Another World (Dorset Coast July 2005)
Lulworth Cove July 2005
Moor Days
1-3 * Open canoe Training : Georgia's Perspective
1 * Open canoe Training Annie's Perspective
2* Open Canoe - Dot's Perspective
Dart Estuary September 2005
Poole Harbour Part Timers
A combat roll at last! - Tavy/Dart
30/10/2005
Usk: Fireworks and Floods
Beaulieu River April 2005
Falmouth 2005
Liffey Descent 2005
Going Deep on the East Lyn December 2005
Upper Dart 18th December 2005
(Elliott – this is a factual account
with a hint of humour)
Drifting
across the aquarium
I’ve no idea why I began to
experience a growing interest in long pointy Sea Kayaks – it could have been
accounts from others on club sea trips (but these were few and far between),
perhaps the photos that Douglas Wilcox posts to UKriversguidebook, maybe the
long summers with no surf and no rivers or the number of paddling friends that
have recently acquired ‘the knowledge’ or a latent desire not to shave. Who
knows, but I already had the Tilly hat – all I needed was a boat.
As luck would have it, just as this
growing interest was becoming an itch, I heard that Liz Sambell was selling
Steve’s old Nordkapp HS. Elliott brought it down for me to try out at Mudeford
one Tuesday. He had already discounted purchasing it himself – explaining that
his manly physique prevented a comfortable ride. It was this Tuesday evening
that I began to acquire ‘the knowledge’ (you can’t flat spin a sea kayak,
bow rudders are less than useful, and the turning circle is more akin to that of
a Boeing 747 than a Wavesport EZ) – what amazed me, however, is that I loved
it – fast, comfortable and a brand new set of attainable skills to learn.
Needless to say, I had bought the boat within 24 hours – just in time for Paul
T’s Dorset Coast Camping trip the coming weekend
Graham's new toy
I spent the next couple of evenings
trying to acquire more of the knowledge – I started delving into a book on Sea
Kayak Navigation – but put it down after 5 minutes. Far too much to learn
there, tides and tidal streams, charts and bouyage etc – it was clearly not a
question of pointing the boat downhill and enjoying the ride. Anyway, I figured
that for a paddle along the coast West of Swanage I should be OK keeping the
land on my right. I turned then to thinking about the kit list – but, hell,
the boat had these cavernous holds so no thought was necessary it could hold
anything I could think of. Aware that my knowledge remained weak, and I was
paddling with the elite of RCC’s sea kayakers!, I had a plan to ensure that my
inexperience wouldn’t stand out - I invited a friend (Richard) who, despite
having his own Sea Kayak, had only paddled a few times before. If anyone was
going to be the butt of the Jokes, let it be Richard rather than myself
Richard - who proved too good and scuppered my
plans
7 of us met at Swanage on a glorious
morning - Paul T and Elliott, Dot and Mike, Tim B, Richard and I. The normal
chaos of an RCC river trip was outstripped by this Sea Kayak business. We took
over the beach by the pier – boats, drybags, stoves, tents, bowls, gallons of
water – the mountain of ‘stuff’ that we were taking was awesome. I watched
the others pack their boats, trying to establish if there was a recognised
protocol – but having seen Paul picking up handfuls randomly and slinging them
into holds I felt confident that there was no established system and that I
wouldn’t make a complete fool of myself. What was a little worrying was that
Richard seemed to know what he was doing. Perhaps even more worrying was all the
strange stuff Elliott (Mears) was packing
We set off at around 11:00 - the plan
being to paddle 15 miles to
Warbarrow
Bay
, against the tide and a light prevailing wind. This seemed at odds with common
sense but who was I to argue. We glided off into an azure sea – the long sleek
boats shifting along with so little effort. The Nordkapp has a reputation for
being very ‘tippy’ but I had quickly become accustomed to this on the
previous Tuesday, and found the secondary stability excellent - now, fully
laden, it proved very comfortable. Hugging the Coast to avoid the tidal stream
we made good progress. Kittiwakes and Guilimots were around, but no Puffins and
no ‘Durlston Dolphins’. After a short stop at Dancing Ledge we approached
Aldhelm’s head. Despite the tides there seemed to be white horses – the
promise of some play at the overfalls there, but, sadly, nothing of consequence
and so on to a late lunch at Chapman’s Pool.
Lunch at Chapmans Pool
Mid afternoon and the tide had turned,
but any advantage that this might have offered was wiped out by a quickening
South Westerly, eventually picking up to F6, stirring up a nice chop. While
progress became a little more laboured, the sun still shone and the sea became
playful. By the time we reached Kimmeridge (5’ish) some were feeling weary and
by the time we hit Warbarrow (6:30’ish) we were all keen to find a camp spot
out of the wind. Having gamely paddled the whole length of Warbarrow bay
(twice!) we settled on a mid-point spot for bivying amongst the rocks. It seemed
idyllic and the wind had dropped but a few problems then arose.
