Blue Chip SUPer Club; join our weekly adventures

[benjif]

a good day that was, even though i had to leave early on, at least i got the masterclass and that changed my approach to paddling for good. This week end is looking very good too. i'm only free on saturday so am planning to explore the Thames between Cookham and Henley. if anyone is interested in joining me, let me know.ben

[bluechip]

SUPing through Guildford
We set Sail (or paddle) from the Rowbarge just north of Guildford on
the Wey Navigation Canal

We were lucky enough to see a deer grazing in the meadow to our left

we lazily pushed our way on up the canal under the A3

and onto the Woodbridge

We soon paddled on to the railway and foot bridge just before Dapdune Wharf

at Dapdune Wharf the canal turned to the right

Then after a few more turns the water opened up into Guildford proper.
We paddled past the old mills and soon “The White House” came into view

We decided not to stop for a bevy but to carry on up the Guildford Lock.
We portaged around the lock and set off up stream past a lovely pub

and on past the Guildford Rowing Club where the rowers all came out to watch
as we leisurely passed them by on our surfboards, we soon came into a
section with meadows on our left

and footpath on our right. What a lovely view as we looked back.
So many people asking about SUPing and what a lovely way to have fun on
the water and how great it looked.

We soon passed under the North Downs Way bridge and called a halt at
St Catherines hill. On the summit of this hill stands the ruin of St Catherine's Chapel
built in the 13th Century by the rector of St Nicolas' church. The chapel was
abandoned by the end of the middle ages, the church can be seen from
across the valley and river and the hill makes a fantastic viewing platform.
unfortunately this is as close as we could get to it today.

After a short break we headed back down stream



we soon reached the rowing club once more

As we approached the Guildford Lock we noticed a guy walking his dog with a
“bemused” / “I can’t believe what I am seeing “ look. So we showed him how
easy SUPing was but he assured us that he had no sense of balance at all.
Nevertheless, he couldn’t resist the temptation to have a go fully clothed.
He kicked off his shoes and rolled up his trousers and stepped onto Gordon’s
board and gently moved off just below the weir. The current soon started to
take him down stream, so Gordon quickly jumped onto my board to tell him
how to turn

and with that he was soon SUPing back up stream and enjoying the fact that
he could SUP.



All too soon, he had to go

So we bid farewell and paddled of downstream

We decided not to pop into Debenhams for some shopping on the way back

We soon rounded the last corner and arrived back at the Rowbarge for a well
deserved spot of refreshment before driving home.
another great paddle for the SUPer Club.

[bluechip]

SUPing in Surrey


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We met up at the Anchor Pub, Pyrford Lock and soon got onto the Way at the lock

and headed upstream

past the moored barges on our right

Wisley Golf Club was now on both sides of the canal

We soon came upon John Donne's Lodge on our right

And soon reached Walsham Gates lock

We pushed on up to Newark Priory and paddled up the cut to
the right of the Priory

there were so many twists and turns in the cut

with the current becoming surprisingly strong as we pushed on up the cut and
under the B367 Newark Lane bridge and soon found the source of the current
as being the Newark Weir. We decided to portage around the weir

We then headed on up to the Papercourt lock at Send

Once we past Papercourt we pushed on up for about 15 minutes before
we decided we had to turn back in order to finish before it got too dark.
We turned and headed back past Papercourt, and on past the
Newark Lock at Send

And back to the Anchor Pub at Pyrford Lock just as the light was fading

We sat at the Pub with some light refreshment and started to plan our next
adventure.

[Paul Williams]

Another great session Brian and thanks for letting me use the surfseries now that all my toys are in N.Devon.

Check out the SUPstock details under general topics to be held on 17th/18th July at Gwithian. It should be a great weekend and would be good to have some of the Bluechip crowd down there.

Hopefully see you next week for a new adventure.

Paul

[bluechip]

SUPing from Hampton Court to Wayneflete's Tower on the River Mole


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We started off at Albany Pub in Thames Ditton and launched from
the British Motor and Yacht Club, as we prepared to launch one of
Turks paddle boats cruised by

we soon kicked off from the Club

and headed upstream towards the River Mole

we soon reached the sluice tunnel and made our way up

we soon reached the sluice tunnel and made our way up and paddled out
onto the river mole. Gordon miss-judged the water depth as he launched.

we passed under the Esher Road bridge

and soon we were leaving the metropolis behind

and heading out into the countryside

We portaged around our second weir and soon found ourselves in the back
waters of the River Mole, so quiet as we passed by the Esher Rugby club on
our left.

