TT Paddlers - canoeing and kayaking group

Have you seen this report on the News http://news.uk.msn.com/Article.aspx?cp-documentid=6898462 some people have still to realise that paddlers are never back quite when they say they are.

Two links from the forum of my old (UK) paddling club PACKERS which might be of general interest:

Explanation of the river grading system(s)

Explanation of cumecs

Well it rained like hell last night...here and in the mountains...so that brings the river levels back to paddleable levels

Tommy & I are heading to the Loisach tomorrow (Saturday) if anyone else wants to come along.

Sunday morning Graham and I will paddle the wave at Issmaning for an hour or two, meeting there at 11am.

I will try and get on arranging some pool sessions at Augsburg so we can get everyone rolling before spring, and post details of times when I get something set up.

Dave

I've already commited to snowboarding for the weekend While there is snow, the mountains will always win for me!

Would be nice to get an evening in a pool to try the rolling!

The Loisach is in the mountains...and all your snow will be floating down the river by tomorrow !!!

Glad you are having fun on your board! Will let you know what I can set up with the pool...

Being a pussy I'm blocked from white water boating until the end of Feb (when I get my drysuit back) - I'm open to flat water paddles though.

On the rolling front:
1) I may have a lead on a pool that we could use in Munich -> any German speaking paddlers fancy their chances of following up once I have names and numbers?
2) I'm heading to the UK in Feb for a whistle stop tour* and I'm taking the opportunity to attend a rolling course at PYB -> seats available in the car if anyone is interested.

* 20th - 24th: Munich -> Calais -> Dover -> Bedford -> North Wales (PYB) -> Stafford -> Cambridge -> Dover -> Calais -> Munich

Hey JG, if you have a contact for a pool, Annette could talk to them for us... is it a different one from the pool you experienced last time? I just emailed Tommy & Kerstin, one of them also might help make contacts or know of alternatives.

PYB huh...I worked there once ,about a million years ago ! Have fun, wish I could go with you.

Anyone else for the Loisach tomorrow ?...really, all the snow will be melting into the river !!!

dave

@PQ: It's not the pool on Flurstrasse (with all the restrictions) as used by some of the German paddling clubs. This one is on Nußstraße near Johanneskirchen in the North-East of the city - kayaks have been sighted there (by my daughter) and I now have a phone number and contact names which I'll PM to you.

J.

While it was pretty warm yesterday, the snow was ok over in the skiwelt area... but man, it was a very sunny afternoon

i am still up for paddling but have not kept track since back in munich from christmas
as i thought you all were skiing

Tuesday 5th (Afternoon) Anyone else up for paddling at Augsburg ?

The main Olympic whitewater course has water in it again & the easier central Slalom course is up also. Graham & I plan to head out there Tuesday afternoon.

Yeah I'm for a paddle at Augsburg. What time we meeting up? Are you bringing the mirror?

Looks like it will be afternoon..will post a time one we have a plan this end. There is water in both channels tho which is good !! Might try and fit the seat in the new Slalom..Jon you bringing your new play boat?

No half-day on Tuesday for me I'm afraid.

Have fun.

J.

There has been some discussion about buying a moveable swimming pool that we can use for teaching rolling ( JR even offers to locate it in his garden) The idea is that we all chip in on its purchase (approx 400 euro for a 15ft pool, big and deep enough for one boat & paddler & instuctor in the water) This seems the only solution to finding pool space to get everyone taught to roll as we make no positive headway with any of the Munich pools or the Augburg pools. Post your interest here or PM Jon or I if you are interested so we can figure if there is enough interest to go ahead with this.

Is there any merit in creating a "trip calender" for TT Paddlers meetings for spring summer so its a little less random than it was last year?

Yesterday, five of us & four dogs paddled from Bad Tolz to Wolfrathausen, stopping along the way to indulge in the usual TT feeding frenzy. The trip took about 6 hrs with stop. A nice mellow float and would be great for an early spring TT get together. If we planned this for some time in April, I might be able to arrange extra open canoes for those interested in paddling a canoe rather than a kayak.

