Prerequisites for Club Trips
To take part the club’s outdoor trips, we ask that you can paddle to at least the ‘old’ BCU 2 Star standard. We also expect paddlers to have done at least 4 coach-led journeys.
This is a basic test of your ability to control a canoe or kayak and also your knowledge of what to do if you capsize and turn upside down. This helps us to run safe trips and also ensures that one person won’t hold back the whole group.
For those new to the sport, the club runs training courses in the spring, usually combining a number of evening sessions beginning at Muirtown Basin on the Caledonian Canal and some pool sessions. Attendance on one of these course will enable most people to join us on club trips.
These introductory courses are the best way to get involved in paddlesport for the first time, since they make no assumptions about previous experience and you get to learn with a number of other paddlers of all ages. If you are interested in taking part in these courses then please let us know when you send in your membership application.
If you don’t have a Star certificate but do have a lot of previous kayaking experience, then please call the trip organiser beforehand and talk to them about your skill level to see if they think the trip would be at the right level for you.
Please note: while we warmly welcome anyone who's interested in paddlesport to join the club, for health & safety and child protection reasons, all trips and events advertised on this site are for members only; unless specified otherwise!
