the race without any problem, but had Paul within sight for most of the race. I couldn't let up and kept pushing for the entire race.

I came in a minute or two ahead of Paul to win the solo category, and apparently was only about 4minutes behind the winning tandem boat.

Congratulations to Mary who took second place in Womens GP for Lisburn

River Bann - 20/21 November

2010-11-23T18:55:00.000Z

I seemed to spend all of this weekend on the Bann, from Banbridge down to Tullylish.

On Saturday I headed out with a couple of guys from LCP, with 2 MUCK impostors. The river was a very high level with all the recent rain, with most of the usual playspots too flushy, but a lot of new ones came into play. This was the first time myself and Eddie had been out since getting our 4star leadership award last weekend and we were put to the test a few times.

With the water level so high, and fast flowing we had to be on the ball as few in the group had much experience of a river this high or fast flowing. There were only 1 or 2 minor incidents, but were all handled quickly to allow everyone to get back to the fun.

On Sunday I returned with a group from UUJCC. The water level had dropped from the previous day, and most of the weirs were stickier than the previous day, with 1 or 2 particularly retentive. I was the crash-test dummy testing just how sticky things were. This was lots of fun, and resulted in a few fights to get back out.

A good weekend paddling - now where has that rain gone.

Owenkillew - Sunday 7-Nov-2010

2010-11-08T21:45:00.000Z

Yesterday saw an early start - making my way over to Gortin for 10am to meet a few guys from MUCK to run the Owenkillew.

It had been a few years since I had run this river, but held many early paddling memories for me, including my first river roll and taking Sonya as a beginner down the gorge in a topo duo.

My weapon of choice for the day was my trad open boat - Qiqi hadn't been out in a while so I brought her for some company.

We had a few novices with us, but was a small and tight group so it was all run quite relaxed - especially since Eddie had borrowed my armchair called Peapod.

The river is a nice grade 2 with a short grade3 section towards the end. It was perfect for people in the group to get to grips with whitewater, and most people even made it down the gorge.

The only downside to the trip was Qiqi stealing my kitkat when we stopped for lunch.

Crana Weekend 2010

2010-11-01T22:02:00.000Z

This weekend saw the return of the Crana Canoe weekend.

I headed up on Saturday morning for the first day of the dam release. There was slalom and freestyle on today. I was only taking part in the freestyle, which wasnt the most exciting event due to the shallow feature, but was lots of fun which resulted in a party wave and high-5s during the competition.

However, it was Sunday most people were looking forward with the return of the carnage fest which was the boaterx.

This year there was an intermediate event held only on the grade 3 section. I entered this paddling the c! gyramax. My first run started slowly, but I soon built up speed, and rammed the other competitors in my heat out of the way to be in the lead by a few lengths by the final weir. Unfortunatly I took it a bit too cautiously and ended up at the far side from the finish and lost places as I made my way across.

My second run saw me running against Sonya who had commandeered Peapod - and promptly disappeared into the distance to come 3rd in the ladies event.
I punched so hard through the first weir I popped my left strap, and like the idiot I am continued on without fixing it. Just as I came to the most continuous and rocky section I rode up on a rock - which isn't normally an issue, but in trying to raise my left edge my knee came out through the spraydeck. This resulted in a very painful beating as my right foot was jammed in the boat and took quite some time to free myself.

Not to worry - the advanced boaterx was to come next, and I was doing away with the skirt and hopping into the spanish fly for the grade4 fun. I have only done 1 river run in the OC-1 so far, and that was mostly grade2 - so I had a lot to be worried about.

My first run went ok, I got the line I wanted, but had no momentum and capsized in the stopper at the bottom. Although it didn't feel like it, video evidence showed I half rolled the boat up - but was still in the stopper so I bailed.

More determined now, I nailed the second attempt, got a big launch off a rock leading into the top of the section, which gave me enough speed and momentum to steer down through the stopper at the bottom and come away with only 2 inches of water in the bottom of the boat. Success!!!

What next year - tandom canoe?

Sluice Fun Rodeo 2010

2010-10-19T18:19:00.001+01:00

Saturday saw the return of the Sluice Fun rodeo. As the name suggests, this is fun.

The competition is run on a jam format, meaning a flush isn't the end of your competition, and you get to compete against people and not a scoresheet.

The feature was quite flushy, and as such proved difficult to stick moves in the C1. I still managed a few more basic moves, but couldn't stick loops or pirouettes.