·
Paul’s hatch covers were found to have
perished – the toilet roll was amongst the sopping casualty list, and to cap
this Tim found un-exploded shells sharing the paperless facilities
·
No one had any ‘real’ coffee –
‘Instant’ would prove a first for Paul
·
And Elliott, keen to practice his newly
acquired ‘bushcraft’ skills discovered the beach was almost entirely devoid
of timber, yet alone bushes. A thousand plastic bottles was no substitute
Elliott sets up his bivvy for a sleepless night
Still, we set up camp, managed to find
a few timber spars and Elliott opened up his box of tricks to light a fire
(insisting that the gas lighter, offered, was not ‘playing the game’). Meals
were cooked, beer and wine opened and the conversation was so entertaining that
Tim managed to stay up until gone 10pm!
I could hear Paul, of course, rattling
pots and stoking the fire before 6:00 the following morning. An early start was
clearly on the cards so a quick swim and I joined him for ‘instant’. 3 hours
later Dot and Mike surfaced – it was close to 10:00 before we were all ready
to leave. I guess this was an early start by RCC standards.
Paul coping with the lack of 'real' coffee
The air was still, the sea glassy and
the tide with us. An easy 15 mile drift back to Swanage lay ahead. At Kimmeridge
the previous day there was a notice on the dive board exclaiming 20M
visibility!! And we found ourselves in another world – drifting across an
aquarium. Our boats were now ‘flying’ over clear waters, the sea bed, fish,
anemones and other sea life clearly visible below us. It was hard to lift our
eyes up to the cliffs to watch the Peregrines!
We were at Swanage by 3pm, having
hardly noticed the distance paddled – quick Ice creams and we were off
So this is what Sea Kayaking is all
about – OK, certainly in the conditions we had, it does not provide an
adrenaline fix, but it does open a whole new and changing world to explore while
getting some needed exercise. I’m looking forward to the next time I can get
out in my sea boat.
Graham
B
We all set off on a calm overcast morning but it was quite warm. A
combination of sea kayaks and general all-rounder boats. Going past the Stair
Hole the water was reasonably calm and a few paddled near to the rocks, the less
confident stayed out a bit to avoid the incoming mounds of waves.
As the sea seemed calm, most of us paddled round to Bat Cave and through the
arch which was quite interesting. The other side widened out into a part of
beach which cannot be approached from a path and looked similar to a golden
beach of the Mediterranean (without the sun). Durdle Door gave some of us a bit
of fun too attempting to go through before a large wave got us.
Finally we arrived on Durdle Door Beach (Man o War Bay) where we stayed for
lunch, seal launched down a few stones and tried out various boats. I had a go
in one of the Sea Kayaks and decided it might be a bit wobbly. The sun eventually
came out and we sunbathed for a while whilst eating sandwiches.
On the way back, the water was a bit more choppy but not enough to prevent an
exploration of stairhole along the way. A few of us whizzed in and out avoiding
the waves much to the onlookers interest.
It was a great trip, and can be real fun when the sea is calm and also when
it is more bumpy.
Helen
We
have enjoyed some pleasant day trips to the moors this season. Starting with a 4
hour paddle on the Barle on the first Sunday of the season (October 2004) – only 6 made the
journey, but the levels were paddleable, the weather mild and a good day was had
by all.
The
last weekend of October saw 10 of us on a 5 hour paddle from
Bedford
Bridge
on the Walkham to Denham on the Tavy.
This
proved one of the most entertaining day trips of the year. The weather was mild
and dry yet the river levels were well up. This section of the Walkham provides
fairly continuous grade 2 and 3 paddling in a tight valley with a wealth of
small drops, micro-eddies, twists and turns. The Walkham runs into the Tavy,
below Tavistock - a more mature river that, at the levels we caught, provides an
endless supply of surf waves.
Ross lines up for a drop (ask him what happened next!)
Chris 'tanks it'
Lots of excitement, 4 swims and a load
of happy faces
It didn’t rain much in November, and
by the end of the month the Dartmoor/
Exmoor
rivers were too low to make the drive worth while. Consequently, 12 of us took
a trip down the Frome – which retained a lowish but paddleable level and
provided paddle starved boaters with a little entertainment. In my opinion the
day would have been substantially better had not Elliott eaten my Little Chef
breakfast at the outset. But, hey, it was good to see him out after a months
nappy changing.
5th December – and the
first weekend that the Upper Dart was open and Southbourne CC had tickets (but
we cancelled – there was no water)
By Mid December the moors were even
drier – indeed, by the 11th December there hadn’t been a drop for
16 days – a Drought was now official. This was the Simon Westgarth's
‘Adventure Paddlers Weekend’ at the Dart and I had booked accommodation and
tickets for the Upper - but the river was bone dry. Some hasty emails and the
weekend was saved when a load of water-hungry paddlers made the long trek to
Polzeath, in
Cornwall
, to enjoy some glassy clean 5’ surf. The evening’s entertainment was great
including sneak previews from Rob Coffey and Simon Westgarth on there latest
files, a slide show from Deb P, and technical lectures from Cheesy
The following week, however, rain
arrived and the forecast was excellent. Another flurry of emails and a long
awaited ‘Upper’ trip was scheduled for early Sunday (19th Dec).
