CANI clubfest 2012

Last Month Was the CANI clubfest event, as per usual it was held at the share centre and many clubs took part. LCP were suffering from lesser numbers due to their Alpine tour but their was still 6 or 7 of us along for the weekend. People started arriving from 7:30 onwards on friday night and began putting up tents (pop-ups are such a cop out!!!)  The weather took a windy turn for the worse causing our tent to rip and one of the poles to snap :( This resulted in a very cramped few nights in the tiny backup tent... On Saturday morning and afternoon there was a paddle planned on the louch. As usual it was all very organised and everyone knew what was going on at all times..... the trip was still enjoyed by all. Saturday evening was bannana boating. I decided against it but went along for the ride in the speed boat. Very bouncy!!! I just had time for a quick BBQ then it was home time for me. From what i hear the rest of the weekend was also a great success. Here is a quick edit i put together from the event...

Ali

Watermark Experiences Falmouth Weekend

On the weekend of the 25^th May 2012 six of the guys who are flying out to Montenegro with WE all gathered in Falmouth for a final training weekend. The group is ranged in age from 14 to 18 years, and there are two coaches (Ages undisclosed!). I arrived at the campsite (On Tregedna Farm) to find people unwrapping all the new Palm gear which WE had ordered, and got straight in there myself! The new Zenith shorty cag was my main purchase along with some new safety gear and a pair of Gradient boots. The whole group could be seen for miles off with the shininess of it all!

WE were given a rough outline of the weekend, coasteering on Saturday morning, paddling out on the Helford river to a campsite on Saturday afternoon and then paddling back and going surfing in Porthtowan on Sunday. WE had a really nice half hour walk to the coast where we would be coasteering, providing everyone with an amazing opportunity to get well and truly sunburnt! As WE got our first glimpse of the water there were longing looks shooting out to sea, it was so hot!!! WE arrived at the first jump, an inlet with a cave at the end adding the danger of getting washed into the cave. WE managed to get five people across before the waves stopped arriving in sets and just kept coming. The remaining four people including myself decided it was too risky and walked it. WE spent the rest of the morning jumping and scrambling our way around Fal Bay.

WE headed back to the campsite to make the final preparations for our overnight trip on the Helford River. The paddle was fairly short but very scenic, with a quick stop to pick some mussels on the way. WE arrived and set up camp. There was soon a fire going and the mussels were cooking nicely, when it started to rain. WE got the marshmallows flowing and made everything better with the power of sugary snacks...

The next morning WE paddled back down to the beach and unpacked the boats, and then it was off to Porthtowan for a session in the surf. WE had lunch next to the beach then hit the surf for an hour or two; the surf was quite small but still pretty sweet. The waves were nice and green meaning lots of carving and even a bit of hand surfing. When WE got off the water there was a final talk about what to expect and plan for on the upcoming Montenegro trip, then it was back up the road to Exeter air port for the flight home to Belfast. It was a great weekend enjoyed by all, Montenegro here we come!!!

Check out the video and more photos of the weekend below:

Ali McCreery

Lisburn City Paddlers 1*/2* Course

Last weekend it was the last session of a six week 1*/2* course run by Lisburn City Paddlers. I Hadn't been to any of the previous weeks but i thought i would go and be media man for the day, here's what i came up with....

Video of the session:

 

Ali

Just wanted to put up a few of my favourite paddling photos from the last while.

Enjoy

Myself at shaws.



Mum at shaws

New jefe on maiden voyage

Just thought the water looked cool!

Paddling with mum

New JEFE Chico!!!

Ali

CANI paddlefest Moville 2012

23rd-25th march 2012
CANI paddlefest
Movile

This year paddlefest was held in movile in donegal, the forcast looked to be in favour for sea kayakers and the surfers, but, with the recent lack of rain, it was set to be a scrapey weekend for the white water lads. The plan this year was a river/sea trip on saturday and then two clinics on sunday. On saturday morning myself and all the other white water boaters (plus a couple of great coaches up from ICU) headed for the mourne, known for keeping it's water level. it was pretty low but enough to give us some fun, with the fisheries having some challenging eddies. i was able to try out the JEFE CHICO, what a boat! (this weekend resulted in the purchase of one!) On the sunday roughly the same group of people headed for the mourne again. i ended up doing 'dynamic WW paddling' with Mr Olaf Obsommer, and WW safety and rescue with Dave Caroll. Both morning and afternoon were equally enjoyable and got some hot tips from both of the guys.
Thanks to CANI for putting together such a great weekend!

Ali

On the weekend of the 9th march myself and the rest of the crew who are going on the watermark experiances trip to motenegro headed over to the river dart in devon. There had been little rain recently but there was just enough to run it all. We spent our time on saturday shooting the upper and camped by the river on saturday night. We ran the upper again on sunday and got out at the start of the loop. It was a great weekend with the only mess up being the fact that i forgot to wipe the memory on my head cam. no upper footage for me :(
thanks to Deb Pinniger for putting the whole weekend together.

Sitting at the bottom cannonball run...

Surfin' it up at lunch time.

Breakfast, watermark style

Chargin' up the wave

Ali