Author: Del

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Trips

My first ever kayaking trip to the French Alps!

When I would tell people that I had never paddled in the French Alps – they always seem surprised! The area around Briançon in the French Alps are a well known kayaking destination for kayakers of all abilities and yet I have never seemed to have gotten myself there. Finally, after 10 years of kayaking, I can now finally say that I have kayaked in the French Alps! I’ve just had the most lovely first time trip to France with friends. It exceeded all my expectations and I can now see why people make this trip annually! This article is to tell you all about it!

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General

Celebrating 100 Kayaking Articles: My Top Picks & Reflections!

5 years ago I started writing this blog. Like many people in 2020, I suddenly had time to spare. I’d been thinking about starting a blog for a while but lockdown finally gave me the chance to make it happen. This is my 100th article! To celebrate, I wanted to share some reflections about this blog as well as sharing with you some of my favourite articles I’ve written over the years. So grab yourself your favourite snacks, sit back and read on!

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Categories
events ShePaddles

ShePaddles Cymru 2025 at Plas y Brenin

Sunshine and smiles seems to be a reoccurring theme at the Plas y Brenin ShePaddles Cymru weekend! This is my fourth year in attendance for this event as a Pyranha Kayaks ambassador and as always, the 2025 event was awesome! I left the weekend feeling sore in my body and happy in my soul. I met lots of wonderful people whilst having a great time out on the water and am so pleased to have been able to join again this year. Do read on if you want to find out more about what we got up to!

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Categories
Mind set

A Fear Of Failure In Kayaking: How A Growth Mindset Can Help Your Progress

‘I can’t do this.’ ‘I’m bad at kayaking.’ ‘I’m never going to learn.’ Sound familiar? If so, this article is for you!

When learning a new skill, progress starts strong, but sooner or later, improvement slows, and frustration sets in. That’s when mindset makes all the difference. Over the years, I’ve become fascinated with how a fear of failure, often linked to a fixed mindset, holds people back in kayaking. In this article, I explore how shifting to a growth mindset can help break these barriers.

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Categories
Trips

Dee Fest 2025!

Having attended Dee Fest for the first time in 2024, I knew it was an event that I was keen to return to! If you’re not aware, Dee Fest is a white water kayaking festival on the river Dee in North Wales. It is also exactly the kind of event I love! A bit of friendly competition, time on the water with friends and lots of opportunities to have fun. Read on to hear about my account of Dee Fest 2025!

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Categories
Gear

Pyranha Firecracker Review: The Kayak That Does It All?

People talk about girlfriends or boyfriends who ‘got away’ and they never truly got over. For me, the kayak equivalent of this is the Pyranha Kayaks Firecracker! I took a Firecracker 232 down the Tryweryn in the early days of it’s release. My thoughts at the time were all pretty positive but I already had both a Z.One and an Ozone so decided I didn’t need another ‘fun boat’.

Fast forward a year, and suddenly, I was surrounded by paddlers grinning ear to ear in their Firecrackers, having the absolute time of their lives. I found myself regularly thinking about that kayak. Last autumn, Pyranha generously lent me a demo to test out, and six months later, I’m hooked. I’ve now ordered my own Firecracker to replace the demo when it’s time to send it back. While I’ve favoured the 232, this review applies to all sizes— so read on!

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Categories
Guest posts

Palm Groms Mentorship: Shaping the Next Generation of Kayakers

Imagine being a young kayaker, dreaming of exploring wild rivers and kayaking with your heroes. Now, imagine having a mentor by your side, guiding you through every splash and turn. This is the reality for the participants of the Palm Groms Mentorship Programme.

Following the Park Jam series this year, I couldn’t stop thinking about the incredible impact of the Palm Groms Mentorship Programme. Many of the Groms and their mentors were involved in the Park Jam events. Seeing the positive influence this programme was having on young paddlers inspired me to learn more and share it with the wider paddling community.

In this blog post, I’ll take you through the origins of the Groms programme, share personal stories from the young paddlers involved, and highlight the insights from their dedicated mentors.

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Categories
General Paddling tips

Kayaking Safety: The Power of Counting Lemons

Years ago, I signed up for an advanced white water safety course which was run by the legend Chris Eastabrook. During this course, Chris introduced me to something that he called ‘counting lemons’. In a nutshell, there was this idea that often when things go dramatically wrong on the river, there were usually lots of smaller things that had gone wrong in the lead up to that moment. He referred to these smaller things as ‘lemons’ and it has led to a safety measure that is now an integral part of my kayaking called ‘counting lemons’. This idea has genuinely changed how I approach kayaking and my decisions around safety. Keep reading if you want to know how!

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Categories
General

My 2024 Paddling Reflections

I wrote a blog reflecting on my paddling one year and it has now become an annual tradition for me to do so. I enjoy the process of reviewing the year from a personal perspective as well as from the perspective of the wider paddling community. I try to include the lows as well as the highs and so here is my final blog of 2024!

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Categories
General Trips

A white water Christmas: Kayaking adventures in Snowdonia

I saw a post on the Paddle365 social media page a couple of months ago advertising their ‘Snowdonia Advanced Week’ as a pre-Christmas week and thought…. what a perfect way to start my Christmas holidays! So I booked myself on and have ended up having a really lovely week. A perfect Christmas gift to myself! If you want to hear about my white water pre-Christmas adventures, then read on!

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