Symonds Yat Intro to Whitewater Weekend
Saturday 10th May saw a collection of old hands and newbie whitewater paddlers converge on Symonds Yat for a weekend of paddling.
Myself and Dave H met Ross, Rob and Dave G at the highway star cafe on the A40 for a cracking pre-paddle brekkie (well recommended) before joining the rest of the group at Symonds Yat.
The river was a little high and fast with some washing out of the features on the rapids. The group split into two, one half heading straight for the rapids and the other, that I was with, paddling up stream for a small warm up. We made it as far as ‘Splat Rock’ a well-known rock on the River Wye that provides a great opportunity for a seal launch. With some moderate rock climbing skills two of the group managed to get themselves and their boats to the top of the rock, get back in and seal launch back into the river, great fun.
Dave Hutts seal launch can be seen here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q8kpNOU8grE
After this initial warm up we made our way back to the rapids to join the rest of the group. We spent the rest of the day practicing break outs and ins, ferry gliding and s-turns under the guidance of Sensei Clarke. The height and speed of the river made this a little challenging for the less experienced paddlers but was a great introduction and everybody paddled exceptionally well gaining in skill with every stroke. There were a couple of swims and some great rolls, Dave Hutt got bored of Symonds Yat and decided to swim to Monmouth for a change of scenery, I’m pretty sure Dave Clarke enjoyed the change of scenery too while chasing him.
With the speed of the river the rocks that form the eddies caught a few out, just when you think that your about in the eddie they are suddenly right behind you trying to tip you out as I found out, it’s always nice to see the river bed I think, SWIMMER…
After a great first days paddling that I think every one enjoyed it was up to the campsite at Bracelands to pitch the tents and sort out some food. The evening consisted of a great BBQ, some beers, good company and a slight domestic between Jonny and Hayley over who was sitting in the van, it’s a terrible thing watching a man failing to protect his male ego in front of his mates while the female of the species gives him some grief 🙂 As the evening got chilly we all wanted to sit in that van, amazing how much warmer it is with 13 people in.
Sunday morning seemed to come around to quickly after Sat night and so it was absolutely necessary for some of the group to revisit the greasy spoon just to re-assess the quality of the brekkie. The spirits seemed to be lower this morning, the bounding enthusiasm of the previous day had dissipated. That being said we were all soon back on the water, pleasantly the levels were lower and the rapids more usable. Most of the morning was spent refining those skills we had developed the day before.
One thing that has been reinforced from the weekend was that jealousy of the ability of the young, who seem to just be able to do stuff with ease, Alice nailed every line, stayed in her boat and seemed to just effortlessly manoeuvre across the river, well done Alice, we are all envious of your youthful skills. Although saying that Neil her dad did show us how masterful he was at rolling.
Around lunch time and defo not because we were all getting tired some safety work was suggested. The rapids provided an excellent opportunity to practice some throw line techniques, several people heroically launched themselves of the rocks into the flow to be recovered by the rest of the group, a great chance to practice some important safety skills and great fun too.
A excellent weekend came to a close with some beers and food at The Saracens Head.
Thanks everyone for a great weekend, as my first HCC trip it was great to be made so welcome.
Bring on the next one.
A small video can be seen at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I6s9KYh0tNo
