A trip on the Tywi

Well so much for summer being my busiest time of year! Lately it seems that if I'm not running a first aid course I'm planning one or managing the admin that goes with one. With an NNAS skills course coming up this weekend I can probably add navigation skills courses to the ever-growing list of things conspiring to keep me occupied! I have found the time to get out and about though, whether it be caving, a recent trip to Cardiff International Whitewater Centre or yesterday's jaunt on the Tywi with colleagues from one of the outdoor centres I work for.


It's been a few months since I was on the river and I have to admit to being a bit rusty but Ian and Dom put me to shame even though they haven't paddled in years. It was nice to see that the skills remain, even with the passage of time.

We had the river to ourselves for the day and only saw one passerby - a helpful guy shouting down from a bridge to warn us about a tree across the river. He even turned up at the end of the trip to help bring boats up and have a chat about his past paddling experience!

So after a first trip of the winter I'm up for some more rivers, new or old, who knows what's next? Thanks to Ian of the Dean Field Studies Centre for the video

Paddle paddle paddle paddle...

A week or so of canoeing and kayaking at both ends of Wales has been shattering, but loads of fun! It started with my 4 star leader open canoe training and ended with a club trip to North Wales and the River Dee, separated by a short break to attend a tutor induction event for the new(ish) Hill and Mountain Skills scheme at Plas y Brenin.

4 Star Training

The first day of a 3 day course with Ray Goodwin began with all six of us scraping the hail and ice out of the bottom of our boats at Pontiscill Reservoir. Despite the finger-numbing sub zero temperatures and the occasional snow flurry, the morning mist over the still water was somehow both calming and uplifting at the same time. We worked on refining our forwards paddling technique as we journeyed around the reservoir, stopping for lunch only long enough to scrape the icicles from our noses! In seriousness, the cold was significant enough that we had to keep moving as much as possible. 

A lack of wind in the morning threatened to dash any hopes of sailing, but by the time we had learned a few improvised sailing rigs, a gentle breeze had become a powerful wind cutting across the lake. Powering downwind, it was difficult to keep our pair of rafted canoes on course, but some timely bow jam strokes from Haydn steered us in towards the shore in a sheltered bay. The next challenge was getting back out again with the wind against us!

This challenge proved a great opportunity for me to experiment with micro-trim: positioning myself a little further forwards in the boat in order to dig the bow into the water against the wind. Progress was slow, but steadier than I have sometimes managed before in similarly strong winds.

Back on the River

The following two days were spent on the River Usk, running the Aberbran to Brecon and Sennybridge to Aberbran sections, both of which were familiar to me in a kayak, but not in a canoe. Nonetheless, I was pretty comfortable with the territory and relaxed a little as the sun came out on the final day. This proved to be a great opportunity to learn a bit more about lining and poling, skills which I had only rarely used before but which are essential on longer river journeys. I left the course with a pretty clear idea of what I need to work on before assessment and an eagerness to progress.

Heading for the Hills

The Hill and Mountain Skills scheme was introduced about a year ago by Mountain Training UK to offer an introduction to the UK's hills and mountains for the general walker. The ever-industrious Will Kilner is one of the approved providers for the scheme and offered me the opportunity to get involved as a tutor for his courses.

The two day induction took place at the National Mountain Centre at Plas y Brenin and covered everything from the ethos of the scheme to top tips for delivering training to participants. It was nice to get back into the mountains of North Wales, and it also meant I was just down the road prior to the first of what I hope becomes a regular Monmouth Canoe Club trip to the area.

Back on the River Dee

I met the rest of the club members taking part at Mile End Mill outside Llangollen and we wasted little time in getting straight on the River Dee (well, after a short break for tea and coffee anyway). I've run this section a few times now, so I was happy to lead. After a short warm up downstream of Horseshoe Falls we eddy-hopped down to the top of Serpent's Tail rapid. The river was as high as I have seen it, and the usual island by the rapid was almost washed out. With no-one leaping forward to have a go, we decided to portage the drop and headed on downstream.

A few easy drops and ledges took us to the top of the Mile End Mill site, where we got out to head up to the luxury cottage Tracy had booked for us (which worked out even cheaper than a bunkhouse would have been!).

Another run on the Dee the next day found Tracy's son Jack taking on some of the leadership too, picking sound lines for the group and even having a go at the Serpent's Tail. Unfortunately for him the legendary 'sting in the tail' was particularly sharp that day and tipped him out at the bottom. Sharpshooting Hugh hit him first time with a well aimed throwline though, and he was soon back on the bank.

