This is the 40th year of the kayak club in UL and to Commemorate we will be having a weekend of celebrations next semester.Our 40th Anniversary celebrations are taking place on the weekend of April 9th-10th 2016. We would love for as many former members, young and old, to attend no matter where you are in the world.
It’ll be a rare opportunity to catch up and relive arguably some of the best fun we’ve all had thanks to this club and the opportunities it has given us in life. Loads more information on the event available here:
Here’s a write up by one of our members Josh Morris about this years club trip to Wicklow.
Wicklow Trip 2015
It was a cold, dark evening but spirits were high when we arrived onto the boathouse at 6 o’clock for our weekend long trip to Wicklow! Everything started off well, we were all fairly quick to start packing our gear and making sure we had everything ready for the trip. However it wasn’t long before someone decided to start playing some tunes through the speakers. That’s kind of where it went downhill. All work was ceased and everyone decided to have a bit of a dance off instead. Sure it delayed our set off time but it was well worth the craic! We finished packing the sprinter and all the other cars heading up. There wasn’t a space left unused. We just about managed to load ourselves into the cars and off we went. Everyone was fairly excited as this was the first kayaking trip to Wicklow for most going and the first time on a river for a few!
The journey was going well, time was flying by! That is until we reached the Wicklow gap, the fog was so dense that we had to reduce our speed to a literal snail’s pace. We shuffled our way ahead and eventually reached the hostel at about 10. A quick game of Room Roulette later and we all had our rooms for the weekend. We claimed our own bit of space to sleep for the weekend, not that there was much of that. After having a bit of craic in the hostel and playing a few “get to know each other” games we decided to head on down to the local bar for a few quite ones. There was a great buzz around the place but we ended up pretty much taking over due to our sheer number of people. We stayed for there for a while and eventually most decided to head off back to bed. Needless to say there were shenanigans taking place on the short walk back up the road and some Dora’s got lost in the woods on some magical adventure to find an old round monastery tower. We found out, it wasn’t that spectacular especially in the dark. Don’t be fooled!
We were woken at the ungodly time of 7 AM, the next morning, which was a major shock to the system considering I had only ever heard of such a time existing in legends of old. The hostel became the new setting for one of the scenes from “The Walking Dead”. We got ourselves a bit of breakfast, shuffled on out to the cars and took our short 20 minute drive to the get on of the river. We had decided to run the Annamoe river section. We began to get changed and were on the river in no time! We weren’t… it was 11:30, why did we even get up at 7? We did the usual stuff of playing some warm up games, which were great fun, and sorting our groups for on the river but most importantly we distributed those all-important (and delicious) river snacks. We had a great run of the river, doing notable features such as the Guinness Rapids. Boulder Garden and the lead up to Jacksons. The level of standards on the river was outstanding. Everyone did extremely well including all our beginners. After the lead up to Jacksons we all got out of our boats to see what lay before use, the wonderful Jackson Falls. Solid Grade 4 water so I hear. I had seen some videos of this but none compared to how it looked from the top of the 30 foot cliff face. Only the more advanced paddlers were being allowed to run this particular rapid due to its technicality and difficulty. All our beginners got out to watch the carnage, all except one. One fresher, known only as Donegal Mark, was so determined to run it we had to let him try. I think it would be an understatement to say that he performed outstandingly!
As it were Halloween night some of us decided it would be a waste to get out of our gear straight after the river so we decided to go trick or treating instead! We were rewarded bountifully! It was certainly worth the effort and all the people questioning us on being twelve year olds. We got out of our gear, packed up and headed straight back to the hostel. Everyone was shattered, people were dropping all over the place for a nap here and there all the while a few were busy down stairs preparing that evenings dinner. We awoke refreshed (somewhat) got our dinner and headed straight on down to the bar once more with a special agenda in mind; celebrations for not one but TWO birthdays. Needless to say the craic was has. Celebratory singing and chanting plenty abound. Not to mention the odd twenty or so kisses. A great night was had by all.
The next morning there was a little bit of a logistical issue what with someone’s alarm “accidentally” not going off. So we all got a decent lie in. Woop! It wasn’t all fun and games unfortunately. We were kind of in a rush to pack up clean and leave due to our little alarm mishap. It was all go go go from getting up. A quick breakfast, a small tidy and we were once again ready to hit the road for our last river of the trip. We headed up further than the day before to the Loughdan get on. We were running the river section above the section we did previous. All things considered it was another good day on the river despite everyone being exhausted from the weekend. There was that one incident with some horses but we won’t dwell on that! We finished the river for about 4 that afternoon, began packing up all our gear and we were ready to hit the road soon after.
We began our long journey home through the dense Wicklow fog and winding back roads. Making progress was difficult enough but it was managed well enough. We all decided that we’d meet up at Junction 14 for some food, after all you could physically see everyone falling away after such a long day on the river. We pulled in, parked up and pretty much took over the shop due to our substantial numbers. The line for Supermacs was practically to the door! I can tell you one thing for sure, the number of 7 and a half ounce burgers that were consumed on that day was roughly equal to the meat from three cows! After visiting Spar and buying more snacks for the remainder of the trip we set off once more! The drive went by quick and we ended up back in Limerick in good time. Back at the boathouse we once again set about putting back all our gear from the weekend, which is a lot. This process was once more helped along by some great music provided by our resident DJs. That was it. Another year and another successful club trip! Just a quick thanks for all who came along to make it what it was! Hope you all enjoyed the weekend! For those who missed out, there’s always next time!