And soon the River Mole opened up as wide as the Thames as we passed the
Island Barn reservoir on our right

Next we came on our third weir with Sandown Park Race Course to our left

Next we came on our third weir with Sandown Park Race Course to our left
we portaged up and over once again

We re-grouped and prepared to launch

There was a reasonable size drop onto the boards and ended up as a
leap of faith

No mishaps and we pushed on up under the railway bridge

An soon we caught a glimpse of our target, the picturesque "Wayneflete" or
Wolsey's Tower just breaking the tree tops

Then we came round the corner and there it was in it’s full glory

"Wayneflete", now here is a real slice of history: Wayneflete's Tower was
originally an 11th century manorial complex, sited on the banks of the River Mole.
In 1462, Bishop William Waynflete of Winchester, founded the brick Palace of
Esher and incorporated the medieval stone fortified manor house.
The four storey gatehouse, with semi-octagonal turrets to the fore, was linked
by a high curtain wall to a huge brick keep, which had octagonal turrets on the
angles. Sadly in 17th century, the keep, the great hall, the curtain wall and
associated building ranges were all demolished, down to there foundations.
In the 18th century, Henry Pelham added a pair of wings and a porch, when
integrating the tower into a Gothic mansion house.

We paddled on for a short while and reached site of the Lammas Lane road
bridge just West of Esher

We decided as dusk was falling we should now head back.

As we passed over one of the weirs and re-mounted our boards, Paul gave us
classic example of that old magic trick, now you see him, now you don’t.
Just look at Pauls confidence as he approaches that very difficult task of
getting on your board. Notice that confident wave and that smile on his face.

Now where has Paul gone, oh yes there he is, playing in the water

and yes, the smile is still there, like a “frozen” moment in time,

Paul is a real expert in the old magic tricks

Once we re-composed ourselves we continued back as the night was closing in.
As dusk was falling we though we could see our old friend Psycho Swan

But this was a force alarm.
Then a Heron on bank caught my eye.

We paddled on back to the Sluice Tunnel, is was so dark in there so we gingery
felt our way through to the slope and out onto the final stretch, under the
Railway bridge

And back to the pub for a well deserved drink, Paul’s first action was to get changed into some dry clothes, his second action was to sit under a heat lamp on the Pub’s decking and practise shivering.

[bluechip]

Had a great paddle on the Thames Friday 14th


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John Gillet and for of his fellow actors joined us for a
taster session last Friday. We all had a great day.
Tom Turner was really going for it

And Polly really dug deep

Burt was putting a lot into the technique

And John Gillet was really looking the part..!.
Just look at his first step onto the water

And now look at how relaxed he is..!

Great company and a nice paddle.

[bluechip]

A great paddle on Saturday from Garrick's Ait


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Saturday 15th, I was joined by Niall for a very pleasant Thames paddle from Garrick's Ait, up stream around Benn’s Island, and on passed Platts Eyot and the Hampton School Boat Club, Grand Junction Isle and around Sunbury Court Island before heading back to our starting point

[bluechip]

Monday 17th Paddling with the Rowers from Molesey Boat Club


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Vickie, Mo and Fi joined us on Monday to have a go at Stand up in stead of sitting.
Mo was first on the water and took to it straight away. Vickie and Fi were amazed
how easy Mo made it look.

Then Vickie and Fi went for it and soon we were all paddling off together.
we decided to push off down stream and past their Rowing Club and onto the portage at Molesey Lock. Mo made an enforced dismount into water that was a
little deeper that she anticipated..Whoops.. Once we had all passed through the
slipway, we pushed on down past Hampton Court, the River Mole and the Albany Pub, we paddled around Ditton Island

At this point Mo’s paddle started to play up and the shaft appeared to be giving up
so I swapped with her and tried to nurse the broken paddle along until the was a palpable “crack” and the rest of my journey was on my knees using a 1m paddle.
Notwithstanding the handicap, we carried on back to the lock and onto the upper
waters

And back to Garrick's Ait as the sun was setting

What a lovely evening.

[bluechip]

Monday 17th Paddling from Lower Ham Road to Surbiton


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Last Wednesday we had one of our more relaxing paddles from the
Boat House riverside pub up to the Hearts Boatyard riverside pub.
We landed at the Hearts Boatyard and moored up alongside other
water craft a little less cool than ours

And no sooner had Paul stepped off hi board,
there was an attempted takeover

Which lasted until we had finished our liquid refreshment and decided to
exerted our joint authority, at which time the culprit also decided to leave.

