Jason Smith's The Ed

Choca-Booby For CKUK's Andy F

Canoe & Kayak UK's top notch ad man, die-hard Pompey fan and resident Rock God Mr Andy Fraser celebrated his birthday on Tues (21 Again!) To help him celebrate he was presented with a fabulous cake, made (by the very talented Jo) in the shape of two of Andy's favourite things... Sponge and chocolate! It was all that the poor boy could do to stop himself from just burying his face in the voluptuous pair of choccy mounds. Happy Birthday Mr F... Hope the hangover's worn off by now ; )

Posted by Jason Smith

Weir We Go on the Welland Open Canoe Action

We'd portaged a weir on the way down the Welland and the portage back up was even longer, as we had to avoid a shallow stretch of rapid, which we'd paddled down. The sun was shining and it was hot work, so at the top I decided a quick blast down the weir would be ideal to cool us off. Faye manned the camera, so Ruby the dog and I hopped aboard and paddled for the lip of the weir. It was a nice easy drop, a sloping weir face with a drop of about a foot and a half at the bottom. We lined the canoe up and slid down right on line. I knew we'd take on a bit of water at the bottom, but I'm not sure the dog was ready for how much. She stood firm at the bow until a large, cold wave came sweeping over as we landed and covered her head to paw... We bobbed straight back up but poor old Ruby was looking a bit bedraggled and gave me a ' Paddington Bear' stare to let me know she was not amused. Nothing a couple of biscuits didn't sort out though and it was back up to the top to finish our paddle back to Stamford

Posted by Jason Smith

Swan Song

Whilst doing a recce for a forthcoming Team Canoe & Kayak UK Canoe paddle in aid of Sport Relief on the River Welland near Stamford we came across this fine fellow of a swan. We stopped and started to retreat but he was having none of it. What happened next was truly a sight to behold. Have you ever met a man who had his arm broken by a swan? That's what I asked Faye as our fiendish feathered friend started to look downright menacing. "No" came the reply, "exactly" I said. Nothing to worry about he's just warning us off. I tried to sound all calm, but Faye and Ruby the Dog were less convinced and as a very large lump of angry bird launched in to the air straight at us I had my fingers crossed we weren't about to become the first... Scary as this was it really was a sight to be seen, and Faye did a grand job of holding the boat steady as I caught it on camera. We didn't want to rustle his feathers any more, so we decided to call it a day and head back towards Stamford, as the river was too shallow and fast flowing for our charity paddle group anyway. As we paddled back upstream we were treated to an otter swimming bold as brass straight across the river in front of us, before giving us a look up and down and then diving below the water. Very special indeed. Check out the gallery for more pics of Atilla the Swan

Posted by Jason Smith