Author Archives: Emma Buzzard

Fun in the Sun- Last Weekend’s Taster Sessions

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The wetsuits were off and the sun cream was out for last weekend’s taster sessions. Hundreds of you came along to the boat hard each ready to try your hand at a little kayaking, on a weekend that can only be described as an absolute scorcher!  The two days saw unadulterated levels of mayhem, an endless supply of grinning fresher faces and more sunken boats than we ever thought possible! If you did get out of a boat without getting wet, goodness knows how; you stayed far dryer than most of us.

The taster sessions saw a variety of games, from the old classic ‘Stuck In The Mud’ to the Tom’s fantastically entertaining version of the game ‘Jump’. The variation saw Tom performing a beautiful rendition of the Girls Aloud classic of the same name (although he never did explain how he knows all the lyrics), whilst Freshers jumped as high as they could on cue. Needless to say the shenanigans ended in utter chaos. Just what we like to see!

Don’t forget that the intro meeting is happening this tomorrow (Wednesday 5th October). Meet at 18:15 outside the stags and we’ll be heading onto our first social of the year afterwards and if previous years are anything to go by, it’s going to be a cracker. If you have any questions please contact us here.

To see more pictures of the day, click either Saturday or Sunday (assorted on facebook).

SUCC LOVE

Taster Session Photo’s 2011

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We had amazing weather for the Taster Sessions this weekend and a really good turn out with lots of keen people. Hopefully everyone that came along had lots of fun and we would like to see you all again! – Remember the Intro meeting is happening this coming Wednesday (5th October) – meet at 18:15 outside the stags. If you have any questions please contact us here.

There will be a full write up about the Taster session soon but for now see if you can spot yourself in the photo’s.

Click either Saturday or Sunday (assorted on facebook) for the day you attended. See you soon!

SUCC Taster Session Sunday 2/10/11

Welcome to Southampton University Canoe Club

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There’s loads of fun to be had within SUCC, whether it’s in Southampton on the lovely River Itchen, on exciting whitewater rivers and surf around the country, or in Southampton’s pubs and clubs. It’s going to be a fantastic year, come and get involved!

We’ll be sending e-mails to you guys about the up-and-coming events happening over the next couple weeks, so keep an eye on out for those! We are also on Facebook, so join the Canoe Club fresher group to keep up to date with everything.

https://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=122391907787342

First up are our taster sessions this weekend at the Uni Watersports centre, just down the road from Wessex Lane halls. We’re going to be there from 12-5pm on both Saturday and Sunday playing a few games, having some fun in the sun and free tea and cake. The whole day is free and we provide all your kit. All you need to bring is a towel, a change of clothes that you don’t mind getting wet and some old/wet shoes if you have any.


View SUCC Locations in a larger map

Our Freshers meeting will be on Wednesday 5 October, starting at 6.30pm. This will be followed by the incredible Freshers social to Portswood, getting you nicely acquainted with the bars, pubs and clubs of the area. At the meeting itself, you can learn more about the club and will have the opportunity to join us (only £30 for the whole year – with a load of benefits) and come on the freshers trip to Perranporth (at a special price of only £30 for the weekend with all this included).

Hope to see all you lovely people this weekend! Any questions just email us.

SUCC Love,

Thom Guy
(President)

Here’s a list of our upcoming events (for more check the calendar):

  • 1st/2nd October – Taster Sessions 12pm – 5pm, University Watersports Centre
  • Wed 5th October – Freshers Intro Meeting. Meet at Stags for 6.15pm – or if you’re late head to Building 7, room 3009 (click for campus map) for 6.30pm. Afterwards we’re heading out for our first Fresher Social.
  • Thur 6th October – First Pool Training Session 9pm @ Jubilee Sports Hall (Highfield Campus)
  • 7th – 9th October – Freshers Surf Kayaking Trip to PERRANPORTH, CORNWALL!!

Interested in joining the club?

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Freshers week is fast approaching and we’re hoping to see you at the river, pool or socials!

Come and find us at the bunfight in SUSU on Wednesday 28th September (we’ll be around all day) to learn a more about the club and have a chat with us.

If you can’t make it to the bunfight, or are an existing student who would like to give kayaking a go, sign up for our mailing list below and we’ll keep you up to date with what’s going on.

(If you’d like to join the club then please send us a message from our contact us page)

AN ALPINE ADVENTURE

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Matt Kelly writes:

At 9am, after driving along a spectacular mountain road with the rising sun, our mighty Laguna pulled majestically into the Vallouise campsite, nestled in the French Alps where the Gyr and the Onde coalesce into the Gyronde – because the French are creative like that.

Eighteen hours of driving, ferrying and snacking (along with the occasional unplanned excursion due to sub-optimal navigation) had landed our group of four in a well-known paddling hotspot around the Durance drainage. Better still, eight of Southampton Uni Canoe Club’s alumni and friends were there to meet us in the morning sunshine for breakfast, before planning out the first day’s paddling.

A gentle warmup on the Gyronde gave the three Alpine first-timers a flavour of what was to come. The slalom course was quickly followed up with a blast down the Onde, taking just fifteen minutes, with no trouble – things were starting well.

Our first evening, like those after it, found us taking in the stars and numerous stubby beers. Twelve hours in, I was already loving it – great food, spectacular continuous III-IV rapids, fine company and breathtaking scenery.

In the days that followed, our tour took in the Durance Gorge, the Middle Clarée, several runs of the Lower Guisanne, the Lower Guil, the Gyr, and countless runs of the Onde (well, when the get-off is pretty much in your campsite, you would too!). Rivers generally passed without incident, though the author took a couple of rolls on sections a little shallower than is ideal… See the video above for headcam evidence, along with a sphincter-loosening capsize on the incredible Gyr!

France was serving us well; our French car, however, was not. Eight days after our arrival, half way to the Ubaye, disaster struck:

A French mechanic echoed the diagnosis of our friend George: “Turbo… kaput.”

All was not lost. Though the last of our holiday companions were departing as our car gave up the ghost, we met four top guys who adopted their fellow British paddlers, taking us to some get-ons over our last couple of days in their van. Their kindness was repaid, as we spent a day and a half dislodging a pinned boat of theirs from the Gyr – long live the paddling community!

Sadly, our time was drawing to a close. To cut a long story short, our journey home took 36 hours, involving a taxi driver who firmly believed he was at leastas good as Colin McRae, an absolutely gutless Vauxhall Astra (though we at least convinced the hire company not to give us a Twingo) a second taxi driver who smelled awful and rudely got a flat tyre a mile away from the ferry port, a walk, a ferry ride, a couple of hours at Dover whilst they found a replacement for our hire car (which had been given away) and a weary arrival in Southampton, were John and I didn’t have any keys to any house anywhere in Southampton.

As for the car, boats and paddling gear…? We’ll let you know when they make it back to the UK.