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Learning_Lessons_on_the_way_to_Dancing_Ledge,_October_2008 13_Seconds_to_get_off_Charton_Bay A_January_Weekend_on_the_Torridge Usk November 2008
This years club trip to Wales and the River Usk was a little experimental in several ways. Firstly, inundated with requests to join the trip Nick went all out and rented both the Farmhouse and the Barn at Perth-y-Pia. This meant that the trip could accommodate 32 people rather than the more usual 16. A great idea that quickly became over subscribed months ago. Then slowly as the final week before the trip drew to a close people started to drop out one by one until we were down to 22 with 11 staying in each of the accommodation units. The second great experiment was Ross and Nick “bullying” me in to doing a write up. Apparently if I do OK Nick will let me on the Usk trip next year – so here goes - My weekend started on Friday morning as I pried the keys to the new car out of my wife's unwilling hand – she doesn't quiet trust me with the car and wanted me to take my Corsa but I was taking the Canadian and managed to dissuade her of this idea. So car loaded I bade fair well and made my way to Wales. Friday Eve was passed in the local hostelry sampling the ale and the food – both of which were delicious. Feeling rather full and that we aught to leave some beer for the locals we returned Perth-y-Pai but not before a little fight in the car park as the competition between the drivers to be 2nd of 3 cars got a little tense. In the end Annie won meaning that Jo and Paul's passengers were left to open and close the farm gates. Saturday came with Barry and Ross trying to work out how to cope with so many boats and people on the shuttle and water. Eventually the plan was hatched. Barry would take us open boaters (a healthy contingent of 6) ahead while the Kayakers would follow. Once upon the water Barry gave us a challenge to follow through the day on the features– Reverse Ferry gliding. The theory seems a little strange to myself and I am sure many other club members – slow down when going through rapids so that the boat moves slower than the water and use Draw strokes and ferry glides to negotiate obstacles. But it worked, with an added benefit in that it wound up the kaykers a treat when all they wanted to do was plough down, eddy hop and surf the waves. The days paddle was interesting and we spent much of the day following a similar sized group from “North Avon”, containing lots of young paddlers in play boats pulling cartwheels etc. and in general giving Jake “boat envy”. Barry generously offered to buy him a rubber ring as these seem to be a similar size to the Jackson Star he had his eye on. There were a couple of nice looking drops that had Barry, Dave and I portaging – Barry as he still could not swim with his eye, Dave as he did not want to damage Annie's boat while she was with us for the weekend and myself who just did not fancy a swim. Paul K – seeing the play boaters taking drops sideways and backwards tried to join in – unfortunately he was in a 16' Open boat and the chute he was running was about 10' wide at the top – however somehow he kept the boat dry and in one piece as he was rocked around to his journey backwards.
Mike & Martin then demonstrated a more traditional approach.
Of the open boaters there was only one swim that day where Mike having failed with an “air brace” decided to test out the dry suit as he went over a ledge.
