News – Page 3 – Nomad Kayak Club

02Apr 2023 by Dave Hillier No Comments

Bury Lake Clean Up

Event, News, Recreational, Reports, Uncategorized

This one needed a plan A, B and C. (A) was the Grand Union Canal and the River Colne loop, (B) was the Grand Union and backwaters, and (C) was the Club (Bury) Lake. Plan A, due to the weather and rain last week all the water levels had risen massively, making the River Colne a grade 3 water. Due to having to keep both hands on the paddle in grade 3, litter picking was out of the question, so plan A was dismissed. Plan B, the Canal and possibly some backwaters. This became a no no on the morning of the clean up, due to high water levels and a fast flowing current of flood water across the Canal at the Junction near Tesco. Also It seemed some pollution…

31Mar 2023 by Dave Hillier No Comments

River Thames: Section 12 – Windsor to Chertsey

Event, News, Recreational, Trip, Trip Reports

Distance: 13 miles downstream Date: Friday 31st March 2023 Start: Windsor Leisure Centre Slipway, Stovell Road, Windsor SL4 5BZEnd: The Kingfisher Pub, Chertsey Bridge Rd, Chertsey KT16 8LF Paddlers:Dave Hillier (organiser)Chris HarperSue LeonConrad Chambers (trip report) Non-paddlers:Pierre Leon (researcher)Graham (shuttle driver) Dave, as usual, issued a completed risk assessment in advance of the scheduled date for the paddle.Pierre, also as usual, provided an excellent map, along with a detailed breakdown of the route.This one included multiple optional get-out points in case it was decided to split the 13 mile trip into smaller sections.Despite Dave’s empty promises of good weather, we met up on a blustery and rain-soaked morning at the Windsor slipway. As we got changed under the conveniently dry arch of the A332 bridge over the river, Pierre told…

12Mar 2023 by Dave Hillier No Comments

Basingstoke Canal Mixed Craft Trip

Event, News, Recreational, Trip, Trip Reports

(Dave, Nigel, Sue, Pierre, Jai, Nathan, Phillip, Hannah, Conrad, Andy.)(Ana + 6 Paddle boarding with Ana) On Sunday March 12th 2023, 10 Nomads from Rickmansworth and 7 Paddle boarders from Stand up paddle boarding with Ana from Tonbridge met at the Mytchett centre for a 10 mile paddle along the Basingstoke canal, 5 miles up and return. Once prepped, dressed and ready to get on the water we gathered for the usual safety brief (given by Dave) and who carefully passed the warm up on to Nigel. There was also a group of ramblers gathering at the nearby campsite who gave a bit of an audience for 17 paddlers acting out their normal morning routine with some running up and downstairs, brushing teeth and doing all sorts of things in…

03Mar 2023 by Dave Hillier No Comments

River Thames section 10b and 11. Marlow to Windsor

Event, News, Trip, Trip Reports

Thames Sections 10b and 11 Trip Report – Friday 3rd March, 2023 13 miles/21 km downstream, Marlow to Windsor. Lighter days meant we could finish off Section 10 and complete Section 11 (Paddle the Thames, Mark Rainsley), Paddlers: Dave Hillier (Trip Leader), Pierre Leon, Sue Leon, Phill Gent (with doggie guests Fifi and CoCo We assembled and unloaded at Marlow slipway in St Peter’s Street in good time for a long day’s paddling. We had become used to short ½ section Friday trips whilst daylight hours were reduced and were now set to do 1½ sections – a long day ahead. The weather was cold and overcast and stayed that way all day but at least there was no rain. As usual Dave’s friend Graham came along to help with shuttling…

26Feb 2023 by Nigel Atkinson 1 Comment

River Dart

News, Reports, Trip, Trip Reports

A few intrepid paddlers (Nigel, Nick, Dave and Graham) from Nomads met up on the Friday evening to plan the next days paddling, or maybe it was to check out the food and drink at the local hostelry. Either way the plan for Saturday was to meet at New Bridge and paddle down to Holne Bridge along a stretch more commonly known as the Dart Loop. The water in the river was rather low so a bit of a scrape but ideal conditions for all of us to practice our break ins, break outs and ferry gliding along with a few surfs on small waves. We met at Newbridge and sorted the shuttle and set off at about 10:30am. This was a rather emotional trip for Dave as he had spent many happy…

12Feb 2023 by Chris Harper No Comments

River Stort (Canalised) – Sawbridgeworth to Harlow – or Vice Versa!

