Taf Fechan - the night before & the journey home

Friday 14th saw the end of term for Cardiff Uni, and the usual ' Drink The Bar Dry' which I attended with some of the Cardiff Uni Kayakers. A few pre-drinks at Jonny King's saw some laughs, then a sweet night spent in the Student Union. My memory does not serve me overly well, so tales of the evening will have to go un-regaled.

Rowan rocking it RSB style

This night on the 'razz' saw in Saturday feeling absolutely shattered. Unfortunately I am not built for late nights; apparently my body likes it's 8 hours sleep to start on the night prior to my wake up, as opposed to the early hours of the day that I am meant to be getting out of bed. Therefore at 08:00, when my body feels though it should normally be getting out of bed, my head was spinning.

Everyone in a merged orgy

Luckily my brain kicked in, knowing that I had nothing planned for the day, I headed back to the land of nod. 11:30 came, and from the warmth of the bed, I saw there was water in South Wales. Getting hold of Procrastinate's Max Emery and Stu Sheath, both of whom were also hung over, the Taf Fechan was the river of choice.


Stu's girlfriend had his straps and roofracks, so all 4 boats went on Joanna (my Saxo). This made her heavy and sluggish, increasing my view that overweight women are just no help! The slightest incline saw her power drop, and our speed decrease! This was thoroughly annoying, yet we got to the river, and there was water in it!

Stu getting ready at the Taf Fechan get on

Stu and I went to run the shuttle with Max map reading. This meant that we were leaving Jonny at the top with the boats. Now you may think that this is a bad idea, and reading the NSPCC website, namely "what the law says", it does show that children shouldn't be left alone (I assume this also means adults who have the intellectual capacity of a child as well!). Luckily Jonny met someone to whom he was intellectually superior:

Jonny's latest friend

Apparently her name was Abigail, and Jonny and her shared an apple together.
Actually, now I am thinking about it, if it was the same Jonny we saw at Drink The Bar Dry on Friday, he was probably flirting with her!
Hhmmm... Now I'm glad that no-one else turned up.





With the Shuttle over, we were getting onto the river at around 15:00, so I was hoping for a relatively fast run, as we estimated about an hour and a half of useful light left. This increased my nerves a bit, but when on the river it didn't seem to matter any more. The run was a beaut. and although there were trees in some of the sections, which was a real shame, the run was great fun.

A cheeky Go-Pro screen shot from the river

It was a real treat to be boating again, even if motivation was low during the drive up. The best part of it was that this was a first run for us all, which made it tremendously fun. We finished the river at around 16:20, so perfect timing really, as it was just getting dark. And by the time we picked up Stu's car it was dark.

Screen Shot of the get off - Showing just how dark it was

Now, I have always been sceptical about the roof-racks on Joanna, and today confirmed my suspicions. Jonny and I were in the Saxo, and on the A470 when it happened. The rear bar of my racks came off. All I heard was a noise from above, and then in the rear view mirror I see Stu's boat flying! I pull over immediately and Jonny and I get the boats off the road, running onto the A470 like mad-men. Luckily the cars behind stopped in time and didn't get hit by the boats. Max came running up to help, and him and Stu were close behind, and we cleared the road.

A Copper pulled up about a minute after, with the small amount of traffic behind us now cleared and made sure everything was OK, seeming very casual about the while thing.
Copper, "Everything alright boys?"
Me, "Yer, the roof-rack has broken."
Copper,"Oh, OK. Wanna make sure everything is off of the road now I'm here?"
Me, "Yer alright, sounds like a plan"

As he reversed up the road, I had a quick sweep over, but the lads had done a good job getting the debris off of the carriageway.

The Officer then asked us to pull our cars off the road a bit more, and then to all our surprise he just drive off, clearly he thought we had it under our control. Both Stu and I put on our high visibility jackets to look the part (a very important part of roadside safety), and Max got on the case of getting someone to help get the boats back, as my roof-rack didn't fair well in it's tumbling to earth.

This is the part of the story where the Hero's of the day are named. Max managed to get Helena Goode and Zoe Pelech to come and pick up the boats. A conversation that started, "Hi Helena, can you do me a MASSIVE favour..."

So Helena and Zoe drove to find us on the A470, and took the four boats back to Cardiff. Dunno what we would have done without them, and a massive thanks has to go out to them both, coming to find us and give us a hand on a Saturday night.

Assessing the damage to the boats showed that they were in good nick still, and the roof of Joanna also seems fine. The only thing that broke was feet of the roof-rack, and all in all a good outcome from what could have been a catastrophic f**k-up.

Hope that was an interesting read, and a Merry Christmas to Everyone.

Till next year...