As we paddled our way to the get out an amusing story emerged from the Kayaking party. It appeared that Nick had got tired and for some reason took a rest on a rock and was using his paddle as a prop on the river bottom to remain upright. One of the party, obviously mistaking his posture for that of someone stuck and in need of assistance helped him upright. A little later on Nick was recounting the story and demonstrated how he was relying on the paddle to remain balanced. Unfortunately Nick forgot the vital part – to check that there was a river bottom within paddle's depth to lean on – so someone else managed to test out their new dry gear. Saturday evening and we returned to the accommodation and started to think about evening meals. Bev was catering for the party in the Barn while the Farmhouse party got to sample another of Nick's famous curry's (earlier in the day even through she was doing the cooking Bev had asked if she could join us). While awaiting the evening meal Tim was harassed by Elliot (advising that he should become more involved in leading on the water) and Paul T (who was offering “Sartorial advise” -- i.e. extolling the virtues of his new dry top). For the rest of the weekend Tim seemed most shocked at the thought of Paul offering up advise on new equipment and clothing at that. The curry was well received and followed by a homemade Ice cream dessert that Nick had also prepared. With the numbers catered for being greater than the actual number of people eating Elliot and Tim both thought there would be plenty of seconds to go around. Due to some spoilage there was only the one Ice cream left so Elliot hatched a cunning plot to ensure that he got it. By persuading Tim to sample some of Becky's Banoffee pie he had Tim distracted long enough to make a dash for the ice cream and in doing so caused some discord for the rest of the weekend. Sunday's paddle was from Talybont to Crickhowell and I decided that today I would paddle the Kayak. The day was a little more interesting than the Saturday both in terms of a different boat and therefore techniques but also more eventful. Everything was going well till be reached rapids just above Mill falls then Kevin got tripped up by the river and had a swim, he was assisted to the shore while Jake rescued his boat just before it went over the falls. It was quite a sight seeing Jake in his small Dynamo trying to push the much larger Cypher into an eddy but he managed to get it there before the seemingly inevitable backward trip down the falls happened. We all got out of the boats to inspect the falls while the impatient open boaters kept heckling from the bottom to get on with it and paddle. In the end there were three routes taken. A portage by the least experienced paddlers ,mere mortals took a hard left route down the falls while Ross, Jake et al hopped from wave to eddy to wave down the main falls – a really good bit of paddling from Jake who hit every eddy he went for. While we were waiting for the wave hoppers to finish and the final portage to occur the second swim of the day went to Toby who seemed to hit a rock while learning to ferry glide across the river. Toby, now very cold and wet also took a second swim a little later. Luckily we were not far from the optional egress point where Nick and Dot had cars which enabled Toby's family to leave the water and get dry and warm again. A reduced group travelled on to Crickhowell, a good paddle with more features than above Mill Falls including a nice drop that everyone managed to run without issues apart from Barry, with the prohibition of swimming, lining his boat down. A rogue wave a little later gave Paul T a final opportunity to test, and boast about to Tim, the benefits of his dry top as he capsized and rolled back up again The final excitement of the day on the stretch before Crickhowell occurred when a sheep was spotted stuck on a small mud ledge in the bank unable to climb up and unwilling to swim. In true Ringwood fashion there was debate over a rescue or whether the sheep should form sandwich filling for Mike's shop. You will be pleased to know that the rescue party won and the sheep was duly lifted until it was able to climb by Paul and Tim. The trip ended without further incident and we were all packed up just as the sky went black with rain again. Thanks to Nick and Barry for organising the trip and accommodation and to everyone else for another great weekend spent in the company of the Canoe Club, good food and of course some beer (not to forget a little bit of paddling). By way of a post script next years trip is booked and places are filling up as we speak! Simon Walkham / Tavy November 2008
Not as much water as we had hoped - but a fine paddle all the same. Above, Jake lines up for the 'slot' Dog Low on the DartThe first 'White Water Day Trip' of the season - and we were in two minds about cancelling. The Loop proved very low but provided enough entertainment and a challenge for the 'Opens' More photos are given here
Learning Lessons on the way to Dancing Ledge, October 2008The first lesson was learned on the way to the meeting point for the trip at Swanage: don’t rely on the Sandbanks ferry outside the holiday season. It was closed for rebuilding of the slipway, and some of us didn’t know. Fortunately, those that were taken by surprise, including me (supposedly the organiser), were in good time and went the long way round without delaying the ones with the better local knowledge. Lesson two was a completely new one to me. We had put three sea kayaks on the car the evening before, for Bev, Jake and I, to give ourselves a more relaxed start the next day. When we took them off at Swanage Bev gave a cry of surprise: “There’s a pigeon in my boat!” Yes, always check your boat for stowaways, even if you loaded it on the car yourself. A young pigeon must have perched on the kayaks, slipped between the two cockpits, and rode from our house to Sandbanks, then the detour round Poole harbour, to Swanage. It looked pretty ragged and confused to say the least. Dot put it under some bushes in the park, but I can’t help thinking a knock on the head might have be the most humane action. Despite the various dramas we were away from the beach by 10:30, and enjoyed a lovely paddle to Dancing Ledge. There was a gentle swell of a little less than 1 metre, but the reflection of this off the cliffs, together with some smaller waves, confused the sea and made it a bit more interesting. It was still calm enough to get in close to the rocks though, and enjoy the detail of the geology and the bird life.