As heavy rain began to fall we headed on down through the Mile End site, taking on a couple of extra drops before getting out in Llangollen this time. The rain put most people off the afternoon's planned trip across the Pontysyllte Aqueduct, but we made it across the following day instead. 

Sadly both me and Laura had to return home for work, so we missed out on the further exploits of the club, taking on a new river in Snowdonia and convincing one terrified member to sign up for the forthcoming SARA charity abseil, but that's another story!

My next trip out should see me safely on dry, if somewhat snowy, ground. A five day winter skills course in Scotland to look forward to!

(Photos borrowed variously from Haydn and Tracy)

2 Star Training

I spent yesterday working alongside Will Kilner of Adventures With Will on a 2 star kayak training day for two clients. One of the things I enjoy the most about freelancing here in the South Wales borders is the variety of work I get to do, and yesterday was a perfect example of that.

Forwards
Both clients had some prior experience of kayaking, but little in the way of formal tuition, so we began with a look at forwards paddling. With keen students, it's so rewarding to see a really quick progression from a little swaying and meandering to really solid forwards paddling. The venue we used - the River Wye at Glasbury even enabled us to introduce a few 3 star skills as we ferry-glided across the flow, experimenting with different angles to hit different points on the opposite bank.

The Wye really is a river with something for (almost) everyone. This section is a great introduction to moving water at low levels, but lies just a few miles downstream of the Builth Wells to Boughrood section that I careered down in November.

Sideways
Safely in the shelter of a slow moving tributary, Will led a session on moving sideways and blade awareness, encouraging our students to experiment with using their paddle blades at differing angles to manoeuvre their boats. By directing their focus onto the three key elements of Body, Boat and Blade, the students began to take responsibility for their own learning, applying earlier key points to new paddle strokes with considerable success.

Upside Down!
Some close quarter boat handling after lunch was followed by the wet bits! The best part of any cold February paddlesport training is surely the rescues, and our students reacted with the requisite amount of joy when we introduced support strokes followed by self rescue and rescue of a fellow kayaker. We didn't just sit back and watch our students shiver though, we were generous enough to act as mock paddlers in distress for some of the rescues, sitting in the flow awaiting rescue. Never mind the fact that we both had drysuits on; I think that was a pretty big sacrifice to make!

Until Next Time
It's been a while since I've had the opportunity for some real developmental coaching, and I thoroughly enjoyed the day. I'm running a 2 star course for Monmouth Canoe Club in April and May though, so hopefully will have just as great a time.

Kayaking the Barle

Saturday found me on another new river; this time it was the Barle in north Devon. Diverted away from the Severn Bridge due to high winds, we were late getting to the put-in at Simonsbath, and with short winter days still prevailing, we wanted to push on. The river had other ideas.

The joy of tree-ridden diches

The stretch immediately below the bridge was a tree-filled nightmare, which heavy rain that morning had turned into a fast-flowing tree-filled nightmare. We only made it a couple of hundred metres before having to get out and portage, then after a second launch attempt had to portage once more. An overhanging tree caught out one of the group, so we had an early swim to deal with.

Even when the river widened out and the trees disappeared, a series of fences to keep the sheep in hampered our progress even more. Despite the slow progress, this was still an enjoyable section to paddle due to the bleak and beautiful moorland setting all around us.

At the 5th fence we had another swim and a pinned boat to recover, which turned out to be a little easier than it looked, but nonetheless we were not making good time. It was early afternoon by the time we reached Withypool and the beginning of the whitewater sections of the river.

Bouncy wave-trains

Downstream of Withypool the river gained in interest, with boulder-formed rapids blended together with short sharp s-bends in the watercourse. These required quick reactions once or twice when low-hanging trees reached far out into the current, and we duly had a third swimmer on one of the bends. A final fun wave-train led us close to the cable across the river where we portaged again, just above the ancient Tarr Steps.

Fast and furious

With less than two hours of daylight remaining, a few of the group chose to wait at Tarr Steps while four of us charged down the final stretch to fetch the cars. Taking a 'read and run' approach this was one of the best sections of white water I've been on. Although there were few significant feature drops, the 5 miles or so between Tarr Steps and Dulverton was constant wave trains and mini-chutes.

In the gathering darkness I capsized and rolled twice, hitting a rock the first time and catching my paddle on an overhanging tree on the second. Racing to reach the get-out before the sun disappeared though, there was no time to stop and play. It's definitely a stretch of water I'd return to.

Sadly, having brought her new go-pro with her, Laura then discovered that the battery wasn't fully charged, so no snaps of the day this time!

