As the term draws to a close..

Tyne Tour boats at the ready at the Upper Tee’s

Wow where has the time gone, feels only a few weeks ago that we welcomed new members for their first paddle on the Brayford and now we are having our last session of 2014 in a few days.

We have welcomed some awesome new members this year. As well as the support of returning members. From BCU level 1 coach’s to people who’ve never kayaked before. As always we’ve welcomed a mix bunch and we’ve been learning the skills ready to earn level 2 skills in the new year.

Off the water we have had a blast. Our event organisers have treated us to some top social this term. From visiting the fireworks at the showground, pub golf, bowling and of course playzone. We wait to see what they plan for us for the rest of the academic year.

And of course we had Tyne Tour. It was called the best Tyne Tour ever by current members, we don’t know if it was the good weather or the company which made that happen. But we all agreed it was an amazing time and we even managed to get featured in The Linc newspaper.

L.U.C.K Christmas Meal 2014

As I write this post, the memories from our Christmas meal are fresh in my mind. Our club meals are always a great chance to say bye for the term. And of course in true L.U.C.K style, suit up! We also did the traditional awards which you can read more about on our Awards page on this website.

So what to do without kayaking for 2 weeks, you can read our top tips here in another post. And of course we’ll still be tweeting away and posting on Facebook so you’ll never be to far from a Kayaker.

Have a good final few weeks, and we’ll see you all on the 10th of December for our last paddle of the term. Wrap up warm and bring a santa hat! As we might visit a certain Coke truck!

Happy Paddling

Big Brayford Clean Up

A warm autumns day, the perfect day to clear some rubbish from the Brayford.

Some of our members showing off their strength in pulling stuff out of the Brayford. Photo: Lincoln SU.

If you don’t know, the Brayford Pool is the large body of water in Lincoln. It provides a great open flat water for loads of different types of uses. River craft, canal boats and various canoe clubs all use it and love it! It’s also a great asset for the city and provides an attractive waterfront feature for both the city and university. As such we like to treat it well.

So on the 28th of October we joined the University of Lincoln Students’ Union Volunteering team and headed out onto the Brayford in canoes to clear up what was lurking underneath.

During the afternoon we were out on the water we helped rescue 2 grapple hooks which were stuck on objects and cleared various items from the water. Including 4 bikes, road blocks, chairs and other rubbish. Including a coconut.

It was great to provided something back to the keeping the Brayford the great body of water it is and we are always to happy to help during this event.

So here’s to looking forward to next year or even sooner maybe.

You can also read the article in the Lincolnite which we get a mention! http://thelincolnite.co.uk/2014/10/lincoln-students-clean-brayford-pool/

or visit the SU website to find more volunteering opportunities like this one www.lincolnsu.com

Freshers 2014 – All your essential information

Wow is that time of year again!

First a huge welcome to all of new and returning students to the University of Lincoln this year. And we hope you’ll have a great start. You might of never considered Kayaking when you joined up, or you might be keeping your paddle and BA close ready to leap into the water. Whatever you are doing, you are all welcome to join LUCK this freshers!

Essential dates

Here are some dates for you if your planning on joining us for the new term.

Wednesday 17th September – Sports Fayre, from 10am, The Engine Shed. This is a great chance to meet some current members at our stall. You can sign up to our mailing list and ask any questions in person. Plus we have sweets and goodies to give away.

Wednesday 24th September – Taster Session 1, 1:45pm & 2:45pm, Canoe Shed. GET STUCK IT! This is a free chance for you to come have a real go at what we get up to. You’ll get a chance to see the campus from a new perspective on the Brayford and try some of our Kayaks.

Wednesday 24th September – Fresher Social, Meet & Greet at the Shed. Come along after your taster session for a casual meet & greet with current members at our favourite campus pub ‘the shed’. Come and say hi!

Wednesday 1st October – Taster Session 2, 1:45pm & 2:45pm, Canoe Shed. LAST CHANCE GET STUCK IT! This is a free chance for you to come have a real go at what we get up to. You’ll get a chance to see the campus from a new perspective on the Brayford and try some of our Kayaks.

Wednesday 1st October – Fresher Social 2 , Time & venue TBC. Come join the new members and enjoy a night out!

Taster Session

If you are planning on coming to a Taster Session thats great! Here what you’ll expect and what we advise you do.

In the taster session you’ll have a piratical chance to try kayaking and experience it on the Brayford pool. It’s open to everyone of all abilities. You’ll spend about an hour on the water where we’ll show you the basics of Kayaking and the Brayford Pool. It’s really fun way to try this great sport and it’s free!

So if your coming here is what you’ll need to know.

Bring sensible clothing. You’ll get wet. This might not mean being in the water but the splash from paddles and potential rain will get you wet indeed. So bring something you do not mind getting wet. We recommend some swimming shorts and a pair of tracksuit bottoms and simple T-Shirt.
Bring a change of clothes & a Towel. We have changing factitlies so you can change before and after the session. We don’t recommend walking home or into campus in wet clothes so bring a change of clothing.
We’ll provide kit. As part of the club you get to use club kit! So we’ll provide you with a CAG; a waterproof style top. A B.A, A buoyancy aid to keep you afloat if you go into the water. The boat it self and paddles. We also have helmets & spray decks to as well but you won’t require one for now. If you have your own kit, feel free to come along in that.