There was also an old school rodeo, in which I paddled a Perception Gyramax C1. This was fun, for as long as it lasted. Unfortunately the straps in the boat were terrible and popped as soon as I capsized. With no other outfitting I only managed 1 or 2 successful rolls - but I did get a nice big ender for my troubles.

The day ended with a no-spray decks boatercross. I ended up getting blocked by everyone - for some reason they weren't happy with me paddling a 4meter long boat in a race against playboats.

EDIT: Just found a picture of the gyramax getting sucked under just before a popout

Annacloy - Saturday 02-Oct-2010

2010-10-03T18:07:00.000+01:00

Finally - after a few months of car problems and no rain both come good at once.

I headed to run the Annacloy in Co. Down with Piggin Paddlers. The lever had come down from the previous day when there was lots of rain - but it was still a very high level.

I was paddling in the Spanish Fly, my first proper river run in it. It was good to experience the way the handling changes with varying levels of water in the middle of rapids. It turns very quick, and so I was trying to hit difficult eddies. I had a close call on the grade 3 bit, when I was trying to ferry across a diagonal stopper to hit a micro-eddy on the far side, when the back of the boat caught and i swamped. Hitting the wall with the eddy, I bounced out and carried on down the river, almost capsizing going over a wave due to the water sloshing in the boat - I realy love my low brace in this boat.

There were a few good spots to play on here, mostly carving and spins. There was one hole where I some how got some downtime - in a Spanish Fly!! The boat was sucked into the hole and it wasn't until the water was halfway up my chest when I popped free.

It was a good day out, and I am a lot more confident now to run harder stuff in the boat, it is so responsive in white-water. Roll on the winter

Cork Rodeo 2010

2010-09-13T19:28:00.000+01:00

Saturday saw this years Cork Rodeo at the Cork Sluice on the Lee.

I made the long journey down with both C1 and OC1, picking Niall and the Irish Freestyle PA on the way.

Unfortunately there was no release for the event, so instead of the usual thrashy and aptly named "hole of death" we had a much more relaxed affair.

There were 3 C1s competing, with Jack Phelan from Waterford having his first outing. I spent most of my runs trying to get a Space Godzilla just so I would beat Niall as Phonics Monkeys weren't sticking in the hole. I almost got one, but was a bit too scrappy to count. Due to the lack of power we resorted to silly moves like paddle spins and rail grabs, and even the odd shudder rudder.

I competed in the OC1 in the same heats as the mens sport so I could have a break between my runs. The feature didnt have enough power to cartwheel, so I had to resort to spins and enders. I went for some air and flamboyance at the end by paddling into the feature standing in the boat and leaping out - crowd pleasing to the end.

Liffey Descent 2010

2010-09-07T19:02:00.001+01:00

Saturday saw the 51st Liffey Descent.

For the 3rd year, Sonya and myself headed to Dublin to race in the Touring Canadian Doubles class.

Unlike previous years we have competed, Saturday morning was very very wet - with the first rain in months. Despite this moods were still high in the car park in Straffan.

Luckily the rain stopped about 10 minutes before we were to get on the water and start the paddle up to the start line.

After much waiting around the race finally started, and before long the final group, the open boats were allowed to go.

First up was Straffan Weir - just after the start. Last year we got a decent line on river right, and this year I was amazed that somehow Sonya brought us down a line so far right I looked longingly at the stopper we had completely missed. No bailing required, great start and on with the Jungle.

We carried on, making up a few places until the portage, where as usual we make up a number of places from having the wheels ready for running, and wading through the ditch at the end to avoid the queue to get back on.

This year we decided to run the Sluice instead of the chicken line, and I believe we may have got some air at the bottom as our boat went at about 60 degrees up the wave and over the back of it.

Wrens nest was our only slip this year - literally - as I simply fell out of the boat halfway down the weir due to the amount of edge on the boat on my offside. We quickly gathered ourselves, and boat and headed to the last big weir or Palmerstown. This year we nailed the perfect line, and swung around the wave to avoid getting nay water in the boat.

The finish in sight - we spot Niall in his C1 WWR (which we discover later had 14 holes and a bend in it) and we push for the finish.

We came across the line in just over 3hours, in 12th place and the 1st mixed crew to finish - success - roll on next year

Upper Bann 17-July-2010

2010-07-18T15:49:00.000+01:00

Following all the recent rain a group of us from LCP met up with some Donegal refugees for a run on the Bann from Banbridge to Gilford.

