WWTCC News

2011-05-19T11:52:00.000-07:00

I was lucky enough to get 5 minuets off yesterday to have a quick play in the new Pyranha Loki, and I’ve got to admit I was a bit skeptical of this boat before I paddled it but now, yeah I got to say I really quite liked it.

The biggest question I have to ask, or I guess try and answer now is where and how dose this boat fit into Pyranha’s range? Well, It’s a bit shorter and not quite voluminous as it bigger brother the Z:One , but like the Z:One it’s easy to paddle, forgiving, easy to learn in and looks pretty cool! I don’t know if it’s an age thing but personally all play moves to me look so much cooler in a longer bigger boat? But then comparing the Loki to the Molan, or more really the Varun yes you can still do most of the same moves, I don’t thing your going to be chucking down any really big flat water loops in the Loki but? Can’t really do them in anything anyway! So how dose this boat line up, If you want a top end play boat your still going to get the Molan, If you want a fast/good all-round, cool play boat, that you can still nip down the upper Dart in, go for the Varun. If you want a fast river runner that you can spin and surf in go for the Z:One, but if you want a real jack of all trades, one boat to bang out the world tour in thing has got it covered, plays really well, in a wave or in a hole, nice and lose and nice and slicey. But for river running it’s got that sorted too, nice and fast keeps it nose up, I’d be happy to paddle some pretty big stuff in it.
Outfitting is the standard Connect 30, I like. Good knee position plenty of foot room, thumbs up from me. Will it steel sales away from the Z:One….???? I don’t think so there quite different boats will it steal sales from the Varun…..???? Probably yes, but the Varun is a better play boat that you can paddle down a river, the Loki a better faster river play boat. Really where do you play? If on a weir or man made course pick the Varun. If you play in the ocean on rivers go Loki. Reckon it’s going to score pretty good retro points down at Hurley tho.

That new Sweet cag is pretty darn cool too. Looks very nice in the sunny weather. Hope you all have a nice weekend and get out for a paddle!

Time to squirt!

2011-04-18T05:07:00.000-07:00

With the temperature pushing 20 odd degrees you really cannot question that spring has well and truly sprung. So with the sun shining me and the boy Ashworth set off for Chertsey HOME of squirt boating in the Thames valley, after an 18 month break from the little boats it was a bit of a squeeze but excellent fun, and the sun was Hot! check the short vid below.

Cl icky click here

The weekend concludes…

2011-02-08T06:22:00.000-08:00

So waking up after a night rain, that had incidentally washed away the small bridge we had to make to get into the house the night before, it was a nice surprise to find a new batch of scones in the oven! Anyway long story sort, I’ve always wanted to paddle the Mawddach and luckily everyone else wanted to also, so we piled into the van and headed west. The drive over the top of the moor, Is it a moor or just the top of the mountains? Was pretty wet,

On the way Bob pointed out a few interesting lines down a few river in the distance and suggested a few rivers we might like to paddle if we really fancied a mission one day! Errrr maybe, he also made us listen to Radio 2 because Barry white was on! Sunday morning, got a love em…..

But anyway the Mawddach, we got to the car park with the toilet in it and were quite shocked, at a loss, surprised to find the river not that high, it was worth getting on apparently but not mental. So double quick we parked the cars and set off up the road to the put in. As it turns out the put in for the upper is pretty much the bleakest sport on earth! The rain is horizontal and the wind is pushing gale force 10, but what a cracking little river, as soon as you hop on your off and the rapids keep coming at you nothing to full on but just good fun read and run drops and rapids.

After not so long though you come across the first “harder” bit, bit of funky lead into a sweet 10 ish foot drop, really nice soft pool really sweet. After here the river carries on much the same as before, maybe a bit harder but nothing so bad, there are also some cool little play spots few nice waves to surf and a few cracking holes perfect for throwing some creekboat wheels and massive pop outs!

But and this in IMPORTANT! When you get to a bridge with a bit of a horizon line after it get out and have a look, this is the really very impressive Rhaeadr Mawddach waterfall, it’s pretty burley looking. In lower water levels maybe it’s an option but not for us on that day cheers. So after a quick photo session next to the falls get your self back in your boat and you’re off again. The river Gain flow’s in here too, I had a quick peep up and that looks pretty interesting, next time maybe. But we continued down the Mawddach there’s a couple of really nice wave and a really good ender spot before you arrive at the 3 nasty’s, well worth a look first but so long as you stay upright paddle forward and boof they all go fine. There’s one last slot, shoot droop again keep your nose up, it’s fine and then that’s pretty much it the Eden flows in bit further down on the right, then there is the last big hit from public toilet falls and your done. The Gamlan comes in from the right down here too, we didn’t really have enough water or light to give this a pop. But again I’m pretty keen to back up there to do that again.

And then home, not quite a seasy as you might think when the Dee is all over most of the roads we wanted to drive down? There were some cracking waves on that though down by Chain bridge, maybe we need 3 days next time?

If you would like to have a look at the amazing quality shots we took on the water there is a FB thing here...

The weekend begins.

2011-02-07T07:40:00.000-08:00

With a free weekend and MetCheck suggesting that Wales might be in line for a spot of rain it seamed only fair to make the drive north and see what was running.
Not long after crossing the border into Wales it was pretty obvious, pretty quickly that most were running in Wales.

In fact most of them were running straight out of there banks and all over the fields, roads and really anywhere they fancied! Luckily however unlike the large majority of our paddling trips this time we had local know how to point us in the right direction in the shape of Mr. Chris Evan, Andy Butler and local celebrity Mr. Euro Bob, I do feel a bit embarrassed, 2 day on the river and 1 night in Bobs house and I still have no idea what Bobs sir name is? He is a top chap tho!

So anyway, after a bit of a late start we arrived in the bar at PYB just as every one else did at exactly the same time! It was like we planned it. After a quick hello/good bye we were off, down here up there and across there later we arrived a river, didn’t look much to me but the “locals” were all very excited so I guessed things were looking good.

The river it turns out was the Colwyn, and it was at a good level. Many many trees seamed be in the river and we could only really gain access to said rive via a front garden, but by hec as soon as you were on you were off, and it just don’t really stop. Good rapids lead into some bigger drops then more rapids, drops, so on….top River well worth the effort if you find it running. The Colwyn eventually empties into the Glaslyn, this is a bigger river and a bit flatter so you get a chance to have a bit of a breather and a chin wag to your mate’s before you turn up at the Aberglalyn Gorge.

This gorge really is only about a few hundred meters long, but wow they really managed to pack a fair bit in there. I think we were pretty lucky with the water level. It’s a great continues run with the crux’s in the middle, a drop called the breaker. There’s a fairly fun but stout lead into this drop with a couple of good holes to punch before you rock over this drop, good bit of volume a great day on the river.

(with the light fading the POWER FIST came out!)

After a quick bite to eat in a local pub we then set off to Euro Bob’s house, The rain was now really falling at this point and the river were pretty sporty, the roads were also pretty sporty and after a quite interesting drive across an ever increasingly drowning Wales we made it to Bob house, A truly relaxing retreat, Jen made scones. Cream or Jam first? How do you take your cream tea??? The enormous fire was burning it was lovely. To finish off a great day Bob recommended a film Bubba Ho-Tep it was called, perfectly random it was, top day. Check it here

Are leave it there for now and regale you with stories from day 2 tomorrow, massive waterfalls and more high jinks all to come.

L8r all.

The daily commute.

2011-01-19T03:02:00.000-08:00

It sounds bad but with Face Book being so fun I had rather forgotten about the blogg. Feel quite bad now, well see here I've done a a little write up about my paddle into work today, hope you enjoy.

I think it’s fair to say that the rain we had on Sunday and Monday has now made it into all the rivers around us. Normally the river Wey is a quiet slow moving old hector of a river, but not today! The rain has swollen the river and it’s starting to pop out of its banks all over the place. And the normally quite flat river had some quite nice rapids and 3 mandatory portages today. Following the river down threw ByFleet Village pass Mercedes-Benz world and Brook lands motor museum the river was really flowing well. The Wey eventually pop’s out at Shepperton which weir, this again is pretty chunky at the moment, the pool levels are all super high at the moment so not great for play boating but well worth a visit if your in the area. Bellow are a few pictures showing my commute today, not a bad way of getting to work really?

(The classic bins in a river.)

(The road bridge @ Brooklands)

(the first Portage, low flying bridge!)

(Mercedes-Benz world, great family day out. And really good for works Christmas Doo's)

(The second portage @ Brooklands motor museum, another fantastic day out and they now have a Concord you can have a look in! it's a cool place)

(The road bridge @ Weybridge. This is also where the Wey canal re joins the river, but that a whole other paddle...)

The last portage. The last lock on the Wey, down from here it all Thames baby)

(Back on Old father Thames, with a lot of water! it is shifting today.)

(and back to Shepperton Marina, 58 minuets of interesting commute.)

(It's cold today again too. The freezing fog is pretty nippy on the hands.)

(And a little map of the route, the canal to the left and the river "this trip" on the right.)

If you would like to paddle and explorer this section this is the Map to get, the map in the picture above. shows the area well, it's pretty easy to work out where to get in and out, all the pubs are marked on it too. This One Look Here!

2011 - Palm the next fronter

2010-11-01T10:19:00.000-07:00

Palm have just released a digital version of there 2011 work book. I think it's fair to say Palm probably have the most exciting and largest change of new kit of any company for 2011.

Check it out here!

My personal favourite!

Nice to see that Palm have taken time and effort to produce an entire range of new kit for ladies and men, touring and Whitewater there really is something for everyone.

Retro!

August

2010-10-14T01:36:00.000-07:00

Well that really is quite a while ago! and you can be sure that we really have been very busy since then. What has been going on since then though, I can't really remember! August, apart from numerous breaking down cars was a pretty quiet mounts new's wise, the shop was busy, Mike was busy training for slalom so was Pete, although he was also doing a fair few other extra sessions trying to get ready for the Etive race and SickLine (more on them later)September came on the 18/19 we had the McConkey race at HPP, this race went rather bad for Mike..... Pete came 4th! (bit poor really!) as a whole Shepperton did really well, and Joel had maybe the pinning of the year, if we can get the video on here you will very impressed, good skills! you can check the results and rankings from the slalom year here
on the freestyle side of things....well there's not really been any water so nothing really great! Chertsey has been going off all summer long as is the norm. We did have a very funny incident with a very big and brightly coloured snake! Matt nearly met his maker. Seth has been squirt boating all summer long and has just finished 4th at the latest selection event you can read more about that here . As the summer starts to draw to a close though the Xtream season draws in starting with the new iconic Etive river race, the race had been changed this year a little and now included a team and single's race. Even though the water was a bit low this year the race still went on and was a huge success, unfortunately Pete and Graham the winners of the team race for the last two year's could not make it 3 in a row, finishing in a close second this year! T Bomb Tom romped to first place in the solo run however, good sporting fun all-round, Dave has done a good write up of the event here, well worth a read with a cup of tea!And then came the big one the Adidas SickLine, officially the unofficial world cup of the Xtream down river racing....Dose that make sense??? UKRGB would love me. It's fair to say this is an amazing event and rightly deserves it world status, it a great section of water, with the best paddlers in the world all meeting there to battle it out, and it is the finest of lines between success and failure, it's hard... I will sort out a better write up for this one, it deserves it's own. And then, just keeps coming today doesn't it. We then rolled onto Kanummesse, if you don't know this is a really big trade show for canoe kayaks and all in between. It a great show to catch up see what is new, see what is coming and do good business and have a smashing party, this included large amounts of free beer and more pork than most mortal people could probably ever imagine. Bit of a break here i've just relized all my pictures for this are at home! Bugger.... hay ho pictures to follow then...
What's next. well this weekend Pyranha host the 3rd annual Pyranha Fest in North Wales a top event see more info here.....
And last of all, we have had a great summer, so to top it all off we have a END OF SUMMER SALE for you all to enjoy. We have a blanket 15% discount on all (most)items in here, only books DVD's and magazines are exempt. Come on in say hi and bag your self a bargain. If your at Pyranha Fest Pete, Graham, Tom will all be there come along and say hello.

Well.....

2010-08-09T06:53:00.000-07:00

The summer is in full swing, although we are still managing to get out for paddle most days there not super exciting ones! there are only so many pictures of Chertsey you can look at before you have seen enough. OR has just taken place in the US Playak has some pretty nice pictures of what is new and ground breaking in the sport click here... There doesn't seam to be that much new this year Pyranha have a new boat the Varun (sure pictures will follow soon!) for now that is pretty much all....Cam belt has broken in my car so a trip JDH look like an idea, see what we can sort for hand full of $$$.

A Lost Boat...

2010-07-08T06:42:00.001-07:00

Have you lost a boat on the Thames? If you have look here and give them a call...

Look Here...

2010-06-04T02:09:00.000-07:00

This really is a bit of rushed Blog sorry, plenty has been going on here in the shop, we have a lot of new things here at the moment (pretty cool) I’ve just been in Italy and Switzerland for 10 day and had an amazing time. Great weather….Most of the time…. Plenty of water, really good time. I will do a better post on this later but for now have a look at the few pictures below. But…….And this is the big one the thing that is taking up all of our spare time at the moment, The Open Day (London and South East Canoe and Kayak show) is nearly here, I think all the planning has gone well? And it looks like it should be a great day for all. Have a look here for some information. If you need any further please give us a call on the normal shop line 01932 247 978. Look forward to seeing you all soon. OPEN DAY INFO...

(The C&A shoot went really well)

(Small Flair in the sun)

(The Big hit on the Gronda) I know that is spelt wrong!

Hope to see you all on the 20th..... Byeeee

At long last it is here...

