The Advanced Canoeing Weekend was organised by Martin Stretton and led by Martin and Nikki Aldridge. Dave Clarke and I joined the troupe, giving us a total head-count of 5. The trip was aimed at some of the more experienced canoeists in the club and was geared to doing one day on grade 2/3 white water and a second day possibly doing open water sailing and rafting in high wind. In reality this group of people are probably better known as the We-no-nah Prospector Fan Club. By the time the weekend came around, it was pretty clear that there had been a sufficient lack of rain to ensure that most of the rivers were empty. A quick drive to check out the level at the get-on for the Conwy, on the A5 just outside Betws-y-Coed confirmed that we would most likely end up walking our boats down the river. One nice thing that we noticed here was a sign that states that access is granted for canoeists only. A rare sight on UK rivers.
The We-no-nah Prospector Fan Club takes a break…
The decision was made to paddle the Lower Tryweryn, since the dam was releasing for the Saturday only. We quickly sorted out our car shuttle and got onto the water at Campsite Wave. I wasted little time in trying to get my boat onto the wave to see how it would behave. I had been under the impression that the boat would just wash off the back of the wave and that I would have to put some effort into keeping the boat on the wave. I was surprised to discover that this was not the case at all, and the wave quite happily sucked up the front of my boat and had me surfing almost straight away. Being somewhat cautious, I dropped off the back and practised some ferry glides for a bit before getting up the courage to have a few more goes.
I was fairly nervous at this point as the Lower Tryweryn pretty much tops any of the white water that I have done in an open boat before and from my kayaking time on the river I was well aware of the rocky sections that would require technical finesse in an open boat and I also knew about the short wave train just under the bridge at the campsite, which could throw you against the wall on river left if you got your line wrong. The moment we started moving down the river, much of the tension lifted and I really started to enjoy myself.
Most of the first half of trip was fairly uneventful with each of us having the odd bum-line, including one moment where I discovered the importance of being able to turn around quickly within your boat: something that my kayaking brain did not even consider when the time came. The river was quiet and we commented on how there were surprisingly few people paddling. Its funny how things change, though…
The second half of the trip was going pretty well until I found a particularly poor line that forced me in toward the bank of a small island. Ahead of me, I could see a large boulder and a series of smaller boulders that meant that I would have to correct my steering and get a very accurate line to navigate my way to safety on the other side. Fortune vomited on my eiderdown. I discovered that my skills need honing and I was about to learn some tough lessons. Lesson #1: Careful when picking your lines! Within seconds my boat had pinned. I stepped out into the river. The string from my bailing scoop somehow wrapped around a part on my helmet and held me to the boat. A brief panic ensued, but I managed to untangle myself. Lesson #2: Careful about strings and things (refit this stuff in my boat).
Once out of my boat, and with my boat solidly pinned against the rocks, things slowed down and we could discuss our options. Lesson #3: Take it slow! I had gotten out of the water and was standing on a rock, trying to see if I could lift or wrestle the boat free. Open boats full of water and pinned across rocks are heavy. Martin Aldridge threw me a line with a karabiner attached, so that I could clip it to the boat. While the two Martin’s tugged on the line, I manoeuvred to the bank where I had better leverage to try to lift the boat. By slowly lifting the boat, I could reduce the amount of water in the lift and then try to raise the boat a little more. Eventually it reached a point where the weight had reduced enough to lift it over the rocks. The boat shot free and across the river attached to Martin’s line. Unfortunately it flipped again and filled up, so the task to pull it in was another slow and gradual challenge. Suddenly the whole world seemed to come paddling down the Lower T. 3 rafts and a group of 10 or so paddlers came past us as we worked to bring in the boat. I doubt most of them could have stopped if they had come across us a bit earlier. I was relieved that we no longer had a line that crossed the entire flow.
The Martins recover my boat.
While my boat was being recovered, I sat on the bank looking lovely and nattering to Nikki. Dave sat in an eddy further down river, waiting patiently. Finally, the Martins had my boat on the bank and Dave and Martin Stretton drained it, recoiled ropes and made sure all my kit was clipped in and okay. Meanwhile Martin Aldridge and I debated on the best point for me to swim across river to get to the bank where my boat was. Martin threw me a line and I waded as far as I could until I lost balance and he caught me and pulled me into the eddy. It always sucks to take a swim… but its way less stressful when you do it open boating. That said, my canoe has now got a nice crease in the Royalex as a reminder of its pin. I am a little disappointed, but I learned a lot in this little event and you can’t take up white water canoeing without some expectation that your boat is going to take a bit of a hammering.
The rest of the trip was fairly easy going, and we took the leat to portage Bala Mill Falls. I realise, now, that I need to get a lot tighter in my boat control if I plan to ever shoot that in an open boat. Response time in an open boat is very different to a kayak. Everything is much slower, but this doesn’t necessarily mean that you have more time to do things, its more a case that you need to plan your lines and how to mitigate against your mistakes a lot more carefully. That becomes really important as you navigate complex rapids and its something I need to perfect if I ever tackle something as big and boney as Bala Mill.
After the get-out we debated various camping options and what we were planning to paddle on the Sunday. River levels seemed to be dropping drastically and there was definitely no sign of any wind. The Tryweryn was not releasing either. The most likely option looked like it was going to be the Dee, with the hopeful promise that maybe the Banwy would have enough water in it. We decided to overnight at Ty Islaf and eat dinner in Bala. Dinner was good and we all chatted until pretty late, and a few of us probably had a few too many beers. Although it didn’t seem to rain, the dew-fall was heavy and the campsite was really wet. I hung in my hammock under a tarp. Dave slept in his van. And the others put up tents.
In the morning, river levels were very poor. After breakfast, we headed for the Dee and decided that we would check out MEM for a session of park-and-play. On arrival, it was clear that the car park was already pretty full and the rest of the paddling community in the area had similar plans. We checked out the river and realised that it really was almost at scrape levels. Any play in the open boats would be pretty unpleasant. Since we had all done MEM in open boats before, none of us felt particularly excited by the prospect of paddling it at these levels. After a short chat, we decided to head home and said our goodbyes.
Although disappointing that the weekend had turned into a one-day paddle, the whole experience was great and I feel I have grown a little bit more as a paddler. I’d like to work on my skills a bit more and progress as an open boater so that I can avoid further damage to my boat, but am really looking forward to doing more white water in the future. Thanks to the whole group for the help and bits of coaching and also for a really good trip together.
Ro Puttergill