On Sunday October 17 The Bolton Society of Blind People [BSBP] organised an afternoon of canoeing and kayaking for those members “with a spirit of adventure”! Half a dozen RSBP members plus five volunteers went to the High Rid water sports reservoir in Horwich to experience the fun and exhilaration of “messing about in boats” as Kenneth Grahame put it in his classic children’s book, “Wind in the willows”.
We received a great deal of help and invaluable coaching from several members of the Bolton Canoe Club who kindly gave up their Sunday afternoon to pass on their experience and expertise. Where necessary these seasoned water sports enthusiasts paired up with the totally blind BSBP members and acted as our pilots and instructors as we paddled around the water in both canoes and kayaks. It was really good having the opportunity to experience the different kinds of feeling being in a canoe and then a kayak. Also as we quickly discovered the techniques involved in “driving” a canoe are quite different from those needed to “power” a kayak. Afterwards it was interesting to find that some members had preferred the canoe to the kayak, whilst others got more fun from being in a kayak.
We were blessed with really nice autumn weather, and the water on the reservoir was as calm as a proverbial millpond. This even encouraged a few brave [some would say fool hardy] members to have “a dip” in the water, and if nothing else this gave the rest of us a good laugh as they emerged shivering and bedraggled from the reservoir!
As one of those who got so much out of the day, I would like to thank Glenn from BSBP for organising the event from our end, and to thank Helen, Joanna, Natalie, Matthew and Geoff for making us all feel so welcome and for acting as our instructors and pilots.
Derek J Heyes
