Blog - Regents Canoe Club

The latest club adventures and stories

Ruth’s guide to surviving the Zambezi

Paddling the Zambezi is epic. The water is huge. Saying it’s next level does not do it justice. A strong roll will help.

That Georgia’s always on my my mind

Emma designed a new method of describing the difficulty of a move “that hole had 3 monkeys in it” or, just for conjecture, “all 10 monkeys are going to get eaten by that siphon and none is getting out alive”.

Grandma Hurrell’s Legacy: Ruth’s White Water Leader Assessment

Join Ruth on her journey through the white water leader assessment, where she leads from behind, navigates through misrepresentations with her legal skills, and practices first aid in an unusual setting.

Why Regents is the Only One for Me

One of our members reflects on 15 years at Regents Canoe Club.

Intro to White Water Course 2022

Some bake bread, others collected toilet paper. But during Lockdown our very own Andreas went on RCC's Intro to White Water Course.

Steffi

Defensive Swimming on the Dee: WWSR Training

Ziva Conkas shares some of the mythical wisdom of White Water Safety.

Steffi

Shorty (cag) Got Low, Low, Low, Low (Flow Rider ft. Shoulder Pain)

Ruth Hughes has the baggy dry pants and the pogies with the straps, she high braced and gave that river flow a slap (yay), She tried to roll, (she tried to roll), Next thing you know...

I was not R-Eddy…

Lucy Moss commits to the bit: going white water kayaking in North Wales for her first time on moving water.

Protect and Swerve: White Water Safety and Rescue Training

Jenni, Matt M and Adam B recall their White Water Safety & Rescue Course on 12-13 May 2022.

Shot Through the Dart

Our south western correspondent Ruth recounts a rapturous river descent down the Dart.

Sea Kayaking in Devon

Ian 'Jaffa Cake' White shares his experiences of planning a sea kayaking adventure Lockdown gave me an opportunity to reflect on a trip Steffi, Tokey and I embarked upon in September 2019. Tokey is a regular and welcome guest at our home…

Better Lakes than never

Steph recounts those precious last few days when kayaking wasn't just a distant memory. Firstly I must start with an apology, this has taken me three months to get round to writing… being a freelance musician and having work disappearing…

Journey to Advanced White Water Leader

Sean's shares his thoughts on becoming an advanced white water leader I joined the club in May 2011 as a complete novice not knowing a canoe from a kayak or a spray deck from an air bag. I got hooked immediately and haven't looked back since. In…

A coaching story

Steffi introduces us to her progression to White Water Kayak Coach I suppose my coaching journey started back in October 2010 when I attended a White Water Safety & Rescue course facilitated on the Tryweryn. It was after my first Alps…

BC White Water Leader qualification

Ian White introduces us to the first part of our how to get ahead in kayaking series For more information on the accredited BC awards available for personal paddling, leadership and coaching take a look at our training resources. Five…

A Basic introduction to coaching and leadership

Our safety officer Ben offers a break down of the new training and awards programmes Regent's club trips are all organised and led by volunteers, and paddling with a club is a great way to learn kayaking through informal learning from more…

The Lakes – The Whole 9R

Ruth spews her thoughts on another fine weekend After a tricky trip to the lakes involving rush hour at Euston, luckily not with a kayak, and checking that Boaty II was securely attached on a grade 6 motorway (or perhaps the M6 Motorway,…

A rookie’s reflection

Frankie pumps up her first white water trip to Mile End Mill After completing the Introduction to White Water Kayaking course with Regents Canoe Club, a few of us signed up for our first 'proper' white water trip. The Intro course was…

WWSR, a course, a way of life

Steph reflects on an eventful White Water Safety and Rescue course Our little paddling ‘clique’ who all met at the Intro to White Water course last summer (with a few exceptions who were assimilated into the group along the course of…

A Grand Canyon paddling adventure

In case you missed it, here is Becky's account of her Grand Canyon paddling adventure In July of this year I was very lucky to be part of a group of friends who went to kayak and raft the Grand Canyon self-supported. This trip was different…

What a Soca

Octave shares some thoughts on a self-organised adventure. The Soča river in Slovenia is breathtakingly beautiful and an amazingly fun place to kayak. As we discovered, however, there’s a lot to organising your own trip abroad - this blog is therefore a practical guide to your very own Soča trip.

