The DCC Special School Canoe Club has really taken off now the weather has improved. At last the wind has dropped and the sun has made an appearance making conditions calmer on the water. There have been plenty of coaches and helpers to provide support on and off the water so that the young folk and their parents/carers ( if they want to give it a go) can all get on the water and enjoy kayaking as a joint effort or the young person can just team up with a coach. Once they become more proficient at paddling then they have to opportunity to go solo in their own boat with in the group if they so wish. Everyone said how much they have enjoyed getting the chance to paddle, have fun and discover a part of Barrow that not many get to see.
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Sunday 20th May saw DCC race team set off to Chester to compete on the River Dee in the Chester Marathon. All got off to a great start except for Daniel who showed great sportsmanship when on the start line his paddle snapped causing him to retire early.
Scott, Lee aswell as other paddlers on the day had to portage several times over ground that was quite challenging due to the nature of the banking. The team brought home a variety of medals including 3 golds and 4 silvers. Well done to all. Great pictures of the days race by Julie. Saturday morning saw a few DCC members out and about Balsam Bashing. I assumed they would be giant plants growing at the waters edge waiting to be tackled to the ground before having their roots severed but Carol said they were actually very small plants just starting to grow which were easier to pull up and deal with. Please don't try this with any balsam plant once the flower and seed pods have developed. They have to be destroyed at an early stage to stop the dispersal of the seeds.
After lunch DCC members took to the waters of Windermere at Waterhead. We paddle across the lake to explore the River Brathay and the River Rothay. At times it was very shallow and some of the boats had to be pulled over the river bed into deeper water. One member even managed to fall in. Yes alright I own up it was me but an enjoyable time was had by all. We spent a lovely afternoon exploring the rivers that some of us had never paddled down with David managing to take a great picture of the midges that were abundant on the day. Looked like an alien encounter.Thanks go to John for organising the paddle. This Friday evenings session was the start of a weekend of paddling for some members of DCC. Watched over by a proud Mam and Dad, Tiegan took to the water in a kayak by herself for the first time and made it look as though she had been paddling for months on her own. A new family showed up at the docks to have a look around and ended up out on the water. They had a great time exploring the docks and paid a visit to the Furness pyramids. Overall it was a great night for everyone.
The weather was perfect for the first race of a series of four organised by DCC. It was well attended with many paddlers making their debut at wild water racing. It was good to see John and Rhiann back racing again. All had a great day and can't wait for the next one.
Please note that SLSS2 on the 10th June has been cancelled and SLSS3 will run on the 8th July as scheduled. |
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