2010-05-17T04:17:00.000-07:00

The New Book from Peter Knowles, details the best canoe trips in the south of England, This is an inspiring, high quality guidebook for the South East of England. It is written for the recreational, non-specialist paddler and the trips are suitable for all kinds of canoes, kayaks, sit-on-tops and inflatables. The guidebook will also be useful for group leaders planning organised trips. This family-friendly guide features 26 easy but interesting paddling trips, mostly 1-3 hours long, within an hour or two of London. They provide good access and parking, include pubs and tea shops; castles and camping; and, canoe and kayak hire. This title is produced in association with Canoe England. All trips are thoroughly researched, selected, and tested by Peter Knowles.

Buy it HERE...

Summer is here! Nearly…….

2010-05-12T05:36:00.000-07:00

With summer fast approaching loads of new and exciting kit has been arriving in store over the last few weeks. We now have new kit from Peak UK Sweet & many others. Three bit in particular that have stood out for are……..
One the all new 2010 Peak UK multi sport hoody. This is a great piece of kit made from Peak’s X2.5 material witch is super light and durable yet still highly breathable, for Open boaters and general touring this looks like the top to have in 2010. On another point! These are awesome too.

Two the new Rocker has arrived. Never have we sold so many of one helmet to so many people, and it just keeps getting better. This year the rocker now has a new Occi Grip retention system on the back of the Hat, if you have one you know, it’s the best out there…..

Three, it not too often I get excited about open boats, But but but! This Pocket Canyon from Esquif just rocks, I could be looking at my first Open boat.

“This compact, playful tandem canoe is ideally suited for short whitewater canoe trips that do not demand the length and cargo capacity of a larger (and heavier) tripping canoe. The Pocket Canyon also performs as well as many dedicated whitewater canoes used for day trips. This allows the canoe to serve double duty as both whitewater playboat, and technical river runner.

The Pocket Canyon's flared hull maintains a dry ride even in large choppy waves and the rockered ends, with a progressive chine, provides a stable carving edge ideal for catching eddies. Fast, stable and maneuverable, the Pocket Canyon has all the performance features you'll need to tackle exciting day river features, whether out for the day or on brief wilderness get away.” Length 14.5’ Width 34.5” Depth 16”

It's looking very nice PLUS don't forget 20th June is the date for our OPEN DAY, check out all the info HERE... But for now Chertsey is about to start it's summer season and this weekend is the next Slalom! Div 1 here we come, pictures form this to follow for sure.

Quicky around Desborough island

2010-04-14T05:09:00.000-07:00

With the sun shining and the water dropping off a paddle round Desborough island after work is always a good way to unwind.... Check the pictures....

You can see a map and a bit more history of this route here.

Jump in at the shop.

Stick to the left bank, paddle round and out of the marina.

Paddle out of the marina, turn right and up you go! when the river forks say right, and go down the old river channel.

Carry on up round, The White house at the top of the bend.

At the top of the island & by Shepperton lock you find this small Island. D'Oyly Carte Island, once home to the producer of the Gilbert and Sullivan operas.

same spot looking up stream the the lock keepers cottage at Shepperton lock

some young slalom paddlers @ Shepperton slalom canoe club enjoying the rough water!

If you fancy some exploring the River Wey and Wey Navigation join the Thames here. You can Cruz up here all the way to Godalming. Nice bit of river.

Time to head back. Keep the right channel and go down stream through the Cut.

Turn in left into the marina, opposite Walton Bridge marina.

And home in time for shopping at M&S and repeats of Country File! marvellous.

Hello you....

2010-04-08T05:23:00.000-07:00

The Outlook is good! The out look is very very good…..

Well I know we have been a bit on the quite side Blogging wise, but for Shaw we have been busy in store, lots of new boats and loads of new kit. Most of our pre orders have arrived so we have lots of Rash vests for all sizes, ages, male or female. Loads of new super stretchy wetsuits, yesterday all the Peak kit arrived plenty of exciting new things from them, PFD’s in particular are always very popular. We have loads of new and exciting Sit-On-Top’s in stock; the new Malibu Two Angler

looks amazing! Perfect for the family beach BBQ, holiday.
Shop news! A big date for your diary is the return of our shop Open Day. The London and south east canoe and kayak show will take place on the 20th June and looks set to be quite a day full of fun and excitement. More news to follow on that.

Paddling & Fun catch up taken from!
The last week or so have been so busy I have barely had time to get any blogs done. So lets go back in time a week or so. Thursday/Friday a week and a bit ago saw me taking part in a four star kayak training course with Tom Parker. The course only had a couple of people on and was pretty mellow, thourghly enjoyable and not too cold. Result!!
The weekend that followed that was my first slalom race of the season, my home ground Shepperton. A solid first run saw me into second place with Pete 'the Scud' Scutt in first place. Pete was a good twenty seconds ahead so there was little chance of me catching him, my second run sealed second place for me, not too shabby

Fast forward one week and I made another long trip down to Shepperton, this time with a different boat, my new Molan. Shep was on a meaty five gates, and my boat performed brilliantly, swift edge transitions and big air, SWEET.

And finally water levels….. well things are still pretty high ish around here at the moment, Hurley amazingly seams to be on 3 still and looking good for the TVF’s 3rd Birthday paddle. Sunbury has’nt really worked a lot this winter and still is’nt great. Shepperton is on 3 gates, great for slalom training but a bit flat for surfing. But, But Chertsey………..Oh yes people the summer is nearly here! It going to be a hot weekend and maybe the first Chertsey of the season, we will let you know how things progress. Hope your all well catch you soon.

Buyeeeeeeeeeee.

2010-03-29T05:28:00.000-07:00

Easter Opening Hours...

GOOD FRIDAY...CLOSED
SATURDAY 3rd..OPEN 9:30-5:00
SUNDAY...CLOSED
MONDAY 5th...CLOSED
TUESDAY 6th...OPEN BACK TO NORMAL 09:30 - 5:30

The man that made NOAH.

2010-03-09T01:33:00.000-08:00

Watch this.

“I have nothing to declare but my genius.” And this guy was.

Whitewater’s quick guide to Uganda.

2010-03-02T06:58:00.000-08:00

Now I’ve only been the once, so I won’t say I’m any sort of Ugandan sage but this is what we think.

Getting there: We flew Emirates to Dubai, and then a quick stop in Addis Ababa, yes that’s Ethiopia, then onto Entebbe. Can’t fault the air line never questioned the boats (never weighted the boats) nice plane happy staff £526.00 Barging! A Tomato (mini bus to all you that don’t speak Ugandan) from Entebbe to Jinja/ NRE cost us 150,000 Ugandan notes (70 dollars if you prefer….) takes about 3 hours, depending on traffic cows and how many chickens on sticks you get on route.

Acomidation: How rich do you feel? We stayed most of out time at Nile River Explores (NRE) run by a smashing chap called Jack (likes his rugby, Beer & quad bike, no particular order!) there is a variety of accommodation, dorms think were 7 dollars and night, safari tents 25 dollars a night sleep two or a room think were 30 dollars. I stayed in a tent! fine there are other options, Nile river resort is just down the road and offers an excellent slice of colonial England (Posh) 100 dollars a night (ish…) or Nile porch this is just threw NRE and offers big tented room things, pretty posh again 100 dollars a night. Down river you have the other big main paddling stop over the Hairy Lemon. Set in an amazing location hiden away on a little island you get here via a small boat dorms cost 40000 shilling a night this includes a break fast and dinner, The food is OK…… you can tent it up here not to sure on the price, but it’s going to be cheap.

Food & Boozy: Well you have loads to choose from, at NRE cup of tea cost 1000 Uganda Shilling at the moment £1 gets you 3050 Uganda Shilling. Breakfast and dinner, if you recon on 10,000 shilling per meal then you have loads to choose from, starting from soup, burgers, loads of fresh fruit , Beef schnitzel was really nice. Plenty to choose from If you fancy a bit of a poser nosh in between the Nile Porch and NRE you have a nice place called the Black lantern a Ugandan mixed grill here cost 26,000 shilling and was more meet than I could eat, The ribs are really good to as is the fish loads of nice tilapia! A banana cost 200 shilling and a pineapple a 1000. You will not go hungry, oh and finally the Original chapatti man out front of NRE, Chapatti’s start from 800 shilling and go up to I think 1800 for a true deluxe version and can have anything in them. Great local stuff, Di Nile Café just down the road (turn right out of NRE and head for the crocodile) serves a lovely fry up as for drink a bottle of water was 1000 shilling I think. Alcohol just put it on your tab and worry about the price in the morning!
Getting around for a paddle: There are about 100 000 boda-boda’s in Uganda a boda-boda is a motor bike, normally a 125 but you can find some more powerful versions if you look for them! Sit on the back your boat on your legs and you’re off a run back from Silver Back to NRE cost 3500 shilling! You can haggle? generally I found it better to tip a bit, find a good one and stick to them like glue good guys. My man was a fell a called Bobby (eh Bobby what is the French for va-va-voom? I digress, Sorry) he was sound a as pound, met his wife and kids at the local village top stuff. A taxi to the hairy lemon will be any where from 50000 to 80000 shilling. Or if you fancy a quick paddle jump in at NRE paddle down to just below Bujagali Falls and walk back! 10/15 minuets, good for short paddle

Paddling: Knew we went there for a reason! Where to begin! Day one……. The day one section has some amazing rapids including The Hump, Bujagali, all the back channels, Itanda Falls (a true gem of a rapid) good big powerful rapids. The day two section is a bit sorter but still has some great rapids and is a probably a bit better for play boating, Nile special and club wave are at the end of this day two. In my opinion the best wave on the river is just below “hair of the dog” a wave called Mutts nuts, big powerful, a true man’s wave! You can run these days as sections or split them up in to smaller chunks. To explore the back channels can take a good few hours, test your metal against widow maker and such! Hypoxia is a good one to have a look at on the day two secion, run it?????!!? No.
So there you go 5 easy bit of advice to enjoy the river, the trip, the country. The only other thing that is nice to know. In Africa time really doesn’t exist! It amazing

Enjoy ;-)

This Is Canoeing

2010-02-04T05:18:00.000-08:00

A new Canoeing DVD is soon to be released. This is canoeing has been produced by Justine Curgenven and is due to be relesed on the 12th March.

“THIS IS CANOEING” is a 2-disc celebration of canoeing, showcasing top single-blade paddlers in their pursuit of remote wilderness journeys or challenging white water. Multi-award winning film maker, Justine Curgenven captures the essence of canoeing in 12 short films. From open canoe slalom races to 1,000 mile birchbark expeditions, Justine provides insights into the diversity of the sport and the influential people who tell it’s story. Immerse yourself in this globe-trotting 3 hours of adventure to world class canoeing destinations in Canada, the United States, Scotland & Wales. Innovatively filmed with headcams and on-board cameras to take you to the heart of the action.

Until the 12th check the preview below.

Pre Order a copy HERE.

TNP's new Rapa Paddle.

2010-01-20T08:58:00.001-08:00

After the rather ignominious decline of Lendal paddles there was a rather large hole left in the market for a good 4pc emergency paddle. TNP have however come to the rescue with the Rapa range of kayak paddles, and in particular there new 4pc version. There new 4 part paddle has a nicely shaped plastic blade and a good glass shaft. The paddle is light weight and breaks down nice a small so it fits easily into the back of your boat (even your play boat!). The Rapa is easy to assemble and can be set up left or right hand, and comes in a standard 197cm length. For an emergency paddle it performs really well, both in the back of your boat, or in the water. Perfect to get you off the river if you’re stuck down poo creek .

(The Rapa all bagged up)

(In the back of the boat easy)

(Plenty of room even in the back of the play boat!)

(Smashing)

You can fetch yourself a TNP Rapa by clicking here! if you so please. Have fun on the river.

More winter testing.

2010-01-04T08:10:00.000-08:00

Despite the bitterly cold whether, I’m sure it must have been -5 on the water! The testing of the New Pyranha Molan continues. The boat has reached it’s 5th incarnation and is now in it finally pre production prototype stage, these boats have shrunk a fair bit as they are the first from the mold and the hull of the boat has been changed a smidgen to allow it to release quicker. But apart from that that what you see here is pretty much how it will look. Over the Christmas period the boat has made it out to most of the popular Thames weirs and has been performing well, the later prototypes have been tested a fair bit on and in holes around the UK & Europe over the summer but it has been nice to finally get the boat back out on some good waves to see how the modifications that had been implemented over that time would work on a wave, personally I’m pretty happy with how it’s turned out. The Molan is just a bit longer than the new 2010 All Star and you do notice that on a wave. I wouldn’t say that it’s a fast boat, But it sure dose accelerate fast! And the new sharper rails really allow you to drive the boat hard down and across the face a wave and release with razor sharp precision, far far better, easier and cleaner than Pyranha’s of old. The fit and outfitting of the Molan is like you would except from an Anderson & Sheppard suit, clean, smart and very comfortable. All in all things are looking very promising from this little chap. Bring on the production boat.

All Pictures curtsey of Mr. Chris Evans. That's him below. And he and Mike are now on a plain to Africa, Lucky men. ;-)

Check this...

2010-01-02T04:33:00.000-08:00

Bit of a New Year Sale.

*HAVE A LOOK AT THIS* If you go to the On-Line shop. You need to be a registered member! Buy something, then when you go to the "Check Out" section you will find a "Redeem a Coupon" section. Enter here facebookfriend and get an extra 5% off! that's on top of the 10% you normally get...

Face Book Page

On-Line Shop.

Or Come in store and for January we have a 15% sale on all items in store.

Old Skoll Cool.

2009-12-31T05:42:00.000-08:00

Palm's main man Mr. Paul (Cheeze) Robertson working Shepperton's 4 gates like only he can. Long boats do rule. HAPPY NEW YEAR.

Ho Ho Ho Christmas time is here

2009-12-24T05:25:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas every one. Thank you for a great year we hope to see you again soon.
Have a great Christmas break see you all in 2010.

We are back open on the 29th....

