Author: steven

I‘ve been a member of the club for around 15 years for the main reason I love paddling whether it is on the flat water, white water or the sea. I joined the club as we went on many trips, some over night and some day paddles to some epic location‘s around the country and Europe. I now want to try and share this love of the water and outdoors with other so started with organising a flat water paddle on a Saturday morning from Northampton to Earls Barton. It was only around 2 week‘s notice so I sent it out on the Trips email list. Saturday morning arrived the thermometer stated -2 deg C and I expected no one to turn up, by 10am 8 of us are putting our spray decks on and launching into the freezing cold water.
The stretch from Northampton to Earls Barton takes around 3-4 hours and has about 5 locks to portage. Depending on the level of the river there are a few side weirs that can be inspected and possibly shot to take yu down some nice back channels. This Saturday the river was quite low so we had to paddle to the official canoe portage points and carry our boats. With none of the side weirs working you could be lulled into a false sense of safety as when we came to one weir it actually had water going over. I went to check it out and as I approached I was still a few metres away from the actual edge you could see the tow back from the stopper already. As a result the canoe portage was used again. It just goes to show that some weirs are always dangerous this one in particular being walled in would not make life easy to extract a boat or a person.
Even though it started cold the sun was out for the whole day and warmed up beautifully, all in all a great little paddle we had some new people as well as some regulars. If you want some more trips like this please let me know.

Steven

It was a weekend we had family to visit down Somerset but while were down there I felt the need to take boats in case there is the chance to paddle. With this news Sarah was keen and promptly packed all canoeing kit ready for a possible new river to tick of the ever growing list of rivers she wants to paddle.

Saturday morning arrived and were off to paddle the Dart Loop this is classic grade 2 river so the next step up from the white water course with real rocks and real features all of which are separated with flat bits and small moving bits. We arrived at the get on car park to be greeted by many more boaters that had the same idea, it was like a busy supermarket car park just before Christmas. The ”loop• is just that a loop of river that has a road across its shortest distance. We got changed and I drove the car to the finish with the plan to walk the mile or so back but within about 500 meters I was picked up by another car of boaters.

We got on at the ledge just above the bridge and proceeded to paddle down the river. As always Sarah was anxious as never paddled the river before and not knowing what‘s round the next corner. Due to the trip only being about 7km we took our time eddy hopping, and giving her the chance to improve both river running skills like breakouts and ferry glides as well as river reading skills. This is an ideal river to hone the fundamental river running skills as it has a bit of everything.

Some features are big enough to have names and within about an hour we have reached ”Triple step• a S shaped rapid with 3 noticeable ledges. We took our time going down this grade 3 feature and arrived at the bottom with both of us still dry and Sarah in amazement that she was still in her boat. Just behind us a group of 5 people followed down with 3 swimming, cue me getting some rescue practice with 3 people all swimming round in the eddies and boats in different directions. The rest of the river is all classic Grade 2 rapids that just kept going on and on until the get out. We got out just above the new weir that has recently been rebuilt resulting in a deadly stopper that you do not want to be in. The result was another river ticked off Sarah‘s growing list and a great day paddling in the sunshine on a fun river.

I really recommend this for people who have been paddling on the white water course and want to move onto real moving water rivers, I do hope to run another trip down this way in the future.

Steven

 

 

 

On Monday evening myself and Steve realised that we had no plans for the coming weekend and so decided what better way to fill it then boating!!!!!!! An email was sent out to ‘trips’ email list looking for paddling buddies. We tempted them in with the possibility of paddling the river Conwy even though at this stage it looked likely we’d end up on the standard Dee/Tryweryn due to lack of water. The mention of the Conwy did the trick though and we soon had a team for both Saturday and Sunday. All we needed now was water. Between Tuesday and Saturday I don’t mind admitting that I rain danced like I’d never rain danced before. The only time that I’ve danced this hard before was at one of Bob and Dace’s ceilidhs. The dancing was only interrupted by the frequent checking and rechecking for Met Office and Rainchasers updates. If this sounds a bit over keen I should explain that the Conwy and myself have history. I’ve been wanting to paddle it since Steve returned from paddling it 2 years ago, singing its praises. Back in February I came so very close- myself with boat in hand at the A5 get on, only to be told that the rate at which it had gone up in the 10 minutes it had taken us to kit up (from 3 to 5 on the gauge) meant that there was a risk of it going into spate whilst we were on it. Thus I never got to paddle it that day and now we were back to the more common problem of lack of water.

