HCC Trip Report 28th December 2015
Ten mile flat water Newbold on Avon to Wolston
On December 28th 2015, 33 paddlers (club record, so I’m told) turned out for a post-Christmas flat water ten mile trip from Newbold on Avon to Wolston.
After the inevitable show and tell of new Christmas kit, the fiddle faddle faffing of getting ready and famous car shuffle, we were off.
Well, not before being briefed by the trip’s co-runners, Martin Stretton and Dave Clarke. We were split into groups, as we were such a large number, with Martin Stretton, Martin Aldridge, Penny Spooner and Dave Clarke leading, Dale Clarke up front scouting for obstacles/dangers and David Garland and Aylwyn Barton helping to clear as much obstruction as possible (thank you very much).
The groups split off and got onto the water via an absolutely massive puddle on the field, and began making their way downstream. It was at this point that I began on a) an absolute adventure! and b) a steep learning curve. Now, as a novice and complete learner when it comes to canoeing and river levels and movement, I was expecting a nice, easy, gentle flat water trip, and this being only my third trip with the club, didn’t realise this might mean moving water…it looked incredibly fast and furious to me!
As he should and with much appreciation from me, Dave Clarke took me aside and offered me some coaching advice and guidance – starting with, ‘Sara, do you know how to swim?’, ‘Yes’, I replied with confidence, ‘But do you know how to swim defensively and aggressively?’, ‘uuummm….’(gulp!)….so, on went Dave to teach me about how to swim defensively and aggressively, not for ‘if’ I came out of my boat, but ‘when’…..off went my little heart at a rapid pace before I even launched onto the water….anyway….I’m happy to report that I was indeed able to stay in my boat throughout the whole trip…call it skill (doubtful), luck (most likely) and being able to take on the great advice and follow the line(s) of my fellow esteemed paddlers and coaches (thank you all!!!).
The details of the paddle are a bit of a blur, but whilst others enjoyed a gentle paddle (smug so and so’s!!), I enjoyed my adventure and perfected my ‘panic face’. Along the way, I learned all about edging, eddying in and out, breaking in and out…all about dangers, to include water flow, strainers (if you want to know the line to take to go straight through the low hanging branches, next time, follow me, aka the tree hugger), electrical fences (!!), bridges, not knowing where the river ends and the fields begin (quite often we found ourselves in the middle of a field, I for one, got beached at least once).
Although most obstacles were eradicated by those up front, or were made manoeuvrable when directed by our knowledgeable and skilled coaches and leaders, there were a few which needed to be portaged, and we all did so with great comradery and team work. The views along the way were often lovely and dotted with some unusual items due to the high water levels, to include…a bath, a massive tap in a field (someone forgot to turn it off, ba dum dum), a doll, a coconut, some bollards and a broken and rotten bridge (that was mainly under the river, rather than over the river).
Lots of laughs and several shenanigans later, we reached our destination and retired to the local pub to defrost and debrief, where, again, I was left feeling ever so pleased that I’ve been lucky enough to stumble upon and join such a great canoe club. A great big thank you!
Sara Wright