Do I need to bring some lunch ?

Something you will usually see on any Club Trip is the requirement to bring snacks, drinks and sometimes a packed lunch. There are times though when the lunch break just happens to be at a convenient location that serves good food. Some suggestions have been made (allegedly), that this is a priority for a Club Trip.

Got me thinking, surely not… The first Sea Kayak Trip on the River Yealm back in mid March had nothing of the sort, lunch was taken on the riverbank, in the cold, hard core style. Warming up in the Ship Inn afterwards didn’t count.

Stoke Gabriel to Greenway Quay, in mid-April, had coffee and cake being the only things available from the Kiosk Ticket Office at the Quay. Out with the packed lunch then.

A few weeks later, this time on the Exeter Canal, the paddle went all the way down to The Turf Pub, conveniently some may say, on its first day of opening.Bit chaotic, but the “large” Fish and Chips really were really quite large. Just as well as this was an 11 mile round trip.

One of the Friday night Super SUP sessions took us from Coombe Cellars to the Passage House for cider and chips. Bit late to be classed as lunch though. On the first trip to Club favourite, Salcombe, we called in for a break at South Sands and discovered Bo’s Café in the old RNLI building. What a find, too late for breakfast but very good coffee.

Salcombe again, but this time on a coached Sea Kayak Skills day. There was no time to visit South Sands, so packed lunch on a nice beach it was then.

Some serious eating and drinking took place on the Club weekend to Hope Cove with a paddle at Salcombe on the Saturday. The kayak armada arrived en masse at Bo’s Café for coffee and a very nice lunch. Some stayed, some paddled on, some retreated to the camp site to get ready for the Hope and Anchor and The Cove that evening.

Don’t forget to check the level of the trip with the Organiser, this was one was advanced eating and drinking ! Another lovely Friday evening in July saw a mixed bunch of kayaks and SUP’s paddle out of Stoke Gabriel over to The Maltsters Arms at Tuckenhay. This place, looked straight out of Devon Life magazine. The fish and chips served here were enormous, think everything was. We had a right mixture of things, pork belly, mussels, padrum peppers, flatbreads, all very nice. Paddling back in the dusk as it got dark was really atmospheric.

The Club trip to the Isles of Scilly is worthy of its own write up. Each day we paddled to a different island usually breaking for lunch on a remote beach. The visit to Bryher, was a real highlight, going to the Island Fish Café for a crab salad sandwich. Some of the team made do with the Harbour View and Fraggle Rock Bar. Not every day was like this though, lunch normally was whatever you had with you and by the end of the week I’d had enough foil tray Tuna salads thank you.

Closer to home, the Creek Restaurant at Dolphin Boatyard in Galmpton delivered rather well.Really good pizza’s, fish tacos and fish finger sarnies kept everyone happy. The River Shack at Stoke Gabriel has put up with us on many occasions this year so gets a worth a mention. Good coffee and menu choice for that before briefing and after debriefing, of the day’s activities.

It’s not all sunshine and salads though, there’s been some very cold times earlier in the year where you need a warm drink in a flask. Obviously, it goes without saying bring plenty of fluids when it’s hot. Having snacks and energy bars handy is always a good idea. There may be delays dealing with or assisting with an incident. It might not be you who needs something to eat and drink, just bear that in mind.

Next time you see a trip and think, like the sound of that, or if it’s your first and you’re not sure what to bring, don’t forget, ask the Organiser.

You don’t want to be having a bland sarnie when there’s a chance of cider and pizza now do you !

Gareth Clark