As the new semester begins, The University of Limerick Kayak Club is proud to welcome its newest members, and what a better way to introduce the newcomers to the spirit of ULKC than with a weekend of fun and adventure! On the 25th of September we set off on our annual trip to Lahinch, Co. Clare. The weekend proved to be a truly amazing experience for all.
As we boarded the bus on Friday evening everyone was full of anticipation and eager to delve into all that the weekend had to offer. The journey was shortened by the angelic voices of all our members. Instruments were welcomed and we sang our hearts out for nearly the whole journey. To our amusement, amazement and possible distress, we attempted to recall the words of our favourite songs. Some eventually found their astounding lyrical prowess while others continued to squawk like crows!
Upon arrival at the hostel everyone was eager to introduce themselves and integrate with the great atmosphere in the building that evening. The night was jam-packed full of craic with names repeated several times until they were remembered. The experience did bring about a warm sense of nostalgia among returning members. Arriving in Lahinch was quite a varied experience among the group, simply because of the fact that we all had different expectations regarding how the weekend would progress, but regardless of that we knew it was going to be memorable.
By Saturday morning everybody was more or less settled in and the main attraction of the trip was on the agenda, the surf! Soon everyone was fed, geared up, and rearing to go. We got into our kayaks, and after a prolonged struggle to shimmy off the sand everyone was tackling or being tackled by the waves that Lahinch had to offer. Being met with relatively calm waves at the offset, which were perfect for the beginners, it was a great pleasure to see the swell pick up and get some purely enjoyable kayak surfing for the more experienced members. When everyone got a chance to paddle, it allowed for a perfect display of the varying skill levels present in our club and also allowed everyone new to kayaking to gauge the extent of their own ability on waters that are a step up from the pool and it was wonderful seeing everyone improve as the weekend progressed.
Apart from kayaking, the trip was spent enjoying the weekend as a club, relaxing and getting to know each other in the hostel, cheering for our favourite rugby team, or even dressing up as ridiculously as possible and going out to tear up the dance floor in the local club. We all have slightly different memories from the trip, but I know everyone will remember Lahinch fondly and will be looking forward to our next trip. We had a whole load of fun and made a vast amount of tremendous (and somewhat blurry!) memories!
The journey was a lot more relaxed as we made our way home on Sunday evening, allowing everyone to lean back and take in all they had experienced over the weekend. The trip was concluded with a mass clean-up of all the gear and everyone went home for a well deserved, and probably long awaited, good night’s sleep!
It was an absolutely remarkable weekend! We hope that you all had an amazing fun journey and we can’t wait to see all of you on our next outing!
Tuesday the 8th September marked the beginning of what will be another kayaking filled year here at ULKC with all the new kayakers hopping into the pool to kick things off to a good start.
With a paddle in hand and a wobbly boat, these are the first steps to becoming a world class kayaker. Eager new members tearing off on the water getting to know the ins and outs of how to paddle while at the same time avoiding the 60 other kayakers paddling around them.
For the people who didn’t get into a kayak we had nearly two full teams of water polo having a laugh waiting to swap over and try out the kayaks. The looks of awe could be read on the faces of the new paddlers of ULKC as some of the older members decided to show off what a kayak could really do; loops in the air and all sorts of acrobatics were demonstrated.
11:00pm finally came and it was time to get out of the pool. However, all was not yet finished. Afterwards we gathered our gear up and headed down to the Scholars Bar to welcome the new members of the club.
Wednesday night could not have come any sooner. We were all back charging on down to the pool area to get ready for another exciting night of kayaking. This time everyone was ready. Sixty odd paddlers raced on down to get into their desired kayak to take on another paddle filled hour of kayaking. You could feel the ULKC spirit as you walked in on everyone having fun in the pool, excited to be back again. The ULKC members showed off the different disciplines of the club with freestyle and polo. Not many are aware of just how much of a team sport kayaking is. It takes agility and stamina to become the best, but Wednesday night was all just a bit of banter.
Once the clock ran out, we all got dressed and headed to Scholars Bar to reminisce on what we had all done so far. Many even surprised at how much they had developed in such a short time.
Thursday night was no normal Thursday. Often ranked as one of the top nights of the year in Costello’s Bar/Nightclub. The ultimate trifecta of ULKC, UL Surf Club and UL Outdoor Pursuits armed with all our fresher’s, we headed on out from Scholars Bar into town to participate in a night not to forget. The dancefloor was hardly seen over the amount of club members taking it over. Mosh pits, awkward dance-offs, you name it, we had it all! Only to be walking into college the next day like zombies waiting ‘till the next kayaking session on Tuesday.
This week was only a small sample of what is to come.
Come join us at the Recruitment Drive next Wednesday the 9th at 4pm in the UL Sports Arena. There will be club members everywhere, so feel free to ask them any questions you may have or you can email us: [email protected]. Click here to go to the event’s page
