SUP Club – 2 July 2014
Unlucky for some, namely those who couldn’t make it, as 13 of us enjoyed a great cruise up the River Chelmer last night for SUP Club. To keep it fresh, we opted to launch from a ‘new’ spot – Hoe Mill Lock (see www.wetndrysup.com/hoe-mill-lock-river-chelmer/) has often been the apex of our paddles east from Paper Mill, but this time we met there and headed out towards Maldon. Sure, we had to avoid a bit of weed here and there, plus the odd swan or two, but the 8km trip two locks east and back was a great way to unwind after a hot sunny day…
Our turning point was at the confluence with the tidal river as it runs out to Heybridge Basin – definitely somewhere to check out again at high tide. It was great to see a couple of long-time absentees returning to SUP Club: Al was looking super-comfortable on his new Red Paddle 12’6″, while Matt impressed us all by nailing three consecutive jumping dock-starts onto his board. One for us all to work on this summer.
After a couple of hours spent on the water, we rounded off the evening just up the road from Hoe Mill at the nearest pub – The Queen Victoria – which turned out to be another fine establishment. As usual, we weren’t quite in time for the 9pm close of service from the kitchen … but one look at the fish-&-chips coming out of there meant we’ll be sure to hurry up a bit next time!
If you want to join a Wednesday night SUP Club, all we ask is that you have some paddling experience (if not, check out our SUP Lessons) – we call Wednesday SUP Club on the day on our Facebook page and Wet’n’Dry SUP calendar, location depending on weather and tide conditions. If you have your own kit, just turn up and you’ll be very welcome. If not, we do offer limited SUP hire for £25. For more information just give us a call on 01268 569988 or email jamie@wetndrysup.com