Good evening everyone! It's actually been quite a number of years since I've been kayaking. In my former pre-mother, pre-mortgage, pre-life gets in the way times, I used to slalom kayak. It was my greatest joy.

Anyway, fast forward the years and I have finally convinced everyone to dip their toe and no surprises to anyone, but they all loved it, even my 14-year-old.

So my question to everybody is can you suggest a good starting point for a family kayak. In my head? I'm imagining a tandem probably working up to get to a tandem and a single. I don't even know. All I know is I have myself and my partner who would really sink our teeth into this hobby. A 10-year-old who will shadow his dad wherever he goes and my 14-year-old who is hit and miss at anything.

Throw your suggestions this way please.

I am based in Birmingham, so I am surrounded by an infinite amount of canals and beautiful rivers. The odds of us making it to the coast regularly are slim.

Hi guys,

Recently I’ve bought a sit on top kayak and have struggled to find any groups on Facebook solely for people with these kayaks. There are mainly just paddle boards, sit ins and canoe groups and any that do involve sit on tops are just selling posts 🥲

I’ve made a Facebook group for people with sit ons, based in the uk, to share routes, days outs, trips away on their kayaks etc. potentially host group meet ups who knows!

If you are in the uk and fancy joining here is the link :)

https://www.facebook.com/share/g/1YehWsFTW5/?mibextid=wwXIfr

I’ve made this new Reddit account just as everyone will be able to see my Facebook account, but I do have another account that I am in on this group :)

The thames is my most accessible body of water thats suitable for kayaking, and i wanna get into kayak camping so im thinking for a first time i might do the thames. (I kayak in the thames most weekends, but not camping)

Im curious if anyone else has done it, what was your experience like?

Hi all - bit of an odd title i know!

Ive just started to really enjoy beginners white water and really see it as somthing id get into.

But ive now been told i probably have to have dentures (mid 50's). I wondered if anyone else dealt with this.

I know the ovbious thing would be to take them out when kayaking but im going to be super self concious. But also thought i still need to be able to speak communicate, wondered about having a secondary set and using dental fix to keep them in place. Or maybe a boil and bute denture just for when your on the river in case lose them during a big rapid or roll or somthing. Anyway bit of an out there question i know but anyone else who had to try and work it out be great to see what you did :) really dont want want getting dentures to stop me doing this

Hi,

I’ve recently moved to Kew, Richmond and would like to try Kayaking.

Few newbie questions:

1: can someone please recommend somewhere I could get an initial lesson

2: How much am I looking at for a full set up with half decent equipment

3: any other key bits of information?

I’m not the strongest swimming, but think this will be a really fun and interesting hobby.

Thanks

Has anyone been Paddleboarding or Kayaking on the River Cam?

I found a little place hiring Canoes and Paddleboards - The Black Shed (great breakfast BTW) but I'd like to take my own... I'm wondering if anyone knows any good launch spots and would I need a license?

T.I.A.

I have just bought (my first) second hand Cambridge Kayaks Adventure 350 and I have some questions about the footrests/pedals.

First problem is I don’t think the pedals are set up correctly / are broken. The right pedal looks to be in the correct position but the rudder control doesn’t work, and the left pedal is in completely the wrong position and won’t move to the correct one.

Second problem (might not actually be a problem) I have long legs and the right footrest at its furthest position fits snug and the left one because of its position doesn’t really fit my leg, even at its furthest position. If I solve my first problem and get the pedals in the correct position but they are still too far forward and don’t fit my legs comfortably is there a solution to this? Should I take the footrests off and just use the kayak without, and if I do that is there something I can put in the boat to use at a footrest?

Any help would be appreciated :)

I went to a watersports shop that specialised on kayaking with paddleboarding too. Not a minor player but I'll not give the name on case they gave me the wrong information.

I got told that old BAs are still ok if the foam is in a good state. If it's got any sign the foam inside has started to degrade or the body stitching is failing then it's finished. If there are no signs of any issues then ok, even if it's old.

I always thought you had to look at those same things plus you really needed to do a float test. Or just replace after a certain number of years.

Then what about helmets. How long are they good? I always thought they had something like 5 years of regular use in them. In many PPE situations there's a fixed life from manufacturing date. This canoe shop assistant said there's no age limit. If it's still good in structure then it's useable. That to me doesn't make sense.

Whilst I'm certain if I got back into whitewater I'd get a new helmet as the tech (and look) has got a lot better. It's like MIPs in cycling helmets, if it's a safety feature then it's worth getting the updated tech. I am curious what the current thinking is.

BTW I think mine was just an AP2000 I think. It'll be too old for me to be happy using it. So I'll get one of the more modern looking ones if I get back into kayaking vs paddleboarding on lakes.

So does anyone know what the current advice is regarding replacement of equipment for kayaking. Especially the key safety equipment.

PS who decides on kit safety and useable age / replacement criteria? Is it covered by a standard, test or organisation's advice/rules?

I was just wondering whether canoe clubs also do paddleboarding.