The river level was enough for a decent run down, although it was a lot lower than we were expecting with the recent heavy rain.

There were a lot of spots suitable for playing on the full length of the river, and one where we had a huge party wave - which was great fun.

Normally when doing this run, we would get out at Tullylish, however recently CANI has been trying to get paddlers to continue to Gilford where there is a better get-out and a carpark.

This, however resulted in a very long flat-water paddle - taking at least 30mins with only 2 additional weirs. This proved to be a major problem in the C1 and by the end I was struggling to move.

Despite the extra flat paddle at the end a good day out was had by all.

Thanks to Catriona Woods from DCC for the pics.

CANI Clubfest 2010

2010-06-28T22:34:00.010+01:00

This weekend saw the inaugural CANI Clubfest at the Share Centre in Enniskillen - with most clubs in NI meeting up for a weekend of paddling and fun.

We arrived on the Friday night, and after setting up camp and getting dinner myself and Niall headed to the water for a spot of late squirt boating.

The water was weirdly warm- although unfortunately it was about 5inches too shallow, and you hit the bottom just before getting vertical - but it was fun.

Saturday saw all 100+ paddlers make the 5mile paddle from Crom back to the Share Centre. This was done in a variety of boats, mostly sea kayaks and open boats, but a few river runners and even a playboat.

I paddled one of the CANI sea kayaks, and I'm not sure if it was due to lack of padding on the seat, or the alien sitting down position, but I soon suffered from cramp in my legs.
Not to be deterred - I got my hands on a canoe paddle, some knee pads, and I soon had a C1 sea kayak.

This proved to be a great idea, I was more comfortable, ans paddling as fast, if not faster than the same boat being paddled sitting down. Definitely something I need to do properly in the future.

We stopped for lunch just past the halfway point where the canoe paddled was liberated by its rightful owner, so i was back to sitting down.

On Sunday morning each club was to run a taster session of a certain discipline for other people to try. Myself and Niall helped Rodger Hamilton from CANI run a freestyle session. This was a bit tricky due to a shortage of suitable boats, I only had a C1 with me and Niall only had a squirt, but we managed to get suitable boats and fun was had.

It was after these sessions that things descended into chaos. I got my hands on a waveski - which after trying to tailsquirt a few times we tried to fit as many people on it at once as we could. After much trying we discovered 3 people could sit on it for a few seconds before falling in.

The weekend was a great success - roll on next year

Photos courtesy of Navarat Turner and Derek Stephenson

Austria Day 4

2010-06-16T22:44:00.000+01:00

Today I get up early to compete. I am the first person to compete and open the competition in the OC-1 class. I am able to borrow a boat from Philippe from Germany, a Robson CU-Fly. I have never paddled one of these before, and was initially a bit nervous and apprehensive, but all the Irish team have turned out to support me. Soon all the nerves go and I drop into the feature. The boat handles very nicely, and luckily is very easy to roll. I am very happy with my run, and whilst I didn't make the cut for the finals, I am now 6th in Europe!

Next up were the junior men. Neil and Daniel don't have great runs, but Eoin Keyes pulled off a big air loop, and all the other moves he had been practising and finished 8th, moving into Fridays semi-final.

Next were the womens pre-lims. Unfortunately none of them made the cut for the semis either.

The final category of the day was the C1. I am in the first heat and I go into it feeling a lot more comfortable following this mornings session. I am very happy with my performance today following how I have been faring all week, finishing in 16th.

Since I didn't make it past prelims, the pressure is now off, so I can work on stuff in the hole for the next few days in between the rest of the competition.

Up tomorrow is the Mens K1.

Austria Day 3

2010-06-16T08:26:00.001+01:00

I get up early for a morning session before the nations training starts, but only manage about 10mins before the feature is closed. It wasn't a good session anyway.

Team training is at 11.45, this time i have been lent a better paddle by Adrian, but I'm still not getting on great. Towards the end of the session the paddle snaps just before i enter the hole. Luckily I manage to stop myself going into it with no paddle.

In the evening we headed to the castle for the opening ceremony. This was good fun, and had the youngest junior, Daniel, as our flag bearer. There was a buffet put on and a free bar - maybe not the best idea the night before the competition starts. I have to be up early as I am opening the competition in the OC-1 class at 10am.

Austria Day 2

2010-06-14T17:16:00.001+01:00

I sleep in late today - making up for the journey over I suppose.