A tale of two Tryweryns

More fun on the T with Ruth... I admit it, I was supposed to write a piece on the May trip to the Tryweryn (“T” – I’m a barrister I’m allowed to define terms!) I’m a bit late with that. Sorry. I haven’t forgotten. I’m double barrelling it with the August T trip.

Kayaking in the Alps – Part II

Jess's recollections of a first year in the Alps. As I put my out of office on, and waved goodbye to my colleagues, the excitement of the Alps trip sunk in. Having heard so many positive things from other RCC members, I couldn’t wait to see the rivers for myself!

Kayaking in the Alps – Part I

Thanh shares his thoughts on a memorable end to a memorable year. Blessed with summery weather, mesmerising scenery and memorable company, the Regents Alps trip of 2019 was the definite highlight of my first year kayaking with Regents Canoe Club.

First experiences on the Tryweryn

Steph recounts her first experiences of the Tryweryn. Still fairly new to the game of white water kayaking, once I’d found out I was accepted on the Tryweryn trip I’d started asking around about the river. The reaction was always the same from my more experience kayaking buddies; a smile and a fond look of joy behind their eyes as if remembering a first love.

Thoughts of the M1

There's always a feeling of dread as we're planning and embarking on a kayaking weekend away. Luckily our chair and deep thinker Kate has some thoughts on how to make your journey a little less stressful and more relaxing. The key question is…

Barle & Exe Trip 2018

Wilderness First Aid Course – Simon Drayson & David Hill

Mark in action

Don’s account of his White Water Kayak Leader assessment

I’d like to share my experiences from recently completing the new 2-day British Canoeing (BC) assessment, White Water Kayak Leader (previously call 4 star white water kayak). The BC web site provides details, but the main aim is to be able…

Mark's first aid kit

Don’s first aid tips

Mark Donaldson on the importance of first aid training for kayakers In December I took a 2-day outdoor first aid course, the type recognised by British Canoeing as suitable for kayakers who will often be outdoors and not immediately accessible…

Rescuing a pinned boat

White Water Safety and Rescue training

Dave Hill reflects on a recent White Water Safety and Rescue course When the WWSR course was mentioned to me it conjured up images of the days when I’ll be using ropes and pulleys to pull a pinned boat off a rock on a class 5 rapid someplace…

Wilderness First Aid Training

Wilderness first aid

Imagine you’re casually strolling through Regents Park and you come across a man stumbling around drunkenly holding a large branch, another sprawled out in a tree, a women lying on the floor seemingly unconscious with another screaming holding…

River leader assessment

For the first time in months we were heading to North Wales and it was raining. It was raining hard and there was more rain forecast. Gemma and I were heading up the motorway. Off to Bala to meet up with Hannis and undertake our River Leader…

Training with Ty Nant Outdoors

Ty Nant Outdoors – Level 1 Coaching Course

Hannis Whittam describes two sunny, wet, windy, warm and cold weekends in North Wales where he attended a Level 1 Coaching Course with Ty Nant Outdoors. The Course was led by Andy Turton and he was assisted by Trys Burke. The course covered…

Regents Canoe Club at the Tryweryn

Hannis’ new favourite eddy hopping system

At the end of January six of us (Adam, Amy, Birtles, Ryan, The Don and myself) went on a four star training with Andy Turton (Ty Nant Outdoors). We weren't lucky with rain and the Tryweryn wasn't releasing so we did the training on the mighty…

Steffi

Giraffes, gorillas and mice

Steffi went for her Moderate Water Endorsement training and encountered giraffes, gorillas and mice. Who would have thought that coaching white water skills can be a matter of story telling and visual/mental pictures. The level 2 coaching…