For anyone who would like to seakayak this summer, I am going to be instructing and running trips in the Lulea Archipelago in Sweden (its super easy to get to from Munich...by air..!) We will have at least six sea kayaks up there plus a sailboat. I have details of the Archipelago on my website ( www.polarquest.us ) The trips I am running are guided, but if anyone here also wanted to arrange to use boats up there, they would be available between my guided trips.

We are thinking of offering the boat for charter also, in the same location when we are not using it for trip support if anyone is interested in just sailing up there (I`ll put boat details up on the "sailing" page of www.polarquest.us shortly)

Assuming that sufficient interest is shown to make each share appropriate then I would be happy to chip in. Not quite sure what appropriate means though - I guess it depends on how much benefit each individual contributer would be able to get from it.


It certainly wouldn't hurt to try and plan in the occaisonal "organised" trip although, of course, the very nature of the sport means that prevailing conditions need to be considered so plans will always have to be dynamic. Maybe we should start by planning in a few days at Augsburg where levels should be fairly constant and then use those get togethers to bring on board new "members" and to gauge interest in additional trips. Personally I'd love to get back to the Mangfall once the level starts rising again which, given the current weather, shouldn't be too long...


Shame I missed that one - sounds like it was fun.

Cross link to pool wanted post...

Might be something of intererest here http://www.c-b-r.de/link/en/16308654

I know years ago, some of the munich clubs used to play canoe polo in one of the pools in the olympiazenturm. It was kind of hard to find, and buried deep, not the 50m swimming pool with diving pool.

Of course they probably had boats which never went pout of the pool, and our boats do

Dave, not another attempt to promote some dodgy exhibition in Germany. Still haven't got over the last one :-)

Would anyone here happen to have any recommendations for someone who would like to try a bit of paddling this spring/summer? I did the odd bit of canoeing that comes with being in Girl Scouts for 12 years, but I'd like to do a bit more and maybe try some kayaking. What would be the best way to get started? Any particular courses/books/activities I should try first? Thanks!

Hi modernclio, you woulod be welcome to join a TT Paddlers meet once we get going again. Probably will do another Isar float (like the one above) with canoes in the next couple of weeks and you would also be welcome to come along. Watch the posts here. I also PM`d you with some additional contact info if you have any questions.

Look forward to having you on the water with us this summer!!

Dave

JR...if you look close at http://www.c-b-r.de/link/en/16308654 you will see there are boats...and kayaks...floating things, unlike ISPO. Its also only 12 bucks or so to get in. Perhaps someone there can unlock the mysteries of those AT paddles for you

meh, has the water got warmer yet ?

But more seriously, after march I'll probably call it a day for skiing/snowboarding, so will be around again at the weekends to come play in the water! Am interested about the pool idea as well, is there any way to test them to make sure they suit before we purchase one ?

I'm planning on heading over to this show on the weekend - not sure when exactly but Sunday afternoon looks likely.

JG, we are heading there tomorrow so will let you know what goodies we find..I`m curious about the pool setup

OK, we went to the C B R http://www.c-b-r.de/link/en/16308654

Its totally worth going to, particularly for those of you wanting paddling gear for the upcoming season. Quite a few big retailers selling a lot of gear, some at up to 50% off. Lots of cags & drytops. There is one hall that is mostly paddle gear, boats, paddles etc. Also a big test/demo pool, movies, books, even a virtual whitewater rapid, like a nintendo for paddling.

Theres also a big display of sailboats, motor boats, lots of diving gear exibitors. Also a ton of windsurf/kitesurf stuff to. Lots and lots and lots of wetsuits!!!

Def worth to go for the watersports stuff alone.

Theres also a stand for just about every country in the world (and several I think have still to be created) trying to coax you there. Lots of young ladies in tight national outfits, free wines from South Africa, South America and several other producing places,help to take the edge off the thousands of aimlessly wandering potential tourists. But then when you are done with that, you can retreat to the civility of the paddling hall again.

Well worth 12 euro to get in & 6 to park.

Expect to see everyone all kitted out with nice new outfits (paddling outfits) !