Free practise today ends at 10.50, so I just take it easy until the scheduled team training at 3.30. I'm really not doing good and I'm getting no moves.

The flow of the river is even stronger today, making a tricky eddy even harder to get into. As I try to stop flushing past it i end up landing on the rocks, where i get the paddle ripped out of my hand as I capsize. By the time I get out of the boat the paddle is probably 20miles down stream. A few of us chase down after it, but there is no sign of it.

My paddling is done for the day and I now have to try and source a paddle as my spare is rubbish.

Austria Day 1

2010-06-13T21:13:00.001+01:00

I get on the water at 10:00 for an hour long session. The hole is tricky and will take some time to get used to.

I get on again at 3pm with all the Irish team as we swamp the hole to have a team training session. I finally get a spin in the feature and try a loop - which failed.

Most of the team seem to be getting to grips with the hole which is good.

It starts raining very heavy, so I'm heading to bed for an early night - I need it.

Austria Day 0

2010-06-13T08:45:00.003+01:00

Early start in the morning - leave at 4.45am heading to Belfast City Airport. Checkin went fine, no issues or extra charges for boat. Was through security by 5.30 for the 6.50 flight to Gatwick.

The flight was on time and got to Gatwick and checked in fine again with no issues again with the boat. Unfortunately the plane was delayed by 40mins due to an issue with the air-conditioning on the plane.

Finally we get underway and land in Vienna not too far behind schedule. The 32degree heat upon arrival is killing me.

Collect all my baggage and get the short bus to the train station. Just about make the 4.30pm train to make the 6hour journey to Lienz.

Spoil myself with a beer on the train - i need it to cool down

Only 1 transfer of trains, in Villach. I am helped on the the train by someone who turns out to be a former member of the Austria WWR team. I look through some photos he took at a recent race and invite him down to watch the freestyle finals next weekend.

Get to Lienz at 10.30, pitch the tent, and then go off and party with the Austrians and Germans

Leaving for Austria - European Freestyle Championships 2010

2010-06-11T20:52:00.001+01:00

Well here it is - after much drama and chaos involving car engines blowing, lack of funds, and last minute refunds of ferry and flights booked the time is almost here.

I fly out of Belfast tomorrow morning to make my way to Lienz in Austria to compete in the European Freestyle Kayak Championships for Ireland. Due to last minute issues requiring me to fly I will only be competing in the C1 category unless I find an OC1 boat out there.

I will try to update the blog as much as possible during my trip so please keep checking back.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank the people who have helped me make this journey through extreme generosity.

Philip Turner
Joe Kerr
Claire Feenan
and
Terry Cross of Delta Print & Packaging

Without the kind donations from the above people this trip would not be going ahead.

Thanks to everyone who has wished me luck and see you all on my return.

Video from Shaws Bridge

2010-06-05T00:13:00.001+01:00

Check out the video made by Conrad

Shaws Bridge 02-June-2010

2010-06-03T01:01:00.000+01:00

After having a week off paddling due to sickness - I headed down to the lovely "clean" lagan at shaws bridge for a play.

I had also just received my new PeakUK Combi shorty cag today which was getting tested. It proved to be as dry as my long sleeved cag - only felt a lot more comfortable. Great piece of kit.

Present were myself, Niall, Conrad, Colin and Johnny. Water levels were low as expected, but the first weir now provides a nice playhole following the recent work involving a digger.

A fun session was had all round with me working on loops, phoneix monkey and space godzilla's.

I am still not quite getting my loop, but after looking at some video footage, and consulting with Niall and Conrad it appears that I have the timing sorted, but im just not tucking hard enough for this feature, however I should be able to get it in a larger feature.

Today the hole was not at a nasty retentive level, but was still good enough to string multiple ends and provide enough pop to work on a space godzilla.

There is a video to come soon, but for now here are a few photos from early in the session.

All pictures taken by Conrad Daly

Canoe Polo - LCP vs MUCK

2010-05-24T19:09:00.000+01:00

On Sunday, a group of us from Lisburn City Paddlers headed to Ballyronan to face a polo challenge from Mid Ulster Canoe and Kayak club.

This was going to be interesting from the start since the only people in LCP who had played polo were myself and Sonya.

Most of the people playing were beginners, and was whilst was played for fun, was still played hard.

In the first game I managed to stop most shots, until the dying minutes when the only div2 player present finally got one past me.