The Taster Sessions are free so no need to bring any cash. If you want to pay for membership that can be done at the SU anytime.

The Canoe Shed we keep on mentioning is the Lincoln Canoe Club located on campu. It is the building on the waterfront from the level crossing towards the M.A.B.

Other information & Contacts

Remember you can e-mail the club at anytime and we’ll get back to you ASAP canoe@lincolnsu.com

If you have not already, follow us on Twitter & Facebook

www.twitter.com/LincolnUniKayak

www.facebook.com/LinconUniKayak

Thanks, and WELCOME!

The team takes over Newquay!

The biggest event in the Kayak team’s calendar is our annual week-long trip to Newquay in Cornwall. The trip is organised and run by the social secretaries (with help from the rest of the committee) and is designed as a kayak surfing holiday.

This year we went from Friday 29^th March to Friday 5^th April. We were graced with pretty good weather the whole week (and by “pretty good weather”, I mean: no rain!) and we took over Fistral beach with our boats, tents, body boards and games. Those who braved the freezing sea came off the water happy everyday- the fresher’s (despite capsizing a fair amount) did really well and the old pro’s graced those on the beach with their tricks on the waves. The only injury to speak of was Sophia and her broken tooth, although that occurred with a SUP board and not a kayak.

Newquay, as a trip, is also extremely social. We had a fancy dress night out which was a superhero vs. villains theme. I’m not sure the club knew what hit them as 21 comic book characters took to the dance floor! There was also a night of games including twister and plenty of other fun activities. One of the days saw part of the team set up a mini rugby match on the beach, needless to say it was obvious to see who had played before and who hadn’t…

On the Tuesday most of the team drove down to St Ives, an extremely pretty coastal town to take in the sites and do some shopping/photography/paddling/pier jumping/ eating of delicious food. The day was bright and sunny and involved plenty of laughs. If you’ve never been to this part of the country you won’t know, but the seagulls in this area are extremely cocky. One took a piece of pizza straight from my hand! However the highlight of the day had to have been Alistair. He stood on the beach wall with a piece of pizza crust held high above his head waiting for a seagull to come and snatch it (we were all poised and waiting on the sand with our cameras). It was as if they knew it was some sort of trap though, and none of the birds came. There was a man with his two young children sitting on a bench behind Alastair watching the whole affair and we all saw him get up and gestured for us to keep quiet. He crept up behind our team member and grabbed his wrist. Alastair screamed very loudly (and very much like a girl!), jumped off the wall and curled his body up into the foetal position. Obviously the rest of us nearly wet ourselves with laughter and the whole episode was made even better by the fact it was caught on camera… The day also involved hilarity in the arcade with Forrest getting soaked by a local pro in a shooting game some amazing ice cream and a hike up to the highest point where there is a church, for some epic photos.

Overall then, despite a few hiccups with the accommodation, and a fair amount of illness, the week was a success. There were plenty of photos taken, a lot of laughs had, and the paddling standard was high even from the beginners. I would just like to say a huge thank you to everyone who came on the trip and made it what it was and to the attending committee; Candy and I couldn’t have done it without you all.

See more photo’s on our Flickr album.

‘Snow way I’m paddlin’

A normal white water and safety and rescue course is a couple days of paddling, swimming and learning new rescue techniques, but for the few of us that went and did the course run by Tom Parker just before Easter it was far from normal. We had ended up do the course in the worst snow seen by that part of Wales for 60 years.

The drive down started with a light snow in Lincoln but got so much worse as we went on. Motorways were reduced to single lane with snow drifts bigger than the crash barriers and roundabouts became a guessing game as to where the centre was. Even parking at the accommodation involved using paddles to did a space out of the now 2ft high now just to get the car off the road.

We woke up on the first day and decided we’d still go to the meeting point arranged in Llangollen about 5 minuets drive away. Over an hour later, after a lot of pushing, digging and avoiding fallen trees, we managed to get there. After waiting / playing in the snow we decided, as no one had signal to get hold of them we’d go back to the hotel and try and use their landline, so after more pushing and waiting for fallen trees to be moved we got back to find that the other group were going to meet us at the hotel.

So the course began with every one there, paddling today was out of the question, so we decided to have a day of theory by the fire, occasionally going out to practice in the snow. After a bit of talking everyone put on a combination of dry kit and cold weather clothes and went outside. We practised throwing tapes and throw lines to each other and recoiling whilst running after someone, all in knee high snow. We have made a rock out of the snow with a kayak on it acting as if it’d been pinned and practiced different methods of getting it out, which turned out to be a great way of demonstrating it.

The last day was the day we actually paddled. All of us in dry suits and layers of thermals we paddled up the canal in Llangollen having to portage round more fallen trees, to where it met the Dee at a section called ‘serpent’s tail.’ We took it in turns to throw our boat and paddle in at the top of the rapid for our partner to rescue them before they got carried too far down the river. Here we had our only unexpected swim of the weekend but we soon had him back in his boat.

Further down we all went for as swim in the cold water when practicing throw lines, and then again when clipped to the end of a throw line and dangled out in a rapid for live bating where a couple people got quite bruised arses going over a few pointy rocks. Once we’d gotten out and shamelessly changed in a car park, we went for a coffee and a debrief in town.

All in all, the hotel was surprisingly amazing, the paddling was a laugh no one had gotten hypothermia and since everyone had passed it had turned out to be a really good trip.

– Andrew Sinclair