We opted for a challenging SUP Club last night, as we hit the Crouch Estuary from Hullbridge to Battlesbridge – nice and easy on the flood tide, then quite a push home with the ebbing tide against a solid easterly breeze, before a kebabbie dinner and drinks at the Smugg. Thanks all for another great night.

Venue: Hullbridge (SS5 6ND)
Meeting: by 6.10pm
Launch: after 6.30pm briefing
Finish: c.8.30pm
Level: genuinely strong, experienced estuary paddlers

Warning! This is not a week for new, nervous, inexperienced or injured paddlers – we need everyone up for a potentially tough paddle home tonight. As we’re pushing back against what could turn out to be a pretty strong breeze, conditions could present a serious challenge on the way home to Hullbridge. While we’ll have a neapy tide helping us into Battlesbridge and back, we’re heading home against a potentially stiff breeze that could feel like very hard going indeed for some and may even throw up some wind-against-tide chop by the end. We can’t risk having anyone struggling: so we need to know that everyone’s perfectly happy and completely capable paddling on choppy water against what might be a moderate to strong headwind. Regular SUP Clubbers on longer boards should be good, but this week’s definitely not one for newbies, estuary first-timers or those of a nervous disposition (we do reserve the right to turn away inexperienced or inappropriate paddlers this week…)

We’re going to hit the tidal Crouch from Hullbridge (Note: there’s a solid 2.1m height restriction into the free car-park.) We’ll confirm at the briefing but are anticipating the full c.7.5k loop into Battlesbridge and back. To suit the tide we’ll be meeting by 6.10pm to be comfortably set up at Hullbridge (w3w.co/nurtures.clockwork.outsmart / SS5 6ND) ahead of a 6.30pm briefing and launch. Please be ready to launch immediately after the briefing: strictly no late-comers.

The winds are light all day, then widely predicted to fill in easterly into the evening. But although it’s an imperfect forecast, we’re still keen to hit Hullbridge for the Battlesbridge loop – which would therefore have to be experienced estuary paddlers only, as we’re probably heading back against a fair bit of breeze and therefore potentially chop too.

After, we’ll definitely go for at least a drink at the Smugg – although food might be a bit tricky. (So those of a hangry disposition should definitely eat beforehand!) We’ll check in with the kebabbie before we launch, so dinner’s not out of the question, but definitely not to be 100% counted on…