More Welsh Water (not the kind that comes out of the tap)

Had another great day on the river yesterday paddling the Sennybridge to Aberbran section of the Usk, my first time that far up the river. Although the river was pretty low, the three signature drops on the section were still loads of fun, and made up for one or two sections being a bit of a boulder-filled 'adventure'. Will did a fine job of catching much of the trip on his Go-Pro, with a write up and footage on his blog here.

The Wild Wild West (of Wales)

Deep in the little-known depths of Wales, far from the nearest cappuccino, there is a river. A very special river. The river Tywi or Towy - not to be confused with the rivers Tawe and Taw - winds its way through the rolling hills and steep gorges around Llandovery, with enough rapids and drops to make the 90 minute drive more than worth it.

We got on the river a little downstream of Junction Pool, where an initial "You can't get on here" from the local farmer turned out to mean 

"Paddlers don't bother me in the least, but the bugger who owns the opposite bank can't stand anyone enjoying themselves for free so he's put up a bloody big fence. Two in fact. Topped with barbed wire. Oh, and he's going to plant a load of spiky hawthorn bushes to stop people getting down to the river".

The farmer was pleasant enough, and it was easy to see why he didn't want paddlers using his bank to get on; living in the middle of nowhere, you have to keep the neighbours happy, even the passive aggressive (or just plain aggressive) ones who have too much time and money on their hands. £1.50 each lighter in the pocket though and he kindly let us use his bank access.

The run itself had a few small drops, some decent sized wave trains and a couple of nice little rapids, great grade 2 fun all in all.

With the air temperature hovering around 4 degrees though, and the water cooler still, I couldn't feel my hands for much of the trip, and at one point my toes were so cold that I was convinced my right foot had somehow become detached from my leg. A couple of months ago I light-heartedly mocked one of our club members for wearing pogies (not least because it rhymes with... I'm sure you get the idea). After yesterday I'm beginning to think it might be a good idea to invest in some, either that or some kind of kayak mounted system for heating the water immediately around my boat (maybe I could recharge it with hot air from fishermen? Hmm, I see a plan forming)

The final rapid just before the get out at Dolauhirion bridge was the only grade 3 drop on the run, a fairly steep drop with a decent sized stopper at the bottom. We'd scouted it from the bridge and from river level before we got on the river, and it looked as though there was a pretty distinct slot on the left to drop easily through. From above though, the line was nowhere to be seen. I went hard left and managed to miss the top of the slot, dropping in from the side and nearly capsizing on the edge of the stopper. Three others in the group hit the line spot on. And swam. It seems a little bit of mild directional error can be a good thing sometimes, and it was nice not to be the one capsizing for a change.

So the winter of paddling continues...

Snaps courtesy of Graeme from Monmouth Canoe Club. Cheers Graeme!

And a bit wetter still...

The season of guinea pigging and generally trying to paddle as much as possible continues!

A first ever session paddling on the artificial course at Cardiff International White Water Centre found me fighting to hit eddies in the fast flow and finding little respite in those I managed to make it into. Unlike most of the rivers I have paddled, the whitewater course has fast recirculating eddies, meaning that when I paddled out of the flow, there was no real rest to be found. With vicious swirling boils to be found on each eddy line as well, I rolled and swam my way down the course.

The final indignity came on only my third run around the course, when I capsized, rolled back up again and promptly capsized again, with the concrete bottom of the course smashing into my paddle, which in turn smacked into my nose. A runny nosebleed and a bit of TLC from the centre staff later, and I was on my way home, chastened but determined to return and get to grips with the CIWW course.

A few days later, my much anticipated 4 star kayak training failed to materialise, due to an unforseen 2AM detour to west Gloucestershire, but that's another story...

I made day 2 of the training, and had a great day on the River Usk, with top-notch coaching from Paul Marshall of Inspire 2 Adventure. We ran the Talybont to Llangynidr section of the river, including the grade 3 Mill Falls rapid, a first for me, so I can't wait for the next course in January.

The latest bit of paddling was back up to North Wales, guinea pigging with Getafix again on a 4 star open canoe assessment.

A perfectly still first day on the Dovey Estuary gave me and Laura a fantastic introduction to open water canoeing, with wide-ranging vistas across the river in the early winter sunshine. The second day was on the River Dee, with eerie mist shrouding the riverbanks as we got on and bitterly cold weather prevailing for most of the day. The Dee had an entirely different personality to the last time we paddled it, with higher water leaving the Serpent's Tail almost washed out. The run from Horseshoe Falls to Llangollen seemed to take no time at all in the faster water, and it was soon time to bid farewell to North Wales again. For now.

If you're not getting wetter, you're not getting better!