Full of excitement, Andrew and I left the house at 05:30, driving through
torrential rain and snow blizzards to arrive at RDCP for breakfast at 08:00. By
this time Dave Frances had already been out to Holne to check the levels – the
Dart was running through the 3rd arch at Newbridge (i.e well over
7’) – too high!!!! Aahhh!
A group of us got together to discuss
alternatives – and 18 of us (from Southbourne, Ringwood, Surrey and
Oxford
) decided to split to 3 groups and run the Walkham/Tavy. Good levels, the rain
stopped, the sky cleared, there were plenty of nice surf waves and an enjoyable
day – but still not the elusive ‘Upper Dart’. We parted company hoping for
a run Early January 2005
The Bland Family spent a ‘twixmas’
break for 3 days at Croyde where the surf was blown, cold but biggish.
The first Upper trip of 2005 was
planned for Sunday the 9th Jan. But the forecast was for rain Friday
night. All who had expressed an interest in this trip were backing out
(recovering from flue, washing hair etc.). Consequently, I joined Mark R and
Chas C on the Saturday. We checked out the Plym first (but too low) so diverted
for a morning run on the Erme – levels were medium to low and enjoyable, and
the gorge was clear of trees despite the gales. It was 14:15 by the time we got
to Dartmeet and so we ‘straight lined’ the Upper (at a perfect ledge height)
in around 1 hour! After so
long it was nice to be back on one of my favourite rivers – it never fails to
disappoint
A few weekends later and Andrew and I
joined Chas and Jack of Southbourne CC for a more leisurely run of the
‘Upper’ – Just off ledge height (a good level), and this time spread over
3 hours. One of those sun block and antifreeze days – beautiful.
Long days
The first weekend in February - and back to the Dart
again. This time for a whole weekend on a boney and cold Loop, taking Explorer
Scouts from Sandleheath and Barton. After 3 runs
of the loop even the most enthusiastic scouts were happy to stop for cheesy
chips and a sleep on the drive home
The following weekend it was the
Tamar. An early start and a long drive on Saturday. I took the Princetown route
– through Dartmeet – enviously checking the ledge full levels. It would have
been a superb run on the upper that morning. But on to Horsebridge to meet the
weekenders. A good turnout. 14 of us stood on the bridge looking at the swirling
brown torrent spilling the banks – I could sense a little trepidation –
it’s not common to find ‘big water’ on
Dartmoor
.
Quite a flotilla set off at a romping
pace (eddies were few and far between – and generally up in the trees). I
couldn’t remember this river but had read that the ominously named ‘Coffin
Weir’ was evil in high flows. How was this big flotilla going to catch an eddy
before dropping to doom!!
As it transpired – all the weirs
were washed out wave trains. With the exception of one unnamed unfortunate
tripping up on an eddy line and paying with a 200m swim the trip was incident
free. We even managed to find an eddy for the traditional RCC picnic lunch.
A
long drive back – and a message was waiting – we are off to the
East Lyn
Sunday – see you there? – Nope, that’s enough driving for this weekend.
There were still a few more weekends of the season to look forward to.
And
then - it dries up again - I sit here on 19th March, the Season now closed,
having spent a disappointing neap tide session at Woodmill desperate to get on
the water after a month of canceling trips due to low levels. Even the surf of
this week disappeared as soon as the weekend arrived.
And
then the radio gleefully boasted that the winter of 2004/05 has been the 3rd
driest since records began in 1883 - with only 25% of average rainfall .... and
threatening hosepipe bans for the summer to come
Should
I take up golf?
Graham
It all started on the Dart Estuary trip, when Dot and Mike paddled into
the flamboyant character, Bob Otterly of the Canoe Association, He informed them
that there would be a 1-3 Star course and assessment running at Axemouth on the
weekend of September 24-25. With
very short notice Dot rustled up enthusiasm from some of the Ringwood
contingent, who had over heard the information. Dot had us filling in forms,
sending off cheques, while Mike feverishly tracked down as many canoes so all
could paddle solo (7 in total,
Marion
,
Trish
,
Georgia
, Annie and Dave, Dot and Mike). A
BIG THANK YOU! To those of you who lent out canoes.
Anne booked those of us without the luxury of a caravan into Beer Youth
Hostel (We were very attracted by the name of the town).
Dot and Mike travelled down Friday
night, caravan in tow, so that they could have tea ready for the rest of us when
we arrived early Saturday morning. Our
convoy of canoe laden vehicles squeezed though the narrow campsite entrance into
a field located next to the Axe estuary. My
first impression was of a mass of white caravans.
On closer inspection the field was a hive of activity, as 30+ canoeists
downed their breakfast in order to meet the 9:30 start time.
I had been warned that the Canoe Association was a highly organised group
and that events ran like a well greased machine.