Then Ben gave us a subject lesson on how to impress

Paul decided not to try some of Bens tricky manoeuvres

So we all paddled off past Ravens Ait and on towards Kingston.

Then Kingston Bridge came into view in the distance

And we continued under the bridge

And back to the boat house

[bluechip]

Saturday Taster session


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Fantastic weather for SUPing, we have a family of 4 out for their first time
on SUP.

We paddled around Taggs Island

And back up towards Garrick ait

And we carried on up to Platt's Eyot

Around the head on the island

And back down past the Hampton ferry to our starting point.
A great Taster Session. Well done the Walker Family.

[benjif]

as promised, i'll share on the forum the launch points i use on the Thames between Cookham and Henley.
1. Cookham, slip way on Ferry Lane by the Ferry pub, you should park on Odney lane (take right at the end of ferry lane) however the pub have usually let me park at the back of the building when out of hours. - http://maps.google.co.uk/?ie=UTF8&hq=&h ... 6&t=h&z=17
2. Bourne end, coldmoorholmes lane. carpark available along the road or further up. need to walk through a gate to cross the railway tracks. http://maps.google.co.uk/?ie=UTF8&hq=&h ... 6&t=h&z=17
if paddling from bourne end towards marlow (upstream) take the left channel at the first island to admire the amazing mansions away from the main boating channel.
3.Marlow lock. i usually park on Mill road just by the footpath and bridge ove Marlow lock, in order to launch either side of the lock. http://maps.google.co.uk/?ie=UTF8&hq=&h ... 3&t=h&z=18
4. Hurley lock picnic park. great spot for a sunny afternoon with the family and a nice paddle toward henley.entrance is for members only and can be bought for £20 for 2 days valid anytime for 2 years. http://maps.google.co.uk/?ie=UTF8&hq=&h ... 6&t=h&z=17
5. Ferry lane in Mendnemham. as a free alternative to hurley park. http://maps.google.co.uk/?ie=UTF8&hq=&h ... 6&t=h&z=17
This stretch of river is the most beautiful i know and i have had such good sessions afterwork when i couldn't reach the coast. Have fun and let me know if you find other ones!

[bluechip]

Wednesday 26th Paddling down the Mole from the Stepping Stones to Leatherhead


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Last Wednesday we had one of our more interesting paddles and one we have
been planning to do for some time. We gathered at the finish point in Leatherhead
and left a vehicle there and then drove up to our starting point at the Stepping
Stones at the foot of Box Hill. We launched at the Stepping stones

And at 18:30 we set off down stream

And at 18:30 we set off down stream and we soon paddled under the wooden
Footbridge

Then the Mole closed in on us and we had to duck under the trees

The river soon opened up again

And then back to some tricky manoeuvring



We soon approached the Burford Bridge Hotel

As soon as we passed the Hotel we paddled under the A24 road bridge

We pushed on down stream and soon passed under the railway bridge which
Had a fallen try blocking our way. This was soon over come

Once passed the railway bridge the land and river opened up

And then the Mole closed in on us again and another tree blocked our way
but we paddled over it this time, I was first followed by Craig and Gordon

Julian was next

Followed by Mike

Paul was the last one and WHOOPS, as he maundered to take the tree, the
Tree took Paul

After a short interlude while Paul brushed himself off and we had a chance to
say thank god it wasn’t us. The river once again opened up so we paddled on
Leisurely

and then the Mole struck back once more with a rapid to one side and very low
trees on the other side, no competition..!

Craig was out in front as we approached another bridge when he saw a couple
of horses grazing along side the river

As we got closed they decided to move off up the bank and out of sight

Just after that we came to a small weir,

which then shallowed out and we
were again forced to walk with our boards

We soon cam to the mail railway bridge just before the trains disappear into their
Tunnel

Now the light was fading fast

We now paddled under our last bridge

We took the right hand fork to avoid a second weir the low light conditions

We passed some well kept gardens to our right as the river picked up pace to
match the drop of the weir down the other fork

at this point the river was flowing quite fast and it took us right to where we
wanted to finish

We finished at 9:00 on the button, what a great paddle and it lived up to
our expectations, we will certainly be doing this one again.

[bluechip]

Wednesday 2nd June Paddling down the Thames from Eel Pie Island in Twickenham to Richmond


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What a lovely day to paddle on the Thames. We kicked off at 18:30 and the
tide would still running up stream for another hour, so we paddled against
the flow and down to Richmond with the Sun behind us

The Thames at this stage of the tide was so peaceful

We soon came across Pertersham Meadows

And then in the background the Star and Garter home

We pushed on past the Meadows

Ad there around the corner was Richmond bridge and the Town.

