November/December 2003

Hello again paddlers.

Well what a great season we have had. I hope that you have all enjoyed it as much as I have. Nothing nasty has happened, except for Dan’s boat getting a severe beating in the Alps, gladly he came through okay that’s the main thing.

Before I go any further I must undo a mistake I made in the last Newsletter. When I was thanking everyone for their help at the Netley Marsh Steam Rally, I overlooked thanking Dave Heape, my apologies to Dave.

We are now well into the winter season. Some of us have got quite excited, especially those who are new to white water, lets hope there is some.

What a pleasant day that was, warm & sunny. We had 27 people on the water. Every one got afloat safely at Iford Bridge. We paddled gently down the Stour taking in the sights & sounds. Kingfishers & all. We stopped at our usual seal launch & everyone, who wanted to, had a play there. Some for the first time. When everyone had finished there playing, we carried on as far as the club for lunch. There to greet us was Janet & Holly. They were busy preparing a lovely B.B.Q. lunch for us. We ate & drank heartily for quite a while. Really enjoying hot dogs & burgers. Fizzy pop all round. Thank you Janet & Holly, you both did a fantastic job & it was very much appreciated.

Having given our food time to go down a bit, we set off again in the direction of Mudeford. There was a fair amount of traffic on the water so had to be very aware.

About three-quarters the way there, the water started to get quite shallow in parts as the tide was on it’s way out. We came across a small craft, with about 4 people on it, stuck on the mud. ( Ha Ha Ha ). Idiots!!! Some of the guys, (Gentlemen) Ha!!! Got out of their boats to help them. We sat around for ages waiting for them but in the end we decided it was best to carry on without them as the water was rapidly disappearing & we would have been stuck ourselves had we not done so. So we left the ‘gentlemen’ to it & went on our merry way. They caught us up just before we landed our crafts

Some of the men went to collect their cars from Iford. When they got back, we loaded up the cars & away we went home.

What a great day once again. That trip is always a good one. Thank you Chas for organising it again. Next year again I hope.

In my last newsletter, I asked for some things of interest from anyone, to include in later one’s. See report below received from Ian.

Back in the winter, some club members & friends (Ian, Ken, and Claire) were mulling over ideas for summer paddles of interest. The Thames was suggested. Which bits of it. Some said? All of it. From source at Chricklade, Wiltshire to Greenwich (London). Only 154 miles. This would be split into weekend sections of 10/20 miles per day (6 weekends).

Time was spent gathering information, charts & campsite options.

The form of each weekend would be as follows.

Friday night – Travel to campsite in the middle of paddling distance.

Saturday – Drive to start of day’s paddle. Paddle back to campsite.

Sunday – Break camp & take car to end of paddle. Paddle to finish point. Go back & collect car left at campsite & head home.

The plan was to begin in April & end in September. Up to August, they had paddled 110 miles. Camped at 4 campsites & traveled through 47 locks. Lost count of how many miles have done driving.

They have traveled through many places of interest such as Oxford, Abingdon, Reading (which was interesting, finishing in the middle of a regatta), Henley-on-Thames & past Windsor Castle. There has been a lot of nature to observe, in bird & fish form. They have been dive bombed by swans, with one direct hit & the odd bad tempered swan to deal with.

They are now approaching the last 38 miles, which 20 are tidal, from Teddington. With the busy traffic now picking up, it is going to be interesting.

Ian Mercer will give you a fuller report at the end of their travels. If anyone wishes to paddle any of the Thames, Ian will be producing a pictorial trips CD & guide later in the year.

Many thanks to Ian for this report. It sounds like the three of you are having a good time with this one. We look forward to hearing more from you & maybe a different perspective from Ken or Claire.

Owing to the great lack of rain, there was no white water for us, much to everyone’s disappointment. Still, we don’t let that stop us having a good time.

We all made our way to the North Devon coast to do some surfing. A number of the group had never tried surfing before, quite different from surfing on a board. Needless to say, there were quite a number of swims & technical get outs (me included). Everyone had a fantastic day. Even though someone managed to lock their car keys in the car, Ooooops!!

The next day, it was decided to go down to the South Devon coast. There, most of the group got onto the estuary & paddled out to the sea. It was a pleasant paddle & on the way back to the estuary there was fun & games, seal launching down the big sand dune. KIDS, I don’t know, some people never grow up, do they?

After the fun & games, we loaded up & set off for home, with some of us stopping at our usual pub for a quicky before the rest of the journey home.

All in all it was a good weekend even though we had the disappointment of no white water.

In late September Chas & Simon headed off to South West Wales to paddle the bitches tidal rapids. Chas reported these to be enormous, with waves and whirlpools to match the Zambezi. Catching one of the largest tidal changes for the year the water rose 7M (24’) in about two hours. Simon thought it was so good he even managed to get up at 4am on the Sunday (after only 3 hrs sleep) to paddle the two miles over to the rapids in the dark and surf the sun rise away (Chas stayed in bed).

Simon surfing the main wave just after the tide turned, it got much bigger later.

I was not able to go on this trip so I don’t know a great deal about it. I do know that there were quite a lot of swimmers. I am not surprised though, this is my favourite swimming pool, ha ha. There were a lot of members who have never been on white water before & quite naturally were very nervous, "although, you don’t have to be nervous to swim". From what I hear, all that did it for the first time, want to do it again, (GLUTTONS FOR PUNISHMENT).

The next trip for novices to the Dart is February 28^th 29^th if anyone is interested. Don’t forget this will be February & the water will be very, very cold, so you will need proper kit for this, as I know from bitter experience. Also, can you all try to have your own helmet. You can’t do white water or surfing without one. A dry bag would be good too, to put your food & flask in.

There has been another trip for the more experienced paddlers, I have reason to believe that someone had a "swim" but that is really a secret & I can’t name names. All I can say is, it was a weir & there was a lot of water. Never mind, there was someone on hand to rescue him (while our senior coach watched from his boat in amusement). It happens to the best of us, hee hee.

Three upper Dart trips have been undertaken at various river levels from medium to high for the Gr4+ paddlers amongst us (Dan, Pete, Simon, Graham & Chas). Apart from Pete doing his more dangerous "rapids are easier in reverse" trick all have been enjoyed and completed safely.

Late November Chas got a call from a previous SCC member, Mark Rainsley, asking if he would mind paddling a new Dagger Creek boat so that Mark could take some piccies for a magazine article. On the understanding that the paddle would not exceed Gr4, they set off for Devon. On arrival it was bucketing down with rain and Mark suggested that the Walkham would be the best river to paddle, being mainly Gr4 (not telling Chas that the rest was Gr5+), Chas foolishly agreed. See extract from Mark’s report below.

Although this is quite a while after Christmas, it is our Christmas do. It is a case of when we could get the hall.

Each year we have a fun night. We have lots of games with prizes. We all behave like children for the evening (nothing different there then). It has always been taken in the spirit that it is meant & every one has a good laugh & enjoys themselves. The rowing club has been invited to take part & compete in some of the games & just join in others. We the committee, would like as many members as possible to come along, to support this event. There will be a small buffet for those who wish to make a contribution of £2 per head (not a lot for some good scrum).

We look forward to seeing you there.

Please can some of you help me out with some news for the next letter. Even some funny pics will do, paddling ones of course.

Don’t forget, the wanted/for sale section

Dart Loop

Dart Upper

Fort William - Scotland

I hope that you all had a great Christmas.

The committee & I wish you all a very Happy & safe paddling New Year.

If I don’t see you before, I will see you on the 25th January at 7pm at the club for the FUN NIGHT.

Bye for now.

Sonia