They were certainly greasing themselves with cooked breakfasts! We were
divided into groups of 1, 2, and 3 star paddlers and introduced to our
respective instructors. The next
activity required careful team work as we lifted what seemed to be an infinite
number of canoes through the barbed fence, over a raised ditch and across a pit
holes bank. A bit like canoe steeple
chase! Thankfully this all went off without injury and we finally boarded our
vessels.
Despite the weather mans attempts to
dissuade us from such waterborne follies, the sky was promising glorious
weather, albeit a little wind. This
made paddling solo in some of the canoes an exercise in correcting trim, or
paddling in never ending circles.
Georgia, intent on swimming and getting rescued went straight in at
the deep end for the Three Star. This
group of motley paddlers made their way upstream to a bend in the river that
provided some protection from the wind as well as space for 10 canoes to manover.
We quickly ran over the 1 and 2 star strokes, before being introduced to
the 3 star cross what’s it, pivot’ty sweep, bow/stern cut, and paddle ya
canoe on its edge strokes. A full
and correct list of the names can be found on the BCU website.
Marion
had superbly taken care of all our needs and packed the
lunch barrel with a very satisfying assortment of lunch goodies. Marion and
Annie were the first to arrive at the lunch spot and were concerned that they
might not meet up with the rest of us. Thankfully we eventually did all arrive
at the same very dodgy, ditch ridden island(s) lunch spot.
More paddling and some poling was done
in the afternoon, with the finally for the day being solo and X rescues.
(See photos). There was a
highly amusing moment when one member of the Ringwood club achieved the tricky
manover of solo rescue only to fall right over the other side of his canoe
plunging back into the brine. J.
Wet and sore we made for the campsite.
With the tide now out our canoe steeple chase course had just been made
more challenging. Covered in mud we
made a bee line for Dot and Mikes tea shack, where we were also served one of
Trish’s special cakes. YUM!
By the time we had found the YH,
showered and made our way back to the pub we looked in no fit state to drink.
Our legs giving way under us, bruised and aching limbs from the days
activities we were a motley crew very much in need of hot food and alcohol.
After two of us fell asleep at the table it was decided that bed was the
next port of call.
On Sunday we got up and did it all
again.
As I sit here and write this I am
still very much suffering from the effects and can barely walk.
Georgia
Early one Saturday morning in
September having been coerced, in a moment of weakness and probably drunkenness,
into taking part in the OCA 1-3 star open canoe training weekend we suddenly
found ourselves about to set sail from the banks of the River Axe.
Marion and I had decided to play the chicken option and only go for the 1
star, hoping against hope that it didn’t actually mean getting into a boat and
getting waterborne. Unfortunately
that failed and we both had a few tremulous moments trying to get the things to
go in a straight line so that we could catch up with the rest of the group.
After a lengthy discussion we decided
that the boats were at fault (it certainly was not our lack of technique and
experience) and did a quick change around with Marion having my boat, me having
Elliott’s boat (yes, sorry, she did let it go Elliott but I did look after it)
until such time that our instructor, the infamous Bob, decided that he wanted my
boat and that Marion should have his boat.
Once we were all happy in our various
craft we proceeded upstream with a variety of classic open canoe strokes ie
anything that gets you forward without too much effort and without a continuous
pirouette. We were put through our
paces on the basic strokes like the bow-rudder-forward-j.stroke and the injun
stroke along with reverse double pike swivel stroke with a twist and the
upside-down-help-me-out stroke and also had a go at poling which turned out to
be a real joy and much easier than actual paddling.
At some point after our lunch time
meet up with the other groups we all headed out again to undertake some more
arduous tasks required for 1 and 2 star awards.
Some in our group wanted to do the 2 star and volunteered for rescue
services. I thought I would have a
go and merrily jumped out of the boat only to find out that it was a lot more
difficult than it looked to get back in! Eventually
I managed it but it was all to no avail as I only got my 1 star award and that
only with the sympathy vote of the instructors!
We both very much enjoyed the day and
were pleased with what we had learned and the confidence that we had gained. We
were also definitely glad that we had not ventured into the 2 star group.
Having managed to wade through the mud back to the camp site we enjoyed
hot tea and cake before trying to stand up and make our way to the Youth Hostel
at Beer. Having fought with the
showers and got changed we then made our way back to the pub for a dinner that
none of us could really stay awake for. Night
time was a mixture of grunts, groans and ouches as we all suffered when trying
to turn over.
The instructors were much kinder to us
on the Sunday – again paddling upstream using all the strokes we had learned
on the Saturday. They then showed us
a few more to practice and then spent a long lunch time chatting on the bank
before paddling ever so slowly back to the camp site where the boats were
carried for the last time over the hurdles of deep mud, ditches, holes and
barbed wire fences. We then spent
hours washing and polishing Elliott’s canoe so that he wouldn’t moan at us
and hopefully let us take it away again………..
Certainly
a worthwhile course but, oh, how we ached and hey, look at the bruises…..