Event, News, Trip, Trip Reports

Sunday 12th Februrary This Trip is no 16 In the “Pub Paddles book – The best Short Canoe Trips in the South of England” by Peter Knowles. We had to change the start. Fortunately, Dave had done his normal excellent checks the previous day and discovered that there was no available parking at the proposed Sawbridgeworth start. Therefore, the round-trip journey had to be started at the other end, Harlow Station. This was in a large pub car park, adjacent to the river, so at least it provided good free parking and a location for a finishing debrief over a beer. This trip was a bit like an Agatha Christie novel as the six expected paddlers reduced steadily down to three in the last few days. But no murders, just…

05Feb 2023 by Dave Hillier No Comments

St Patrick’s Stream and Hennerton Backwater

Event, News, Trip, Trip Reports

Mixed Craft Paddle of the Thames, St Patricks Stream, the Loddon and Hennerton Backwater. Paddlers: Dave Hillier, Ana Tumbler, Jai, Anna, Vicky, Cathy, Julian, Claire, Sue, and Dee. 2 x Kayakers and 8 x Paddleboarders. This trip was a joint event between Nomad Kayak Club and Stand Up Paddle Boarding with Ana.On Sunday the 5th February 2023 we made our way to the George and Dragon pub in Wargrave that had kindly let us use the car park for this figure of eight trip. Jai and myself arrived early to find Julian warming up in stages manually pumping up his paddleboard. Looking out at the water the Thames had a flow on it but nothing like it was a few weeks earlier. The sun was making an appearance and the…

27Jan 2023 by Dave Hillier No Comments

River Thames section 10a Trip Report Aston to Marlow

Event, News, Trip, Trip Reports

Friday 27th January 2023 6 Paddlers: Dave (Trip leader), Nigel (Safety), Sue, Pierre, Conrad, Phillip and two chihuahuas (CoCo and FiFi) paddled downstream on the River Thames from Aston (Henley on Thames) passing Magpie Island and the famous Hurley weir onto Marlow. This stretch of the river is described as “quintessentially Thames with attractive landscapes, appealing history and culture”. It is also mentioned in “Three Men in a Boat” by Jerome K. Jerome as “wiggling its way through lovely countryside with constant interest along its banks”. Believe me, it does live up to this fabulous reputation. Winter kayaking is different from paddling in the Summer; it is just as enjoyable and just as thrilling and magnificent, but you really need to be dressed for the part. Appropriate clothing…

21Jan 2023 by Nigel Atkinson 1 Comment

Youth Polo Tournament

News, Polo, Polo Reports, Reports

On Saturday 21/1/23 Nomads were superbly represented by our youth Polo team at Bedford. The team comprised of (in alphabetical order) Aled, Cameron (goalie) , George, Jenna , Lleyton and Teo. The evening started with a tough game against St Albans A one of the best teams at the tournament and considering this was the first match playing together as a team they put on one of their best performances of the evening losing in a hard-fought match 2-1. Throughout the evening the confidence of the team grew culminating in them winning 2 games comfortably against Meridian B and St Albans B and only losing by one goal against Meridian A who scored for the win in the last 2 seconds after Cameron had kept Nomads in the game with…

15Jan 2023 by Dave Hillier No Comments

River Colne & Canal to Coy Carp Trip Report

Event, News, Trip, Trip Reports

15th January 2023 A local lake, canal and mainly the River Colne, downstream to The Coy Carp pub, near Harefield. 7 Paddlers: Ian Walker (Trip Leader), Dave Hillier (Safety), Martin Edwards, Andy Slatford, Dan Wickham, Nathan Ashford & Jai Auguste. Ian led this local intermediate white-water trip, mainly on the Rickmansworth River Colne loop. After many days of rain it was a more interesting trip than planned. This was an intermediate Nomad Kayak Club trip with Dave Hillier thankfully providing good rescue cover. It was good timing while the river levels up and just before the next cold snap. Fun was had by all & only 1 person had a couple of dunkings, However it was a good to get some rescue practice in. The main hazards were tree branches/logs…