NUIGKC 30th Anniversary, Trip to Delphi & New Bridge on Boluisce River

This was a busy weekend on the kayaking calendar here in Galway. On Friday night the 30th Anniversary of the NUI Galway Kayak club took place and what a reunion it was! We are one of the biggest kayak clubs in the country and there were a lot of well known faces there. A great night, great party, lots of dancing and even some attempted crowd surfing. Big thanks to the organisers Louise Cleary & Darragh McDermott.

Photo by Conor Allen

On Saturday an organised release on the Boluisce River in Spiddal attracted a lot of local paddlers and with all the recent rain we've had it was by all accounts at a great level. Unfortunately I didn't make it due to the previous nights antics but I do know that some good beatings were handed out on the Top Drop!

I was on the road early Sunday morning to get out to Delphi and run the Bundorragha River. It was also a club trip and the chance for some beginners to run their first river. It was at a pretty low level (55cm on the gauge) but nonetheless the few runs down were good fun and the bridge section is always worth a few runs. It's a nice short river and can be run in 15 minutes easily. (And only takes 10 mins to run back to the put in again!) It's also worth noting that there is a deep hole by the pier on low tide and high water levels that can be good if you bring a playboat. The Delphi centre is currently undergoing renovations and the car park is closed so its best to drop all your gear at the put in and park down at the pier.

NB: The salmon season starts on Feb 1st and the river is closed to paddling for the next 8 months.

It was discovered this week that a foot bridge is to be built over Poll Gorm on the Boluisce. The county council however failed to think of kayakers during the design process and the bridge has little clearance. Hopefully some last minute interventions on behalf of all paddlers will lead to a sensible design change being implemented. It would be a real shame if we were to lose one of the best rapids on this river because a local authority failed to check if people use the river for more than fishing.