In the second game I got a goal following a perfect pass through 3 opposition players from Sonya.

However - I cant seem to remember the final score from that match ;)

Shaws Bridge Slalom

2010-05-10T22:27:00.002+01:00

Sunday saw a slalom competition at Shaws Bridge organised by CSNI (Canoe Slalom Northern Ireland). This was also the first event of the CANI league.

There was a big turn out seeing over 50 paddlers compete over the day.

I competed in both C1 and C2 with Niall. It was good to have one of CANI's C1 slalom boats to paddle as last time at a Slalom I had to use my playboat.

First runs for me were the C1 runs. Both runs I hit just the 1 gate each, making it the cleanest of any C1 runs in the day, however my speed between the gates let me down and I finished 3rd overall.

Next up was the C2 race, which had a large number of competitors this year. This was a lot of fun, as both of us were very confident in throwing the boat around, tail-squirting at many gates. Out of the 7 entrants, myself and Niall came 4th - which isn't bad for 2 freestyle paddlers in a field full of real slalom paddlers.

As if the C2 wasnt fun enough, Niall had brought his squirt boat too, and once the competition was over it was time for some sinky action before the prize giving.

Many thanks to Navarat Turner for all the professional photos.
You can find more from the event at her site http://community.webshots.com/user/aqua_invader?action=profile

All pictures Copyright Navarat Turner 2010

Irish Nationals - Round 1 - Limerick

2010-05-03T00:18:00.001+01:00

Saturday saw round 1 of the Irish Nationals at Curragower in Limerick.

This was to be my first time competing in the Spanish fly, and most of the people there had never seen a boat like it, never mind someone paddling it.

OC-1 was to be the first category to run on the feature, which provided great amusement to those watching. Unfortunately the feature was still forming when I had to go, so it was very green and difficult to catch. Having never paddled here before I struggled, but still managed to put up a score - which seemed to impress a lot of people who believe you need a spraydeck.

C1 was to be the last category to run, so I spent most of the rest of the competition in the Judges tent scribing. I got to see a number of fairly impressive runs from a few of the guys in the mens K1 - although the feature wasn't as good as it can be which stopped the biggest moves being thrown.

This gave me a chance to watch exactly how they were catching the wave, and using it, and i was really looking forward to the C1 competition where I would get to go back into the feature.

Just as the last few K1 runs were coming to an end the feature started to die. All the C1-ers ran to try and get at least 1 run in before the feature died completely, but by this stage even if you did catch the wave you flushed as soon as you started to initiate a move.

The following day I headed with Orky and Niall to a newly discovered squirt spot round the corner in Limerick. We only had 2 squirt boats with us, so I resorted to being camera man from the spanish fly. This actually worked out well as I could take good pictures, and still provide rescue when Orkys boat sprung a leak and he went down more than he anticipated.

Hopefully after some boat repairs I should get squirting myself next time.

Canoe Camping - Salt Island

2010-04-26T18:23:00.001+01:00

This weekend there was a CANI recreation paddle staying overnight on Salt Island, which is in Strangford Lough about 1mile from Killyleagh.

I was unable to make the morning start time, but headed out from Killyleagh in the evening to meet the group.

Travelling light, me and Qiqi (my dog) soon made it over to the island, where there were around 30 people already, from young kids to seasoned paddlers.

I soon found a nice spot in the forest behind the bothy to pitch my tent, had a quick bite to eat, then started the important bit - drinking around the camp fire.

We had fun with the dog running around with a glow stick attached to her B.A.

In the morning, we packed up camp and loaded the boats. We were going to head south to swing round Gores Island to return to Killyleagh with the wind behind us.

Not far out from Salt island we came across a Viking long-boat anchored in the middle of the lough. I climbed into it and most of the kids soon followed. We were tempted to paddle it but that might be construed as theft.

We turned around Gores Island to head back to Killyleagh. There was a bit of wind behind us so I rafted up with another canoe and attempted sailing using a sleeping bag as a sail. This would have been successful if the wind hadnt decided to die as soon as we put the sail up.

We gave up on that idea and paddled the rest of the way back.

It was a good trip with lots of good people. Hopefully I will be able to spend more time out at Salt Island during the summer when there is no water in the rivers.

Mega Random Freestyle Weekend

2010-04-19T23:50:00.001+01:00

New boat arrived on Wednesday so what better way to break it in than with a last minute trek across the country.