Fast forward to 6.30am Saturday morning and myself and Steve woke to find that the heavy rain forecasted during the night had indeed fallen and the Conwy water level graph was on its way up. Trying to contain my excitement we set off for North Wales, willing the graph higher as we drove. The plan was to meet James (Goose) at the Conwy Falls Café with a brief peek over the A5 bridge at the river gauge on route. We needn’t have actually stopped to check the gauge in the end as we were greeted with a layby full of paddlers and boats indicating clearly that it was game on (3 and rising). Whoop whoop!!! The party in my head had well and truly started, only being interrupted by a few nerves.

Our plan was to combine the classic A5 to Rhydlanfair Bridge section with the upstream Ysbyty Ifan to A5 section, thus doubling the fun. We got changed at the café to minimise disturbing the locals at the village get on. We unloaded the boats, kit and myself at the get on, Steve and Goose did the shuttle and then we were good to go. After a quick brief, including a reminder of river signals, we were off. You need to paddle this river to appreciate how much fun it actually is, but to give you some idea, Steve claimed that it would be “the most fun I’ve ever had on a river” and it didn’t disappoint. Also, as Steve had only paddled this river once before, and that was 2 years previous, it was a great opportunity for him to practise his river leading skills for his 4 star on a river that he didn’t know like the back of his hand.

The first section was 4kms of continuous grade 2/2+ fun rapids with a fair few overhanging trees to steer round. We descended the river using a variety of river running techniques to suit the different sections of river, its features and our group. This involved a lot of eddy hopping to get closer to each feature enabling us to get a better view. Then depending on what we saw, we either played follow the leader down or the leader went down then signalled us down one at a time. This section was great fun in its own right but also acted as the perfect warm up for the following slightly meatier section after the A5. This next section had far too many fun features to remember (again a lot of 2+ with some pushing grade 3). The one that you can’t help remembering due to it being the biggest feature on this section of the Conwy and the only feature worthy of a name is Bryn Bras Falls. This feature looks worse than it actually is but having mistakenly thought we’d already run the falls we didn’t get out to inspect and we ran it with the thought that it was just another nameless feature. This actually worked well for me as if we had actually got out to look I probably would have chickened out but the three of us ran it with no problems. After the falls the river continues as before with constant rapids to keep it interesting. Steve pointed out the old get out and thus I knew the new get out was just round the corner. However, I soon regretted having my little ‘I did it without swimming’ party in my head as a brief moment of loss of concentration followed on the tiniest of drops and over I went. I set up for a roll but confusingly found myself stuck on a ledge just beneath the water. I poked my head up to see if there was something to grab onto to do a sort of T rescue but there wasn’t so I pulled my deck and stepped out onto the ledge. Does it still count as swimming if you don’t really get wet??? We all had a little laugh at me swimming so close to the get out (due to my track record of actually managing to swim past a get out) before finding the egress point. There was then a killer hill to walk up with our boats to the car. Tired and hungry we said goodbye to James, found a bunkhouse to stay the night and spent the evening chilling in a lovely local pub only a 30 second run from the bunkhouse (it was pouring down with rain at this point). We communicated with the Sunday team informing them that it was going to be even heavier rain tonight and thus tomorrow would definitely be a goer. In the pub we decided that we would aim to do the same section of the Conwy again tomorrow because A) it was so much fun and B) the people joining us on Sunday hadn’t paddled this river before. We did however have a little worry about water levels for the following day later that evening when the pub emptied their car park expecting it to flood.

We woke Sunday morning and immediately checked Rainchasers to see what had happened to the Conwy overnight. The answer was it had shot up massively high to a level that wasn’t appropriate for our group. Luckily though, it was now on its way down nearly as fast as it had gone up. It would be a couple more hours before we met everyone and then also the faff with shuttling etc. so we were optimistic. As our bunkhouse was right next to the River Llugwy we walked down to have a look at what kind of level that was running at as a backup in case the Conwy was too high. We were surprised to see Cobden Falls looking more like a grade 4+ feature in comparison to the grade 3 feature it was when we’d paddled it previously due to the high water levels.

After grabbing some brekkie, we set off to meet the rest of the group, again at Conwy Falls Café. Sunday’s group included Dave and James Elliott, Jason and Joy. We had a quick check of Bryn Bras Falls on route to see if it had changed much with the increased water levels. It hadn’t significantly but we did notice that the ledge that allows for portaging was under water which would make any portaging of the feature much harder. We also had a quick check of the A5 river gauge to find it was currently reading 5.5 and still dropping, we were happy with this and so the Conwy it was going to be. We met the gang and filled everyone in on the plan before setting to working kitting up and shuttling. We were aware that it would take us longer today with having a bigger group and with a possible difficult portage so we were keen to get going to ensure we got off the river in the light.