2*
Open Canoe - Dot's Perspective
Dave R, Trish H, Mike and myself
decided to go for a 2 Star training and assessment weekend with the OCA at
Axemouth.
After a short paddle, our instructors
started to put us through our paces, and showed us several ways of moving our
boats through the water. Some of them were quite hard to get the hang of,
particularly the pry stroke but we all got the hang of it eventually. We were
glad to stop at lunch time for a rest, as various muscles were already starting
to complain. Over lunch we discussed some interesting topics, and our assessors
asked us general canoeing subjects, and gave us a few tips including the right
way to choose you paddle length.
The bit we were dreading came later
when after practising recovery strokes, we had to jump out of our canoes into
deep water, then attempt to get back in totally unaided. This was far more
difficult than I thought, after getting to the point of balance only to lose it
and drop back into the water and have the Canadian turn over on top of you. Mike
put such effort into getting back into his boat that his efforts catapulted him
out the other side, much to everyones amusement. On Sunday we tried poling, and
to our surprise found it quite enjoyable, we also lined the canoes up and down
the bank, and went back over the things we had learned on Saturday. It was a
good weekend, and there were smiles all round when we got our certificates.
Dot
A few snaps only
Poole
Harbour
Part Timers
Bev and I went for a quiet mid week
paddle in
Poole
Harbour
in September (yes, one of the joys of us part-timers!). We saw thousands of
waders, a kingfisher, and all the usual sights, but we also saw a few unusual
ones. We paddled our sea kayaks from Rockley, across the
Wareham
channel to Arne, then up the Middlebere and Wych channels as far as you can go
at high spring tides. We returned past
Brownsea
Island
with a tea break on the pottery beach, then back to the car along the Hamworthy
shore.
We spent about 10 minutes watching a
seal that seemed quite interested in us but didn’t come closer than a few boat
lengths. It is the first time I have seen one in the harbour, but then I don’t
go there very often so they may be common. Does anyone know?
We had lunch in the marshes at the top
of the Wych channel and were joined by a big carp, about 2 feet long. We got
good views of it because the channel in the marsh was very shallow and narrow
– only just big enough for the kayaks. I didn’t think they lived in salt
water but perhaps it had escaped from a pond and was OK in the brackish water in
the marsh. Does anyone know?
As we went back down the channel on
the falling tide we saw, in several places, tracks across the mud, that I think
must have been made by an otter. The tracks were very distinctive and I
couldn’t think of anything else that might have made them. That area is very
quiet and it is hard to get to the water from land because of the marshes and
mud along both sides of the creek. It would seem a good place for shy wildlife
but I hadn’t heard of otters living there. Does anyone know?
Barry.
11 intrepid
paddlers headed west for a Dartmoor white water trip with the intention of
paddling the
Lower Walkham
and Tavy. After an exceptionally
early leave we drove down to meet for breakfast at 08:30, the rain had been
falling hard since
Exeter
which should have given us a clue to the river conditions which were high.
After a full
English we headed across the moor to
Bedford
Bridge
, all the rivers we passed were high with no sign of the ledge at new bridge and
most of the tributaries on the moor were looking runable.
Once at
Bedford
Bridge
the decision was made that the levels were too high for the group so we headed
to have a look at the lower Tavy at Taverstock.
After a lot of deliberating 6 of the group decided to run the river and
were joined by 2 additional paddles who negotiated the inclusion on the trip by
supplying the ferry transport. Of
the 5 paddlers left on dry land 2 headed home whilst 3, including myself, stayed
at the put-in watching the level drop in front of our eyes; 2' drop over 2
hours.
The group had a
quick run down with no swims as I didn't run this part of the trip I cannot
comment further. On their return an
option was offered for the whole group to run the Dart loop, 7 agreed and headed
off to collect their kit and drive back across the Moor to the put-in at
Newbridge. It was, by this time,
around 3pm – it would get dark by 5pm - a quick change into paddling kit was
required and hence no time to inspect the level, I heard a comment that it was
'at the ledge'. When I finally got
kitted up and made my way to the river, Graham looked at me and said 'Ledge,
what ledge?!' (nearly the title for this report)
A quick check of the
river Dart web cam on my return revealed the level was up to the advertising at
the time we put in.
The river was
running harder than I have seen before on my 6 or so runs down the loop and
after a wobbly start I got caught on an eddy line due to a hesitant breakout.
On my second attempt I rolled up and made it to the eddy, that 10 minute
intensive rolling clinic last Saturday was already paying off (thanks Graham).
The washing machine was executed without incident and the group headed
off down the river. After attempting
to cross an eddy line twice and having to roll up as a consequence some helpful
advice was offered and gratefully received.
Lover's leap was turned into a bit of a non event and we headed off to
triple falls. The suggestion was
that all three falls would form a single larger rapid.
They were right and the third of triple had formed a great big wave which
defiantly got the group's juices flowing, especially Elliott's.
Another combat roll was required on the third of triple leaving me
wobbling around on the eddy line.
