The Wye family weekend is back once again. This years dates are the weekend of 7th -9th July. For those that have not heard of this before, this is a camping or caravanning weekend just outside of Hereford based on a camp site right on the River Wye. It is ideal for families, as partners who don’t paddle can either sit and relax on the camp site, go walking on many of the local routes or go shopping in the local towns and villages.
We meet on the Friday night and starting early on Saturday we paddle a stretch of the Wye that takes in Symonds Yat (a set of rapids owned by British Canoeing and is a great place to play), some paddlers finish there and some carry on down to Monmouth. This trip is either 10 or 20km long depending where you decide to get out. The Saturday night features the famous BBQ where we get together and tell tall stories of canoeing daring do. Sunday is a more relaxing day where we have a nice relaxing paddle from the campsite down to Hoarwithy this is a 12k journey.
For more information and to book please email Hppcc@btinternet.com it is very important that you book onto the trip as we will need the vehicle registration number for your vehicle as the campsite now has a NPRS entry barrier. Costs are £10 for adults and £8 for juniors per person per night. The camp site have made life easier for us this year, rather than paying per tent or caravan and then for extra vehicles and people they are just charging a flat rate per person which makes life easy.
When you email us, please give us your name, the names of anyone else who is coming with you and whether you require electric hook up. You will also need to give us the registration number of any vehicles so that these can be given to the campsite in advance so that you can access the site.
Training for Awards
1 Star
Training for 1 star will be going on during normal sessions and assessments will be held throughout the year as and when coaches think paddlers are ready for this, it is not a difficult award to get but just needs a little application. Assessment usually takes place, 6- 8 sessions after starting paddling, so if you would like to be assessed please speak to your coach and they will be able to arrange this for you.
2 Star Training
We now have a draft program for 2 star training as well as the normal Saturday sessions we have arranged block training being arranged by Christina, they are:
10th June, 17th June, 24th June, 1st July, 8th July and 22nd July. These dates need to be pre booked and paid for in advance. Costs will be £30.
Also we will be doing an intensive weekend course for those who cannot make this and it is planned for 22nd/23rd July this is subject to change, and again will cost £30.
There are plans for a series of Thursday night training sessions in a similar vein to the Saturday block course, these are being run by Kirst dates are : 6th May, 13th May, 3rd June, 10th June, 17th June and 24th June, again these sessions will cost £30.
We will then hold an assessment day on 29th July, a further assessment day will be held in early autumn.
3 Star Training
We will be organising 3 star flat water skills training in the coming months, the basic skills are the same across all the disciplines and is the point where most paddlers have problems on assessment as they are usually competent in their chosen environment. We will be publishing the dates in the near future.
Thursday night sessions
Now that the nights are getting lighter and Easter is out of the way, Thursday night sessions are once again starting. We meet at about 6pm until 8pm, and this is not aimed at beginners but slightly more experienced paddlers who can be left to practice alone as we cannot always guarantee having coaches available, but there will also be a series of trips up the river as well as when coaches are available coaching on the back channels. There are other evening trips coming up during the year around the region.
Many Thursday night regulars after the session go the The Bridge at Gamston for a drink and supper.
Touring Dates for diary
We have now managed to organise a VHF radio course which has a few spaces left, please contact Kirst on crunchiethediver@hotmail.com for the details – Cost is £122.50 per person which includes the exam fee.