Steve did a quick briefing before getting on. One of the main issues he informed the group of was the fact that compared to the previous day there’d be less eddies and they’d be smaller due to the higher water level. This would present a little bit of a challenge as we had a much bigger group today and thus we would all have to keep a look out as wouldn’t be able to just all pile into the same eddies. Everyone paddled well and worked well as a team thus we descended the river without incident. It was interesting for me to see how each feature had changed with the different water level. A few of us decided to portage Bryn Bras Falls which involved Steve using throwlines to set up a hand rail along the submerged ledge and then the guys hauling the boats up a really big wall (again with throwlines). Dave, Jason and Steve then ran the falls without any problems and we continued on to the get out. James managed to beat me in the ‘how close to the get out can you swim’ competition when, like me, he swam on an easy bit after he nailed the rest of the river. Don’t think he even bothered putting his spraydeck back on, we were that close to the get out.

In summary, a fantastic 2 days of paddling on a fun river through lovely scenery, with great people in lovely sunshine. Oh and a massive trout jumped out of the river right next to Steve’s boat making him jump!! Bring on the next club trip.

Sarah

 

Finally the Friday evening arrived where I would find my self on the M6 on route to North wales with Dave ready for our four star training. We turned it into a more upmarket paddling weekend with a B&B booked right in the centre of Llangollen. 9pm were pulling up in the B&B car park an hour earlier than planned the only thing we could think to do to pass the time was try some pubs in the town centre. After a few pints of sleeping juice were off to bed in our nice warm room while the wind and miserable weather outside carry’s on.

Saturday morning we have a full English breakfast few pots of tea and were off to our meeting place 20 mins up the road. I was hoping for a chance to paddle some different rivers but due to lack of water we were left with the good old Tryweryn (Saturday) and Dee (Sunday) unless something magical happened with the weather.

We met our coach and the other person on the course making 3 of us in total had a quick chat and were off to the car park in Bala to get changed and drive to the top. While the usual (plus some more) faff was going me, Dave and the coach were discussing paddle length as mine are relatively short and I struggle with them in my wide boat, Dave suggested I try his spare set, All is ready and were off to the get on at the bottom of the main section of the Tryweryn.

First job after a long talk about the kit we have, should have, shouldn’t have etc were off at all times our personal paddling skills are under assessment so the coach can help us improve as were getting onto a river I have no problems with I was not at all nervous unlike the other chap on the course. Only problem is upon putting my deck on I slid into the river went to break in and found my self upside down straight away. Luckily I rolled up but it dint look too good on my part but I know the others thought it was intentional. It wasn’t. Turns out the paddles had a different feather to my normal ones and I ended up the wrong way up. After a great day using many different styles of leading down a river, group management, incident management lots of theory as well as personal skills on grade 2-3 water we were at the car park packing up ready to head back to the B&B.

The evening found us again sampling the delights of the Llangollen night life before returning to our nice upmarket B&B. Sunday morning, breakfast again being a full English set us up for the rest of the day. Knowing there was going to be some swimming involved we were changed into all the warmest of kit. We were on the mighty Dee using all of our new skills form the first day we were leading each other down all of the rapids and showing off our own personal river skills with breakouts, ferry glides etc. We spent a fair amount of time looking and discussing serpents tail as to whether it is inside out outside of remit of the four star paddler and why. We decided it was just and went for a run down everything went fine until Dave decided we needed some throw line practice and exited his boat halfway down. With all the other rivers not working every canoeist in north wales was on the Dee as a result it was getting quite busy with people swimming all over serpents tail and ropes going everywhere. Plenty of practice for us through.

After a lunch stop we were down at the slalom site of Mile End Mill (or JJ’s) we spent a fair amount of time with all the features demonstrating our skills as river leaders and river boaters before we embarked on some swimming and throw line skills. After getting changed and a long winded de-brief we were off on our way home. A great weekend and well worth while doing the course for people that want to lead on grade 2-3 white water. Now to get some more trips in to collect hours for our log books. Watch this space for trip dates.

Steve

The weekend began with a long, slow drive to the campsite with congestion almost the whole way. We were first to arrive followed a few hours later by the rest of the group. There was some confusion on whether we would be joined by some more paddlers but in the end we stayed as an eight.

After an early night to shelter from the rain, and a slow morning, as I am defiantly not a morning person, we were kitted up ready for the day ahead.

