Jersey Paddling Club Members Find
Creative Ways to Weather the Virus
By David Eden.
With paddlers in many cases unable to leave their homes even to paddle, contributor Kevin Mansell, cut short in an extended paddling vacation, cudgled his brains to come up with a solution to the lost camaraderie of paddling.
Kevin and his wife, Nicky, are undergoing enforced isolation, together with the rest of the population of his home island. He describes their experiences and solutions in a recent email to us:
"Guernsey is in total lockdown and if you are out of your house without one of four very good reasons you can be arrested, fined and in worst case scenario sent to prison. They are adopting a soft approach and currently it seems to be working."
"Nicky and I got back from Malta last Tuesday. We managed to get out on a flight although we had to buy new tickets. There they introduced a 1000 Euro fine if you were out of the house when you should be inside. So many people ignored the rules that the next day the fine was increased to 3000 Euros. One guy was fined 9000 Euros in a couple of days. He was then threatened with prison so finally he stayed in.
"All our paddling plans have been put on hold. We should still be in Malta, then we were off to Greece with our Canoe Club and then two weeks in France, so that has all gone. We are due to go to Greenland in the middle of July for six weeks but actually can't see that happening. Luckily we have four great launch spots within a mile of our house so as soon as we are allowed some movement we will be on that water.
"I have just been arranging the Jersey Canoe Club activities for the weekend. One night we are had a shelter-in-place bivi. There are two rules: You have to be at your normal place of residence so you can bivi in the lounge, conservatory, balcony ,etc. and you have to post a picture.
"One evening we are having club drinks so you have to get dressed up in some paddling kit and then drink beer and eat crisps whilst having a conference call on Zoom. All good fun."
JPC members demonstrate their "Bivy At Home" solutions. Photos courtesy Kevin and Nicola Mansell.
And later he sent an update: "We had a successful quiz for members with questions sent out on Friday and due back in on the Monday. Again had about 30 people take part. Somebody else is arranging a quiz for this weekend.
"Tonight we are holding the monthly Jersey Canoe Club meeting on Zoom. Won't be much to discuss but its nice to touch base with people and to have some tentative plans for when things start to get better.
"The drinks evenings have been going well. Last Thursday we met wearing paddling kit. PFDs and helmets were the most popular items of kit. 40 minutes of having a chat and a beer. Thursday night is our Club so it was good to do it on the same night. The 40 minutes of free video conferencing on Zoom is perfect as there are no uncomfortable silences waiting for somebody to call time. It just finishes.
"As it looks like we are in for the long run somebody in the Club is looking into arranging an online talk for members about one of the trips that he has been on. All this plus the fact that the Club has used WhatsApp for all communications for the last two years means that we have developed a really strong supportive community."
ACK would love to hear from all our readers about how they are coping with the limitations COVID-19 has put on our paddling and lives in general. Send your stories and pictures, and we will publish them in an upcoming issue.
Paddle safely and keep healthy and sane!