Tawe; Back in a boat (and someone out of a boat)

It’s been a while since I have had the chance to update this blog. I have been to Cardiff White Water Centre a couple times, but not worth blogging about as it was just some playboating after I had been rafting during the day. Otherwise I have been playing polo, resenting the fact that it is taking up more time. If you wanna read about the polo side of the Stuff The Consequences be sure to check out Polo The Consequences blog.

However on Monday evening I managed to get a quick evening run on the Tawe with Procrastinate's Max Emery, Jonny King and Stu Sheath. It was an evening run because both Stu and I are working, so that students like Jonny and Max can continue to freeload through life.

The weather on Monday morning was horrible, which was promising for the water levels, but made the idea of going outside less appealing. An early decision was to attempt to run the Nant Clydach a few times so that the shorter daylight hours wouldn’t pose a problem. However the weather brightened up in the afternoon and it was clear that the Clydach wasn’t going to be on.

The choice was then left between the Mellte and Tawe; basically we knew that both of these runs could be done in time if we were on the ball. With the afternoon being mostly rain free, both runs were looking lower than originally thought. However as none of us have been in a boat for a while, the decision was made to just go have a look and jump on something.

Getting to the Mellte with Max and Jonny, the gauge was reading just below 6. This wasn’t ideal, and I was surprised as the water was as brown as fluids ejected in the art of Klismaphilia, but this must have just been because of the earlier rise in levels washing the banks. Stu turned up just after 17:00, and with sunset due for 18:53, the idea of walking out of the Mellte in the dark seemed unpleasing should it come to that, so we headed over to the Tawe. We knew there would be water, that we could have a little play and be off the water before it was too dark.

The gauge at the get on we use read around 0.45, which was higher than we last run it, but then that was scrapey low. We ran the shuttle and got ready to get on. Jonny, being the amazingly intellectual guy he is, didn’t bring a dry-cag with him. Obviously the cold evening wasn’t enough of a deterrent to get some warm clothing. He did contact Max 10 minutes before we were set to leave saying he was cag-less and there was one somewhere in Max’s garage, but no more detail than that. However, being the amazing handy chap I am, I had a spare that I lent him. Obviously his scrawny body was far too feeble to fill my cag, with the neck seal being as tight as a collapsed Squish Mitten, but at least it would provide some wind resistance.

The level was OK, and running down to the drop it was nice to have a play and be back in a boat. We had a few runs of the drop, as it was the most fun part of the river, and worked on our technique. On my first go, I came up to the lip at about 30 degrees, and my mind stopped. I didn't have a clue which side to boof stroke on, I was more muddled than a dyslexic staring at a Scrabble board, and I just penciled over. Luckily after that attempt, my mind got back into gear and I got the stroke on the others.

Max was keen for a Hammer over the edge, and decided to give it a go. Unfortunately he messed it up and pencilled the drop, ended up caught under the drop and swam. Luckily we saw two Swansea based paddlers there, and one of them was in the pool at the time and managed to get his boat to Max and pull him out. This was good, as both Jonny and I were at the top of the drop unable to do much. Max’s paddle exited before he did, and Stu managed to pull his boat out after. It was a noble attempt, crap but noble, and to be fair to him he had balls to give it a bash and commit to it. I was gonna give it a go, but getting to the lip, I froze and didn’t manage to get a stroke in, so also pencilled the drop. Luckily I managed to stay out of the towback, and there were no more swims recorded. A couple more runs and it was getting dark, so we continued on to the end. It was sweet to get back onto a river after so long, and hopefully with the winter months coming, more boating and blogging is to be had.

Have put a little edit together of us messing around on the drop, hope you enjoy. Unfortunately my GoPro fogged up as I didn’t have any Anti-Fog inserts

    

Life of Mole

So I have finally put the videos of my French Alps swim together. This is when I was running the Tunnel down section of the Middle Guil. I haven't swam for so long that I forgot how tiring is was, and watching the footage over again reminded me of how tired I was, just looking at little bits where I can't do simple things shows this.

The reason for the video coming now is that I am aware that I haven't blogged for a while, and thought I needed some more hits. Now that Polo The Consequences (PTC) has kicked off and the umbrella corporation of Stuff The Consequences is growing, much faster than any other similar companies, David James Ltd. springs to mind, I thought that I should keep the momentum going.

The video comprises of my GoPro HD Hero 2 point of view as well as my Canon IXUS 230HS used by Rif. As I say, its pretty raw, but just to show what happened. The title, 'Life of Mole' was conjured up when we were sitting in the Gite watching the video over.

Hopefully over then next few weeks I should be purchasing a new entry level DSLR camera, and will be able to take more photos and videos for the blog, as well as the PTC blog that Andy Francis is leading.

  

La Bachelard Video

This is a video of the Bachelard, one of the rivers we got on when we spent a day in the Ubaye Valley. As explained in one of the update posts whilst we were in France, this river was really nice and the day was beautiful. It's unfortunate that it is all head-cam footage, we didn't get out to film from the bank, which is a shame as this would have been perfect for getting out the boat.