The group just made
it off the river before night fall and a memorable loop run was successfully
completed.
Ross
Editors Comment
The loop was
running at over 7’ when we ran it that afternoon. As an indication of what
this means:-
Over
6'6 the
Loop
goes out of grade. It's flood-stage now with the river into the trees on many
rapids, and Zones of Funny Water abound. This is a wicked level if you're self
sufficient, but it's time to get anyone who isn't bombproof off the river.
There was Carnage
that day, loads of swimmers and lost kit reported by others. Ross (who had swam
on the
Loop
2 weeks previously in ‘dog low’ conditions when his roll failed) had just
mastered his roll at the recent pool session. This was the day to check it out.
Despite the less than friendly conditions the roll proved flawless.
Unlike the
Loop
, the Tavy in these conditions, while no harder to run, is more serious in the
consequences of a swim. There are very few eddies and the few that exist are in
the trees. Thanks to those that, in the interest of the group as a whole, agreed
not to paddle the Tavy that day.
And the following weekend
Forecasters Warning Heavy
Rain & Flooding –
Areas
Affected: - South-west
England
, Southern England, South Wales,
West Wales
–
Further heavy and persistent rainfall is expected across the Southern
part of the
UK
during the next 48 hours.
Rainfall totals between 50mm to 100mm are forecast during this period
across South-west
England
and
Southern Wales
giving rise to a risk of localised flooded due to already saturated ground.
Not to be missed! Packing toilet
paper in a dry bag (don’t ask) it was back to
Dartmoor
, then – and everything was even bigger. I had hoped to run the West Dart but
group dynamics and water levels meant another Lower Tavy run – but this proved
ample. Within a couple of hundred meters of the get in (i.e. still in Tavistock)
we had two swimmers, had lost 2 boats, 1 set of paddles and 3 of the 8 of us
abandoned the river!
Fortunately both
boats were found (by others) near the weir 12 kms. downstream and, by the time
we reached the
Denham
Bridge
get-out, had been reunited with their owners.
1 set of paddles and a few dented prides was a small price to pay for a
days flood boating.
And
that was the RCC Usk weekend .. what happened?
The trend for RCC trips to become
great social occasions, with more emphasis on the feasting than the paddling,
continues. This time though, the rain swollen river was the main reason for the
limited paddling. Nick surpassed even his own usual high standard of
organisation this year, to ensure that everyone had a great weekend regardless
of weather conditions and canoeing ability. Well done Nick and thanks, we all
appreciated it.
If you haven’t been on this trip
before you have missed many treats. We usually follow a well worn routine of
eating drinking and paddling, which would include sleeping if not for Nick’s
snoring permeating the structure of the Perth-y-Pia farmhouse, but you must
expect to pay something in return for the benefits of having him along. The
routine is obviously a popular one because the trip is always well supported,
and I have been on it about 15 times without getting bored because every year
there are surprise highlights and new experiences.
This year there was much trepidation
among the more delicate members of the group because of heavy rains during the
week, and several had talked themselves out of paddling the Usk by the time Dave
arrived from his luxury B&B to clear the breakfast dishes away. The river is
well known for its fast response to the weather though, and had dropped by
Saturday morning to an excellent level. Plenty of water to cover the rocks and
make the river a playground, but with no serious hazards. Annie and Trish were
resistant to all encouragement to paddle it and supported each other’s view
that they would be happier with the peace and tranquillity of the canal. No
rocks, waves, trees or unsympathetic men to trouble them there. That left two
open boats, Mark in his long suffering Coleman and Jake and I in one of the
club’s boats, in the company of 11 kayakers. My perception was that Ross and
Elliott were looking forward to some exciting play spots to turn their toy size
kayaks on end. Mike Farnden, Nick and Dave were looking for some waves to surf,
as was Paul Toynton, but with a bad knee he was supposed to be taking it
easy……
Georgia
was looking forward to paddling a new river and Paul Beeston was a bit nervous
because it was his first! Open boater Paul Kendall was looking forward to
running the river again in his kayak, conceding defeat after years spent trying
to convince a shopaholic that there are pleasures to be found away from the high
street in winter. Bev and Ros were looking forward to finding a safe route down
and some nice friendly eddies to chat in. Becky was looking forward to an
intensive shopping trip with her mum. Poor Dot, having just had a week of
intensive white water training at Plas-y-Brennin, couldn’t show off her new
skills because she was laid very low with a bad cold. All she could manage was a
grade 4 dream after falling asleep in her car following an exhausting time
sharing shuttle bunny duties with Becky (thanks ladies).
There were a couple of other groups
launching at Sennybridge army base, and the congestion ensured that RCC didn’t
break with tradition or miss its opportunity to incur the wrath of the locals. I
think Mike missed the fun this time, but Nick gave the unreasonable local as
good as he got. I understand he was a bit more gentlemanly towards the armed
military officer and no warning shots were fired.
