Nick Harding | @nickhdg | Sportscene - Ever fancied leaving your comfort zone by paddling the Thames in the dark on an icy evening? I did last night! Director of Active 360, SUP City innovator and Arctic explorer with the Polar Bears, Paul Hyman lead the return blackout trip from Kew Bridge to Brentford Lock, about 2 miles in all. Air temperature was about 2°C feeling -4°C and water temperature, well frankly unthinkable; full winter dry suit, head torches, whistles and flashing buoyancy aids obligatory!

Ever had a doubt of doing such a pursuit in winter? No need to, any reservations you have will instantly go out the window; layering combined with a real cardio workout made me uber-toasty. An element of concentration is required when you first stand up from kneeling as it is forward momentum that gives you stability. Mine was a 'liquid shredder', a 12ft paddleboard so wide and stable almost personifying the idea of 'walking' on water.

Like any watersport there is a risk of taking a swim, yet with stand up paddling the risk is so slight when you first get to your feet that on average only one in ten beginners may do it on their first lesson. Granted swimming in winter is highly undesirable but have faith in your dry suit and the promise of a warm green tea bankside immediately afterwards. If worried about the Thames water quality, Paul assured me that despite appearances the Canals and Rivers Trust have been working ferociously to ensure bathing conditions in the canals and estuaries.

Gremlins at bay, it was on with the experience of a lifetime. Circumnavigating around the Kew islands, it is noticeable how much light there actually is, your eyes adapt quickly. There is something almost poetic about seeing a city you know so well from a shimmering waterline. Riverboat dwellers are home – their kitchen lights on and chimneys steam, night rowers so Englishly wish you 'Good Evening' and those inside their waterside apartments look outwardly with such horror. However, it is you who are having the last laugh as you appreciate a truly mesmerising nightscape.

From the islands we paddled to a canal-boat mooring basin, then returning to Brentford Lock – a disused shipyard, a metal playground of rusty shadows only occupied by geese. Memorable; paddling amongst the ruined boat shells, in and around the dim-lit factory and right up to a towering-bow of a beast-barge – oddly imagining how you would feel being in a kayak in front of an oncoming cruise-liner.    

“I'm glad we all stayed dry!” Ian Tokelove, Canoe London, fellow night paddler.

Paul is training to paddle to the Helheim Glacier in August later this year with 9 other stand up paddlers, the Polar Bears, he was adamant that conditions on the night paddle were almost similar to that of the Arctic; “air temperature will be about the same, we will have a support boat though for any swims!”

Active 360 regularly runs night paddles. It is not advisable to just go out onto the Thames with a standup paddleboard the first time you try the sport, book a lesson, be taught about Thames currents and how to paddle correctly in a straight line using vertical paddle strokes.

Links

• Active 360: www.active360.co.uk
• Polar Bears and Paddleboards:  www.polarbearsandpaddleboards.com, www.facebook.com/polarbearsandpaddleboards, twitter.com/PolarBearandSUP
• Canals and Rivers Trust: www.canalrivertrust.org.uk
• Canoe London: www.canoelondon.com

Map (click on map to enlarge)

Summer SUP marathon in London

Sportscene have featured 3 articles about our SUP friends at Active360. In June this year they will be hosting London's largest SUP Marathon and we would like to get as many people as possible involved to make it a record-breaker. If you're in London, all details about signing up can be found on the below PDF.