Christmas Opening Hours

2009-12-16T03:15:00.000-08:00

Christmas Opening Hours.

Happy Christmas everyone, Thank you for a fantastic year. And as I write this the snow is coming down hard outside! how very Festive....

A word from our man in Africa.

2009-12-15T01:37:00.000-08:00

From a cold, wet, dark November to an action packed hot December back on the Nile.
The water level is pretty low at the moment but that’s not such a bad thing as different waves and rapids appear and disappear as the day goes on. Club wave works in the morning from about 7am till 1pm.

The Legend of Best...

Club is a large piley wave, pretty consistent but as the day goes on it becomes more and more trashy and surgey, until it hits about 1pm then it’s not worth paddling. There’s a gap of about 3 to 4 hours where neither Club or Nile Special work properly, and then at around 4 pm Nile Special kicks in, a large peaking wave with a pile. When Nile Special kicks up you get an awesome steep green wave where any big wave move is possible. The Gui-Gui Prod is an incredible boat the air you can generate is substantially more than any other boat on the river, landing a big move flat is violent and your back defiantly knows about it…but its so worth it.

I’m seeing the river from a different perspective this time round as I am working as a raft guide, so it’s not just my self I have to navigate safely down its also 6 or 7 others as well. Big white water, sun, pineapple, flips and broken bones are the order of the day on the river and none of that gets boring. The money I earn from rafting pays off my tab at NRE so its happy days.

Life off the water consists of mainly eating, drinking, socialising and trips back and forth to town to buy a new pair of sunny that broke on the river the day before.

Photo by Julian Stocker.

For this and other exciting stories from the life and times of Jon Best have a gander at http://www.jonbest.blogspot.com/

Lots of new things in store.

2009-12-10T07:52:00.000-08:00

Lots of new things in store this week!

Check out the on-line store for great deals on these new items *SHOP*
for the Rebel LooK HerE The 2010 Burn *HERE*

For Palm's new B/A's Go have a peek at THIS...

And If you need to keep your feet warm and well coved over the Festive season then I think you should probably have a mosey at this little lot! RIGHT HERE.

Hope to see you all soon. Merry Christmas Ho Ho Ho Ho......

Todays level.

2009-12-08T09:21:00.000-08:00

A picture is worth a thousand words. Shepperton today.

Crisp Start.

2009-12-01T01:57:00.001-08:00

Scraping the frost off your car is never a great way to start your paddling session. But if Shepperton is running then morning and night sessions are rather the norm. Shepperton this morning is running on 7 gates with a fairly high pool level making a good fast wave / hole type feature, good size shoulders for throwing big blunts and that kinda jazz. We have managed to excel our self in one way particular way today! Quite possibly the worst collection of photos I’ve ever seen of Shepperton, give you an idea of what it’s like I guess. As for Sunbury weir how knows? There aren’t hot showers and Tea for when you get off so I haven’t been. Think there is a bit of a wave though.

So there you have it. A cold start to the day, but a good one! Now it’s back to the shop to drink lots of tea and eat my new favorite food CLIF BAR Energy Bars (Yummmmmmm) back tonight for the late session, if your there, Guess we will see you there. Have a good day all,

How has pete done this?

2009-11-25T06:20:00.000-08:00

Now I'm not sure if this Borras fella or the fishermen are actors in this film! Surly real land owners and fisherman can't be that naive, single minded, blinkered in there opinions regarding paddling and river access? Hopefully with the Rev Caffyn & God on our side we must win in the end! Well done Pete, Great little film.

NOW IN

2009-11-25T04:05:00.000-08:00

After a bit of delay the new Palm B/A's have today arrived!

The Extrem Vest evolution continues, setting new standards in safety and useability. Our flagship front-opening PFD with masses of storage.

Features include:

• Flex Formed Foam panel wraps around torso
• Quad-buckle front entry
• Large, zipped padded front cargo pocket with internal divider
• Chest mounted zipped knife pockets
• Internal rear padded pocket for documents, safety gear or hydration bladder
• Tough grip panels at shoulder for boat carrying
• 3D anti ride-up waist belt
• Easyglide strap adjustment throughout
• Continuous loop failsafe shoulder straps tested to 500kg with strap keeper pockets
• Removable chest harness with quick release cam buckle and load spreader
• Welded O-ring with Velcro retainer
• Dual cowtail parks
• Solas reflective detail on shoulders, front and rear panels
Get one HERE.

The next step in River PFDs, a pullover vest offering full floatation with maximum articulation and safety features.

Features include:

• Flex Formed Foam panel wraps around torso
• Quad-buckle front entry
• Large, zipped padded front cargo pocket with internal divider
• Chest mounted zipped knife pockets
• Tough grip panels at shoulder for boat carrying
• 3D anti ride-up waist belt
• Easyglide strap adjustment throughout
• Continuous loop failsafe shoulder straps tested to 500kg with strap keeper pockets
• Removable and reversible chest harness with quick release cam buckle and load spreader
• Welded O-ring with Velcro retainer
• Dual cowtail parks
• Solas reflective detail on shoulders, front and rear panels
Get one HERE.

Both B/A's look and fit great! Just in time for the winter season & Christmas. Ho Ho Ho...

When the Kids come home!

2009-11-18T05:52:00.000-08:00

It is that time of year again, the rain is finally falling from the sky and rivers are staring to rise. This means two things here Jon will soon arrive to outfit his boat and Mike will have to start repairing fixing / welding lots of broken old boat’s, Oh and at last we can go for a good paddle.

Outfitting sorted! Off to Hurley.

So on Sunday Hurley was on a great 3 gates, a strange layout as it was on the 3 next to the wall which made the middle wave gate slightly more piley but still with some nice green shoulders. Popping back down today I expected the same sort of level, only to find the water had dropped substantially and Hurley was back down to 2 gates. No grumbles as we slid down the steps and made the best of a good level, with a big green right shoulder, pan am's, donkey flips and clean blunts we all making an appearance.
With the 3rd selection event looming on the horizon I did feel quite guilty just using the wave gate and not even having one ride in the hole, but with way water levels are looking I have heard it said that the weekends event may not run.
Updates on the event and wether it will run will be posted on tvfreestylers

Jon

In the mean time it's back to repairing broken boats, drinking tea & spending many hours looking at BBC Weather & Met Check. Where to paddle next?

“Burn” down and get a winter bargain!

2009-11-11T08:50:00.000-08:00

With the immanent release of the new 2010 Burn, Pyranha have cut the price of the Old boat. In stock we have two medium Burns left, 1 Blue/white, 1 Lime/yellow, (full Connect 30 outfitting) these boats now have a special price of £670.00! When they have gone they have gone for good. If you want a proper winter deal get in quick.

No further discounts apply on these two boats….

We also have a Prototype M Burn here at the shop, if you would like to come in and give it a paddle on the lake please do, we are taking pre orders for the new 2010 Burn NOW. The M Burn will be available in two / three week’s time. The Large version a week or so after that, and the small a week or so after again.

The Burn at home, going hard!

GBR Selection Part Deux

2009-11-11T04:11:00.000-08:00

So the rain gods were kind to us last week, depending how you look at it! And the river levels stayed low.

HPP was once again the location for the selection event but in a different feature this time. The Tardis was in good condition and showcased some huge air by many of the paddlers. As soon as the results are published we will put them up, but in a nut shell Pringel won and Jon came a good close second! At the AGM on Saturday night they discussed what will happen with the results if Hurley isn't high enough to use as the 3rd event. But the rain is starting to fall hard……. We will have to wait and see with that one?
Well done to all the paddlers at the weekend.

The Jnr. men doing there thing.

Judging can be a thankless task sometimes. Well done all.

The Crowed show there appreciation for that one!

JB warming up the only way he knows. Going BIG!

2009-11-03T02:08:00.000-08:00

Just a little e-mail sent around today from Liquid logic, interesting?

We are constantly looking at ways to make our kayaks better and safer. We were the first to install metal grab bars on the decks of our kayaks (now an industry standard) that make attaching a carabineer quick and easy. We use the largest molded inserts in the industry (this is what grab handles are bolted to) to increase the pull strength during a rescue situation. Now, we are the first kayak manufacture to introduce “Rotanium XL” (that is what we are calling it in-house and for a really great reason – it hasn’t broken yet!) the best and toughest plastic money can buy. Rotanium XL is high density polyethylene on steroids. We tested “Rotanium XL” for 6 months, using a hand picked group of creekers known for their abusive paddling, before introducing it this past January. Yes you read that correctly, “Rotanium XL” was introduced in January 2009 in all Liquidlogic kayaks so it is in what you currently have in stock. We have been keeping stats on “Rotanium XL” for the last 16 months, starting with our R&D test group, and have had only had three warranty claims with this resin. One was a Jefe Grande that ran Green River’s infamous Gorilla unmanned, backwards, upside down and full of water - it only bent, no breaks. The other two were Biscuits that had bent slightly from doing loops in a shallow hole, which did not truly constitute a warranty but we wanted to check them out. We thought it best to do a soft introduction with you, our dealers, to keep from dating any existing boats that you may have had in stock and to further evaluate Rotanium XL before spewing it to the market.

New Stickers & some Run and Jump.

2009-10-20T06:08:00.001-07:00

Just a quick one to let you know that we now stock run and jump clothing, T-shirts, hats available now. Some very warm looking jackets coming soon! Come in, try it on, and buy some.

And the new look shop sticker is now available in two sizes, small or big in black or white. Very smart.

Ciao for now.

Technology, Oh dear...

2009-10-16T07:09:00.001-07:00

I hope I don’t revive a mountain of e-mails now say “No you can’t” But I am pretty sure, almost 100% that WWTCC.COM now works fine on I-Phones look us up and have a look! Pretty cool think you can buy things via it too.

Continuing to test.

2009-10-07T08:33:00.000-07:00

Well nearly a year since we first started to play with the new Pyranha play boat it finally nearly there, and at long last I got to give it a blast down at Chertsey! Not the “world class” feature you might have hoped to push the boat on, but it is the place we paddle most of the year, and the place I’ve paddled, nearly every play boat to come to the market over the last 7 years. Chertsey’s not a great test of hull speed or looseness, but it is a great test for seeing how stable and controllable the boat is on its end! And good to see how it performs on moves like loop’s, loner orbits, tricky Woo’s. And all that sort of stuff the youth of today like to do in a boat in a sticky hole!! Things are looking very promising, and the small changes planned for the next version should hopefully see the boat nearly done. Then hopefully not to long before production can begin. Pictures are all pretty poor! What can I say, it dark when we leave work now.

The PDQ, Pretty Dam Quick!

The Naturist.

2009-10-06T02:00:00.000-07:00

I don't know if anyone has seen these before, but at the moment this guy is making our day fly along! very funny, think Bear Grylls mixed with some Chuckle Brothers. find more here

Competion week… End!

2009-10-05T08:57:00.000-07:00

Was a busy weekend just gone, Graham finally finished in a very respectable 43 at the Sick-Line race and was top UK paddler! Good effort my friend. The rest of us spent our time at HPP taking part in the first GB selection (freestyle) event of the year, I think I finished a fairly lowly 22nd but had a wonderful time paddling the new Pyranha PDQ prototype. Jon paddled much better and came 7th, Mr. Pringle blew every one else away with a winning score of 1050, very impressive to watch. Miss Jennifer Chrimes took the ladies title with 3 excellent solid rides (beating most of the senior men!). All in all a top few days sport, next stop, back to slalom (Llandysi).

Sick-Line results Here:

As soon as I get some pictures from HPP are pop them up.

Sick-Line is nearly here!

2009-10-02T07:50:00.000-07:00

Graham Milton, Matt Cook & Deb Pinnager all fling the flag for team GB. Good Luck all!

Arron, Lucy & new baby Beatrice

2009-10-01T09:53:00.000-07:00

Congratulations, mother and daughter are both home now and doing very well.

Dose that make us a success then?

2009-10-01T09:37:00.000-07:00

"A man is a success if he gets up in the morning and gets to bed at night, and in between he does what he wants to do."

Bob Dylan.

oh, Twitter........ what fun.

2009-09-29T09:10:00.000-07:00

Yes we now also have a twitter page! search for whitewatertcc and become a follower. Twitter.

E.R.R. 2oo9

2009-09-29T07:57:00.000-07:00

Is it possible to go to Scotland and just have a normal paddling trip? In my experience no! This trip was no different it was a proper paddling adventure. The reason for heading far far north again was to take part in the 2nd ever Active River Race, the Active for thoughts who don’t know is a corking little river that flows west off Rannoch More in the highlands of Scotland. Last year the race experienced 18 hours of solid rain before the event witch turned the nice little river into a raging monster. The race that was to be held on the normal section of the river (triple falls down to Right angel falls) was caned and moved to the upper section, last year myself and Graham Milton of Fluxed shirt fame came first in the sponsored category, what happened this year I hear you all cry! Well read on………

(The Etive, Last year.)

I left London village bright and breezy Thursday morning and headed to collect my fellow team mate & mates from the kayaking metropolis of Nottingham, we then headed of into the night bound for Scotland. Gosh what a long way away that place is, after a lovely comfortable journey with no problems or issues we arrived! In the rain wind, cold, typical Scottish weather had a few beers in the local pub then fell asleep in there car park! Standard kayak practice. The next day, Friday the rain was still falling, but on the brighter side of life the river was full, Ish….
3 Or 4 runs down the Etive later, and a bow tie tying instructional video in the can, our race lines were dialed in and we went back to the pub! The race day was nearly here.
Saturday morning dawned surprisingly bright and sunny; we loaded up the car and headed off to the Glen Coe Ski centre, slightly of topic this place is up for sale! You must be able to do so much with that place, Bargain for someone. The river had now started to drop due to the uncharacteristically nice sunny weather and I think that may have given the early competitors a slight advantage, must not grumble though, Me & G set of for our race pretty much at the end of the day followed by Mr. T and JC. Now I don’t think we had the best run down, my small capsize was low point of the race for me! But we both nailed the big last drop at right angel, I finished about one inch behind Graham, we kept it close! Mr.T & JC were just behind us they both had solid runs down; Tom taking the NEW Burn for its first competitive outing was suitably impressed. Race done it was back to the pub! Do you see a pattern here? Then followed probably one of the best nights I’ve ever had in a pub, Good time. Amazingly me and Graham won the sponsored race AGAIN! Yeah….. The nice big trophy is back on the mantel piece & the £200 prize money, was drunk. The shine was taken off our win, only a little when we found out that we had been beaten by two 15 year old, but hats off to them, here are the excuses already! They must have had a good clean race, and they did start at the front end of the day with more water. Ha Ha, well done guys. Good slalom training winning threw there I recon. I forgot to take the camera out of me peli case for the entire trip luckily other people did take pictures and I will try to get some soon. Roll on next year.