Lower Dee:

After putting in just below town falls, we all warmed up on a small shoot with a tricky little wave to try and surf before heading off downstream. The river was fast and shallow with plenty of things to avoid. In between these sections were more deep flat bits of river giving us the perfect opportunity to take in the Welsh landscape. It seemed like just as we got in it was time to get out again, and so we decided to do the middle section as well…

Middle Dee:

Now things were about to get a bit more exciting. The rapids were more rapid and the waves a lot bigger. We flew down the river until we got to a huge section of water called Serpent’s Tail. After surveying it from the bank we decided it would be too dangerous to paddle and so portaged it and got in just below. After more of the same we ended the paddle with a quick play in a very retentive stopper, which was next to impossible to get out of!

That evening we ate our dinner and started a nice little fire, proving the point that all kayakers are pyromaniacs. As the sun went down we sat around the fire and shared various stories, most of them about paddling. When the last block of wood was burnt out we agreed to hit the sack.

The next morning after Steve had cooked his full English breakfast on what was effectively a supped up Bunsen burner, we got ready to paddle and planned the logistics of shuttling the boats.

Lower Tryweryn:

We decided to paddle the lower Tryweryn, however all agreed it would be good to see the infamous upper section. As we chased Steve down the river from the bank it’s safe to say we were all suitably impressed by his paddling. Once we had walked the upper section we reached our put in, where we were straight into the action just below Chapel Falls. The weather was beautiful and the sun beat down as we shot down the river dodging rocks and picking the best lines, perfect for us new to White Water Rivers. Towards the end of the day we came to a huge grade 3-4 section called Bala Mill Falls. Half of the group bypassed this section, floating there boats down the Mill Leat, and the other half braved the falls. After careful planning of the line from the bank we set off and all four of us made it down the falls with no tumbles, although I had a worrying false start, leaving me pinned on a rock just above the main drop. I made it back to the eddy to give myself the chance to try again. This time successfully! Then it was a short flat water paddle to the car at the finish.

It was home time now, and after a shower and dismantling the tents all we needed to do was say thank you to Steve for a fantastic weekend, and embark on the long journey home.

James Dunn

I ended up being double booked on both Bobs Bungy trip and asked about going up to north wales with Joy and Jason, in the end we ended up in North wales as the Tryweryn is one of my favourite rivers and Sarah wanted some more practice.

Friday evening after work and were off up the M6 to a new campsite in North wales just outside Bala tents pitched and opened a beer all before 9pm ready to plan for the Saturday. Decision made the 4 of us are going to paddle the Tryweryn from the top site down to the Town. The Tryweryn is split into two sections the top of it is a fun stretch of Grade 3 with some really good practice rapids with the lower section being Grade 2 with the odd bit of 2+ and Bala mill falls at the bottom most likely graded at around Grade 3+ to 4.

Shuttle done and were off with a warm up on the very top below the chipper to get the feel for the water and off eddy hopping our way down the Graveyard section. This longish section full of rocks creating eddies and small stoppers and waves making it good practice for breaking in and out of fast flowing water.

On to the next section Sarah went to follow my lead and park in an eddy just round the first corner but missed as a result ended up swimming the entire length of the rapid taking a knock to the head but not her confidence. With her being annoyed at the swim were back up again for her to try again this time success we made it. The rest of the river went smoothly with neat river skills shown from both Sarah and Jason.

We arrived at the section just above chapel stopper to be joined by Joy who was just getting on to continue with us down the lower section. More upside downing was performed by Sarah as she went down the drop into chapel sideways and got slightly stuck in the hole.

The rest of the river is a great Grade 2 with rocks to dodge out the way of and many tight turns to make all of which was navigated perfectly by the other three with us reaching Bala mill falls within no time. The rest of them got out and portaged while I went down the falls.

 

Saturdays video can be found here: Video of the Tryweryn

 

Loaded boats, returned to the campsite, BBQ lit, showers had, wounds tended to. A great end to a great day.

Sundays plan was to go climbing but overnight and in the morning there was a fair amount of rain thus making the rock very slippery so we decided to go for a walk instead while Joy and Jason decided to pack up and make moves back to Northampton.

I got my map and planned a route most of which was planned to be slightly off the foot path which was ok as the footpath was hard to find anyway so it made no difference. 8 miles later were back at the car and heading back to the campsite to pack up and go home.

The campsite we used was for a test to find if it is suitable for the trip planned a few weeks later, it looks ideal.

Great weekend and well don’t to Jason helping to rescue the boat which involves running a rapid he would normally check out first but instead he went straight down and remained upright all the way.

Steven

 

 

 

 

 

 

Well it was a wet start, heavy rain etc. but it didn’t ruin the day. So after setting the games up along with the gazebo and Gas BBQ we were ready to entertain our guests.