With my new Spanish Fly (and wheelboy) I headed down to Wicklow on Friday night. The plan originally was to head to Curragower in Limerick for an impromptu competition before heading to Clifden for team training.

Both were cancelled, Limerick due to no feature working, and team training due to lack of interest at short notice.

On Saturday morning, myself and Niall headed to have a look at Jacksons Falls, a Grade 4 drop 5minutes drive from Nialls house in Wicklow. He had a C1 creekboat he hadnt tested and I had the spanish fly. Unfortunatly there wasnt even enough water to make it worth the carry to do the drop itself.

We packed the playboats and headed towards Dublin. We dropped into i-canoe to give the guys some abuse on the way, and found that we were going to be lucky and have a Liffey release soon. After the abuse was dished out we headed straight for the Sluice, getting kitted out and on the water just as the release was having effect.

I stuck to the Spanish fly for the whole session, which was very interesting as I had only paddled one once before, and that was a year ago on flat water. The edges were very nice to throw around, however I need to give the outfitting lots of attention. The saddle is very high, and my makeshift hip pads kept falling out. I did manage 1 roll, but had a few swims too, nothing a bit of outfitting wont sort.

With the sluice session coming to an end we had 3hours to make the 180mile trip to the other side of the country when the evening Clifden session was to start.

We made it over to Clifden not long into the session, but in the C1's we were both stuggling to catch the feature for most of the session. We simply could not build up the speed to paddle up into it, instead having to carry our boats round and drop down into it. Towards the end of the session, as people started to leave, the hole became much easier to get into, but also much harder to get out of. It handed out a few beatings but was still enjoyable and I came close to getting my first C1 loop.

With the session over, it was time to head to a local beach to camp for a few hours, to be back for the morning session which was to start soon after 6am :(

Up in the morning, it really wasnt nice putting on cold wet gear after very little sleep, but the feature was being nice to us today. It was a pretty much perfect level for C1s, powerful, and yet easy enough to paddle up into.

By the end of the session I was consistently throwing roundhouses, and had the odd backstab thrown in for good measure. Very worthwhile session.

It was weird being off the water, and sorted after paddling before 10am. As we headed back north we were going to stop for a play at a northern "secret" spot, but unfortunatly it wasn't working.

But still - have 3 full sessions at 2 of the best Irish features in 1 weekend is none too shabby. Got some stuff sorted out, and know what I still need to work on.

The new boat looks like it will be good, I just need to get the outfitting sorted and see where we go from there.

Shaws Bridge

2010-04-09T20:23:00.000+01:00

Following a hard week at work I decided to sneak off to the local spot in Belfast for a splash around before the weekend paddling started properly.

When I got there I had a quick look and levels were still high from the rain earlier in the week.

I got kitted out and hit the water.

Unfortunatly the level was both too high, and not high enough. I spent a bit of time at each of the 4 weirs, but all of them were incredibly flushy and unsurfable.

I decided, because I was on my own, it wasn't worth the hassle for no reward - so got out after 30mins.

Levels look promising for a half decent play run this weekend. And there is sun forecast too, could be a good weekend

Easter Sunday - Six Mile Water

2010-04-04T22:20:00.000+01:00

Easter Sunday was a day for eating chocolate and heading to the Six Mile Water with Lisburn City Paddlers..

A large group turned up, one of the biggest groups I've paddled with in a while.

There were plenty of weirs for playing on all the way down the river, with a really good one, about halfway down providing a huge party wave potential. We spent a long time there, practising cartwheels and roundhouses. I even pulled off a few hashed back-stabs too.

We started messing around getting rafted groups to surf the weir, which was great for building confidence in a few of the more nervous paddlers in the group.

I then made a silly decision to start ramming a local coach who had joined us, pushing him clear of the wave. This was all fun and games until he decided to pull my deck and tip me whilst we were both on the wave. I got his deck pulled, but he had backup to keep him upright, and i sank off whilst he only had a few inches of water in his boat. The water wasn't too chilly, and quite enjoyed the impromptu squirt session.

At the end of the run there was steep slide weir which provided very nice, big retentive wave at the bottom. This was great, if only a bit shallow. After cracking his hand a few times Niall gave up the c1, letting me get back in it. Was very pleased managing a few shuvits and flat spins in it considering this wave had a nasty habit of turning you to your offside and not let you turn back too easily.

Annacloy

2010-04-03T22:14:00.001+01:00

With lots of rain recently, I headed to the Annacloy with Piggin Paddlers.

