Mark R wrote:

No further discussion is necessary.

Wasn't the Bubble/Probe even worse?

I take all your worst boats and raise you the Cochois Reflex. It was a plastic boat that looked like it had been welded together in about 6 places. I know it was bad, because I paddled a Rotobat at the time, and it was beautiful in comparison. The Cochois Reflexes that I paddled were part of the fle...

Hi Mark, what about covering some of the tributaries as well. Up in Oxfordshire we have the Cherwell, Ray, Windrush and Evelode which are/may be paddleable in part.
Thames guides that I have seen just cover either the main river or the navigable part of the main river.

See if you can get a copy of Rivergods by Richard Bangs and Christian Kallen. It is a bit raft orientated, but it covers some of the great white water rivers of the world. It is not a guide book perhaps in the strictest terms, but it is a good bit of river p@rn.

When I learned to kayak back in the late 1980s at Exeter University, we had an orange rotobat that was only used in the pool and it looked exactly the same. My second ever WW boat was a rotobat which I had for ages, so even though it was a long time ago I think I would still recognise one.

I am curious about the roto v blow moulded debate. In the past, Prijon Kayaks were blow moulded whilst all the other manufacturers were using roto moulding. The argument was then that blow moulding led to uneven plastic distribution, so either points of weakness, or in order to make the weaker point...

Thanks, I thought that that might be the case. I am glad to own this book though.

Just picked up a copy of "Canoeing Down Everest" which is signed:-
"Best wishes Reg and Molly Jones 2/9/82.
The search function confirms what I thought, that they were Mike's parents. Can anyone shed any light on the date?

Can't really think that the drop is 10' I must have been a bit excited at the time.

I second, not shaving.

I very seldom agree with Moonbat on anything that he says, but on the philosophy of managing our watercourses he is completely correct. I am pretty sure he was on Countryfile extolling the virtues of re-wilding recently - just surprised that he did not mention the beaver. http://mammal.org.uk/bring-...

Really enjoyed it, a classic film, brought back memories of paddling fibre glass boats, though never on anything as difficult.

NathanE wrote:There must be stuff to do in the ardennes mountains a fairly sensible long weekend trip.

http://www.kajakardennen.be/index_EN.php

Not sure how reliable the water is - but I did find this blog. To the bottom is a video of the Lesse http://dzjow.com/

They have bought an old Perception mould, cant remember which one. A friend had one to try but was way too heavy for it. Moulding seemed good but outfitting was basic, ok as a beginner flat water boat, surf boat or for a more experienced white water paddler on a budget. Looks like a Whip it or a Wh...

Mr Benyon in the press again today....

As both a paddler, although somewhat inactive, and a Conservative politician, much more active, I have to be careful what I say, but shall just observe, that in this case there is definitely an opportunity. However in the context of any Government's default position on this kind of issue ie it is no...

Further post from LL_CoolSpray on the above forum "Apparently I was premature in posting their rescue. All we know is that they are alive. Everything else is hearsay. If admin could delete my previous post (and this one), I would appreciate it." Fingers still crossed, but on the whole that Forum doe...

Things seem to be looking up according to the last post here.

http://www.mountainbuzz.com/forums/f14/ ... 541-4.html

Has anyone had a go at the Environment Agency Consultation online?

https://consult.environment-agency.gov. ... Id=2416646

Near me, The Windrush at Minster Lovell, river runs a bit more quickly than the pic in the link would indicate.
http://www.wildswimming.co.uk/map/minst ... -windrush/

Sorry - meant to post this article as well.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politic ... d-him.html

More on Benyon. Maybe even the Conservative party have had enough of him.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politic ... -poor.html

It's not the Ostri is it?

latest wing suit insanity. Alexander Polli flies through a mountain.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=pl ... L8UCfxmtSw

Annoyed by "oar" - even more annoyed by "ore" - pedant alert.

I enjoyed Rivergods by Richard Bangs and Christian Kallen - it is more strictly about rafting, but nevertheless is a good book, and some fantastic pictures.

Did I see any female paddlers mentioned on this list? One that I would put forward would be Liz Sharman. She was a top Slalom paddler at the same time as Richard Fox, and an inspiration to many British slalom paddlers. She won gold medals in the 1983 and 1987 World Championships. She also took part ...

When I was starting as a kayaker, we had a few heroes. Mike Jones, Mike Hewlett, Shaun Baker, and Jochen Schweizer whose "Family Mad" film which you can find on Youtube managed to combine some slapstick, silly stunts and even a little kayaking.