The river level ensured that everyone
found what they were looking for, and there was plenty of depth for Ross to
practice rolling, which he seemed determined to perfect on this trip. There is a
rock ledge early in the trip, with a tricky descent down a narrow notch after a
very tight manoeuvre on its lip, or an easy plop over the ledge in mid stream.
Each chose their route and made a successful descent, some more elegant than
others. Mark tried to navigate his 17ft canoe around the required hard right,
hard left manoeuvre in the 10ft space above the notch, descended it sideways and
shortened his boat slightly in the impact with the rocks. Not one to be defeated
by the impossible, he had another go, and shortened it a bit more. I think, with
another 10 or so attempts, the canoe could have been made short enough to get it
round the corner, but the group moved on so I’ll never know. Bev had seen me
put Jake ashore before I ran it and did the decent thing – kept him company on
the portage.
The series of rock ledges on this part
of the Usk make for some great photo opportunities with waterfalls against a
backdrop of autumn colours but, after 15 years, our albums are full of the same
views so I am not allowed to take pictures now. The last ledge can be a bit
daunting with a hungry stopper mid-stream, and we lunched there to watch and
chat to the other groups as they passed. This time I kept Jake company on the
portage too. There were no sacrifices to feed the stopper, from any group, so we
moved on again.
The second half of the trip has lower
ledges and longer sections of grade 2 rapids, all with some great waves. While
Ros and Bev caught up with the gossip and Scouting news, the others worked hard
at surfing every wave in sight. Ross didn’t hesitate when I suggested he might
walk up a tributary that offered an extra 100 metres of continuous rapid, but no
one else was tempted. He said it was worth it and, being relatively shallow, it
gave him a break from rolling practice. Jake and I practised our reverse ferry
technique, getting it badly wrong on one occasion, but on the grade 2 rapids
there was really no serious penalty for the mistakes, and I don’t think
anybody saw. Paul B got my vote as star of the day, putting in a great
performance, looking comfortable and with barely a wobble, on his first river
trip. Well done to Ross too, for rolling up on his second attempt every time.
For me, insulated from the cold river
water, cool afternoon air and drizzle, in my big boat and dry clothes, the take
out at Aberbran came much too soon. Unfortunately the soggy, tired, kayakers
couldn’t be tempted to go another 3 miles to Brecon, so we returned to base
for tea and Trish’s cakes. Trish and Annie didn’t appear until well after
dark when dinner was about to be served. We had visions of them lost in the
canal tunnel, or worse, but they eventually breezed in, all smiles and with a
spring in their step and tales of grateful young, handsome cyclists, the back of
Annie’s van, undressing, drinks,….oh yes, and they had a good paddle too.
Nick served up a huge, award winning
meal of chicken and vegetable curries, dhal, rice, pappadums, (OK, I won’t
mention the cardboard Nick.) It was fantastic, despite getting an extra stir
during a roll round Nick’s car boot on the way up the 1 in 3 hill to Perth-y-Pia.
We all struggled valiantly to finish it with 2, , or in Elliott’s case 4,
helpings then Becky produced 6 amazing desserts, including an enormous November
5th bonfire cake to celebrate Trish and Paul’s birthdays. What
would we do now? Well, we tried, but couldn’t quite finish them all. I am
enjoying the lemon tart as I write. Thanks Becks, you’re a star. The next
surprise was for Trish, with a personal firework display, belatedly in honour of
the birthday she had tried unsuccessfully to cancel. Another detail of Nick’s
masterful organisation.
The rains came to the hills that night
and the river overflowed its banks. None of the rapids are visible from the
roads, but the bridges were spectacular. Some kayakers were seen putting in
amongst the floating trees, on the brown and still rising water at Talybont, but
we were less adventurous. Instead we drove past the Talybont reservoir and
walked up the Caerfanell, the river that feeds it. The waterfalls there were
very impressive, and a local that we passed said that the river was the highest
he had seen it. Now where have Bev and I heard that before? Oh yes, on most of
our ‘summer’ holidays. Fortunately nobody fell in, (well not very much eh
Nick?) the sun came out, and we enjoyed some great scenery while we debated the
lines we would have taken if we could have been bothered to carry the kayaks up
there. I promised those that had developed a thirst for more paddling that I
would show them a great run down the Talybont dam spillway. We went there for
more tea and Trish’s cakes, but nobody was tempted to run the spillway.
Something to do with the last little drop that couldn’t be inspected they
said. Maybe next time.
Sunday
A day for a walk
Mill falls - looking particularly juicy this year
Thanks to everyone for making it a
great weekend, and book me in for next year Nick.
Barry (Photo's Nick L and Dave C)
Saturdays weather was pretty dire with
rain and strong winds, so on Sunday we headed for Lepe beach expecting few
takers for the trip. Fortunately the skies had cleared and the wind had been
dropping overnight, so the sea was fairly calm. We had a better than expected
turrnout with Dave & Annie,
Bev
,
Georgia
, Ros & Dave ,Sally & Ian
all up for a paddle.
