On Sunday, the Electric Eels took a trip to the Eyot Centre in Henley.
Henley is known for its rowing, however there is a small group of people who paddle a different way. These are the people of the Henley Dragons and Outrigger Club.
The Henley Canoe Club is also based at the Eyot Centre and, between the two clubs, they run the Regatta for the Disabled in Henley.
The Eels wanted to see what this was all about and, after chatting to our Chair, he introduced us to the Centre.
We arrived on a beautiful Sunday morning to see the Henley Dragons in full training for their National Championships the following weekend.
Of course, as with all British summers, the rain didn’t want to be left out, so it joined in as well!
After the training session, six of the Henley Dragons joined the Eels to introduce us to a new water-based sport.
We were first shown how to paddle by their coaches — one of whom is also a member of the Electric Eels anyway!
Our first boat adventure was in a Bell Boat. These are basically catamaran canoes, with two hulls alongside one another, which makes them incredibly stable.
Here we put everything we had learned about paddling into the water.
It’s kind of like swimming front crawl — which is something we, as Electric Eels, are pretty good at!
Once we had got to grips with that, we went out in a Dragon Boat.
This is a much bigger and thinner boat that can have up to 22 paddlers at once — which is two whole football teams!
It moved much faster through the water, and we were given lots of fun things to try while we were out there.
There was plenty of laughter, a few questionable paddling techniques and, of course, quite a lot of splashing!
For the Eels, it was a fantastic opportunity to try something completely different and to see another way that people can enjoy being active on the water.
We would like to say a massive thank you to everyone at Henley Dragons and Outrigger Club for welcoming us, showing us the ropes (or should that be paddles?!) and spending time with us.
It was a brilliant morning, and we think it is fair to say that the Electric Eels have discovered that water really is our element!
We can’t wait to see what happens next…
