We have all been there at some point in our kayaking career and not had someone to be able to go kayaking with, this is more apparent when you are just starting out. I have found a couple of ways to connect with people so that you can get to go kayaking more.
If you are a beginner joining a local canoe club would be a great idea to start off with. Here is a list of canoe clubs around Great Britan and Ireland.
- Canoe clubs in Scotland
- Canoe clubs in England
- Canoe clubs in Wales
- Canoe clubs in Northern Ireland
- Canoe clubs in Ireland
Most canoe clubs will offer beginners courses/trips this way you can find kayakers at your ability. The local club hopefully will off a few river trips this is a great way to start off and get in that water time you need. This way as you progress you will have formed a few friendships of similar ability and once your ready theres no reason you couldn’t all go kayaking together. A club environment is a great way to start off, once you progress and get better there are other options available to meet people to go kayaking with.
For more experienced paddlers you could still join a canoe club and find members to go paddling with. This does mean joining a club and paying a yearly fee, which some people I know will be against. The second option for you to join a Facebook group such as:
- UK Whitewater Boaters
- Scottish Whitewater
- North West Kayakers
- North East Kayak Club
- North Wales Kayaking
- South Wales Kayakers
- Canoe England Eastern Region
- West Midlands Kayakers
- Whitewater Kayaking Ireland
Joining a few of these groups is a good idea as lots of great kayaking information is posted on these Facebook groups, but more importantly introduce yourself. You can connect to other members and once you have been on a few trips and proved yourself you most likely will get invited again. I was pleasantly surprised by the response I got when I did this. In the end you will have your own group of people you enjoy going kayaking with and when it rains you’ll be hitting the rivers.
If you can’t tell already ability is a big part of this. Getting out on the river and paddling with people is how kayaking friendships are formed and it all stems from there. You just have to put yourself out and others with hopefully help out. We are lucky kayakers are a rare breed of people and they AWESOME people put themselves out to help others and that’s what I love about our community.