First Look...

2009-09-10T10:40:00.000-07:00

Have a look at this! Another new composite boat soon to be released to the market.... Quite a unique day today, paddling at HPP in the sun! And it was great to meet up with my old mate Jon Boy, fresh back from his trip to worlds (Finished top UK paddler! Well done mate) the new boat is undergoing a few minor alterations, keep watching kids big thumbs up all round.

(Give it a quick go!)

(play with the seat position!)

(And there off again!)

(Next stop, find a big wave!)

What have we been doing!

2009-09-07T06:37:00.000-07:00

Well, all of you how read this blog often will notice that we haven’t written a blog for some time, basically we’ve been very very busy. Despite the rather dodgy economic times we are in we have just had one of our best ever summers, lots of customer coming through the door, lots of kit and boats going out , lots of boats and bits that need to be repaired and sorted out, so far are favorite has been replacing the end caps of P&H Revenges!

(Mr. Tickle at work)
Not an easy job unless you are Mr. Tickle and have arms 6ft long. On the boating basically for me it’s been a drought! 164 since I last paddled a river (I’m not including the Thames or HPP in this!!!!) although we have still all been out 5-6 times a week at either Chertsey or at Slaloms around the country. Talking of slaloms this week end gone we were supposed to have our first Division 2 slalom at the drainage ditch at Cardington, However due to possibly the most unhelpful and grumpy people I’ve ever met at a slalom, whom would not let us enter, we had an hour an a half drive there then came straight back! GREAT………

(No not the queue for Hurley! just the practice session at the ditch)

I will never ever ever ever go to Cardington again! EVER. Any how on a happier note we now also have some SUP from Circle One, I’ve been a little wary of these in the past,

(Pete on the SUP, Fun in the sun)

but I can happily say that there amazing so easy and fun to jump on and go for a great little cruse, so long as you don’t fall in you don’t even have to bother to get changed! Proper summer sport. We’ve also been working on some top secret testing for Pyranha, well been working on for some time actually but now after over a year of prototyping, Re: shaping prototyping some more I don’t think it will be long before you see the new Pyranha Play boat.

(Seth throwing down @ Chertsey)

Based very loosely on the Rev it has a completely new hull and rails, totally new deck and is looking very Sweet, and very fast. I’m pretty sure, and I hope Pyranha don’t mind me saying this available in plastic and Full Carbon (boat weight around 7 / 8 Kg haven’t broken one yet!) all things going well it will have it’s first public showing at this weekend Pyranha Fest, held at the Treweryn white water centre north Wales (Look here for more info). Roll on the winter season,
speak soon
L8r

The Assassin has arrived

2009-08-27T05:20:00.000-07:00

After what seams an age the new Nookie Assassin suit is here in store.

Specs:
Fabrics: 3ply Bamboo with Enduro mesh and Gaiaprene®
Neck: Latex gasket with O-ring Gaiaprene® outer
Wrist: Latex gasket with O-ring Gaiaprene® outer
Ankle: Enduro mesh reinforced with hook & loop adjustability
Back Zip: Waterproof BDM® brass zip with protection cover
Waist system: Deep tunnel with spraydeck grab clips and dual drawcord and hook and loop power ups
Relief Zip: Waterproof BDM® brass zip with protection cover
Socks: Fabric dry socks
Made in Cornwall, UK

This suit is quite simply AMAZING, the Enduro mesh reinforced is great and light weight but super tough & very warm, It's got pin stripes for god sake, what more could any man or lady want.

BUY HERE.

Get In quick! Or you will be sorry...

2009-08-22T03:32:00.000-07:00

End of Summer sale…..
For a short time only we have a few boats being sold at proper bargain prices. The boats are old stock or Ex-Demo, but all in great condition. At the moment we have:

Liquid Logic CR 125 £499.00
Wavesport EZG 50 £499.00
Dagger G-ride 6.2 £399.00
Draggorossi Stinger £399.00
Liquid Logic Ronin 49 £399.00
Nova Craft Prospector RX 16 £900 Open Canoe This is a great deal! RRP £1149.00

When there gone there gone.

Venture Kayak Flex

2009-07-16T08:29:00.001-07:00

Pyranha have a new baby! The Venture Kayaks Flex.

(Good size cockpit, easy to get get in and out!)
The perfect size for families looking to have fun on the water, the Venture Flex is a high quality and feature rich recreational kayak that every member of the family will enjoy.

With the purpose of introducing you to kayaking, the Flex has been designed to be Flexible. Whether the water is calm or a little more adventurous , the feeling you get from the Flex will always be one of reassurance.

It has the most stable hull Venture has ever designed, it is reliable, safe and super comfortable. It is spacious enough to help you find the perfect seating position and features a large cockpit for easy entry.

This boat has a seat fitted with our unique Flip Top backrest, so paddlers can enjoy the best of both performance and comfort.. It also has our twistock footrests, adjustable thigh grips, hatch, bulkhead, deck lines and skeg all fitted as standard.

After only a very quick paddle it clear to see the Flex is a great little boat, very comfortable & stable, with the drop down skeg up it turns well in the water, but pop it down and it tracks like a steam train! Nice and quick too. Thumbs up around, a great little boat, for the price excellent.

Retails at £499 Demo Boat Available Soon.

Kayak and canoe Hire on the Thames

2009-07-15T03:12:00.000-07:00

Kayak and canoe Hire on the Thames.

After new day and another group out for a paddle on the Thames, Hire this year is going really well for us, and we are super lucky to have an excellent stretch of river right on our door step.

If you would like to come and try Canoeing or kayaking hire is available Monday to Saturday, during the week you can pretty much turn up and go for it! Saturdays are getting busy! If you can phone and book in advance that would help. Please call on 01932 247 978
Prices:
Kayak half day (4 hours) £25.00
Kayak full day £35.00
Canoe half day (4 hours) £30.00
Canoe full day £45.00

I always enjoy deliveries here at the shop, but none more so than a delivery from Viking Direct. Do like a nice cup a tea and a biscuit!

The Big weekender!

2009-07-14T02:40:00.001-07:00

The 4th and 5th of July is a special time of the year! It’s the Shepperton Slalom weekend. This year the event was once again blessed with wall to wall sun shine and a perfect water level.
Saturday started off not with a slalom! But with a Wave Hopper challenge race, around 35 competitors took part in the race from the canoe club around to the B weir at Shepperton and then back to start. This wasn’t anything to hard core, just a good fun race and it was nice to see plenty of junior paddlers taking part and getting involved.
Then on to the slalom, Dave had set up a nice flowing 18 gate course for the event, as the Div 3 ladies, men, juniors set off it was clear to see this was going to be a close run competition. In the C1 class Mr. Paul “Cheesy” Robertson even made his competitive return to the sport. And looked very smooth in his 4M Martikan! Taking 1st place.

(Cheesy in and around the gates)
Sunday saw a re run of Saturdays event, the course had been changed slightly and again the completion was tight. I don’t have a full list of the finishing results but as soon as we do are post them up!

I’ve been lucky lately! I’ve been paddling the new Nell slalom boat; the new boats are being brought into the UK by Local legend Ivan Lawler. If you need more info please give us a call, really nice agile boat. Demos are available.

A full list of the results can be found HERE! and Here!

Wye river guide

2009-06-24T04:40:00.001-07:00

The Wye is an excellent river for a day or extended canoe/kayak trip. This great book written by the EA covers all you need to know.

Buy a copy here!
The Wye Valley attracts many thousands of visitors each year and the river is a popular resource for sport and recreation. About 250km long, one of the longest rivers in Britain and perhaps the most popular for paddlers of canoes and kayaks in the UK. It is popular for long distance touring, recreational paddling and white water paddling.

2009-06-24T03:36:00.000-07:00

This week another new Dagger Boat! After much hype the new Alchemy touring boat has arrived, we now have stock plus demo’s in both sizes. The Alchemy has possibly the most comfortable seat I’ve ever parked my bum in! this coupled with great stability, handling and speed look to make this boat a real winner this summer. Come in and have a paddle.

Specifications Alchemy “L”
Length: 14' / 427 cm
Width: 24" / 61 cm
Max Capacity: 300 lbs. / 136 kg
Deck Height: 14.75" / 37 cm
Weight: 55 lbs. / 25 kg
Cockpit Length: 35" / 89 cm
Cockpit Width: 18.5" / 47 cm

Specifications Alchemy “S”
Length: 14' / 427 cm
Width: 23" / 58 cm
Max Capacity: 275 lbs. / 125 kg
Deck Height: 13.25" / 34 cm
Weight: 50 lbs. / 23 kg
Cockpit Length: 35" / 89 cm
Cockpit Width: 18.5" / 47 cm

The Dagger Blurb. The stylish, all new Alchemy light touring series hits the water running, packed with performance capabilities for both flat and moving water. Featuring the stability that’s suitable for new paddlers, but with performance edging and turning capabilities ready for advanced skill levels. With enough storage and speed for an extended weekend excursion, it’s time to grab your gear and get moving

Early closing...

2009-06-17T04:33:00.000-07:00

Early closing

On Wednesday 17/06/09 we will be closing at 16:45
Sorry for any inconvenience
Please call us on 01932 247 978 if you have any questions

Thursday the 18th we will be back to normal, Open 09:30 till 19:30

Cheers.

(and there off)

Fest 2009!

2009-06-15T06:00:00.000-07:00

Pyranha fest is back! after the huge success of last year Pyranha have just released the dates of this years event 12 -13th September, the festival will once again take place in North Wales (The Tryweryn whitewater course). This year Pyranha are working hard to have flat water side to the event, Open boaters and sea/touring paddlers will be abel to try numerous boats on Bala lake.

Have a look here to find out all the info

What do we do in the summer?..........paddling wise!

2009-06-12T02:52:00.000-07:00

Well the normal answer to that is we go to Chertsey or paddle around the Thames! But every now and then we get the time to do something a bit more fun! This week I took the opportunity to head way out west, way way way out west. Head down the M4, cross the big bridge and then drive for the rest of your life! Eventually, and hopefully before you die! You come to St David’s, the UK’s smallest city. A lovely little gaff, full of fun beach shops and the site of some of the most amazing sea paddling you can find any where around are fair little island. Myself and Steve “UGG” wheatman had come to Pembroke to paddle with local hero Steve Lang, after the long drive down to his excellent house and randy beagle (“George”) provided much entertainment! Let the paddling begin…..
We woke early Tuesday morning; first thing first we had to sort out dinner! So me and UGG headed off down the road for a spot of fishing, 2 hours later we returned with 1 fish, are well lucky we are not greedy people.

(Dinner)

Next Snorkeling! With a spear gun….. Very cool, still didn’t catch any fish but had great fun! You might be able to tell we were dragging this day out a little, and for one very good reason! The Bitches, a truly spiritual tide race just of the main land. 3 hours before high tide, and you need a good big ish tide! The sea starts to flood into the Irish sea, where the tide runs over a group to rocks just off Ramsey island you get some pretty sporty water, great waves, whirl pools & pour over’s . paddling this in a play boat is pretty dam good, in sea boat tho it’s even better, big surfs huge enders, paddling doesn’t get much more fun than this.

And then after you’ve been paddling for hours and you’re totally knackered you have to try and paddle home, avoiding the infamous hoarse rock! Now I can’t lie this little innocuous rock (well 100 ft rock Colum, sticking up from the sea bed) always scares the s**t out of me! Here lies the second big plus point of a sea boats, there much faster! And you can avoid nasty boat eating eddies from hell with just a quick burst of nervous energy! Needless to say we were both fine and made it back for a fish supper as the sun set over the rolling hills of Pembroke. But that isn’t all! I had two days off. After an exciting first day the second day was a more normal sedate sea paddle from, and I’m very sorry but can’t for the life of me remember the names of the places! We started from a very pictures harbor (Abercastle?) and headed north along some amazing cliffs out and around Strumble head,

then finished at Fishguard, Steve was nearly mown down by the ferry! Really very quiet for such a big ship! Think it was around 10 miles, but a lovely paddle. Great animal life, great paddling, loves it.

Back to work!

The Axiom is here..... well, the 8.5 is......

2009-06-05T09:26:00.000-07:00

It's been a long time coming but at last the NEW Dagger Axiom is here, We are very lucky to have one of the first boats out of the mould! stock will follow very soon, for now we have a demo! come in and have a try of this great boat. dose look quite cool! good Dagger grahic on the back!

What Dagger Have to say...
An Axiom in mathematics is considered to be both a starting point from where other theories are proven and also something that is taken to be universally true.

So when the Dagger R&D team sat down to design a boat to fill the shoes of the legendary RPM they had two considerations. One was to create something new - which others will no doubt follow. The other, to create a boat which would stand against the worlds best selling White Water kayak!

They set off on a journey. Many opinions were given, many ideas tried and tested and many, many, hours later they decided that they had made…..An Axiom.

Combining all river performance desired by experienced paddlers with forgiving and predictable characteristics required by those progressing the Axiom is a boat that will challenge everyone, at any age, to go out for more.

