Song of the paddle is a useful resource for open boat paddlers and provides plenty of information. They also have a forum such that open boaters from all over the world can talk and share experiences.
The
British Canoe Union
Carlisle Canoe Club is
BCU-affiliated. Their website contains info on joining, coaching, etc.
Browse our local canoe shops
online! Club members get a 10% discount.
UKRiversGuidebook
Excellent guide to most rivers
(and becks and playspots and just about everything ever paddled) in Britain,
also lots of articles on paddling abroad. Now includes the The
UK Sea Kayak Guidebook.
Adventure-North
Adventure-North is a
Carlisle-based company run by Jim Wilson (former CCC president and owner of
Carlisle Canoes) and offers canoe and sea kayak coaching, expeditions, and hire.
The magazine is now only
available online (subscription). The website features dozens of river guides
from around Britain (mainly grade 2 and 3 rivers and many of them not in other
guidebooks) and a sea kayaking guide to the coast of Britain (click "What's
in this month", "Back Issues").
Stirling
Canoe Club
We paddle with Stirling Canoe
Club in Scotland and went to the Alps with them two years ago.
This is the local BCU site which includes
access info on Cumbrian rivers
My
personal web page
Lots of pics of me and Hil
paddling, mountain biking, and climbing. Includes lots of polo, marathon and
WWR pics.
Surf Forecasts and tides
Surf Forecasts! - BBC 1 Ceefax page 429, 1/6.
The BBC Surf forecast is updated daily at
about 9am and includes Pease Bay (near North Berwick, north of St Abbs,
Bamborough and North Shields), Porthrush (actually in Northern Ireland but
close to Machrihanish and Stranraer), Newquay, and the Hebrides. It seems pretty
accurate because it is based on someone actually going and looking at the surf
on the morning!
SurfSystem.co.uk,
A1surf.com and MagicSeaweed.co.uk
provide free(ish) UK surf forecasts (aimed at boardies) but Ceefax seems more
reliable. Rigbrother.com provides
detailed and sometimes dodgy forecasts several days ahead. Watch animated
Atlantic swell forecasts here.
River level forecasts
Know of any other useful sites for weather
info? Please email me! ()
Met
office British Isles rainfall animation
Shows all precipitation over the
last 6 hours. Updated every hour. The best way of predicting river levels.
The SCA have
just put together this great site which calculates river levels from SEPA
data. Updated at about 7am every morning.
Weatherstations.co.uk
A clickable map of UK weather
stations which give regularly updated weather info including precipitation - the
most useful of these are at Morcambe
Bay (for South Cumbrian rivers), Dumfriesshire
(for the Nith, etc.), Bellingham (the
Tyne, Allen, etc.), Cairngorm
and Strathspey (NE
Scottish rivers), Upper
Teesdale, and near
(south of) Glasgow. Rainfall is usually the total since midnight in
millimetres but check what date the data was last updated. A map of these
weather stations is available here.
Both sites give detailed long
range forecasts including rainfall rates, but like any long range forecasts
aren't very accurate.
Nationwide
Extremes
The Met office publishes the 10
wettest places in Britain every day - these usually include some of Shap,
Keswick, Eskdalemuir, Walney Island, St Bees, Great Dun Fell or Drumburgh. They
are the total rainfall in mm between 18.00 and 18.00 the next day and they
update at about 19.30 every day (before the update it shows the total for the
previous 24 hours to this even though the date on the page shows the correct
date).
BBC
Weather Forecast
Forecast for RAIN up to 12 hours
ahead (doesn't show how
heavy). The BBC and ITV websites both give a worst (?!) case forecast --
"this [forecast] enables you to prepare for the worst weather anticipated".
EA
Rivercall (scroll almost to the bottom of this page)
Nigel Timmins is compiling a list
of how river levels relate to the Environment Agency's Rivercall data.
LAKESTAY.CO.UK
- all about the English Lake District (look at the kayak
page)
CanoeFocus.co.uk
- occasionally has interesting articles about paddling around the world, not as
much as the magazine (free with BCU membership) though.
The following link directories include many
more links to canoeing and general outdoor sites.
SportCom.co.uk
is a local directory containing many more canoeing and sports websites.
Abercelyn
Country House - B&B or self-catering
accommodation near Bala in North Wales
5 minutes to the Tryweryn, 30 minutes to Llangollen, drying room
Run by ex-Carlisle Canoe Club members Lindsay & Ray Hind - 10% discount for
members - see their website for more details
Know of any other paddling sites of interest
to Carlisle Canoe Club paddlers? Email us at .