Graham’s Events List had stated Swanage to Dancing Ledge as the trip route, but I was hoping to go further. When we got there though, young Jake was getting tired, or bored perhaps, and Graham Mussett working hard to keep up in a white water boat, so he was already thinking about how tired he’d feel on the way back. The swell on the ledge would make landing a little tricky, but the alternatives further West I thought might be more difficult. We agreed to stop there for an early lunch, and I asked a couple of the plastic boaters to go in first and help those in fibreglass boats to land. They had interesting landings in the surf that was breaking onto the ledge. It wasn’t big, but the ledge slopes down from West to East, so the surf was complicated by a reflected wave running across the ledge sideways. Unfortunately some paddlers thought the best way in was to ride the surf, which might work in small surf on a friendly beach, but wasn’t the easiest ride there. Inevitably they were broached by the breaking wave or, if they controlled that, by the reflected wave, and were pushed up the beach sideways or on a diagonal. Poor Richard Jennings, in his brand new boat, did just that and christened the bottom with some scratches through the pristine gel coat. Ouch. Sitting with those watching and worrying on the sea, I recommended they wait for a small wave to lift their boat, and paddle in on the back of the wave rather than surf it in, but the advice from those already on the ledge was different, with shouts of “Paddle!” as a breaking wave curled at the next person’s stern. A couple more kayaks went bouncing up the ledge, with a few grazed hands and arms after boats capsized. Fortunately, Bev and Jake were last in. They understood the problem and the solution, and made perfect landings. Phew!
As usual, after a relaxed lunch in the sun, there was little appetite for paddling any further, so we helped each other to launch off the ledge again. The waves had reduced a little but it was still interesting, trying to time the launch to avoid the bottom of the swell which left the edge of the ledge a couple of feet above the trough. Mike Worth was noblest of us all, and found himself last and alone on the ledge, but a walker took pity on him after his first failed attempt and gave him the hefty shove he needed to clear the ledge. We returned to Swanage on a slightly smoother sea, with fantastic views of a peregrine working its way along the cliffs above us for several minutes, and fascinating views of the seabed below.
Apart from the kayakers’ guide promoted on our site, there is another great guide to this bit of coast: “Inshore Along the Dorset Coast” by Peter Bruce, now in its fourth edition. I know Peter, having worked with him on another of his books, “Heavy Weather sailing”, and have a lot of respect for him and his books. This guide contains excellent photos, navigation notes, tidal information and history, all designed to be of interest for those pottering along within spitting distance of the rocks. A good one for the Christmas present list perhaps. Barry D. Woolacombe September 2008
It was supposed to be a surf weekend! All I have heard is, from Ross:- There was some very small ocean swell but no wind. It did feel like being on a lake at points. We went for a 12k paddle around the rocks as well. There were enough waves to get martin swimming more than once!! Some photos from Barry attached
Liffey DescentJust a picture (from Nick L) of Dave and Jo Ratford having run Wrens Nest weir
Paddling in FinlandThis year the Deakin family summer holiday was in Finland, and as usual we inflicted some heavy doses of rain on our hosts. The lakes were well above their normal summer levels, up to a metre in some cases, and this represents an impressive amount of rain considering how much of the country is covered by lakes. We stayed at the summerhouse of the Gleed family, old friends of ours and now club members, which is a fantastic old log house beside a lake in central Finland. We had hoped to spend several days paddling, but the weather was fairly cold, windy and wet, and we weren’t inspired to go camping. We did hire a couple of lake touring kayaks for the day, from a campsite a few miles away. Jake and I paddled them to the summerhouse, and all the adults and children there had a very happy time in them. They are excellent touring boats: light, tough and with enough directional stability for any novice to paddle them where they want to go. Mark Gleed and I paddled them back again late at night, and that was a very relaxing night paddle.
