This is an opportunity to progress your canoing skills towards river canoing. If your thinking about comming on a river trip or just fancy having a go this may be just the ticket.
We have bult each day as a seporate offering some may fancy having only a go of the techniques taught on the lake - and maby you’ll hop on the next tidal day.
Each stage progresses as does the dificulty of the environment in both skill and difficulty of access.
On each training day your going to get wet practicing emergency procedures as part of the skill set. The only day you might stay dry is on the river.
We have developed this course to help people transition between paddling on flat water to river paddling. This is a great into to how we would paddle on our longer trips in Scotland.
We have sepoerated the days to allow people to jump off at differing stages depending on your needs and desires. You can do 1, 2 or 3 days.
We focus on the skills each day - if you would perfer to just go canoing we have loads of other options.
The days are progessive so you would need you to do day 1 before day 2.
Based at the Acrtive Base Fell Foot Windermere this day focuses on paddling in a style compatable with river paddling.
For many of those who have flat water previously there will be much to gather about weight distribution, paddling without outriggers and paddle strokes that work with flow.
There will also be a great ammount of time dedicated to capsize, rescue and recovery.
This is also a great day for open water paddlers looking to be able to keep themselves safe on big areas of water or canals.
We have a fantastic venue for first experiences of moving water - a natural tidal flow playground near Greenodd.
We get on the water in relatively flat conditions but soon the tide turns and creates flow, eddies and obstacles.
The greatest thing is that the environment is mostly sand: a fantastic low risk place to capsize and an easy place to be rescued and recovered.
Get some great expereince of managing your boat in moving water.
The river Lune is a great stretch of river to start on. It’s relatively safe, beutiful and a lovely trip.
We meet at Kirkby Lonsdale
Today the focus is not on drills or technique but on the journey and adventure.
Lake Day
3 April 2022
Meet at Fell Foot Newby Bridge @10am
£124 per person
Tidal Day
4 April 2022
Meet at Greenodd Service Station @9am
£236 per person (Lake and Tidal days)
River day
5 April 2022
Meet at Kirkby Lonsdale River Carpark @10am
£312 per person
Depart : Approximaltely 3:30pm each day
This is a non-reisdnetial trip
Use of canoes, paddle any safety and adaptive equipmet needed
Wetsuits, and waterproofs
Lunches on all 3 days
British qualified Canoeing Instructors
Transport from and to the train station
Storage waterprooif storage containers for your spare clothing and essentials
Brush up your Canoe skills
Introduce the tactics and pricipals of paddling with flow
Introduce dynamic balance and body positioning to stablise your canoe
Practice escaping to eddies and renetering areas of flow
Practice recovery back into a canoe
Practice rope based rescues
Have a good laught and sleep like logs each night
Meet some likely adventuire buddies to join up with for more fun.
Suitable for people able to navigate short stretches of rough ground unaided and longer walks with assistance
We are well staffed for this trip, a lot of help is available for support both on and off activity time
Come with an adventure buddy
Arrange an Anyone Can volunteer guide
Suitable for those able to self manage without dedicated support or with a dedicated carer
We will help with meals, reminding about medications etc
Participants should be capable of understanding and acting appropriately around fires and at the water's edge without constant supervision
Come with an adventure buddy
The trip is possible for robust and adventurous walking aid users.
The active base has: Good surfaces, level access toilets, showers and chainging place, level access cafe and lunch room
This day is possible for an adventurous wheelchair user who can self transfer and bum shuffle
To be clear the experience a mobility impared person will have on this day will be physical and bruising.
The drills involve both physically reentering canoes from in the water, propelling yourself along in your bouyancy aid and being towed by rope to shallow water to bum shuffle independently accross rocks and slippery terrain to the shore.
This is the reality of preparing for moving water there is little time to gently manage sitiatuions in the river envronment
Suitable for people with most auditory impairments that do not require signing to communicate
A BSL assistant instructor is occasionally available
We have radios and Tloop transmission units to aid hearing when seperated in differing boats - at times these will be of no help (swimming)
Come with an adventure buddy
Arrange an Anyone Can volunteer guide
A person will need sufficianet perception to travel 100m over rough ground unaided or guided
You must be able to perceve hazards and other boats at 100m
Arrange an Anyone Can volunteer buddy
Suitable for those able to self manage without dedicated support or with a dedicated carer
We will help with meals, reminding about medications etc
Participents should be able to respond appropratly to shouted instructions and perform set skills reliably
Come with an adventure buddy
The trip is possible for robust and adventurous walking aid users.
This would represent the upper limit of what the more athletic and robust essential wheelchair user should sign up to.
We will be doing the drills described in the Lake day in an active flow.
Following this day would be the approprate time to reflect and plan for a river attemempt (unlikely to be the next day)
Suitable for those with some hearing
We have radios and Tloop transmission units to aid hearing when seperated in differing boats - at times these will be of no help (swimming)
Come with an adventure buddy
Arrange an Anyone Can volunteer guide
See tidal day
See tidal day
The trip is possible for robust and adventurous walking aid users.
In the worst case you may need to:
Climb up the river bank
Untagle youself from a tree
Swim on your back in a rapid and defend against rocks
Stand up in fast moving water with a slippey and uneven bottom
Walk back to the roadside over rough terriain with no path and possibly fences (in the case of a lost boat)
Suitable for those with some hearing. In most cases you may need a dedicated experienced guide
Arrange an Anyone Can volunteer guide
Hop on the Caladonian Sleeper and snuggle up. You will wake up in Glasgow on the morning - 1 stop on the Glasgow underground and hop on Balloch train
TOP TIP look at buying a Glasgow return ticket separately which are often much cheaper and then buy singles onwards
Or
Travel up during the day before, stay overnight in Glasgow and get the Balloch train the next day.
Any rail route that arrives in Glasgow is easy. Glasgow is the Northern terminal of the West Coast main line and Edinburgh (50mins from Glasgow) is similarly the head of the East Coast mainline. This means that most of the UK is in easy reach of a train going the right way.
Fly into Glasgow City (Belfast, Bristol, London, Birmingham, Manchester) one train to Centre then another to Balloch