workshops , all of which helped those who were less confident in establishing that they were ready to work things out by themselves .
THE STORIES WE BOAT BY
In 2011 , two guests travelled from mainland Britain to the OCF : a father and daughter who would return the following year as part of the OCF team . For us , the most critical handrail that year was François , a wonderfully encouraging French canoeist who offered support through John Kelly ’ s outstanding Song-of-the-Paddle forum . We wrote up our story and did our bit to support others , and by 2014 , British involvement was at 38 , with many having been actively supported through Open Canoe Association links . That year , and in all the years that followed , attendance from France and across the EU rocketed … not least as old hands ( sometimes veterans of a single event ) offered to show others the ropes !
For many , a first trip has drawn on a personal mix of opportunity , inspiration and handrails . These may have been necessary for us to see attending as achievable : easier from afar on the back of previous independent EU travel , and with the skills of a truly independent boater … and if we feel we ’ d ‘ belong ’ once we ’ d arrived . Equally , for the OCF to inspire us , the romance has perhaps had to be relatable , such that we could see something of ourselves in the outlooks , values and commitments made by those who bring so much to the event . A romance that comes across as familiar and only for ‘ like-minded ’ people will always have minimal reach !
Like those ordinary Parisians photographed by Cartier-Bresson in 1936 , those of us who have attended successive OCFs have yet to consume packaged experiences provided for tourists or conforming as spectators of mainstream sport . We have not been engaged in organised activities aimed at moral improvement , and like those who swam in 1936 , our riverbanks have become liberating spaces of casual leisure in some small ways . In these ways , the stories we have boated by have perhaps retained something of that spirit of the informal sector , selfdirected leisure activity .
PADDLER 23