Not getting wet (well, only a bit)
At least it was warm. And it was a weekday so we had the river to ourselves – what a treat! Since my unplanned dip, we’ve been back once (and down the River Tarn in France), so I am gradually climbing the learning curve.
I’m not sure if I will ever be fully comfortable on the water, but falling in has lessened the nerves – a bit. As a child I always had terrible butterflies before my riding lessons, but I’d still go, and still fall off the pony, and still go back for more. So I think we just have to get used to it all.
Last time we visited Symonds Yat there was a bit less water than the time I went in (after nudging the hidden rock); today ‘THE’ rock was completely visible. This meant there was a flow just about right for playing and building on the things we’d started on the last (dry!) trip. Today I only got wet because of those pesky crabs….. (Amazing how much water can be splashed up with a paddle in just one stroke).
So we found that putting the nose of the canoe at the right angle and breaking out from the eddy would take us into the flow of the river (just a bit frothy man!)and let us ferry glide across to the next gap. I’m loving starting to read what the water does, to see how the speed of the flow doesn’t just mean faster, (or wetter!!), and by getting the positioning of the canoe right for the flow, we can do almost nothing and get just where we want to be. It’s amazing how, although the river is flowing fast, we can go across the stream. In the eddies, we actually feel the canoe move upstream as the eddy circulates.
We had an audience (!) a couple with their phone, videoing our games, so I was keen not to fall in. I’m getting better balance, so the temptation (instinct?) to lean upstream is a bit more under control. With luck this will mean fewer tips into the water……We carried on with ferry gliding into smaller spaces, turning the canoe into the flow to go down forwards (how novel is that?!), making ‘C’ shapes and ‘S’ shapes.
Draw strokes and stuff
So, having hauled the canoe back up into the flat river I had a chance to practice some different strokes. I’ve used the ‘OMG-I -need- to- be- quick- and- avoid -a- rock’ draw stroke, this time I was shown a less dynamic stroke that is great for getting to the side of the river. It’s all coming, slowly, but I still have the panic rising when there is anything but flat water. I guess I’ll get there one day.
…and relax..
Time for a pint, so we got out and loaded the canoe back onto the Landie and headed for the pub. What could be better than a pint in the sunshine and a bite to eat?
Well, the answer, it seems is that we weren’t prepared to pay ‘holiday prices’ – no lunch. And on any other day I might have returned the very cloudy, rather sour pint of Doombar to the bar. We were reminded of a time in the (now disappeared) Rock and Fountain on Black Rock. We were there for an evening social with the roughie toughie guys who do the maddest sport (Cave Diving Group) and as we were a bit late, we were the last to get our pints. Mine was so awful that I inadvertently spat it straight back into the glass. Bad beer really is BAD. Oddly, when I took it back to the bar and asked for a properly kept pint, all the divers started to say things like ‘hmm, I thought it tasted off’, or ‘mine isn’t great either’. And then returned their drinks to the barman. Nothing like setting a trend!
What next?
I’m keen to get back very soon to consolidate what I’m learning, with luck we will have a bit of rain so the river will be different again. I’ve also taken the first of what I think will be too many plunges and signed up to a course at Cardiff International White Water……Watch this space.
AC Canoe Adventures 