Long enough for down river speed and excellent in surf the bow carries volume for smooth passage down river whilst the stern is cut low for pivot turns and agility. Using a flat planing hull, full-length rails and soft profile sidewalls the Axiom has a smooth transition from edge to edge and a playful feel.

Inside its adjustable all the way with Daggers well loved River Running outfit system – solid, safe and very versatile.

Available in four sizes the Axiom range features a super small 6.9 size ideal for aspiring young river runners right up to the 9.0 version giving a sporty boat to bigger paddlers.

A bit of Youtube tells 1000 words?

2009-06-03T09:13:00.000-07:00

A short film by Seth, shot on location at Chertsey during the CTI!

And this one made by me and Jon boy in the depths of winter!

And the long summer begins!

2009-05-28T03:53:00.000-07:00

The second bank holiday in May marks the start of the long hot summer here at Whitewater, How ever at this time of year our name should probably change to Flatwater the Canoe center or Backwater! We’re never to sure what one we prefer…. As a result this year we have the biggest demo fleet I think we have ever had! We have nearly all the popular Dagger models (flat water / white water) available for demo/heir as well as Pyranha, Perception, Wave Sport, Valley, Old Town, Mad River, Robson and I think probably some more too.

(our shop lake)

Heir is also up and running, we do have the best part of 30 boats in the fleet! But if it’s a hot sunny Saturday then please call and book in advance to avoid disappointment! Things do get busy, Please call us on the normal number 01932 247 978.
And at long last we have finally received our delivery of the New Sweet side cut Wanderer! The Wanderer features the same great EPP liner found in the Rocker models, combined with a half-cut style outer made from high impact resistant injection molded ABS, with carbon fiber reinforced areas and direct venting for optimal ventilation and drainage. Helmet £119.95. Click here to buy.

Wet West Paddle Fest!

2009-05-26T01:46:00.000-07:00

Get this in your diary...
Wet West Paddle Fest
19th - 20th September

For the last four years paddlers have congregated in the North-West of Scotland for the Wet West Paddle Fest. What more could you ask than for two days of fun filled paddling.
The weekend starts on the Friday night in the British Aluminium Club, Fort William where you can meet up with fellow boaters and pick up your event passes.
Saturday is the River Garry event, which is a fairly easy paddle with good playspots and easy access along its length. It is equally suitable for less experienced boaters as well as the hardened pros. A shuttle service is provided and will be operating from approximately 10am to 4pm on both days of the event. We hope to have food and demo boats available at the take-outs. To finish your first day off with all your new paddling pals, it's back to the British Aluminium Club for some evening fun!
Sunday is mainly for those who prefer a steeper challenge, the River Moriston! It is both excellent to paddle and fantastic fun to spectate, with most of the rapids easily accessible for photo opportunities to impress your mates that couldn't make it. The harder parts of the Moriston are the top section (just below the dam) and the final section from the A82 bridge to the end of the gorge. A more moderate grade 3 paddle can be taken on the middle Moriston, between the two sections.

Keep an eye on the web site (www.wetwestpaddlefest.co.uk) for more information and tickets will be on sale through the SCA website (www.canoescotland.com) from June onwards.

Kind regards
Sarah Marshall

The Whitewater C T I

2009-05-21T02:42:00.000-07:00

The second of the Chertsey events took place on Tuesday! I have to be honest I’m shocked at how many people are turning up! This week the ex GB freestyle coach Steve drove all the way here from Cornwall! Just to compete. We have also had are first lady entrant! Watch this space we should have a video up soon too……

(some good old Car park culture! The key to any GB rodeo event....)

(One blade Vickery throwing down!)

(Two blades, one or none! master of them all Mike pops a Mchand LOOP!)

(Jon, Only his 3rd time on moving water! and already moving on the cart wheels)

The event was wrapped up at the local pub the mighty Kingfisher!

Winners this week!

C1: Martin....again
Squirt: Darr....again
Novice: Jon....again
Pro Men: Steve "UGG" Wheatman
Pro Lady: Kat

League table

Martin 20 points
Darr 20 points
Jon 20 points
UGG 10 points
Rich 10 points
Kat 10 points

Thank you to the event sponsors Nookie, Lyon & whitewater TCC. Be sure to tune in next week for another thrilling instalment to the Whitewater CTI.
L8r all

And we’re back! Well nearly……….

2009-05-15T06:43:00.000-07:00

And we’re back! Well nearly……….

After what seams like an age we finally have a working computer, things have been, well a bit disjointed over the last 2/3 weeks. Thank you to all the people who sent in e-mails telling us about computer/web site problems! It’s taken a while but every thing seams to be back to normal now.
But, what has happened since we were last on the blog site! Well quite a bit. With respect to paddling slalom season is in full swing, Mike and Kat are doing well and winning a fair bit, Pete has nearly competed (Nearly). Slight change of subject! HPP changes! Wow, last weekend I spent a couple of days in the ditch with JB and the RunAndJump Crew, and had a great time.

The changes are have made a huge difference, I actually enjoyed paddling there. Bit closer to home Chertsey is at a great level and is providing much fun. Last Tuesday evening we held the debut “Tuesday Chertsey League” event, and despite of really no advertising on my part was well attended

First Place Novice: John Samways

First Place Pro Men’s K1: Richard Merral

First Place C1: Martin

First Place Squirt: Darr boy Breedon

Unfortunately no women could be convinced to join in last Tuesday! But hopefully as the event grows we will start to see a few ladies entering.
In Store, Loads of new stuff! Sweet Sweet Sweet, The new Prophecy dry tops are here, now they are £300 odd pound, but they are amazing! The new helmets are here and going very well, BIG DOG has landed! We now have the Kaos and Havoc in store, this first batch of boats have 20% off there normal RRP, If you want a bargain get here fast! Pyranha Have there new Fusion back in store (£499.00) and we have the new Pyranha neo decks! We also have new kit from Peak UK, Nookie & Yak. Really, I hear it’s going to be raining Saturday! Think you should come in and have a look around.
One thing………….
I haven’t got the drivers for our camera on our new PC yet! So pictures may be at a premium for now. Sorry.

Summer lovin .

2009-04-22T03:29:00.001-07:00

You can always tell when summer arrives; it’s hot for a start! But also the squirt boats come out of hibernation & after paddling in stead of a nice warm ale or mold wine you can sit down and have a pint of cider!

Chertsey still seams to be a bit high at the moment but I’m sure over the next few days the water will clear and drop a little making the perfect level for squirting. Get your orders in now for your new boat the summer is a coming. And squirting is the only way a head!

(Matt making the most of the sunny weather)

However they maybe be another way, if you don’t want to Sink then you need to get yourself a BIG play boat! Small playboats are just so last season. If your playboat is not at least 6’7” long and packing at least a healthy 200 litres of volume really what are you doing! However after such a long time in small boats the mystical art of the cart wheel may elude you, at first.

(Rich going deep!)

(Fun in the sun!)

Here are a few tips to get the big boats doing ends. (I started this to be serious, then had to do some work! I don't think I missed to much out!)

Bow in first, Double pump! Take a forward sweep on one side you are going to do your end on, the sweep needs to go down rather than out and around! And really think about lifting your bow up in the air. Keep your head down and keep looking toward the water and your bow. Really try to concentrate on keeping your paddle parallel to the surface of the water

Bow Smash. Turn the forward sweep into a reverse push/pry type stroke while leaning forward a little bit (try not to lean right forward as you might just capsize!). Drive down hard with your legs, you will need to edge your boat hard over, the more your boat is up on edge, the easier this part of the move will be. This is the key movement to getting vertical on the bow; you will need to put quite some effort into this bit if you have a big boat! Hopefully your boat will now be vertical in the water (on your bow!) try to keep your body central and keep pushing down with your legs.

(Notice the “L” on the back of Pete’s boat! This isn’t because he’s obese (just a little chubby ;-) but because he understands that big boats are better.)

Stern Smash. After getting vertical on your bow, lead this next move with your head looking in the direction you want to go. If you are leading hard with your head, your boat should stay on its edge (hopefully). As your bow comes up, keep the boat on it’s edge and pull down with your other blade, this doesn’t need to be a supper powerful stroke, your stern is smaller than the bow and so long as your boat is on edge momentum will drive it under, concentrate more on your torso rotation and weight shift from slightly forward to slightly back (as your nose comes up). The hard bit now is to get back around for the bow, try not to get your blades stuck in the water, you need them out and ready for the next end.

4) Transition time. Once you are vertical on your stern, reach around as soon as possible to set up your bow smash (if your going left, your left blade! Right, right blade). Again lead with your head, keep your weight a bit forward. The important bit is keeping your boat as parallel to the surface of the water. Your boat hard no edge should be easy to push down. Now just do the same reverse stroke as you did to start with. A good abs & torso work out! Stay flexible, drive down with your legs and feet. Try not to learn really hard forward and then really hard back, the boat will go to vertical to soon and you will fall over, or your get to far of balance and fall over!

Now reading this is not really going to get you pulling ends, go paddle, have fun, drink cider!. I may have missed bit out in the above oops sorry it’s only a ruff guide!

Read all about it!

2009-04-21T04:52:00.000-07:00

I knew Jon Boy did a little article with a guy from the Telegraph a while back! and i've just found it! read on read on......

Tarquin Cooper goes to playboat extremes to be at one with the water
I'm staring down a run of rapids at Britain's top white-water course, in Nottingham, and feeling increasingly anxious. Any second, I will launch myself down the fast and furious course.
"Normally I wouldn't send a complete beginner down," says instructor Jon Best. These are not words to fill me with confidence. My chest beats hard as he gives the final advice: "Paddle as fast as you can and hit it straight on."
I go for it, heart in mouth, and try not to panic as the kayak spins from side to side with each stroke. A foaming wall of water quickly approaches. Suddenly, I accelerate down a ramp and, with the adrenalin pumping, smash through the surf before spinning off to the side.
I'm elated to have made it through, until a sobering thought hits me. This is just the start. I'm with Best, an ace among Britain's top paddlers, to try one of kayaking's extreme disciplines, freestyle. Also called playboating, it involves doing tricks in white water in a small, highly responsive kayak.
"It's like snowboarding down a mountain, then finding a half pipe to do some tricks on," says Best, 22. "With freestyle, you're using all parts of the river, combining river running with freestyle skills."
The sport may not have been in the Olympics but, like surf and board sports, it has urban cachet. "There's more soul to it," explains Best. "It's just more exciting and challenging than other disciplines. You're much more at one with the water."
The idea is to use one stretch of white water to perform spins, flips and exotically-named moves that don't seem possible. Paddlers spend up to a minute dancing on the surf like a fish at the top of a fountain.
It requires considerable spatial awareness, an understanding of river features and, when I shake Best's hand, it's obvious that upper body strength is useful, too. He was British number one last year, has been a member of the UK team for six years and is just back from competing in the European Championships in Spain.
We meet at the National Water Sports Centre in Nottingham, home to the Holme Pierrepont white-water course. The man-made run is 300?metres long and boasts five grade three rapids.

(the little riper in action down at Sunbury!)

"Have you done much kayaking?" Best asks. I have recently been sea kayaking, but decide not to mention this as I was pulled out by a lifeboat after getting into difficulty.
Best offers to give a demonstration and squeezes into his Jackson kayak, just in from America. A couple of kids wander past with the same thing on their minds as me. "Where are your legs?" one of them asks.
With a couple of paddle strokes, he's in the course's first feature, balancing on the surf. The demonstration begins as Best performs twists, turns, cartwheels, flips and an "air loop" (a mid-air somersault). He dips the front of the kayak in the water then springs into an astonishing mid-air manoeuvre to the delight of the small crowd now watching.
"That's one of the great things about freestyle," says Chloe Nelson of the British Canoe Union. "It's great fun to watch. You don't have to know much about the sport to appreciate it. It looks so exciting. Most people wouldn't know you could do those things in a boat."
Then it is my turn. I squeeze into the kayak, wedge my knees out to the side and stretch my feet into two beanbag type cushions up front. Best then pulls draw-chords that squeeze me so tightly I can barely move.
"Can I still get out of this thing?" I ask. "Don't worry," he replies.
The introduction begins with a roll on a flat water lake. My first attempt is a disaster. I end upside-down with the front of the boat sticking up in the air.
"It should be one fluid movement," he says. "Flick your hips and remember, your head should be the last thing to come out of the water."
My second attempt is perfect. It's also a complete fluke. Later attempts end in failure: hardly an auspicious start before running the rapids.

Undeterred, we venture on to the course. After rapid one, the pace picks up and in no time I'm being tossed about like a ping-pong ball. I run the full distance. There's one problem: I'm upside-down for most of it.
"It's a great buzz," says Best, "when you get the hang of it."

Up, Up, Up to Scotland

2009-04-15T13:40:00.000-07:00

(Far too) Early in the morning on Good Friday we loaded up the mighty Ford Focus with 2 shiny slalom boats (Mike's k1 and c1), one battered slalom boat (my k1) an unnecessarily large tent (Mike's), a case of lager (Mike's), far too much paddling kit (Mike's), far too many clothes (mine), and a hyperactive collie (Bryn - no-one takes responsibility for him). The reason? Grandtully Division 1/2 slalom on the Tay, of course! The Grandtully races are always fantastic, being held on an interesting stretch of natural river, with courses that are generally both entertaining and challenging, and the surrounding countryside is stunning - all of which combine to make this one-day race well worth the 8 hour drive to get there.

We arrived just in time for a quick practice session on Friday evening; the water level was quite high, creating a deep, fast flow with a large number of surfable waves rather than the shallower, more technical stretch of river we had raced on in last August's Grandtully race . The course design took full advantage of this, with three crosses designed to test a paddler's wave-surfing ability. This suited Mike, but I had to quickly brush up my surfing skills ready for the race the next day! The course designers had also used the new 'single-pole' rule extensively - 15 of the 18 gates were single pole gates, which some paddlers criticised, but it certainly lead to fast and smooth runs from the top paddlers, and of course a huge number of clean runs!