The level looked good at the get in, but things felt very weird at the start as I was paddling my K1 playboat for the first time in a very long while. I was more used to the stability of the big boat, or the extra leverage of the C1.

The water was flowing very fast, and we had 1 or 2 issues with low trees. Most of the usual playspots on the run were washed through and not at all retentive, but there were still enough spots to play on. One of the first we came across had low hanging vines in the middle of it, which made things quite interesting.

We had 1 incident early on with a swimmer in a tree, although luckily he washed straight through it, but not before I cut my leg hopping the barbed wire fence - at least that's the worst thing that happened there.

Further down myself and Niall found a very nice retentive wave and practised our flat-spins and roundhouses. I tried a cross-bow pirouette, but realised it is a lot easier in the C1 as I splatted on my face.

At the final weir Wilson capsized, and when attempting to roll took a hell of a beating with rocks. He swam from the boat, but the river turned into a tight twisty mess of low trees. Luckily he got out quite quickly, and after a few minor dramas I managed to pin his boat in a tree for easy retrieval. His paddle did not survive though, but hopefully will reappear when the water levels go down.

Once we got sorted, I gave him my paddle for the short 5mins to the finish and decided to do a spot of hand paddling. As we got off a promising shower of heavy rain came on - roll on tomorrow

Scotland

2010-03-30T20:43:00.003+01:00

With only 4 days notice - myself and 3 others decided to plan a trip to Scotland for some overdue quality boating.

Day 1 - As the ferry came into dock at Troon on Friday morning, the captain gave the announcment that "unfortunately" there was heavy rain at our destination - things were already looking good.

Within a few minutes of driving on the motorway we came across this welcoming sign;

We carried on to our first stop which was the Falloch. We looked at the falls and I decided to leave it until the last day. But we did paddle the short grade 4 section after the falls.

We packed up and headed for the Etive. This was a great trip with medium-low water level which was perfect for getting into the way of things. Eddie sprained an ankle on "Letterbox" and Niall temporarily dislocated his shoulder at the "Crack of Doom" - before the next drop popped it in for him again.

Day 2 - After a quick visit to the hospital to sort out the previous days injuries - we were given the all clear to carry on. We took it easy, and decided to try the Roy. Levels here were low, so we headed to the Spean and paddled down from just below Monessie Gorge. This was a fun relaxed paddled with a few nice waves to surf on the way down - although we only managed 3 on the party wave at a time.

Day 3 - Lots of heavy rain overnight looked good - but on returning to the Etive we found the levels were too high for us as we simply didn't have enough paddlers to setup up safety, or the all important cameras. We headed to the Loy which was a nice grade 3 run with a few grade 4 sections. We found a very nice playhole and started experimenting with what the bigger boats could do.

We also decided to practise a z-drag half way down for a break - hoping we would not actually need one.

After the nice paddle we decided we wanted to go park and huck. It was decided to head to Nevis to run Polldubh Falls. A nice collection of tourists gathered on the bridge to watch Niall and myself paddle past the lip of certain death to take the nice grade 5 drop into the pool below. According to the guidebook we had now entered "The Big Boys League"

Day 4 - Final day, we decided to revisit the Etive so Eddie and Niall could face their swims and prove it was a fluke. Everything was going to plan until we came to the "Letterbox". I ran it first, cocked up my line and capsized. I quickly hit my head and realised it was Eddies rock from day 1. I abandoned ship just in time to avoid the syphon my boat was heading for. No real harm down - apart from a grazed elbow and minor cag repair. The others ran it fine, with Eddie being pleased to defeat the drop that sprained his ankle. No other issues with the rest of the run, we packed up quickly to head to Falloch before the ferry.

Today, the 35ft of Falloch was not as intimidationg as it was on Friday - Polldubh saw to that. Grabbing our boats we headed to the top - ensuring of course cameras and camcorder were in place to capture it.

As soon as my boat hit the water at the top, everything fell silent, calm, and peacefull. I paddled gently over the lip and the free fall felt quite pleasant. I got my tuck perfect, enterting the water at the bottom almost vertical.

Once we had run the falls we got packed up to head for the ferry. Thinking the driving was almost done as we pulled into Troon we were then informed the ferry was cancelled due to the weather. We managed (just) to make the ferry leaving Cairnryan, but resulted in a late night return. Still a great trip

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2008-06-07T01:49:00.001+01:00

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