The Start time was set for 10am but with the weather and travelling time for some we postponed for a while to get numbers together and eventually the games started.

Now there`s Bob doing Sinking of the Titanic whilst Matthew Smith shows him how it’s done. Bob eventually did get the hang of it. This is actually a beer cooler on loan from Desperate Measures who donated some prizes for this event, a big thank you to them all.

Now why have 1 in a coracle when you can have 2, these where very popular today, a big thank you to Tony and Lesley for loaning us them.

Bungee paddling was fun, we set a marker buoy out and the aim was to beat it with all your strength before being pulled back into the jetty. Josh Whittingham was winning this event for a long time them Pete King added another 6” onto it. Defiantly a good work out.

Stand up paddle boarding with a twist, Oh yes through the slalom poles, easy you say. We put a bar 2” above the water line so you had to step over it at the same time trying to keep your balance.

Not all the games involved the water, we had tight rope walking, this was won by little Oliver Chapman.

We decided to have the BBQ around 130pm and the next thing we hear and see are blue lights sitting on top of the bridge,(No Tracey hadn’t set fire to the club)2 police personal came over to see if we have seen anyone in distress in the water as they had a call from a passer-by who spotted a person whilst driving home. We gave our assistance and even helped with the search, Steve and I paddled down to the turning on the loop, on the way back up we updated some officers that it was clear. We then got an eye on the bridge where Oh yes, more blue lights. All 3 Services had now arrived. We had noticed a lone paddler go off upstream on a paddle board. Pete and Simon went upstream and saw the lone paddle boarder on his way back to the centre  Long story short, he had fallen off and this is what the passenger of the car saw. Remember always go out with a minimum of 3 people for safety reasons.

The Games continued for a while after lunch also it had stopped raining, in time for us to pack away and get cleaned up.

A Good Day had by all and a big thank you to all involved, who made this event possible.

Andy

Well what an interesting weekend, Saturday we was planning on paddling from Glasbury to Byecross campsite. A distance of around 22miles I believe. The shuttle went well and we managed to get on the water around 11am. The start point was very busy with paddlers from all over hiring out canoes etc.

The weather was fabulous so plenty of fluids taken with us, not forgetting the pubs stops along the way. The water was shallow in places so perfect for polling

We managed to get into Hay on Wye, moored up. Tony told us how to get into town for those who wanted a refreshing beverage and a bite to eat and to be back in 40 minutes to continue to the journey to the next portage stop at Whitney on Wye. So after a refreshing sherbet (cider or 2) we headed back down to the river and had our sarnies, I had taken Pete Kings van keys of him and put them in my Pelli case with my smokes. Any way we all headed off downstream about 40mins into the journey I wanted a smoke, so I go to get my fags out of the Pelli case, ???? where`s the case. I asked Pete and some others if they had seen it, not since we left the last stop. The pace was a gently one so after speaking to Pete I then paddled back up stream whist he informed Tony that I will catch them up further down stream . I passed 3 large groups of paddlers whilst I was going up stream and asked them all if anyone had seen a red pelli case with fags and van keys in. 1 lady said yes it’s at the landing stage in the wall, there is someone keeping an eye on it. What a relief, It took me an hour to get there from when I left the crew. I thank the gentleman nicely and headed back down stream, over taking the 3 groups I previously passed.

I heard Pete`s voice shout down from the bank at Whitney which was the next stop 2 stops shorter than what was planned. I pulled in thinking that they was waiting there for me. Not realising that we had a safety car for the day, Tony drove up to the last stop and was told by the same gentleman that I had been, collected and was heading back down stream. As we wouldn’t have got into camp until around 7pm it was decided to end it there for the day and continue in the morning.

We all got back into camp and cleaned up ready for the BBQ that evening laid on from the camp site, we all sat around a large table, chilled with a few more beers.

Sunday `s trip was from the camp site to Hereford, We left Pete in charge to get the canoes down to the water’s edge whilst the shuttle was taking place, to find out on our return he smoothed talked some Scouts who was doing an expedition to Hereford as well. So with his charm the boys carried all our kit down and moored them up.

We paddled off and stopped at a nature reserve for a spot of lunch, Tony and I was discussing sailing as the wind was on and off. The best place would be the straight just as you come into Herford.

We caught up with the scout group had stayed with them having a laugh along the route.

We got onto the home leg and tried the downwind sail, it worked for all of 10 minutes whilst Tony tried his sail to no avail. We made Hereford and packed our kit away, said our goodbyes etc. Then departed for home.

Andy