Macclesfield Canal - 29th November 2009

Training paddle, Clarke Lane <=> High Poynton Marina.
57.40 out, 57.50 back. Bit cool, raining with gusty NE wind.

Bollington Pool - 27th November 2009

Half hour pool session practicing rolling. Trying to roll more upright as opposed to leaning right back at the end. Seem to be able to do this OK, better on the RHS as usual. Tried a reverse screw roll on the R and came up OK, but I think that was more due to pulling up once the paddle was at right angles to the boat. Tried a few hand rolls, but not with much success. Coached by Doug.

Puffin Island - 15th November 2009

Second day of end of season meet. Still suffering from a cold (went to bed at 10pm on the Saturday!... missed the slideshows... and the port/whiskey...)

Short paddle around Puffin Island clockwise launching from Trwyn Penmon. A few caves to explore and watch the seals on the NE end of the island. Tide was running quite quickly on the SE side of the island as we paddled back against it. Menai Straights were draining into Liverpool bay on the ebb. A bit of flow/turbulence between the island and the lighthouse.

Kev Jones
Short session helping Jean with her rolling and watching her self rescues. My cold prevented me from participating...

Trearddur Bay - 14th November 2009

First day of NWSK end of season meet on Anglesey, staying at Outdoor Alternative.

Spent a few hours surfing - bit too wild to do too much else. Biggest waves were around 5 foot, but the breakers looked a lot bigger on the outside of the bay.

I paddled my Capella to start with and it handled fairly well (for a sea kayak...) but I swam a couple of times (and rolled a couple). Problem seems to be I fall out of the boat - on both occasions I still had my paddle in my hands! On the later successful rolls I concentrated on keeping myself braced in the boat and this seemed a lot better. I'm not used to fitting in a boat so loosely...

At the end of the session I tried Kev Robinson's plastic Scorpio and I really liked the feel of the thigh braces and I felt much more in contact with the boat. Might have to investigate fitting some to the Capella?

Sunset in Borthwen
In the evening we had a fine meal prepared by Kev and Gill. Spicy soup, Burritos and Apple crumble with custard!



Jim tries out a new orifice for wine consumption

Macclesfield Canal - 7th November 2009

Training session on the canal with coaching from Neil from the MADCC. On the water for about an hour and a half doing sprint starts and a couple of 500m time trials. Curtailed the session though because I was getting too cold!... need to put more than a tee shirt on since there is a bit more sitting around in these sessions.

Best time for the 500m was 2:46, but that was in my sea kayak...

Bollington Pool - 6th November 2009

1/2 hour pool session, practicing rolls - L and R, passing paddle over up-turned boat before rolling, falling in on the move etc. Was coached by a MADCC paddler - my normal "screw" roll with layback finish may not be so suitable nowadays with modern playboats - was told to start my hip flick earlier and come up with the paddle more at right angles to the boat rather than continuing the sweep backwards. Tried this a few times, but difficult to teach an old dog...

Macclesfield Canal - 31st October 2009

"Forward paddling" session with coaching from Neil of MADCC. Covered about 6 miles, on the water for a couple of hours. Performed the following routines:

• sprint starts (try to get up to speed in 5 strokes)
• starts followed by 10, 20, 30, 40 stroke sprints
• pyramids of 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 40, 30, 20, 10 sprints with short easy paddling rests between
• 1 mile time trial - 10 min 20 secs - but that included a boat delay at one bridge