Formed in 1974 the Club celebrated its 50th Anniversary in October 2024 with a memorable dinner at a local hotel followed by well attended a Sunday morning paddle. The origins of the Club date back to the summer of 1974 when a number of young paddlers came together with the aim of forming a Club.
August Bank Holiday Sunday in 1974 was a memorable date when we completed our first paddle to Les Ecrehous, a beautiful reef, which lies almost midway between Jersey and the Normandy coast of France. The 1970s was the time of rapid expansion for the Jersey Canoe Club. Members were busy exploring their local waters and completing many firsts, such as crossings to Sark, Minquiers and Alderney. The Club acquired and restored the cottage at Egypt, on the north coast of the Island. Possibly the most significant paddle was in 1978, when three members of the club, Derek Hairon, Franco Ferrero and John Bouteloup completed the first circumnavigation of Ireland.
The Club has a long and varied history of paddling in areas well away from the island. Initially, it was to Brittany and Normandy, our nearest neighbours, offering fantastic paddling both on the sea and white water. As the years progressed, members went to elsewhere in the United Kingdom. The west coast of Scotland, both North and South Wales and areas of the south coast of England. This was also the time when members were venturing further afield to places such as Denmark, Spitzbergen and Norway.
It was during the 1980’s that Club members became interested in white water paddling. At first enjoying the rapids on Breton rivers, such as the Roche du Diable. As the decade progressed the Club organised trips to the French, Italian and Austrian Alps as well as the Massif Central. Towards the end of the 1980’s a number of teams from the Club entered the Devizes to Westminster Canoe Race.
Possibly the most significant club trip during the 1980s was in 1986 when eight members of the club, paddled from Tromso in northern Norway, around Nordkapp, taking four weeks to cover the 300 nautical miles. They experienced perfect weather, with just two days when we paddling wasn’t possible and they were next to each other. A really groundbreaking club trip as members of all abilities took part.
The 1990’s saw some major developments. In 1991 we acquired our Club House, at St Catherine’s, on the east coast of the Island. 1992 saw the first Sea Kayak Symposium to held in Jersey, which attracted many of the top paddlers in Europe to Jersey. 1993 saw the first Club trip to the west coast of Greenland, an area that many members have returned to over the years. The Club keeps 8 sea kayaks in Ilulissat, at the heart of the fantastic kayaking in Disko Bay.
Groups traveled to Maine, in the United States for a number of years to canoe on the rivers in the north of the State. Other groups visited British Columbia and Alaska, towards the end of the decade.
The 21st Century started on a positive note with a group of members visiting the Ecrehous on the 2nd January 2000. We weren’t quite the first visitors of the new century, a boat had managed to reach the reef the day before. The group were really pleased with such an early visit. The Sea Kayak Symposiums continued to be held in those years ending in an even number. In the intervene years significant numbers of members headed north to the Scottish Sea Kayak Symposium, which was held on Skye.
Towards the end of the decade members of the Club started to visit the west coast of Greenland on a regular basis.