Cat tackling the Tay

The water dropped quite a lot overnight, making the water slightly less white (which suited the division 2 paddlers), but also meaning the waves were slightly less defined. Mike put in a fast first run in K1, but acquired a 50 second penalty on the second-to-last gate by going a little bit too fast, and failing to cross the gate line with the whole of his head; his C1 run was steady but solid. I dropped off the back of a wave on my first run and missed a gate as a result - so it was all down to second runs for both me and Mike in K1 - oh, the pressure! Mike went for broke on his second k1 run, and put in a fantastic run that saw him finish 12th overall in Division 1; he improved on his C1 run as well, finishing a respectable 6th. I opted for a steady-but-sure second run, and avoided any 50s - phew! 4 races into the season, and both Mike and I are sitting comfortably (and in Mike's case in K1, spectacularly) above our bib numbers, so cause for celebration all round. Thanks to the organisers for another excellent race!

Mike and Bryn above Glen Nevis

After all the excitement of the slalom, we decided to head further north for a couple of relaxing days around Fort William - we stayed at a lovely campsite in Glen Nevis, and were lucky enough to have fantastic weather for the time we were there.

Bryn on the snowy peak of Ben Nevis

We spent a day climbing Ben Nevis, which was hugely satisfying; I was exhausted afterwards, and even Mike was tired, but the 16km hike had no discernable effect on Bryn the collie-dog. We also visited Inverlochy Castle and had a walk up past Neptune's Staircase (a series of locks on the Caledonian Canal) as well as spending a suitably large amount of time testing out the local inns.

Cat and Bryn at Inverlochy Castle

All in all, a lovely extended weekend - and all 3 of us are looking forward to our next trip North of the border for the August Grandtully race.

Cat

The legend is back! Long live the King (pin!)

2009-04-08T02:23:00.001-07:00

There was quite a bit of excitement just before a headed off to Nepal. We had a call from Ben at Palm telling us about Palm intend to bring the Kingpin back to life for a limited period! Excellent!!!! Was my response, the Kingpin was always an excellent boat, a firm favourite with many paddlers. And now it’s back at a quite staggering £599.00(full Whitewater outfitting) the only grumble I had was why it is a limited run? The answer, Dagger USA only has 1 mould of each size. Dagger Europe have had these moulds shipped over for just 2 month, during this time they will be run none stop. But when the time is up the moulds go back state side, and that’s it for us! So we have stock, we have demo’s get in and grab a true bargain quick, wicked boat!

Namaste All!

2009-04-07T09:17:00.001-07:00

Well what have we been upto? Have a read below..... Words and pictures all from Ali @ FatCats

In March Ali Marshall , Tom Brown and Pete Scutt flew into the west of Nepal to paddle the Humla Karnali and its trib the Mugu Karnali. We didn't know much about this 30 mile lower section of the Mugu from Gamgadi to the Humla confluence. Gerry Moffat may have paddled it, a Russian Raft Team took 9 days to down it and there was an epic canyon somewhere in there?

Andy Sommer(Shiva Outdoors), THE fixer in Nepal and top bloke organised our flights and Head Guide/Porter/Translator called Bero. Bero is a great local kayaker aswell. In this part of Nepal doing this kind of complex trip , it was massively helpful to have someone who spoke the language.

The one phrase that sticks in my mind about expedition Kayaking in Nepal is ,"Be Flexible", we were.

After road blocks, people being shot on the roads in riots, flight cancellations and our entire route being changed we finally made it to Jumla in the mountains where we could organise our porters and start our three day hike to the Mugu.

Now we didn't realise how hard this was going to be. Even though we had porters to carry our boats we still had 25kg of gear each in crappy dry bags that kill your back. On the first day when had walked from 1500m to 4100m we were all feeling a little short on breath, and after pushing the 15miles that we had planned that day we were feeling DONE IN. That night I said screw it and hired two donkeys to carry our gear cause otherwise I was going to be too broken to paddle. Two more days of slightly easier trekking and we made it to the Mugu.

Nepal was at the end of a 6 month drought which we had no idea about but we got to the river and it looked like a good flow, maybe 30 cumecs in it.

The river was quality, starting grade 3/4 and moving to 4/5. All superb boat scouting with some harder grade 5. The canyon was stunning. There was only one 100m portage in the entire 30 mile section. As we were scouting this portage Tom had this large rock fall about a foot away from his head. We looked up to find people throwing rocks at us from 500ft above. We dived into our boats and paddled for cover. As I was getting into my boat behind a boulder Tom screamed at me to stay behind the rock as the people pushed this huge landslide towards me. But I'm still alive. That put a bad taste in my mouth as I didn't expect to be visualising killing people in Nepal.

We were paddling unloaded boats and were flying way too quickly for the the porters to keep up with us, as the plan was to paddle it in two or three days. Half way down was said sod it and lets finish this. So we smashed it down to the Humla confluence in 6 hours. The only problem is that we didn't have any food or shelter. But we had money and knew the word for feed me.

We found this beautiful group of houses belonging to a family who lived a subsistence lifestyle. They kindly took us in and fed us and let us sleep in the their barn above the animals. This day was one of the most epic days of my life and an unbelievable culture shock. After the porters finally caught us up after two long days we started the two day hike up to Lochi Karnali where the 100 miles of 4/5 Humla whitewater starts. To Simikot the normal put on to the humla was one days futher hike but there are long portages on that section so we started where we did and what followed was some of the best whitewater we have ever paddled.

Bero helping with the kayaks.

This section normally takes five days but we did it in two. Not because we wanted to rush but because we never wanted to call it a day and our group was small and fast. 50 mile days we were doing with very little flat in between the rapids. There is a 10 mile big volume grade five section which is amazing. It is rare to paddle something so steep with such volume. We did four portages on the whole 100 miles.

We didn't paddle the lower section even though it is meant to be beautiful.

All in all this is one one of the best river trips in the world and if you want an adventure then go to Nepal.

The team, Pete Scutt, Ali Marshall and Tom Brown.

Thank you very much to

Pyranha Kayaks / Yak
Dagger / Palm
System X / Werner
TyphoonOh and! Whitewater the Canoe Centre
If you travel to Nepal see these guys or at least give them a e-mail. Andy is maybe the most helpful person you could ever meet!Shiva Outdoors

Nelo Kayaks

2009-04-01T07:34:00.000-07:00

We currently have some new demo kayaks avaliable from Nelo, the Portugese company best known for its sprint and mararathon K1's also make some nice sea, touring and now slalom kayaks.

Pictured is the Inuk a fast/racing sea kayak and the new slalom K1.

The New Salto Evolution Has Arrived

2009-03-31T02:48:00.000-07:00

New in from Germany is Eskimo's new Salto Evolution, this classic tutonic creeker now has 'X-ribs' on the deck for increasd stiffness and more volume in the stern making the boat even more predictable in hard white water.

Time for a break

2009-03-11T07:11:00.001-07:00

It's time of year and im off on a short break. Mike and George will still be at the shop, call in for updates and a cup of tea!

play safe kids.

Nice cup of Tea & a Biscuit

2009-03-09T09:14:00.000-07:00

There here! The new Liquid Logic play boat has landed. Harvesting ideas and concepts from the past and tweaking them with fresh innovation the Biscuit is a solid freestyle boat that is fast, loose, and has mad bounce on a wave. Common to all LL freestyle boats is the spin disc and this is where major tweaking has occurred. The disc is long and narrow but the transition to the release edge is flatter providing incredible release. The innovative ”Bumper” not only stiffens the side wall, it breaks up the vertical flat side providing a larger platform to bounce off of when throwing blunts. The “Bumper” also allows the deck to be slightly inset making it easier to boss around in a hole and super easy to roll. Coming in three sizes with plenty of room for the feet and Bad-Ass outfitting the Biscuit in a high flying ariel assault machin (Americans!)The new boat dose look really good, both on and off the water. Pop in for a try.

Or buy a pack of Biscuits here!

Gone with the wind!

2009-03-06T02:55:00.000-08:00

Our good friend Albert from Westminster Boating base has finally taken the plunge and brought himself and open boat! For some reason though he seams intent to sail the thing rather than just paddle it! Step forth George and Mike. A few second later, two cups of tea and bourbon biscuit the Legend 15 was ready for her first sailing mission. By Jove, I must admit it went really quite well!

I have also now found there is a whole world of Canoe sailing to be found here!

(Ready for action)

We din't really have great wind yesterday but when you got the boat lined up right it really did fly along!

More Schweizer

2009-02-24T05:18:00.000-08:00

To continue our love of German kayaking, Romer helmets, Schlegel Tec 3's & tight speedos. Another great paddling gem for Tuesday lunch time!

How cool!

Honky Tonk Tuesday

2009-02-20T03:16:00.000-08:00

After a very snowy drive down to the south west, we were met by good levels on the Upper Dart and then the East Lynn. Below are a few pictures of the East Lynn a small river that flows into the sea at Lynton. We quickly and quietly jumped in at the small village of Brendon. The river flows through an excellent small gorge, thick of trees! Unfortunately a fair few of the tree’s had found there way into the river that made a couple of the rapids rather exciting. Half way down the Lynn a second river joins in the Hoaroak. The volume goes up and the rapids below are great fun. Really good boulder garden stuff. A quick taxi back to the start and we were on the way home. Not bad for a quiet wintery Tuesday.

(Adam dropping in on the Upper East Lynn)

(Ali going into the gorge)

(The last few dropps on the Hoaroak.)

(where the river meets the sea, really good point brake here too!)

Family Mad, Part 3!

2009-02-20T02:06:00.000-08:00

How whitewater paddling should be.

Brilliant!

Something is stuck in our weir!

2009-02-17T01:44:00.000-08:00

Why is the water so cold! Shepperton is still on a big chunky 10, there seams to be a lot of “stuff” court up in the stanchions making the hole a bit flat. Still great fun though, just a bit on the cold side. Sunbury has 3 gates open then 1 shut then 1 open. Didn’t have a look, probably a hole rather than a wave I should think still.

No river running pictures yet! keep watching.....

Loads of water!

2009-02-16T04:41:00.000-08:00

Well.... I predicted correct!

Ali came in last Monday afternoon and made me go paddling! we hit the Upper Dart first thing Tuesday morning and had a cracking level. and then shoot north to catch the Lyn, not super high but great fun! there are a real lot of trees in the river! if your going that way, might want to watch for that! Good fun tho. Are get some pictures up soon........ Maybe.

and now with most of the UK seeing pretty low water at the moment, here in London we have the complete opposite. The Thames is Supper high with most the normal plays spots flat! Luckily Sunbury came good on Sunday and started to produce a small breaking wave, not the classic it can be! But in these circumstances, not to bad.

I also heard from Chris at the weekend, Young Mr Evans has finally passed his level 5coach! Chris is currently working hard up at Plas y Brenin, (North Wales) and the hard work has paid off. Well Done mate, Congratulations for us all.

2009-02-09T07:25:00.001-08:00

I Predict…

Busy few days here it’s been. All the snow we had brought the river up a bit it also brought the temperature down! Not so good. I can report the new Yak Legend cag is amazing though, I paddled for 4 hours on Friday and I didn’t get cold at all. Really god cut and amazing material. The Devises to Westminster (125 mile) canoe race is fast approaching and we are hard a work pimping paddlers rides so the miles at least go by comfortably, as I write this Mike and George are currently taking the latest craft for sea tests!

(Sea trials a hoy)

I’ve also just looked at the weather for the next few hours! I think we will have some paddling very soon, the river is already at a good little level and the rain coming should do something good! Fingers crossed….
Also I forgot welcome to the new look wwtcc main web site. We’ve been working away over the last few weeks and hopefully you all like the changes, it’s not totally done still a couple of pages to re do but be patient. Any complaints do tell me! I’m not doing any more for a while now……. Hope you like it though. The weir page should be working again soon too.

(The rain is coming!)
See you on the river soon.

Snow we go...

2009-02-02T03:57:00.000-08:00

Well it official we have some proper snow in London! The North Downs seam to have collected the majority of the last nights snow, The drive home last night in the snow was (sorry to be all American) awesome. It continued to snow all night and the official reading in the Whitewater compound a 09:30 this morning was 234 mm, 23.4 cm. I had the most exciting commute to work ever! The ride threw Wimbledon common was great and although it did take me nearly 2 hours to get here! Good times…. The next job, Free the shop! Armed with a couple of canoe paddles George and I soon had the shop open for snowball fighting, I mean business….. And the snow is still falling thick and fast! Should be good when it melts!

Anyone up for a paddle then?

A quick trip to Shepperton

2009-01-20T02:28:00.000-08:00

Yes It's back! only 5 gates at the moment but good fun, with more rain forecast should be OK for a bit. Sunbury needs a bit more water.

Oh....Theres no music sorry you might want to turn the volume off.

Rain again!

2009-01-19T07:04:00.001-08:00

After a surprisingly busy & enjoyable day at work on Saturday I got the call from Jon Boy! The boys had made the drive to South Wales; the rivers even had some water in them!

The Mellta was once again the goal for the day; we loaded up the boats and sped across England into Wales. Rich had never run a water fall! Time to learn….. The river was a bit on the low side but still very enjoyable.

(Ed on the big drop!)

(Matt too!)

(The Run and Jump Boys, Zach & Jon)

Also new in today! The New Wave Sport Diesel, now available in 3 sizes and looking very cool! Pop into the shop to check them out.

RRP £850.00

Ice Station Zebra .

