I fancy doing a bit of canoeing. Nothing serious mind, just the occasional paddle down canals and the nearby river. I'm certainly not thinking about white water stuff! (And before anyone mentions it I was thinking of this before Gryff whatshisname was on the TV!)

Can anyone give me any pointers on what i should look out for? Equipment, good places to buy, courses etc.

I've done a bit of sea kayaking a few years ago and i think i could handle a canoe ok on calm water so wasn't sure if a course was a good idea.

Thanks all

Chris

British Canoe Club website should be a good start
River Wye is a great place to go for a wilderness adventure and your can hire all the gear from around Symonds Yat /Goodrich.

Robin Hood Watersports
Endless River
Cheltenham Canoes….all have websites with canoes / kayaks / paddles / pdfs etc.

…….don't forget you need some water to do it on also after you have invested in all the gear 😉

Perhaps think about sticking with a Kayak rather than a canoe, youll find it easeyer to pilot, and a lot less effort to paddel any distance. Also, If your mainly paddeling canals, and tame rivers, I strongly recomend a more touring orientated kayak with a ridged hull that promotes straight sailing than a flat bottomed slalom kayak that will easily swing direction and dosent gluide through the water as efficently as a tourer.

Long time since i did any but on some rivers you will need a water licence. 😕

I think the british waterways agency (or what ever its called) issued them.

Bought an inflatable a while ago (get one with a fin!). Been canoeing down the Dordogne, Loire, lake Lacanau, lakes in Sweden and in the sea in borhuslan hey and the Thames with it. Been really good fun.

favourite thing to do is launch on the Thames, canoe downriver to a pub, deflate canoe, have a few pints then catch the train home..

http://www.ukriversguidebook.co.uk is the STW of the paddling world. Go there – it's better than here as they know what they're talking about. 😉

Monmouth Canoe Hire, in Monmouth, natch.

Weekend hire, bus drops you at Ross, paddle downstream to Saracen's Head. Canoes up in behind the pub, sh1t shower and shave, drink beer, fall over. Stay the night at the Saracen's. Next day, after a frankly epic brekker, paddle back down to Monmouth. Lovely weekend away.

Thanks for all the pointers so far. Really useful! I'll definately have a look at the canoeists version of STW!

Like the idea of going for a half day on the Wye at Monmouth as we are down that way in a few weeks. I might try giving a kayak a go if its a little easy to steer.

Thanks again!

http://www.songofthepaddle.co.uk/forum is an excellent site dedicated to canoes rather than kayaks.
Well recommended and is a superb forum with loads of helpful folk on there.

Where are you?
I'm putting together a trip down the Tay (like Gryff Rhys-wossisname in River) for next year

Hi BigBloke (can't believe i typed that!)

I'm in Cheshire but i'd definately be up for a STW canoeing trip as long as i can get a bit of experience before then.

Chris

zarquon – can you give us any more info on the inflatable you're using? I'm also interested in the odd bit of calm water kayaking/canoeing.

I use a Sunny 390, information can be found here

[link] http://www.gumotex.cz/en/products/inflatable-boats/inflatable-boats/recreational-boats/ [/link]

Its only suitable for calm water TBH, and is not cheap (bought it for the gf a while back) but we've had great use out of it. It packs up quite small weighs less than 20kg and can easily be carried by the two of us. Great for packing in the car when going camping, canoeing down river packing up and going home on the train. Once you're used to it only takes 10 mins or so to inflate. Wouldn't go out in too choppy conditions on the sea, we had a rather interesting time when the wind got up in Sweden a couple of weeks ago but we were ok. Also strong enough to cope with us hitting some submerged rocks too. Also easy to store.

Not what a purist would choose I'm sure, but if you want something just for mucking about in then they are pretty good. But you do need a fin otherwise you'll end up going in circles (unless your paddling style is better than mine – not hard). Also think about collapsible paddles, I didn't and have some fun squeezing them into a coupe.

big bloke when planning your trip? Am Dundee based and keen to get out boating more

Hmmm. We have a couple of sit-on-tops and I'm keen to get more use out of them. I'd be interested in a Tay trip too….

I bought a couple of kayaks through the local paper for a few tenners apiece. One came with paddle, spraydeck, and buoyancy aid. Join the BCU and this gets you access to lots of rivers/canals etc. (you get a booklet listing them). Some canals need British Waterways licences. Did a few lessons with a local club in a swimming pool but then just went out and paddled around. I'm down south so it was small rivers and canals generally. Then I started going to the sea – Chichester harbour mainly (technically you need a permit but they don't often check). Great fun and a cheap way onto the water. Gave one of the kayaks to a mate when his kid took it up and kept one. Haven't been out for a couple of years now but may get back to before the summer ends. The Wye is unusual in that it has some sort of right of navigation, though limited access (Symonds Yat is one spot) and disputes with wealthy salmon fishermen. A lovely river to tour and pretty easy in summer.

If you've been following the GRJ series you'll already be aware that kayakers/canoeists have the same right of access in Scotland as walkers, cyclists and horse riders.

I've been reading through this for ideas..

Hi BigBloke (can't believe i typed that!)

I'm in Cheshire but i'd definately be up for a STW canoeing trip as long as i can get a bit of experience before then.

Chris
Well, hello there

big bloke when planning your trip? Am Dundee based and keen to get out boating more

I have no real experience and it's too late in the year to get enough to take this on so the plan is next year, about this time, maybe a bit earlier. It's being organised through East Neuk Outdoors who are charging £1000 for the trip – that's for the trip, not per person, and is up to 4 people. The trip is from the east end of Loch Tay to Perth, on to Dundee is £400 extra, but my feeling on this if I can get to perth and still be up for it, a small'ish group can continue to Dundee. I have access to the Royal Tay's boat sheds for temporary storage of the kayaks.
The cost does not include food or accomodoation.
Courses in kayaking will be available over the winter at madras College in St Andrews @ around £5/session.
I do have the requisite 4 people for minimal per person cost, but am looking into supplying a couple of kayaks ourselves and increasing the number, or possibly doing a second expedition at the same time.

Watch for a Tay Kayak Expedition thread