Tower Hamlets Canoe Club

All "Zero Logistic" trips that require more that 5 posts require paperwork..   I though that was clear? ;-)

 

I'll go down and get kit this afternoon.  (probably about 3.30pm)

At the moment it looks like the only basin kit I'm getting is a buoyancy aid and cag for cliff (unless he replies to Pete that he's happy to share his.)

I'll also raid the club office for anything that looks useful and move that into the club cupboard.  Unless someone wants to post a list of exactly what we need I'll just follow my instincts -probably the flares, tow lines, vhf, lights? etc

Let me know anything else we need to get.

Charlie

Sorry I sent out a few PMs, got a cag and sorted other bits with pete so I no longer need anything from the basin

Apologies for any confusion.

 

so it's just safety kit in the office?

Just a reminder to read Tony's report: Club Trips : 2003 June - Gravesend to Shadwell in Sea Kayaks

before you set off. Comic genius, very funny!

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O London, see
Swelling with naval pride, the pride of thee!
Wide, deep, unsullied Thames, meandering glides,
and bears thy wealth on mild majestic tides.

Tony, thanks for all your hard work in organising this trip.  

I’d like to second that, many thanks to Tony, the leaders, organisers and everyone else involved. Handover went perfectly, just a pity about the relentless headwind on the trip back but an excellent experience.

Thanks again

I like to add to that, very well organised thank you Tony and the others for a great day out .Thank you to Gravesend rowing club for the use of their changing rooms and showers.Excellent breakfast at the cafe, as Cliff said swap over perfect Its just a shame about the wind against the pm team.

How about getting a trip this year going the other way!!

Pete.

Yes, thanks Tony, Ailien, Chris, Charlie, and all who participated. Actualy the strong wind against tide, though relentless, kicked up some big wet stuff which I know Liz enjoyed and so did I. We had a good mix of "sea states" simulating a "moderate" sea in force 5 to 6 wind, very entertaining, good job it was warm though.

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Jon Eeles

I would like to add my thanks to all those involved in the organisation and ti Aileen for being a top pm leader.  I suspect that its down to her desperate attempts to improve my paddling that my stomach and legs still ache like crazy yet my arms and shoulders feel fine

The wind in the afternoon was harsh and whilst I enjoyed the bumps that it kicked up it would have been really nice if it wasn't there and you could acually feel as though the tide was helping you.  It somehow didn't seem right that whenever I stopped paddling I went backwards so a big boo to the wind.

The morning crew definately missed out on being serenaded home by the party boats playing Abba.  I for one was very grateful to the folk on one of them who kindly let me know that I wasn't rowing - I would never have realised this if they hadn't pointed this out. 

 Aileen took some photos on my camera so hopefully I'll get round to putting these up shortly.

Sarah

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Love many, trust few and always paddle your own canoe

Thanks to Tony et al for a delightful wind assisted cruise down the river to an area I have never seen before. I feel guilty for not going with the PM team. Maybe we could do another trip later this Summer with the AM team swapping with the PM team under similar wind conditions, to even things out. I'd be up for more physically challenging 4 hour paddles on weekends too, from the Basin, planning trips against the tide to really push us.

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O London, see
Swelling with naval pride, the pride of thee!
Wide, deep, unsullied Thames, meandering glides,
and bears thy wealth on mild majestic tides.

Thanks to Tony, who, as usual, organised a great trip (for the AM team at least!).

Sarah, I get to hear those party boats "All Night Long"

Thank god I missed the pm trip I hate Abba!!! 

Pete.

Thanks all for taking part and for feedback variously received.

As a paddler in the AM team, I do have a slight sense of "survivor's guilt" - having been whisked by wind and tide to Gravesend in just 5 hours, while the PM team had a major job to get back in 7 !

I can't apologise for the wind, but I can acknowledge in retrospect the mistake of casting the AM team as the fast team and the PM as slower. I was pre-occupied by the need to get the AM team to run ON-TIME. In the event, we were actually an hour early ! So a lesson learned for next time is to balance the teams more evenly.

Or don't go so far: Paddling 40K in 6 hours is anyway a little ambitious (averaging 9 mins/km) so Gravesend and back is probably the upper limit of what can be done in a day, using this method. The F3/4 winds we had were probably also close to the point where we should cancel. This is supposed to be fun, after all !

The one big surprise for me was the strength of the ebb tide, which I completely underestimated, having previously only paddled this route on the flood. We just fizzed along, zooming past gantries with major whirlpools around them, and pulling out rather smartly to pass berthed vessels whose giant hulls seemed to loom up alarmingly. At full tilt, Chris and Charlie's GPS'es touched 7 knots...

So, with a few adaptations, we can do the same trick again in the other direction ie RICHMOND. Shadwell to Richmond is only 30K instead of 40K, and less exposed - so should be somewhat easier, and not require such an early start. So watch this space for a RICHMOND RELAY proposal in the days to come. And as a final salute to the stoicism of the PM team, you guys can have first call on boats and booking slots. Just cut out the coupon below, or quote marketing code "GRAVEYARD" when you book:)

TonyR

Tony

Dan and I went to Richmond for a walk on Sunday (well more of a waddle as our legs didn't work very well) and I said that we should do the no logistics thing to Richmond.  We thought you hardy morning paddle with the wind on your backs folk might find it a tad boring without wind and waves. 

Dan and I would like to do the trip to Richmond and I'm happy to help with the lack of logistics and approve of the availability of a pint after paddling.

Sarah

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Love many, trust few and always paddle your own canoe