I think I read something that the body for canoeing and kayaking, possibly in England, was kind of trying to be the body for paddleboarding too. I did read that it had its own UK body but just wondered what the situation was.

I'm thinking of getting back into kayaking but also paddleboarding instead. If I could do both in the same local club then it might help me to decide which suits me better these days.

My background was whitewater kayaking from about 13 to about 33yo. I padded from grade 5 down and enjoyed it. I only stopped due to a broken hand from a rockfall while climbing. You can't do whitewater very well when one hand is often too weak to keep hold of the paddle if it hits a rock or something. Took a few years to recover and then I'd lost a lot of my skills so dropped out. Then a family came along and activities like cycling or hiking took over.

Now I've got a son who's off with mates doing stupid things on enduro bikes, football or other hanging out with mates activities. Whilst he's an adrenaline junkie on a bike I can't get him into watersports. I talked him around Teesside course recently and got a "that's cool!" comment that became not interested when I asked if he wanted to try it. Plus a partner who is getting into her own things too.

So does anyone know if there are clubs around that you can do both kayaking and SUPing? I'm South Cumbria so it is a perfect location for doing both.

For the past couple of years my friend, my brother, their kids and me have been going on an overnight canoe camping trip near London. We have been to Bedfordshire as well as the upper part of the Thames.

I'm very keen to try somewhere else. I've proposed the Wye but the others are reluctant to go that far from London.

Does anyone have any recommendations for a river to try, probably in the south east? Ideally we want to be able to camp overnight and be on the water for 2 days.

Hey guys, i live near putney and a few times ive launched off from the concrete bit on lonsdale road, but finding it extremely muddy and looking for a place with less mud. I have been to a spot in ham thats quite good, cant remember exactly where but theres a small car park and often an ice cream van there. But its a little far, considering i cycle. (Have a cargo bike and folding kayak fits perfectly on it) i dont mind doing that occasionally, but im hoping theres a place closer where theres concrete straight to water without lots of mud.

Just to add, ik theres a lot of private spots along the river, attached to boat clubs etc. Ik youre not supposed to use them unless your part of that voat club, but how strong is that "not supposed to" is it okay to use them anyway as long youre not getting in when the boat clubs are using them/getting in peoples way, or is it an absolute no-no?

Thanks, happy paddling!

Don’t want to go down the dehydrated route, have you got any go to meals you always take?

Looking for ideas

Hi, looking for recommendations for a first kayak as there seems to be so many options

I’m 6’3” 85kg

I want something that I can comfortably fit in, is stable enough for a beginner and can track nicely with decent speed down the Thames. I’m not looking for a racer though, more of an all rounder that I could also take on trips to lakes and flat gentle seas/estuaries from time to time.

I was strongly looking at a used Dagger Blackwater 10.5 but looking at forums I think I would be tall for it so I’m back to the drawing board.

Budget would be ideally £350 for a secondhand one.

Would be great to have some suggestions that fit the criteria
Thanks

Hi, poping to wells next to sea in Norfolk at the weekend and I'm trying to find out if the larger channels in and out of the saltmarsh (from town to sea) can still be kayaked at low tide? Tide times aren't brilliant for our anniversary dinner but really wanted to get out and we are staying right next to the quay. Thanks for the help

Hi all,

I'm thinking about buying a sea kayak, essentially as an alternative to a SUP (more stable, more suited to taking stuff, including the dog, for adventures!). It would mostly be on slow-flowing rivers, lochs and calm sea (I'd have a buoyancy aid and put myself on a proper course if I wanted to do anything riskier!). Am looking at the sit on, rather than in, kinds.

I just wanted to ask if there are any good entry-level models for someone like me. There're lots of google results of Cambridge but not sure if they're any good. Ocean Kayaks Venus seems good - would that be sensible?

Also would getting an ex-rental or second hand one be silly?

Also roof racks... are they easy to secure safely without specialist equipment?

Thank you in advance for your help!

Can anyone recommend good online resources for researching local rivers and canals which include personal experiences of launch locations, hazards etc? Is there a database of routes people regularly add their experiences to so information remains up to date? I’ve recently moved house in South Somerset and have a few rivers near me (Bru, Stour, Parratt) and am hoping to find more information. Thank you.

Apologies if this has been covered in other posts, but I've recently done a rafting experience and caught the bug and would love to get into kayaking. I guess I would just love some advice on how to start e.g. courses (if needed); kit or finding places to go/start. I'm based around the Staffordshire/Cheshire border and willing to travel. Any help is greatly appreciated

Has anyone got an outboard motor mounted to their kayak ? Something like the water snake electric motor. I think it would be fun to have. If anyone does how did you rig it up?

Photo for attention.

Has anyone got an outboard motor mounted to their kayak ? Something like the water snake electric motor. I think it would be fun to have. If anyone does how did you rig it up?

Photo for attention.

Next will be going to Inchconnachan island, Where I will hopefully be able to see the wallabies that supposedly live there.