Graham, get a drytop here...cheaper than Robsons. Yulia, lots and lots of wetsuits. JR...proper paddles (also a LOT of boat chandlery)

Dave

Hi
how much did i cost to get in and is there a student price
James

James, Its 12 Euro to get in. You can take the train there, think there are details on the link http://www.c-b-r.de/link/en/16308654 Dont think there is a student discount...you can try tho! There was a discount for ADAC card holders, so if you can borrow one of those...

Hey! I can't get my own gear at the moment (what can I say, canoes are expensive!) but if anyone's going out and has space/an extra paddle and pfd (or whatever you want to call it), I can hold my own in a canoe, and would love to join in! Or if anyone knows about places you can rent stuff for a couple days, that would be nice to know too

Hi liutaia,

Sure we can find you a spare paddle & pfd etc and we have several open canoes floating around. Will PM you & post here when I know we are heading out next. Dave

Check out the other TT Paddlers thread for details of forthcoming paddle trips

Hey good stuff - I'd missed the fact you'd got yourself a boat - what did you get?

last november it a dave but have not round to paddling it yet as i stop just before i got it.

I will be placing an order with Hiko www.hiko.cz in early March for much of the paddle gear for my sea kayaking trips. We are ordering mostly Drytops & pants, spraydecks, buoyancy aids, paddles and some neoprene items. Anyone wanting paddle gear from Hiko can contact me & I will send you the wholesale price for those items.

A couple of TT Paddlers have asked about joining one of the Sea Kayak trips in Sweden. I have offered them a 40% discount on those trips and would extend that to any other paddlers or TT`ers wanting to join in. Details of those paddle trips are on my webpage http://polarquest.us/seakayakingsweden.html

Dave

Last season we had some discussions about basic river rescue. Might be an idea, soon, to dedicate an afternoon to develeoping some basic rescue systems that all of us who are regular paddlers here are familiar with, and an afternoon spent practising at least some basic extraction techniques, correct use of throw lines etc, could give us all a greater degree of safety on the water.

Perhaps we can set a date in the next three weeks to do this ? Ideas ?

Meanwhile, this link to some instructional video`s about what I have in mind.

http://www.expertvillage.com/video/29658_r...-bags-types.htm

How about we plan a trip to Augsberg - I think it would be a good spot for some safty training and for getting people on the water more generally.

Plus, if this weather continues we could break out the BBQs again...

First weekend of April?

J.

I'm up for a safety training session but not sure Augsburg is the place to do the session. Should we be looking at somewhere with real eddies to set up the various scenarios? There are so few real eddies at Augsburg, would it not make the session somewhat limited, plus we're not exactly going to be popular if we're hogging what few places there are with ropes and swimmers.

Could we set up a weekend river session somewhere? Perhaps a training session to start followed by a couple of rivers after? and of course we could always squeeze a BBQ in in the evening.

Just a thought.

That said, any practice is very welcome at the moment.

Jon

My husband and I did a Swift Water Rescue certification course aaaages ago and haven't taken a refresher course since, so we'd be really interested in this. Let us know dates if this happens!

It sounds like you could usefully contribute as instructors! How would you feel about lending us some of your expertise?

Agree with JR, Augsburg is not the best place for a basic safety session for all the reasons listed. I know we thrash the location to death, but the Ismaning Bridge could work..or..the place we went last year at Talkirchen...that had a good eddy, a place we could set up a "pin & extraction", Z drags etc, plus the adjacent flat pool for other stuff...

Whatever the location, we should plan this sooner rather than later. Who is interested in doing this ?

Dave

Yep - I'm interested.

me too

Yep me to.

BTW after a discussion with Dave about paddling in Sweeden came across a site www.rainchasers.com Not sure if anyone else come across this already but check out the movies especially the one paddling Ingleton falls. These guys make it look so easy...until the end that is.

Definitely interested.

@JayGee: Whooaaaa...key words there were "aaaages ago".

Instructing...that's crazy talk...

Hey count me in too...

@Gidget: so do you guys boat then?

We do! But it's been a while. Last time I checked, I can go through a Class III, albeit not-so-elegantly. My husband can paddle through Class IV, style through these rapids would also be debatable

So when are you going to join us on the water then?

Go on, you know you want to!