Seems like a long time since the last Blogg. I've run out of excuses, so you won't get any.

Good session. I ran it so it would be really. Only one swimmer, Neil. Strange really, he's so low in the water you wouldn't think it was possible to fall out. But he did - and it was cold. As a punishment we made him swim to the side and took his boat away. Tim decided that the safest mode of transport back was probably a C2, so we collected him in that.

Work has been proceeding apace on the new club house, and I've been enjoying people watching whilst they (and I of course) have been building.

Mark - methodical, steady, never fazed, but he can never remember where he's put anything down. Neville -precise craftsmanship as one would expect from a Bentley boy. Amazing what he can do with wood and fairy liquid. Trevor - no time wasted here - but he's got to learn that a screw has two ends, I arrived the other day to find Peter firmly bolted into the new changing rooms, apparently he sat down for a moment, Trevor put a long screw into the wall of the changing room from the outside, and there you are really.

I was given the job of breaking into the lockers. Tim coached me on the angle grinder, and I was off. Sparks flying, padlocks dropping like flies. The fact that 14 of them were already undone was unlucky really, but so what, they died in a good cause and I was having fun wasn't I..and I've still got the angle grinder so....

As I was saying - people watching - good stuff when it's not you, now where was I... Oh yes, Graham - he's very good at people watching too, in fact he and I stood around for nearly a whole afternoon er people watching.

Saturday 12th February

Teamed up with Tim in a Regina. Very windy, and I mean windy. Sarah was running the session, and she'd got that mean look in her eye. fortunately it was blowing so strongly that we couldn't hear what she was saying.

Handy really. Tim remarked that we'd never fallen out of a boat. True, but I wish he wouldn't tempt fate like that before an outing. The wind tested support strokes on both sides, failed to catch Sarah and Sue in their K2, not much to it really, oh yes, then Tim blew up so we had to stop.

More building. We're moving everything including the kitchen sink - and I mean including the kitchen sink. Went for a cup of tea and found... no kitchen sink. Someone said they'd seen Tony grovelling underneath it earlier, and now it's gone. Bit extreme really.

Wednesday 16th February

Some strange goings on on the river today. Felt like a weekend, but decided to go to Putney and follow a bunch of paddlers (internationals no less) down to Westminster. Arrived at Putney and got mistaken for a traffic warden. Must change this yellow coat for something else... or I could just take the money I suppose.

Some seriously fast paddlers out there... and the Hendrons, er and Graham, and er why do I alway pick on people bigger than me? Saw them off, then er missed the finish. Can't believe they paddled faster than I could ride.

Actually it was a great race. Can't believe that Ian Wynne only beat Tim and Neville by 15 seconds. Ok, so he was in a K1, so he wasn't trying... but it was still a 36 min 10K. Neville must be seriously fast!

Celebrated afterwards with Zdenks, Tim and Tim's mum and dad. Zdenks tried to poison Tim with some liquid grass - but he said he liked it. No accounting for taste.

Saturday 19th February

Err just a tincey wincey bit hung over this morning. And I'm running the session...and I couldn't remember Andy's name any more. In deference to my hangover we did some technical stuff. "ROOAAATAAAATE!" Ouch I mean rotate...quietly....please.

And I can't remember how many boats there were at the start, but by the finish we'd gained 2, lost 1 and I needed to stop. Far too rough outside the clubhouse to turn round, so warmed everyone down to the town bridge, turned there and paddled back up. Didn't want anyone being seasick, or me. Pontoon comes into focus. Struggle out of boat.

And someone's left a tractor in the boathouse. Oh God I knew I shouldn't have had that last pint. Need a drink of water - badly. Go to galley then remember someone's nicked the kitchen sink. And Sarah's sprung a leak and there are feathers everywhere.

Retire to bed.

Saturday 26th February

The club's now operating out of its new boathouse. This means that about 1/3rd of the boats are now 12 feet or more off the ground. (Except mine cos I contributed to the Sarah Rolls Royce Fund). For some people this is a problem. Trevor has been busy hanging hooks for pitons and crampons and abseiling equipment to help people get their boats down.

Curiously none of this seems to have affected Neville. He is to be seen with the broadest smile I've ever seen him wear, floating so high off the ground that he can pluck his K2 from its erie without stretching. I gather he's received his first Welsh cap for canoeing, and recently got the certificate to prove it, or is it that he's beating a Hendron in the Watersides?

Sunday 27th February

Off to Wokingham for a Canadian masterclass run by former world champion Steve Train. This Canadian lark is good fun, but the boats are a mite wobbly. Clad in a carefully disguised wetsuit, I join the hopefuls running round the concrete in front of the Waterside Centre. Applicants for this course have to be young, enthusiastic and confident. Of the three coaches, Steve is confident, Marcus is enthusiastic and I'm er youngish.

Two long sessions later in gale force winds and freezing conditions, all of us are just cold. The heating has failed in the Waterside Centre, so we huddle around two small radiators levering icicles off each other. Ed has excelled, and even failed to fall out when his paddle dismantled itself mid stream. I managed to frighten Marcus by putting my paddle in half squared and nearly levering us both into the water.

The third session is high kneeling C4. We assemble around this beautiful wooden racing boat, drooling. The drool freezes, and the snow starts falling with a vengeance. They all draw lots to see who gets to paddle with me. Marcus and a couple of the more able youngsters are allocated that privelege. Marcus refuses point blank, so Steve Train jumps at the chance.

So that's why I came off the water at about 4pm that afternoon, with a broad grin despite the blizzard. Not every day you get to paddle with a former world champ - except at Richmond of course where I understand almost everyone is an international of some sort.