Leisurely Paddling & Tours:    Mostly on the River Medway but occasionally on other local waterways in general purpose or play boats. The regular Sunday paddle is from the clubhouse either upstream to East Farleigh lock (3m) or downstream to Allington lock (2m). Newcomers generally don't get that far if they have not paddled before as it is difficult to keep a general purpose kayak going in a straight line. Novices will always be accompanied by experienced paddlers. This highly entertaining form of kayaking for young and old alike is referred to as 'dobbing' by some members of the club.

Marathon and Sprint Racing and Race Training:  This is done in single racing kayaks (K1) or double racing kayaks (K2). Training takes place on the Medway local to the clubhouse on Sunday mornings and in the evenings on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Newcomers are welcome to join in and if you are new to paddling a K1 we have a range of more stable boats for you to start off in.  Club members regularly compete in the Hasler series of marathon races between local canoe clubs and aim to progress to the National finals, which the club has done for the last two years. The marathon paddlers also take part in sprint races at the National Water Sports Centre at Nottingham and the 125 mile annual race from Devises to Westminster (DW) in which Maidstone paddlers have had considerable success.  View Maidstone Marathon result or a very good Hasler Series results service can be found on the BCU Marathon Site.

White Water &  Flat Water Tours:  Although there are plenty of local rivers in the South East where we can find flat water there is not an abundance of white water in the Kent area but we do have  some at weirs on the Medway and small rapids on the Mole and West Rother (picture). For more testing water we have to travel to various rivers including the Barle, Dart, Exe, Trywerin, Usk, Wye and to the artificial courses at the National Water Sports Centre at Nottingham and at Northampton. Unfortunately canoe/kayak access to many of the best rivers is restricted to a  few times a year and some have to be pre-booked. Rivers and their features are graded according to the difficulty starting at 1 (flat water), we mainly paddle on no more than grade 3 water which is not too demanding but the more skilled test themselves on higher grade water. The basic skills can be learnt in a swimming pool and on slower moving water at local weirs, such as Yalding.

Sea Turing and Surfing: Several members of the club enjoy paddling on the sea in specialised sea kayaks that have watertight compartments large enough to carry enough food, clothing and camping equipment to stay out for a week or more. Our favourite destination is Scotland and in particular the Western Isles, in May, when the midges are less numerous. The weather conditions are often unpredictable so experience of sea paddling is highly recommended before these trips are undertaken, but there are sea kayaking symposiums available where training can be obtained. Other good sea paddling venues include the Dorset, Devon and Cornwall coasts and West Wales, Anglesey in particular. We also take our plastic river boats down to the coast for a bit of surfing. 

Pool Sessions: A warm swimming pool is the best place to learn to capsize and roll a kayak. Unfortunately we have had difficulty arranging regular pool sessions. We were well catered for in the excellent pool at  Buckmore Park but this has closed due to management problems. However, we have recently shared pool facilities with WAM (White Water Action Medway) on Saturday evenings at Northfleet and details of these are posted on the
pool diary page.