2009-01-07T03:40:00.000-08:00

Now I’m not the messier, nor is mike. And I’m not condoling going out on the ice, but it has been very cold over the last 5 days and our lake is really thick full of ice. So for the first time ever we boldly went forward, in a boat and B/A I should add. Onto the water and we didn’t get wet. Luckily the water up at Shepperton is a little more liquid, tonight is slalom night and we will be there! Dose anyone know were Seth is? Oi Saturday get your bum in a boat….

(off we go!)

(Mike doing an Ice Blunt! Hard Core...)

(Winter wonderland)

Kids don't try this, really is a bit dangerous!

How it was back then!

2008-12-29T02:17:00.000-08:00

Hello all! I hope you had an enjoyable Christmas and are now readying your liver for the annual abuse it receives on New Year’s eave. Now I have to admit that in my “adult” years I’ve never really relished Christmas time, but there is always one thing I do enjoy. Receiving huge and expensive presents! Joke, no what I do like is going home and seeing all the family, drinking a few Sherries and have a good look at the old family photos. This year we found some lovely paddling pictures from the early days, Mike and me wrapped up in our Perry Harris Hock cagoules (pretty sure I’ve a pink tank top on under my cag!) wild water B/A and our mighty first boats, Mike in his Prijon T-Slalom and me in the MI 355, both classic designs of there time……. Oh the memories.

an early paddling holiday to Belgium!

Mike doing a good old skhool burning man...

Me in the 355, what a boat.

It looks like a few dry days for cast for now. Perfect weather for some long distance turkey burning paddling sessions! IN THE SHOP WE HAVE 15% OFF AT THE MOMENT, ON MOST THINGS. COME IN AND SEE US.

Opening hours.

2008-12-18T08:02:00.000-08:00

Whitewater Christmas
Opening hours.

December 23rd Half Day 13:00 till 17:30 (Work Christmas Golf)
December 24th Open 09:30 till 17:30
December 25th Shut Christmas Day
December 26th Shut Boxing Day
December 27th Open 09:30 till 17:00
December 28th Shut Sunday
December 29th Open 09:30 till 17:30
December 30th Open 09:30 till 17:30
December 31st Open 09:30 till 17:30
January 1st Shut New Years Day
January 2nd Open 09:30 till 17:30
January 3rd Open 09:30 till 17:00

Back to normal!

I hope your all getting into the Christmas spirit! It's nearly here...

Ghost paddling……

2008-12-16T05:37:00.001-08:00

I’ve got old! But the best thing about getting old is that I can now wear pogies! And I don’t care if I look a bit odd on the water…… Brilliant.

As for the paddling, the weir pools are really high at the moment, the paddling is ok but, gives it a day or so, let the water drop and then we should be in for some good paddling. Shepperton is on 7 gates but the pool level is so high there’s only about a 30 cm drop, the resulting stopper is ok! But nothing to chunky. As for Sunbury yesterday was a great green wave level but today back to a big sticky hole. It’s ok but a wave would be better

A few pic's from last night and this morning, nothing great! Camera doesn't like the dark.

Ghost Slalom paddlers, Mike and Joel

The dawn patrol down @ Sunbury 6:30 OTW! Man Up or Move Out...

level.............

2008-12-15T08:29:00.000-08:00

I keep forgetting to take pictures! Whenever me and the boy best go for a paddle, basically we have too much fun and forget to get out and take any pictures.

We had a great day on Saturday down at Hurley. Sunday the water came up and Hurley went to a big 4. The classic was held on a not so classic level but seams to have gone down a storm. Jon some how made it to the competition despite being handicapped by a large amount of Sambuca the nite before, he still managed to finish 6th well done fella!

With all the rain tho...
Shepperton now on 7, it's alright
Sunbury on 6, think it's good! big wave

Chertsey is out of order until May 09! when hopefully the water will be warm again.

Personally I spent yesterday down at the ROC, Wembely, surprisingly this ended up ok!

out again tonight so are try and get some photos soon.

What’s been going on!

2008-12-03T09:52:00.000-08:00

Well, it has been a quite few weeks on the blog front, mainly because we’ve been spending many hours on the new web site! The site is now nearly there, the on line part is up and running well. Please place an order! And the other content part is getting close, give me a few more days and it should be there. Paddling wise, well it aint been that wet! Hurley seams to have held up well, good 3 gates still and even Shepperton and Sunbury have been ok, if you can catch them right. I’m not to sure why but we really seam to be in the middle of Olympian week too, Olympic GOLD medallist and really nice guy Tim Brabants popped in to buy a B/A on Friday, and then last night Mike found Olympic SILVER medallist Dave Florenc down on the water at Shepperton SCC, Shepperton the place to be!

(Cold days! down @ Cherstsey)
This weekend if you can chisel your thermals out of your boats, get down to the Dart country park for the very popular Gene 17 weekend. Mike and Graham from the FatCats will be there giving there Greenland talk. Sound very impressive!

Oh, Other news! The BIG cheese has had his ear done!
(extract from www.faldoc.co.uk)
(Surfers ear what’s that?
Surfer's ear is a condition of the ear canal where the bony lining under the skin develops a number of lumps (exostoses) that grow into the tube. This can eventually cause a partial or even complete blockage of the ear canal.
So what?
If the ear canal is narrowed water and debris can get trapped behind the narrowing causing a very painful infection which is difficult to treat. In very advanced cases it can narrow enough to cause deafness.
Then what?
Infections may require visits to the Ear Nose and Throat department at the hospital to have the ears cleaned out along with antibiotics.
Yes, but surely they can remove the blockage?
Well yes but... There is an operation where the surgeon digs a hole in the bone behind your ear and drills out the bony lumps. But this is a bit painful, carries the risk of complications and puts you out of the water for at least 2 months. And if you don't mend your ways it can come back again. Generally the operation is a bit of a last resort, although the surgeons like to do it before the canal is completely blocked. Its fearful reputation is perhaps not totally justified, and most complications and pain occur as a result of infection caused by premature return to the water. Nevertheless, "prevention is better than cure"
GET SOME EAR PLUGS OR AN EARWIG!)

(Hope your better soon mate, you’re booked in for the golf game! See you soon)

That’s about it for now! Hopefully the rain will come, the Thames will flood along with all the other cool river in Wales and Devon and I can do a better blog next time! But for now Adious Amigos.

Dawn patrol!

2008-11-12T06:48:00.000-08:00

After the weekend of rain we had the Thames had to rise! It has Shepperton is back in full swing, not the wave of legends, but a pretty good fluffy hole to play with can’t be bad. The water down here still seams pretty high but up stream it seams to be falling, fingers crossed for more rain….. Shepperton is still odd, Steve the normal lock keeper is on holiday and the stand in seams to be following the rule book with alternative gates open, (no wave) Steve is back on Friday so hopefully normal service will be resumed then.

(first of the true winter fun!)

North / South split

2008-11-10T03:44:00.000-08:00

It’s been a while since I paddled a new river but with the river of Wales full of water and a weekend off it seamed only fair to go forth and paddle. Me and Ali set off early Saturday morning and headed to the Mellte in south Wales we reached the river and found it at a good level, this river really doesn’t give you much of a warm up!

(Ali at the start of a good day)

The put in is below a pretty chunky waterfall (we didn’t run) you then get about five paddle strokes in and fly off a super cool, must be about 15 footer! Big auto boof really nice and then it just carry’s on, we didn’t really stop and look at much, as I dropped of the edge of the 25 footer I kinda wished I had!

(Not a great picture! but a great little drop at the bottom of the river)

But it was all good. Really nice river, after the long walk back to the car we loaded up and headed north, driving threw Wales was really nice great autumn scenery, bloody long way through didn’t realize the place was that big! With the rain hammering it down we arrived at Plas y Brenn for dinner and to meet up with the big man Sam Ellis and local boy Evans. The rain continued to fall and river rose like crazy we all went to sleep with ideas of huge spate runs on tiny unknown welsh rivers infesting are dreams.

(The boys at the get in on the glen!)

(The Big man Sam, Drops into fairy falls)
When we awoke all the water had gone thought! And we decided to start are day with a cheeky run down the Fairy Glen on the Conwy, I’ve never done this run but it’s one I’ve wanted to tick off for a good number of years, allegedly this is the UK’s test piece run! I’m not sure if it’s the hardest thing I’ve done in the UK but it’s up there! I think we had a low to medium level, but it’s a good solid run, powerful drops really nice technical rapids, Pipe line was my personal favourite. A really nice solid run! Then we set off for a bit of a scout about, by now it had started raining hard again but none of the river we looked at had much water in, bit odd we all thought! But ……. So any way we headed back the fairy Glen for another bash, by the time we got back the water here had come up a fair bit and all the drops seamed a good notch or two up on the first run, Pipe line was great fun again, the whole river was great fun a really stout test, think we did the run in about 15 minuets! It was way cool! I also have to admit to my love of my Everest! Some days I don’t like it, but on days like this I just love it.

(Ali and Me! in the rain at the bottom)
Stays up in the water really well, moves around nice and positive a really nice safe easy boat to use, not saying I made a hash of anything! But even if you do fudge a drop the boat really looks after you, surfaces nice and controllably and fast to get going again a really top top boat! And what a top weekend’s paddling. Two days, two new river, Great.

(Weapons of choice loaded for another run!)

Oh and on Saturday night we went out to a local pub for dinner, I’ve never laughed at the graffiti on the wall of a toilet so much………….

Testing testing.

2008-11-05T05:34:00.001-08:00

Ben came down today from Palm/Dagger, he brought with him some new toys. In particular the new Dagger Axiom, a boat witch has been designed to take over from the HUGELY popular and successful RPM. Not an easy task then really…….. To Start with, as soon as you jump in the boat you realize that this boat has been designed to be comfy, a better knee position than the old RPM and much improved foot room make a big difference. Easley adjustable seat, thigh rest and foot plate foot rest make’s it easy and quick to set up and get going. On the water the full length rails allows the boat to carve and turn really precisely, the soft side profile provides really good initial and secondary stability, meaning that even at boiley Shepperton the Axiom’s handling is predictable and very user friendly. On the wave it was a joy to paddle; good bow rocker means the nose stays up easily and cruses around well. As a river runner the Axiom looks set to be a winner, good down river speed teamed with good edges for easy eddy hoping, but still with a good node towards play boating, big tail squirts and wave surfing fun should be had by all! But for a beginner getting into moving water the solid and predictable handling should encourage and improve your boat handling double quick! Looks like a really well thought out and built boat. Oh………..easy to roll too! Nice….

Few dry land shoots

And on the water! 3 gates at Shepperton! SWEET!

Classic Shepperton!

For a bit more Axiom info have a look HERE....

Have a read and sign up!

2008-11-04T06:43:00.000-08:00

Even if you have not paddled the Rizzanese river sign this form. It's a great river and would be a real shame if it was lost!
Stop the building of the dam on the Rizzanese in Corsica island

If we do not react, a 131 feet high dam will tower over the bed of one of the most beautiful wild rivers of Europe.

We call for a halt of the works on the Rizzanese, in order to discuss properly other options less harmfull for the island.

The hydro-electricity is said to be green and sustainable: it is not so obvious.

The truth is that a river with a dam is a dead river.

The works on the river's site have started, justified by a technocratic gibberish that tries to turn this looting into a good thing.

The Rizzanese doesn't belong to us, neither it does to politicians and opportunists.

The Rizzanese belongs to nobody, it is a free river and a treasure that we should be able to share with our children, great-children, great-grandchildren...

Big dams are the last resort, when there is no other possibilities, when different choices have been discussed; this is not the case in the Rizzanese.

In order to face the real energy problem in Corsica without destroying an exceptional river.

In order to face the real employment issue while being respectuous of the nature, producing sustainable jobs outside the cities.
In order to avoid the desertification of villages becoming a fatality

We ask for the cancellation of the works, in order to discuss properly other options less harmfull for the island.

sign...

This is poor!

2008-11-04T05:48:00.001-08:00

I’d almost say paddling wise it’s been a little dull over the last couple of weeks! The clocks have changed the nights are dark and cold and there has been a distinct lacking of good rain. As a result the Thames is low plus the slalom season has finished, but then as if by magic the rain has begun once again, the heater has started to work in the changing room at Shepperton scc, and I’ve enjoyed a good day in a power boat down on the south coast and started a bit of climbing again, plus we have a new Saturday girl (Holly). Hopefully the winter will now start in earnest and we can enjoy a wet six months of paddling par excellonce.

If you can’t guess, “Oh Jon Boy is on the phone! Hell mate……………la la la ………so on………”

Anyway getting back, I keep forgetting to take the camera when I go paddling, so I have no photos of any paddling this week, but there you go. Oh apart from this one of Mike in the “Bullet”

One thing, I do have a tomato on my tomato plant and I have a picture of that! Enjoy.

Model citizens!

2008-10-23T09:27:00.001-07:00

If said the word Yak the older readers will remember a brand of cutting edge designs and materials, the younger readers will know good solid products well priced! However this year Yak has done something rather surprising! With a new design team inserted into there corridors the new 2009 range of cags are truly fabulous!!!

Last week we had a little photo shoot for the new kit down at the Tryweryn. I’ve been paddling some of the pro type cag’s for a few months now but this was the first time I had seen the production items and got to use them! Firstly the new materials are top notch! Really very good, there are 3 new materials, a new 2 layer great and light weight but still nice and warm, a new 2.5 layer fabric witch is great, super warm and really durable and a new 3 layer fabric witch has a 4 way stretch! A really good technical fabric, works really well, super strong but great to the touch. Also the new colour ways are a really change from the norm! Yes sir can have camouflage if he wants! Or there are some very visible Brown/Yellow or Blue/Black alternatives. And last but most important alley the whole range has been totally re worked (no little tweaks here!) totally new designs tried and tested by there team over the last year have produced some of the best dry tops I’ve ever worn. But don’t take my word for it! They will be in the shop in a few weeks come in and be amazed. Yak have raised there game to a totally different level. Come and try them.