We also hired two Coleman open boats and two touring kayaks for a day from another base. The owner took us 20 km upstream of his base and our two families paddled back through the lakes and connecting rivers. We were really lucky with the weather that day, with plenty of sun and the wind behind us or calm. The scenery is lovely, but with no high hills and most of the ground tree covered, a canoe is a great way to see it. If you walk you only tend to see a few metres around you, but out on the water the views are much wider. It was a very varied trip, with lakes and islands of various sizes, and the rivers between them sometimes flat, sometimes with simple rapids. Mark didn’t agree with the description of “simple”, as he navigated down 200 metres of grade 2 rapid, with quite a few hazards, on his first day in an open boat. No problem though. There was only one essential portage on our route, around a small power station, and that was effortless because an excellent trolley was provided. There are summerhouses scattered around the lakes, but they are mostly inconspicuous, there are hardly any people, and other boats are a rarity. We were there in late August, relatively late in their summer season, but it would never be busy. An advantage of that time of year is the low numbers of mosquitoes, and they weren’t a problem for us. Also in low numbers were the birds. We saw very few anywhere and that was probably also because we were after the breeding season. Fish were abundant though, and the boys caught plenty on rods and in a fish trap, mostly pike and perch. Canoe hire was about 25 Euros for 24 hours, but transport was extra. As in the rest of Scandinavia, you can exercise “everyman’s right” and camp virtually anywhere for the night, but there are designated fireplaces along walking trails and popular canoe routes. Many of these have firewood provided, and often with a sleeping shelter and perhaps even a toilet. It is very much as I imagine Canada to be, with similar scenery and more water than you could paddle in a lifetime, but much closer. Barry 13 Seconds to get off Charton Bay
The August Bank Holiday weekend started off fine enough - and Ladram Bay proved a good launch site. A smooth sea, impressive stacks, light winds and sun. There were only 4 of us (Elliott, Rich, Simon and I) – which kept the faff and shuttle to a minimum. We were on the water by 09:30 We made the 24 kms to Charton Bay by 2pm (despite trying to keep things slow and easy)
We knew that this was the best camp on our way to West Bay, in hind sight we should have continued but we opted for a lazy afternoon on the beach. Besides It gave Elliott a chance to practice his camp skills
However, growing storm clouds and rain extinguished our fire and found a design fault in my bivvy bag. The outcome - a sleepless and soaking night. (I should have paid a little more attention to the design of my pit – a lesson learned). While the storm had passed by first light, it left a 'boat breaking' dumping surf in its wake
We sat on the beach all morning waiting for a 'break in the break'. The heavy dumpers were coming every 7 seconds and we reckoned there was little chance of a successful launch of 4 boats in these conditions. We walked the mile long bay to check out the launch conditions and to try to raise a mobile signal for a shipping forecast (continuing F4 all Sunday, heavy rain showers overnight, picking up to F5 Monday). Eventually (by mid day) the period between large dumping sets had stretched to a respectable 13 seconds. Was this enough to launch the 4 kayaks or should we wait it out for another wet night on the pebbles? And a stiffening forecast? In reality the launch was a piece of cake and we rode a 2 meter swell on to Lyme Regis and the sanctuary of the Cob. Here we arranged for a ‘Taxi driver from hell’ to re-unite us with the vehicle at Ladram It was a fun weekend. Lots of laughs, a little tension and lots of education Graham B Treweryn June 2008 |
Perhaps
we could add a note about the value of reported sightings, and link to their
marine mammal reporting scheme, 
