Gosport Kayak Instructors Christmas Journey 2010
After another successful season’s paddling the year reached its climax for Ken’s Gosport Scouts Kayak Instructors Circus. After the overindulgences of Christmas it was time to work them off with a paddle into the unknown. Titchfield Haven was inaccessible since the icebreakers had not managed to clear a passage through the ice and free up the channel. The advance party advised that it should be possible to launch from Salterns since , due to a freak of nature, a breakaway current from the Gulf Stream was holidaying in the Solent and was keeping the ice at bay. fourteen intrepid, or perhaps foolhardy paddlers therefore unloaded their boats and gear amongst the ice on the foreshore. Once again the gang was led by John Crossland who called a council of war to determine where to go. Despite being reasonably mild the forecast was predicting more lively conditions. It was decided that the voyage would set off to discover what lay over the horizon where there was an Island lost in a time warp. John recalled having been there before and hoped that they would be able to find it again. Most of the team got together for a team photo comprising The group might have included Andy, Chris, Fiona, James, Trebor,Pete,Nathan,Peter,John,John,Peter, Matt and Allan.
John called up the coastguard, Harbour Control , his stockbroker and a few friends and the flotilla took to the water. You might have noticed that once again I didn’t manage to join the team. I put this down to Peter having promised my boat to Nathan, a nasty back twinge before Christmas and a dose of common sense. I did however help carry boats into the sea and assist with the launch for those who for some reason didn’t want to get their feet wet, and of course indulged in a dose of creative writing. According to the Captains Log they got about halfway to wherever it was that they were going when the threatened storm blew up along with a heavy swell amongst the ice floes and an ice storm and the local fauna. A bit concerned about the heavy going John made an executive decision to change course to Stokes Bay. So he and Matt gathered up the fleet and set off.
Landfall was made at Stokes Bay when they worked out where it was. When the team landed two disappeared into the interior whilst the others took on refreshments They waited and waited but James and Pete still doesn’t come back. What should they do? Losing two out of 14 exceeded John’s usual acceptable 10% attrition rate. What should be done, would they be safe? Were the natives hostile, would everyone be back for tea and medals? Then a brainwave. They weren’t lost at sea but on land. So John’s statistics weren’t exceeded and the trip could go on.
So off they set off back to Salterns. I in the meantime was doing battle with ice in the sailing club to retrieve my dinghy. I kept rushing to the sea wall to see the fleet coming back from the Isle of Wight. However they were actually hugging the coast and were already back when I got to the rendezvous. I counted them out and I counted most of them back. Another successful trip completed. The names of people mentioned in this article haven’t been changed to protect their dignity. The photos were staged by actors to get round data protection concerns. The events recorded above are loosely based on facts, heresay and a dose of a lively imagination. No-one was eaten by natives ( I hope) or really got lost and no walruses were hurt in the staging of this expedition.
The Scribe January 2011
Adrian Durrant 4th Squirt, 49th K1 European Freestyle Championships, Austria 2010
Some good news recently with of our former students
Gavin Smallbones is now BCU RDO for Cumbria. He was in the 1st Lee and did his two and three star with us in 1987/8 and then helped for five years.
I've also heard recently from his best friend, also in 1st Lee, Neil Cooke, he is now an Activity Centre manager. He did the two and three star at the same time but he stayed on and helped for 8 years.
'Little acorns grow'
Adrian Durrant, 1st Place Irish Championships Squirt 3rd Place Mens Expert C1, 1st Place Irish freestyle league squirt. 11th Place World Freestyle championships (squirt)
CONGRATULATIONS to
Peter Whiteley and Alan Oakes both successfully assessed Level two coaches.
Alex Durkan 4 A*,2 A,3 B,3 C. Rebecca Fieldsend 2 A*,5 A,4 B,1 C. Beth’s sister.
Kayak Instructors Christmas Journey 2008
Christmas appears to come round on a regular basis and on Dec 28 Ken’s gang to brave the elements once more.
This year John Crossland couldn’t make it and the organisation fell to David Lord. The idea was for an expedition up the uncharted regions of Southampton water. OK , so they are charted but it doesn’t sound so good. It wasn’t actually a midnight paddle either but it was crack of dawn.
Scraping the ice off the car we headed off for Netley on a bright and pleasant morning The team converged on Beach Road to prepare for the trip. This year we had some of the young instructors with us. The intention was to paddle up Southampton water to Eling Tide Mill and back.
I was fortunate to hack into a passing spy satellite during their briefing to see the route being explained. Fully briefed and eager for the off the team entered into a ritual of some sort. Of course it could simply have been warming up exercises and it was somewhat parky………………...
th it was time forAdi, Allan, Lisa,Chris,Andy,Rachel,Trebor, Nathan,Pete and Dave
The off was a little later than planned, but off the intrepid fleet sailed. Well paddled. Despite the sunshine and apparent calm there was a cold wind blowing at force 5 so the flotilla hugged the eastern side of Southampton water.
Eling Tide Mill kept moving out of reach and the gang landed for a lunch break….under the tent flysheet. The return again skirted the eastern shore to avoid the worst of the wind.
This took the fleet past several notable sights.
This year didn’t see the excitement of last year with the icebergs and the polar bears, but it was a good introduction to the youngsters to the Christmas paddle. The only significant wildlife encountered was a potentially killer seagull lying in wait at the landing beach. A seagull, vicious I here you say, never. Well how do you explain Allan being capsized within metres of the shore.
Eh ????
Having got back safely with only minor frostbite , Adi performed some other strange ritual…
And so another paddle down the kayak map of discovery resulted in a another notch on the paddle of success and the gang drifted back to all points of Hampshire to look forward to the new Kayak season.
The Scribe