I originally thought I would put all of the French stuff in one video, but this river stood out, and it is probably the best footage of everything I managed to record, so I hope you enjoy it. And apologies for the length of time between coming back and outputting this video, I have been lazy and not worked on it whilst being back.

It comes in HD 720p if that is not your preset:

This was recorded on my GoPro Hero 2 and edited on Adobe Premiere Elements 9.

      

French Alps update

Day 5

Today we went to the Ubaye to have a look at what the levels were like over there. The weather was cracking, first day off pure sun.

Looking at the race course the levels were looking high, and just out of interest we went to look at Fresquière, which was off its tits! So we went to hit up the race course and it was properly going. It was brilliant fun! Fast and bouncy, we had some good little sections with Phil and I taking the lead on different parts, nothing hard with the knowledge of read and run that makes river seam dreamy. Morgs wasn’t feeling overly comfortable, but we all got down and had a good laugh. However this was a reasonably pushy level, where the stoppers and pour overs had to be treated with respect, as I found out having dropped into one, and needing to battle in order to avoid being pulled back into it.

Ubaye racecourse head-cam shot

The plan was then to try and find the Bachalard to have a little go on it after lunch. Arriving at the get off, we had our sandwiches, and then drove to the top. The 'get in' is down this little path against the bridge which is kind of savage, but worth it to do the run. Sliding down the bank on my ass, like a dog with worms sliding on the carpet, I reach the river side and what a sight, clear water and beautifully clean rock. The first half of the river reminded me of Corsica, little boof strokes needed and lots of edge changes. I recommend anyone to give this a go, as it is a tremendous run, however the guidebook suggests that it only runs one month a year, so we could have just been lucky because we came out in the early season. The scenery is also one to be taken in as you're heading down, and easy to do so, because the river has nothing too demanding on it.

Bacharlard head-cam shot

The day ended with us having a beer in Ubaye village and heading over yo Guillestre for more drinks and some food. With a couple beers in our system, conversation ranged from the UK's education system to the government and its structuret. Apparently after a few drinks, a group of five men can solve all of the world’s problems. Unluckily though, the thoughts were forgotten by the following morning. Just to clear things up, as we are all manly men, the conversation did also included birds, boobs and killing bears, three subjects I can safely say we are all expert in.

Day 6

Today started cold as anything, and this was a slight downer. But our plan was to head to the Durance Gorge hoping levels had fallen. The gauge was showing 9, yet this still looked higher than a gangster rapper on his day off, and the nerves were running wild. Morgan, Phil and I kitted up and headed on down. The holes were meaty and the lines were hard to see from the boat, but luckily Phil and I took an even amount of leading, as being switched on for the amount of time needed to run the whole thing would have been too much. Both Phil and I were feeling the nerves, and as the portage was getting closer it was getting more and more nerve racking. So you can picture it, imagine racking your nerves in the most rickety rack ever, causing more nerves to show themselves and filling the rickety rack fuller, making it stress and strain under the weight, causing an exponential growth of nerves during the nerve racking experience, that is how nerve racking it was! Now the portage get out has seemed to have changed from what I remember, as there used to be a tree over the river. I took a few snaps to give you guys a look at the get out to aid you finding it. My advice is that when you see a rock slide on river right, get out and look, because it is most likely the start of the portage.

 View upstream from eddy

 Downstream from eddy

 view of eddy (you can see the rock slide on the bank)

View of opposite wall

Hopefully these photos will be helpful for those wishing to do the Durance gorge, and need a small reminder of what the start of the portage may look like.

The portage was hellish as ever, making each footstep challenging. Getting back on after a little bit of a rest, the river didn’t let up, the holes were still strong and to hit the lines still required strong strokes. Nearing the slot Phil and I had our eyes peeled. Luckily the big river right eddy was still there and relatively obvious, so a quick walk around saw us at the right hand bend into the hole and shoot. Morgan wasn’t feeling it and walked around. I ran it first, feeling nervous but psyched, finding the line relatively easily, with Morgan on a throwline round the corner. Then Phil ran it, and again got through without much effort. Going down to the chicane the river let up a little, and on arrival, Phil was leading and chose to go over the drop/rock slide river left, which made me immensely happy as I followed with glee. Then we were out, smiles all around, feeling good about the run, and glad to be out safe and in tact. A committing gorge to be in, but worth the nerves and the effort all the same.

A good break and lunch followed, getting our breath back. Rif and I went to do a blast of Briançon Gorge. It was a little lower than before, but a fun read and run all the same. The evening then consisted of a BBQ and a few drinks, cards and lier dice.

