The external temperature gauge on my car briefly flickered to as high as zero before resuming its steady reading of -2 degrees centigrade. I was on my way to meet Mike Alter, John White and Ian Bell for a spot of open boating on the Dee, and it was going to be cold. Very cold.

We met at Mile End Mill and immediately commenced some highly intricate faffing (signing-in faff, deciding what to do faff, drinking tea faff, car shuttle faff, kit sorting, faff, plus copious amounts of general common-all-garden faffing). After we had faffed ourselves senseless we launched from Carrog Bridge and made our way quietly downstream past a couple of fishermen, who appeared to pay us no attention whatsoever.

The stretch of the river between Carrog to Horseshoe Weir includes several Grade 1 sections, a brief stretch of Grade 2, a couple of little play spots and ample opportunity for chatting and watching the world go by. Salmon jumped, steam trains puffed their way past and it felt as if everything was good with the world.

Everyone was paddling just hard enough to keep the blood flowing to their fingers, and so we were soon at Horseshoe Weir and the start of a slightly more difficult stretch of water. We elected to run this section as far as Nomads/Mile End Mill, rather than paddle the conveniently located nearby canal that runs parallel to the river.

One by one we shot the small drop at the river-left side of the weir (shooting the weir itself is decidedly dangerous and a definite no-no), and eddy hopped towards the Serpents Tail. We got out of our boats at the top of ‘Serpents’ and inspected the line. It was way out of my league in an open boat, and I was relieved that there was a consensus to wimp out. We therefore bravely and courageously portaged and lined our boats past ‘Serpents’, and carried on past several small drops to Mile End Mill, where our cars were waiting.

The very last ‘small drop’, right next to the car park, required a dog-leg manoeuvre to avoid a ‘hole’. However, I decided to take a direct approach and paddle straight through this ‘hole’. Everything went exactly according to plan, apart from a minor mishap at the beginning when my boat filled with water. And the bit in the middle when I capsized. And the bit at the end when I swam to the bank. Other than that, I executed everything perfectly!
A great day. Thanks to Ian, Mike and John for their company and guidance, and hopefully there will be more open boat trips on the calendar soon.

Andrew Garland

Congratulations to the winners of this year’s Christmas rolling competition.

The first club paddle from our brand new storage compound for all our canoes and kayaks – Today, Saturday at 10:00am

Why not come down and celebrate the first official paddle from the new compound, it is only 3m from the water’s edge featuring the new jetty and launching area.

It is the Christmas paddle – please bring a festive dress (A Santa hat or similar) or why not go the whole hog and pimp up your craft.  You can use any of the club boats at the docks or bring your own – weather forecast is looking very good with very light winds, and possible sun shine with no rain.  We paddle the 1km up to the Albert dock and enjoy cake and mince pies.

No need to book just turn up and why not bring the family!  Non paddlers can meet us at Albert Dock.

Last evening Alan and Michael gave a very well received talk about their incredible journey across the Irish Sea.   Alan had walked all the way from his home in Manchester to the Dingle in County Cork.  Michael and friends facilitated by along the way and provided the relatively novice paddler, Alan with the support to make the 22 hour crossing of the Irish Sea by double kayak.

Alan did this walk in memory of his sister who had severe cerebral palsy.  It outlined what drove him to do the walk, including a bit about his childhood, the idea for the walk, fundraising, preparation (or lack of), the Irish sea problem.  The walk, kayaking, walking in Ireland and then the insights and other things he learned from the whole experience.

and Michael kayaked for 22 hours over the Irish Sea despite only having been in a sea kayak just twice before.  The incredible 410-mile challenge was in memory of his sister, Aoife, who had severe cerebral palsy. She could not walk or talk, and spent most of her life in care. She sadly passed away in 2011.

Alan felt the need to commemorate her life in a meaningful way and the trek was his ‘pilgrimage’ – from his adopted home of Manchester, to Dingle, where he grew up.

Alan`s chosen Cerebral Palsy Charity.  If you wish you can donate here….     http://walkforaoife.com/
If you would like to hear more about my journey, I can be booked for talks on the following subjects:

• Spending 22 hours kayaking across the Irish sea (at least the feet got a rest!)
• What it took for me to make the decision to undertake the walk, through to its conclusion
• How I managed to successfully complete the whole journey with little previous experience (I had hardly any as a walker and none as a kayaker)
• Understanding the willpower it took to keep going through the pain of blisters, torn ligaments and a stress fracture
• How I raised over £20,000 for charity, mostly using social media
• How I came to deal with the life and death of my sister and the important role my walk played in that
• How I relied on the kindness of strangers and how it all worked out in the end, despite no solid plan.
• A combination of the above