We re-grouped at one of the several riverside hostelries and the carried
on down under the train bridge

And then the railway bridge and on to the Richmond Half Lock

The Tide was now at a standstill as we paddled through the Half Lock

We turned around at this point with our goal achieved and started our way
back up river. The tide had now turned and the river started to flow
back down to London but by this time we had Twickenham bridge in our sights

As we passed under Twickenham Bridge the flow of the Thames really picked up

And the force of the current was now showing around the raiway bridge mounts

As we paddled under Richmond Bridge we were now working much harder.
I was on the Pin for which I was very grateful but the others were really beginning
to work quite hard

As we powered our way around the long right hand bend in the river, we hugged
the right hand bank were the current eased

We paddled our way back to Eel Pie Island and on the Barmy Arms where we
had some well deserved refreshment
Then it was time to paddle back to the launch point.
Julian was bemused to see yachts from the Twickenham Yacht Club being
towed back up stream to their club

While Paul was trying to prove that size really doesn’t matter.

[bluechip]

Wednesday 6th Paddling from the New Haw Lock


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Well the weather was looking like we could get wet but the forecast was good.
we met up at New Haw Lock and quickly set off. The canal at this point
stretched out into the distance. We made good progress when we saw another
paddler coming towards us, low and behold, it was Andrew who used his local
knowledge to park up else where and intercept us en route.
We continued on up stream to the junction with the Basingstoke canal off to
our right

We soon came on to Parvis Wharf and the bridge

And under the Parvis road bridge

All along this particular stretch was the roar of the M25 only metres away
The canal soon moved away fro9m the motorway and gave way to the
quite and peacefulness we expect from a canal. And then around the corner
came another SUPer, It was Paul, He knew he couldn’t make the starting point
so he went to the finishing point at the pub and paddled down to meet us

We all paddled on up steam and were soon overtaken by some canoeists

The some meadows opened up on our right with some ponies grazing

As we came around the corner we passed under Dodds Bridge circa 1768



Just a short distance further and we reached our gole, the Achor Pub at Pyrford
Andrew decided to give us his masculine pose for the camer

We had some light refreshment at the pub and amused some of the local
customers before setting off again. Paul decided to go for the dramatic
jump on with both feet

We paddled off down stream

and made good time and all too soon it was time for Paul to turn around and
head back to his car (and the pub if I’m not mistaken..!)

So, there I was talking to Andrew but he was deep in thought when all of a
sudden he wasn’t there any more, Andrew took the plunge and was in the
water Electronic car key and all…!
Then he explained that he was simply demonstrating his theory on how to
reverse the effects submerging your electronic car key in the canal.
All you have to do is dangle the said car key in your teeth and suck out the
canal water. What a simple solution (the idea, not the canal water)

Andrew continued to suck out water from his car key and soon we were back
to Andrew’s drop off point where he insisted that his theory would work.
He lifted out his board and off he whet to his car, he pressed the button and
the doors unlocked…!

The rest of us paddled on back to our cars.
A another good paddle..!

[bluechip]

Jason Polakow and Levi Siver
join Blue Chip for a paddle on the Thames


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World Class Stand Up Paddle pros Jason Polakow and Levi Siver came over
the pond from their base in Hawaii to visit the UK and check out the Stand
Up Paddle scene in London. So naturally their agent contacted Blue Chip
and joined in the SUPer club for a short paddle on the Thames around the
Hampton Court area.

Jason and Levi decided to wear their wetsuits so they got quite a lot of jip.
JP and Levi couldn’t get over us just wearing our street clothes

The pro’s brought their own photographer to get some close up images
in the water

While Jason and Levi were having their photo opportunity, the rest of us
paddled up to the Hampton bridge

Then turned around and decided to paddle into the head wind and downstream
to make a heading for the Harts Boatyard hostelry

As we passed the JP and Levi water scene, the two pros had decided that
the call of the English riverside pub and the smell of food was too much
to resist so they retired to the bar while we paddled on

We all arrived at Harts Boatyard and were duly refreshed. Then we started
the paddle back up stream whch wasn’t too bad as the wind was now on
our backs.
A pleasure cruiser passed by

And they were quite amazed at us and for some reason couldn’t take
their eyes off us..?

There was a great sunset as we neared home

We all had a great paddle. And to top it as we approached our base,
there was great excitement as a seal had been spotted around where we
were paddling.

All the water users kept station but it must have swam off away from us,
Seals are often seen in this part of the Thames so we will look out for it
next time.