... or so I was told many years ago when I made my first tentative paddle strokes on white water at Symonds Yat rapids. This week has seen me upside down and back to front almost as often as paddling the right way around, but despite this I'm convinced that I am indeed getting better.

A leisurely canoe on the Wye between Erwood and Glasbury was rudely interrupted by Hell Hole rapid, where my hasty readjustment to run a fast chute backwards was described as 'the coolest thing I've seen all year' by one of our group. If only it had been fully intended...

The Wye was only a warm up for 2 days as a mock student on a 4 star kayak assessment in North Wales organised by Getafix coaching. The first day was spent on the Vrynwy, a new river to all of the candidates, as well as me, Laura and the other 'guinea pigs'. With pretty consistent white water almost from the word go, the upper section of the river was fantastic fun, and not too difficult to run. Reaching Dolanog Weir - a pretty horrendous looking set of drops with a tree in the flow for good measure - we took the sensible option and walked around it.

Further down river, things began to get more interesting. Our leader for one section skidded high onto a rock running one drop that looked fairly innocuous from above, but proved to be far trickier. I tried to run the drop to the left, but was forced onto a rock, capsizing me only about 2 metres above the drop. Common sense overcame my initial instinct to try to roll, and I hunkered down instead with my face pressed close to my deck. Four or five thuds followed as the back of my head bounced off the rocks, until eventually the thumping stopped and I rolled back up, safe but disorientated at the bottom of the rapid. Craig, one of the candidates, insisted that I took the perfect line, with the only problem being that I was upside down at the time! Given the amount of expensive kit involved in kayaking, I was pleased to finally make use of my helmet.

Day 2 was spent on the Dee between Horseshoe Falls and Llangollen. The river was high, with the island at Serpent's Tail rapid partially flooded. After a bit of consultation with Pete, the assessor, I decided to run the main drop, and came up with a fairly detailed plan: Leave the eddy and ferry glide across to the start of the wave train. Follow the wave train towards the drop. Hard left into the drop, hard right out of the bottom. Here's what actually happened: Leave the eddy and battle across the flow, hitting the wave train part way down instead of at the top. Battle to stay on the wave train, struggle to avoid capsizing above the drop. Oh, hold on a minute - there's the drop. Fall down the drop into a foaming wall of white water. Oh dear, I seem to be upside down again. Wait. Wait. I think I might be out of the rapid now, try a roll. And again. That's better, I can breathe again. Head for the eddy. Capsize again on the eddy line. Roll back up again and catch breath.

Further shenanigans and playing in stoppers downstream led to me rolling 3 or 4 times more over the course of the day, but oddly enough left me more confident in my own abilities than before, which brings me to today. Cheque in the post, 4 star training booked.

Loop the Loop: A weekend on the Dart

Having missed the last 2 club trips to Dartmoor, I was excited to finally be able to make it this year. I'd paddled on the River Dart once before when I was very new to kayaking, but only on the easy lower section. Now it was time to step up a gear and take on the Dart Loop, a classic intermediate whitewater run.

As we drove down the M5 the water levels were already dropping following a dry few days, so we made straight for the put-in at Newbridge. An easy chute underneath the bridge led onto the warm up section, with all of us taking our time down towards the 'Washing Machine' rapid. With a 1 metre drop, I couldn't see what was coming, and instead of punching through the stopper at the bottom, I nose-dived into it, causing a capsize and roll.

With nothing more serious than a bit of wounded pride to deal with, I paddled on, following the rest of the group towards 'Lover's Leap', the second of the 3 main rapids on the Loop. We got out to scout this one, as it's somewhat longer than the others and harder to see the line from upstream. Craig, one of the more experienced among us, pointed out the main hazards, including a couple of large boulders to the right of centre, and I headed off, trying to follow his line. The rocks proved easier than expected to avoid, and we headed on towards 'Triple Drop', the final significant rapid of the run.

At triple drop, I somehow managed to capsize on the first, relatively simple, drop, before recovering and taking on the remainder of the rapid with no difficulty. After portaging at Holne Weir, we finished by 2PM, just in time to drive back to Newbridge and do it all again!

With the rivers dropping further throughout the weekend, we only managed a run on the lower Dart, followed by an interesting excursion on the Plym, where boat scraping rocks blended with a few short and sharp chutes to make an enjoyable afternoon. We ran both of the weirs on this section, and stopped to play a while on the first one, which proved to be a pretty grabby, if shallow, spot. Sound effects from Laura added to the entertainment as she skittered and skidded across the face of the weir, screaming loudly as she did.

Despite the lack of rain, we made the most of the weekend, enjoying a couple of decent runs on the Loop and scouting out a new river with potential as a beginners' run in higher water. Next time, more rain though please!