French Alps first couple days boating

Day 3

So today was the first day of boating and excitement was running through the crew. A lethargic morning after a nice evenings sleep, led to us reaching the get on for the Onde. Noticing that it was at the highest level any of us have seen, there was minimal questioning to just jumping on, but hey ho you can’t allow logic to get in the way of a good time boating. So Phil, Morgan and I got into our kit as fast as a prostitute having been paid, and virtually as soon as we were on, we seemed to be at the bottom, smashing the section out in less than 8 minutes. Not much of a warm up, but we all seemed to be a little bit flaky. So down to the pub it was for a cheeky drink to steady the nerves before heading to the Lower Guisane to get the remaining few cobwebs out of our systems. This was again at a very interesting level, yet this seemed to cause a lot of the rapids to wash out, just making the run very continuous and some of the usual easy sections a bit more tasty. Luckily at the get off we were met by a wonderful sight, another group of English cars. Now this wasn’t a wonderful sight because there were English people about, I have no time for them, but on inspecting the cars we saw this…

This is the sort of sight I would like at the end of every river, but unfortunately having been in Cardiff Uni Kayakers it never seemed to materialise… Welsh magazines are not quite the same!

As Rif was after a warm up, we headed to the sunshine run to get him back on the river after a 2 year gap, and headed on down. The river was high, so flowing fast to mine and Morgan’s relief and we were down to the Rabioux in not terribly long. The second wave in the Rab wave train was surfable, but surging at the same time, allowing somewhat of a good surf. Finishing the run lead to another short trip to the pub for one more drink and a discussion of the future, i.e. to have lasagne or bolognaise for supper.

Day 4

Today started like no other, Morgan waking me up saying that he’s seen a shadow of a person in the room. Now I’m usually one to enjoy a horror movie, but when you’re in a new place, and on bottom bunk, so obviously first of the two to have a shiv plunged in his side a few times before the crazed maniac moves to the top bunk, it didn’t allow me to fall back into my deep slumber too easily. Then when waking up, it was cold, and we feared the worst, rain! We headed to the local Ed, and to my fortune there was France’s number one beverage;

The beautiful Lait Chocolaté

With a smile on my face and some chocolaty goodness in my heart, we had a plan to go look and Durance Gorge, and on arrival the gauge was showing around 11/12 and the get on looked as such…

Durance Gorge gauge

Durance Gorge get in

And a decision was to go look at Briançon gorge and come back later. Arriving at the Gorge get it, as we’ve seen this holiday before, it was high and consensus was to have a look at the final weir before getting on.

Briancon Gorge slide

The run was cracking, good clean fun and running time less that 16 minutes, bouncy waves and stoppers gave us smiling faces. This was a brilliant level for it. With Rif getting on at the bottom for a quick blast of the Upper Durance, we paddled it fast and got to the get off and the Durance gorge gauge was still up there, so contingency was to do the tunnel down of the middle Guil. Again this was looking big and we got on, this is where it went a little hairy.

Now I haven’t swam for a while, and a stopper bigger than I like to remember tipped me over. A few attempts to roll got me thinking this isn’t going to happen, but I thought I’ll give it one more go and with all my might…  Nothing happened, time to pull the deck. As I said before it has been a while since I have been swimming, and it was in no way pleasant. I felt as though a Russian prostitute was standing over me, giving me the water-boarding treatment, having had 10 days non-stop custom and not showered (or douched as the French would say) since!

In the water

Now out of my boat, I grabbed my paddle and boat and thought I don’t want to let them go, they’re too precious. But after about 50m of being sunk by stoppers the boat had to go, and I got myself to the bank with my paddle. A quick scramble up the bank and onto the road, John luckily picked me up and down to the bottom it was. No boat in the reservoir and no boat seen come past, it was a waiting game. But then Morgan, closely followed by Phil, rocked up without seeing it during their run. So I trekked up the road to have a look, with no luck. Once the boys were changed they came to find me, and with a quick update, they drove to the top to have a look, and about 15mins later Phil was back down to say they had seen it. ‘Thank God’ was my initial thought, but then he told me it was well and truly pinned, and I didn’t like that. On seeing it the boat from the road, it didn’t look good, a shear drop down and the river surrounding it. Kitting back up, we walked downstream, onto the bank at river level and it looked better, a cheeky walk up the side of the river could get us to the boat. Rif got to the rock that the boat was pinned to and a line on the boat. Then he said that the tree pinning the boat could be dislodged without too much trouble, and we got prepared, with not too much work it was free, and was in an eddy. She didn’t look battered at all, only missing the drain bung, and I gave a sigh of relief. (not to worry the is some footage that I will try and put up at some point.)

Phil and Morgan took the cycle home, whilst Rif, John and I got in the van to get back to the gite. Then it was another fun evening of food, beers and cards.

Hope that tickled the minds of a few of you, and will update on the next few days as soon as I can.