We paddled with the rising tide as far
as Bucklers Hard, where we stopped for a coffee break, and were joined by a
local guy who paddles the river on a regular basis, often camping overnight in
one of the small creeks. Thirst satisfied we carried on up to Beaulieu against
quite a strong headwind, and were glad to get out and stretch our legs and have
a bite to eat. The
Beaulieu
River
is a pleasant paddle out of season when there is more wildlife than river
traffic.
Dot
We
have covered this area before, but make no apologies for revisiting it. For
anyone wanting estuary or sea paddling there is lots of choice. There are few
sandy beaches so the area isn’t swamped by the bucket and spade brigade. Part
of its attraction is that some of the tributaries and creeks are only really
accessible to shallow draught boats such as canoes. The River Fal is such a
place, when we paddled it, our only company were Red deer grazing in the
deer park
. You have to get the tides right though or you will have a long wait stuck on a
mudflat.
Another peaceful gem is the Percueil,
[have an ice cream in the picturesque harbour at St Mawes first].
Paddling
across Carrick Roads we came across the large coastguard vessel pictured, which
we think normally covers the
North Sea
. A little further seaward we came upon a series of small coves only accessible
by sea where we stopped and basked in the sun for a while – who needs the Med?
Carrying on out from the estuary we rounded the lighthouse at St Anthonys head,
where there was a decent swell running and the rocks were home to a mass of
young cormorants.
On the other side of the estuary is
the
Helford
River
which is well worth spending a day on.
Dot
Scrutineering – you have to arrive
at the marshalling area well in advance to have your boat and essential
equipment, such as air bags, helmets etc. scrutineered. A yellow sticker is then
put on the boat to show that you have complied with the prescribed list. We had
just got the boat down off Dave & Annies van, and it was on its side while I
applied the race numbers and Trish tied on the painter. Imagine our surprise
when a hand snaked between us and left a yellow sticker to show we had passed
the checks, particularly as most of our gear was still in the van! Still, that
was the first hurdle passed. The long portage to the put in was completed
without incident, and we paddled 1km upstream to the start. The previous year
had been a struggle against an incredibly strong flow of dam released water,
this year the level was lower and not as strong. We hung back as before waiting
for the entire field of 850 to start, actually starting 849TH !
We shot Straffan weir easily, and
headed for the section called the Jungle. There were a few swimmers in this
section, and boats pinned in trees, but we negotiated it successfully. The
weather was great, warm sunshine and a light breeze. The Liffey is a very pretty
river, and we enjoyed the scenery as it passed by. Vanessa and Templemills weirs
were shot without problem. Due to the lower water levels, the features were more
pronounced, and more interesting than the swirling brown water we had paddled in
2004. Annie & Trish appeared, waving on various bridges and met up with us
for the compulsory portage at Leixlip dam. The put in after the dam is straight
into fast water with a bridge about 100 yards downstream. Although Dave and I
paddled hard and lined up for the centre arch, we found ourselves being pushed
towards the right hand pillar of the bridge, which already had a canadian
wrapped firmly around it. Two of the safety crew were hung from the bridge on
belays, yelled at us to paddle, believe me, we didn’t need any encouragement!
Our first swim came when we took Lucan
weir on river right, which is less sheer than the left side where Mike broke his
ribs last year. We had to laugh when we saw that the “safety” guy [ha ha]
was sending people over the steep main weir face, guaranteeing lots of swims and
entertainment for the crowd on the far bank.
The next swim was our bête
noir, the infamous Wrens Nest. This is a big V shaped weir with vicious stoppers
on either side of the V. You have to line up on a gap of about 18” to shoot it
successfully. We went past the gap on our first attempt, and had to paddle back
for another go. We almost made it through but the boat got grabbed and tipped.
We were right on the edge of the stopper, but not in it, we threw our weight
over to try and right it, but were tipped up the other way, teetered on the
point of balance for a second and flipped. Fortunately we were far enough out of
the stopper, and neither Dave or I spent that horrible time in the green room
that both Annie and Mike had last year. Our support crew were on the bank to
watch and cheer, and help us sort things out once the safety divers had helped
us swim the canadian to the bank. A few more rapids and weirs passed till we
came to Palmerston, an even bigger V weir. This was the highlight of the day for
us. We lined up perfectly for the huge bouncy wave train, but the last wave was
enormous, the boat seemed to shoot up and off the crest before slamming back
down, Dave and I were yelling with the sheer excitement of it. Fantastic.
We paddled up to the finish at
Phoenix
Park
, having moved up the field and had caught up with the kayak class ahead of us.
We had knocked 30 minutes off the previous years time. Annie and Trish met us
and we toasted the day with a pint, and sat in the sunshine eating the meal
provided. Dave and I agreed it had been a superb paddle.18 miles of challenging
and interesting water, it doesn’t get much better than this.
Dot
An entertaining day on the East Lyn - This is Dave
Francis going deep on what appeared an innocuous drop (but proved a little more
tricky!)
Ross running Euthanasia - first time and upright!
And, a few weeks later (on New Years Eve) and higher levels we were back