As for the photo shoot we had a great day. I arrived in Bala late Thursday evening; luckily Mr Pete Ford (possibly the best rep in our industry) was there, we drunk a lot! I learnt how to pour a pint and Havana Gold makes a great rum and coke!

The next morning was hard but we had a great time, Mr Evans had popped over from the plastic bread bin! For a paddle and Craig and Daniel also from the Thames Valley were there to test the kit and show it off. A great day was had by all.

Oh, Yak also has the most amazing pair of shorts! Really good, one day hopefully you will all see them!

Run and Jump one day, flood the next!

2008-10-08T04:11:00.001-07:00

Well quite a lot of events took place this weekend, Personally I along with Graham and the other guys from RunandJump Clothing headed to Scotland for the Etive River Race. We arrived by the banks of the Etive at 5 in the morning after a night of driving that just never seamed to end! But after a bit of sleep we awoke the Friday morning to find the Etive pretty dam low! Never mind we thought this is Scotland and there is always something to paddle, with the race in mind we started on the Etive, I’d only ever paddled it once before and had walked most of it then! So took the opportunity to learn the lines and paddle all the drops. After a few runs down we turned our attentions to the small tribs that flow into the river further down stream, although low they provided us with some great sport and a good long walk! Friday as we were just falling asleep it started to rain…….it continued…………….for a long time………………a very long time. The next morning it was still raining and the river had risen over night by quite a lot! So much in fact that the section of the river the race was going to be held on was just too big to run a commercial competition on, so we moved up river to the next section, normally this section is bump and scrape at best, but not today! With the rain still falling the section was now a good grade 3 with good wave trains and hole’s dotted along its length. The format for the race was nice and simple! 50 teams, two in each team, both set off when the last man crosses the finish the clock stops. Pyranha, in the sponsored category to be fair did pretty well with 3 Everest’s and a Burn in the top 4 positions. Me and Graham came first Chris Evans and Pete Catterall came a very close second, Shep and his mate came 3rd a really good well organized race. Once down the main the course Me and Milton set our eyes on the section the race was supposed to be held on, with the water now super high this section turned into a right old mission, but was super cool. The rocky lines of the day before had been replaced by big powerful drops it was great and made the long drive well worth the effort. After the run we all headed back to the Ice Factor in Kinlochleven for prize giving and wee dram of whiskey!

(The river on Saturday!)

Wining teams:
Open: Simon Grant & Calum Hogg, A Bowl Full of Fun,
Sponsored: Graham Milton & Pete Scutt, Run and Jump Clothing Team 3, Pyranha
16-18: Jonathan Hiam & Adam Cox, Psychotic Badgers,

(Me and Graham on Triple 3)

The Etive River Race

2008-10-06T05:43:00.000-07:00

What a weekend! What a race, I'll do a bigger write up in a bit. For now........... Me and the Mighty Milton Won!

Well done to James and all the men that made it happen. Top show.

Time to hit the road and miss the sheep!

2008-09-29T02:35:00.000-07:00

Where would you think I am if I described an empty paradise of tarns, lakes, waterfalls and rushing streams; and if I were then to point out that in one day’s drive you could be there...

I suspect I would surprise many paddlers.
“You don’t mean the Alps and Italy, do you or Corsica?”
No, I don’t. I mean Europe’s second range, the Pyrenees, 300 miles long and 19 miles wide with peaks reaching 3,350m this is truly magical place to kayak, yet curiously overlooked by many british paddlers. After a ten hour drive through France we reached are base for the week a small village called Arneguy near the town of St Jean Pied-de-Port. We had based our selfs over to the east of the Pyrenees so we could easy acsess to the Spanish side of however we seamed to have missed the water window for Spain and all the rivers (high up) seamed prety low !.
After driving the best part of 900 miles we reached Arneguy, the teprature was 36 degrees and we had the la Nive river 10 minuets down the road, so it seamed a prety good idea to go and paddle it! The Nive is mainly supplied by rain water rather than groundwater, lucky the 2 weeks leading up to our trip had been prety wet so luckey we had a prety good level. We paddled the class II-III section from Ossess to Bidarray, and for a first paddle proved to be an excelant trip and a perfect warm up for Rich, Paul and Andy who had never paddled there new boat before leaving the UK! and set the scene perfectaly for the week ahaed. One thing we did learn, You are only ment to paddle in the Pyrenees between 12 and 6 o’clock after this the fisherman point at there watches as you pass by, but always in a good natured way, yes this is the land that kayakers and fishamen live sisde by side both enjoying thr rivers! Great!.

Day 2 dawned bright and fine, We filled up with diesel in Spain (so cheap 50 euros for a full tank!) and headed east into the montains and the snow in serch of gorges and water! We drove to the small town of Tardets and paddles the Gave du saison. This river starts at the confluence of the Gave de Larrau and the Gave de ste and has prety good levels all year round, The Saison is 9km long and a enjoyabel grade 3 all the way, there is a great little slalom course at the top with some good waves and holes, There is no undue difficulty on the river the big slide down the weir at Licq however has to be the highlight of this run! If the Afternoon we decided to go forth and try our first “Classic” Pyreneean run, We decided to try the Gave de Engrace the main tributery of the Saison. The run starts at the base of the lake at Kakouetta and is a magnificent run passing between hugh rocks in a deep forested gourge, There are a two grade six rapids we walked but at the right level I guess would go. The rest of the run is a great IV-V we some good blind drops, a truly Classic run!
Day 3, With everyone feeling a little more relaxed and confident and with bellys full of Chorizo and pasta we decided to keep on stedaly heading east across the Pyrenees to try to paddle the Gave d’ Aspe. Now paddling around here is amazing but, and it can be a big but the French and the EDF do like damming rivers, you can be driving quite happiley along a river with plenty of water in one section only to find the section you have intended to paddle really quite dry! This is what we found on the Aspe. We had intended to paddle the top section from Urdos down to Fort du Portalet but on arival at the put in found it quite dry, So a quick change of plan and ignoring the no acsess signs we put on just below Fort du Portalet, here there is also a large water plant giving back a large amount of water. The river here is in a deep gorge and drops quite fast through bolder infested rapids, We made one portage around the steppest rapid, the Portage was possibely one of the hardest I’ve ever done! Hacking through a near vertical forest with a full Pyranha Everest and with a raging river below certanly keept me entertained for a bit. After the portage the river contiues droping quite stedaley with some nice longer rapids although nothing as hard as at the start and remains in a deep gorge for most of the way. The exit for our designer streach of the Aspe involved an intersting exit walking through a drainige culvert which conveniantly lead us to our cars. Are mainly remember the Aspe for an exciting put in and take out and a fully commiting grade six portage! Good laugh though lovely castle.

Day 4, Now I think the reason for staying quite far West was so we could easly nip across into spain and sample some Rio’s, But Spain seamed to be quite dry and after a quick look at the river we decided to have a day of put our feet up and enjoy the local Rioja!
Day 5, If there is one river everyone should paddle in the Pyrenees the Gave du Brousset is it, Indeed if I was only alowed to paddle one river for the rest of my life I would be happy here! The Brousset rises in the high valley of Ossau at some 2300m, fed mainly by snow melt it can be paddled from the first warmth of April to the end of May, At the get in at “Caillou de soques” a short walk down across green fields brings you to the river. The first 3km of the river really is’nt that hard probabely only a grade 2-3, there are 2 or 3 bigger drops but nothing to testing, but the location of the Brousset is just achingley beautifull, hugh snow caped mountains, green fields, perfect river! But even better yet the last 1-2km of the river become mutch more gorge like, Big drops leads into more drops then another and another it just dose’nt stop! There is a small gauge by a telephone booth at the start of the Gorge section if this gauge reads 50cm > then I think the Brousset is good to go we had just over 90cm and it was a truly special run!
Day 6, How can you beat that. Drive further east! Go the Lourdes and head up, eventually you will come to a small village called Gedre, in front of you is a quite staggering rock amphitheatre riseing to 3000m, And behind you is the Gave de Gavarnie another proper good “Classic” river, The main thing that struck me about this river is just how many small river all seam to join up to make the Gavarnie, and I’m sure with enough time all of them could be paddled too! But the Gavarnie, starts with a large class 5 drop to start and then just shoots of down hill! Quite fast! Half way down this section the river had been changed by a huge avalanche that must has cut Gedre off from the rest of the world for a while. The remains were still very impressive.

The Gavarnie gets steadily harder with some good size drops and must make moves. We took out above the Chaos of Coumley a large rapid peppered with siphons best left well alone! We then drove back down around and then back up to the Gave de Cauterets, This is a full on river! We first drove up through Cauterets to the upper section, Here there is a really sweet 25ft drop, But are be honest Me and Adam looked long and hard, but chickened out! The fall is possibel but normally run at 2-5 cumecs, I think we had more like 10-12 cumecs, It’s an impresive drop. One day! Time was rather getting away from us now Paul, Rich & Andy decided to get off while Me and Adam decided to quickly run the river from Cauterets down to a barrage, 3km down river, I think it took us 15 minuets, No eddys, just a lot of water going very fast down some top class rapids, Big waves, big holes and some really brave fishermen! If we had more time I would really have liked to have explored the Gavarnie and the Gave de Cauterets some more, there are some really committing gerges and other streatches on both rivers that must be good hard paddling! Next year?

Day 7, Our last day in the Pyrenees and we had driven along way! For our last day we decided to paddle the Gave de Engrace, the river we had paddled on day two, I think we had a toutch less water this time around but it still proved to be very entertaining. It was good to see how Andy, Rich and Paul had progressed, our first run had taken about 4 hours! To do 5km, this time round we knocked it off in a much more sportey hour and a half! A great end to a great weeks paddle. The Pyrenees really surprised me at just how good the paddling was, The scenery across the whole region is breth takeing the river excelant with easy acsess and locals are all friendly, I don’t really understand why it’s so quiet but kinda glad it is!

River Living....

2008-09-24T08:02:00.001-07:00

Well what a weekend! Pyranha fest held on the river Treweryn North Wales and was a full on weekend of paddling, paddling workshops, film premiers from the FatCat boyz (Ali, Si & Graham) and a great show case for Pyranha to launch there two new kayak models. Both of witch received great reviews from all who paddled them. The weekend started, for me with a trip to Gatwick Air port to pick up Mikey Abbott and Andy Philips, we all then missioned it across the UK, With Andy giving us a running commentary of tower blocks he’d scaled and random civil war battles (maybe you had to be there!)

(Professional to the end! Oral hygiene very important, Warrior style!)

The weekend ran well, the river was all open, for you to do your own thing plus courses ran both mornings and varied from group dynamics & advanced river running to freestyle and free ride, There was afternoon sessions, outfitting master classes, and a very interesting talk with Graham Mac about kayak design past and present. The Saturday party was quite a drunken affair but was a great place to meet up with old friends and chat, the new FatCat move was premiered and went down really well! And the Whitwater warriors gave an interesting talk about there travels with kayaks

Sunday started a little sloooooooow and unfortunately two really good guys for Norfolk got me to try to teach them Free ride techniques’ I really enjoyed this, but unfortunately one of the fella’s dislocated his shoulder. Once again I’m really sorry! And I’m sorry I’ve lost your number!!!! I hope the hospital was ok, hope your wife is not to mad!!!! But there you go! Another good random write up hope it makes some sense, next year I’m sure Pyranha fest will happen again and if you didn’t go make sure you do! And remember kids, don’t just play the river live it!

(have a go in the “New” Zone it’s a cracker!)

Charmed life!

2008-09-15T04:22:00.000-07:00

What a week to take off. It rained quite a lot up in the Lake District, but was still great fun climbing Helvellin – Old Man of Coniston – and a great day on Scafell Pike, Great End and all that lot!

(Striding edge & Red Tarn, Looking down from Helvellin)

Shock horror we decided not to take any boats and so did no paddling for a hole 8 days, quite a break! Sunday I got back to London and although the scenery down here cannot really be described as Beautiful I do love the Thames, love getting back to it finding what level it is and then finding what to paddle! With the UK drying, just a little, after a week of torrential rain the Thames is on an expectable level. And the good news’s is Sunbury yesterday at least was great and rather empty!

(Saturday "boy" Seth, Nearly this time, But he made it!)

I took “Saturday” down for his first taste of a good Thames wave and although it took him a while to work out how to get on it, he did! The wave is not at its ravaging best, but pretty good. Rater than a good ride of consistent moves the runs were more like! Paddle like hell to get on, bit of survival surfing, throw a huge massive move, try and land it! Try to survive the landing, try to get back off. This is a hard place to find working but if you do it’s a great laugh. Sunny too! which is always nice.

P.S. I Love my JetBoil!

Summer Holiday!

2008-09-05T08:32:00.000-07:00

Im off here for a week now! Sorry the bloging has been a bit sparse lately, when I get back fopefully we will have lots of things to write about, Pyranha Fest + all the new boats, Etive Race, there is loads of stuff going on this winter! Are be back soon.... Can you guess where it is yet! Slime lives close.....Happy paddling all...

Nene we go...

2008-09-02T02:24:00.000-07:00

Yes, On Sunday it was time once more to go forth and chase some sticks! The location for this race was the Mighty Nene Whitewater course in Northampton. For anyone that hasn’t been to the Nene the word “Mighty” really is said in jest! But it did make for a fairly tight and technical course; Mike was racing in his C1 (Div 2) while both me and Seth were racing in the heady world of Div 3 K1 men, Mike was up first, in a competition of nearly 20 paddlers. After the two runs he finished in a very good second! Me and Seth were next up and after the two runs Seth was quite annoyed and put in a protest! And I came first! Cool! Shepperton PURE team put in a very strong performance with top 3 places in all of the categories including first in the Div 2 as well! Bring on the inter clubs in two weeks time!

(Cat going clean at the bottom of the course!)

(Mike at the top of the course, don't drop the paddle!)

(Get the shop name in boys!)

(slalom, a sport for all!)