About Canoeing

“Canoeing” is a generic term for both Canoe’s and Kayak’s.

 
Kayak’s originated from the Inuit tribes who lived around the Arctic circle. Their homelands stretched from Siberia, across Alaska, parts of Canada and even round as far as Greenland.

Their kayaks were made from whalebone and sealskins and were fully enclosed with the occupant laced into them to make an almost water tight seal. If the boat capsized the Inuit could self right it using their harpoon or paddle. Today we call this the Eskimo Roll.

 
Canoe’s, also known as Open boats or “Canadian’s”, originated from the native Americans who used Birch bark to cover a wood frame. This design was further improved by the first colonial traders and trappers of the 17th and 18th century and giant ten man versions were used by the Voyageurs
 
In the Donegal Canoe Club we mostly paddle Kayak’s although some of our members also have canoes.

Whitewater kayaking or river running involves negotiating a section of a river as it descends from higher ground. Paddlers across the world use a basic grading system to describe the difficulty of a river from easy Grade 1 to seriously life threatening Grade 6.

The main season is over the winter months as plenty of rain is needed to bring up the river levels. Thankfully in Ireland we can have heavy rain at anytime of the year. You can always tell a white water paddler – they’ll be the only one smiling on a Friday afternoon when the rain is lashing down!

You don’t have to be an adrenalin junky to enjoy the sport. There are plenty of enjoyable paddles in Donegal and throughout Ulster such as Gartan lake, Mulroy Bay, gentle sections of the Finn and Mourne and much of the Donegal coast line too.

This is also a great way to observe nature, birds, seals or maybe even a basking shark!

Sometimes there is nothing better than paddling your kayak as you watch the sun go down to put everything else that’s happened in the week in perspective!

Marathon kayak racing can be enjoyed by almost anyone and you don’t have to be particualy fit to race but of course it helps!

Races in Donegal and Northern Ireland will often include classes for Sea kayaks, Plastic kayaks, Fibreglass kayaks and Canadian canoe’s. This is a great way to keep fit and with a little effort you can soon find yourself in the medals.

The fastest boats however are the K boats, K1′s for one person or a K2 for two occupants. At this end of the sport, classes are further split in to divisions and it takes real commitment and motivation to move through the rankings and start winning medals.

The Donegal coast line offers some of the best surf in Europe as weather systems move across the Atlantic sending waves to hit our shores first.

Almost any kayak can catch a wave and this can be a great alternative when the rivers are dry and we often head for the surf.

There are now many competitions around the world for kayak surfing and there are several classes so everyone can get involved.

The best of breed however are the “shoe’s” which are a hybrid cross between a traditional surfboard and a kayak.

Sea kayaks are longer, usually around 5 metres with enclosed hatches and deck lines. They are often further refined with compasses, foot pumps and skegs (a retractable fin).

Donegal offers some fantastic coastline to explore, sea caves, islands and wildlife, most of which can be experienced during the summer months with just intermediate kayak skills and good leadership.

For those that want to take it further there are a range of new skills to learn from advanced rescue technique’s to map reading, navigation and survival.

Freestyle, also known as Playboating involves riding a stationary river wave or a “hole” and just playing with the force of the water on your boat. Competitions take this further where a series of recognised moves are performed within a set time.

Move’s range from a cartwheel to the very impressive air loop, where the boat and paddler are thrown into the air end over end to land the right way up again. Sweeeet!

We don’t have many big reliable play spots in Donegal so most play boating is just for fun when a good feature is found while running a river. This is known as Park ‘n’ Play!

An official Olympic sport this involves manoeuvring your kayak through a series of down stream and upstream gates over a natural or manmade course in the shortest time.

Time penalties are given for touching a gate or worse still missing a gate.

Similar to marathon kayak racing there are many clases for one and two person boats such as K1, K2, C1 and C2.

Kayak style slalom (K1 and K2) is where the occupant sits and uses a kayak paddle, a shaft with a paddle blade at each end.

Canoe style slalom (C1 and C2) is where the paddler kneels and uses a single bladed canoe paddle. The boat that they use though is still a kayak not a canoe!

The Donegal Canoe Club hosted it’s own Slalom competition for several years at the Ramelton weir.

Kayak Polo is just like water polo only played in kayaks.

Each team aims to score by putting the ball in to the opponents goal, suspended at each end of the pool.

A player can use their hands or the paddle to push or hit the ball but can’t hold the ball for more than 5 seconds. They can dribble by throwing the ball and paddling to it.

In the Donegal Canoe Club we rarely play in competitions. Mostly we play for fun in the swimming pool during the winter month’s. This is great for beginners as it helps to build core paddling skills.

If you are new to canoeing and kayaking then you will probably be concernered about safety and putting yourself or your children at risk.

Every week thousands of canoeists take to the water without incident and return safely. This is without doubt due to national organisations such as the ICU, BCU and CANI as well as many others that exist worldwide to support clubs and ensure that their members are properly trained.

If you are interested in the sport then the first step is to join a local club such as the Donegal Canoe Club and get some training.

See our Safety page for more details.