So you may have noticed the amount of rain we have been having recently. This has been good to the South Wales rivers (and to the whole of the UK really) in terms of kayaking, however there has been one issue; the rain is coming mid week, and then the weekends are usually drizzly and not providing the swelling torrents that I am after. This isn't an issue for my freeloading (student) chums, but when I am stuck in work on a Wednesday whilst all I receive is boating messages, it makes me a little sad inside. Luckily, not being Amy Winehouse, I'm not gonna drink myself to death trying to numb the pain, but maybe harbouring hatred for all my friend's free time isn't that healthy either.
Luckily this Sunday just been (the 27th) was the weekend I was back in a White Water kayak; I was happier than the children of America were when they read the obituary list for the June 25th 2009. Having been out on the Saturday night, the Sunday morning was seen in with a slight headache. Not being able to boat on Saturday had meant I was chomping at the bit to get out. A cheeky text to Stu (A Procrastinate boater) said that levels were looking low and asking what he thought (later deducing that I may have messaged him in the middle of his breakfast). His attitude seemed similar to mine, tiredness was lowering motivation. Half an hour of non-committal messages the ensued. The information exchanged was about as meaningless as Lib Dem's next election campaign is going to be, so Stu got hold of Fran (Procrastinate's founder) to see what his thoughts on the situation were. With Fran providing the motivation to do it, Stu got hold of Simon (OSBC founder) whilst I got hold of Phil. The plan was set, meet at the Mellte for 10:00.
I picked up Simon, Stu and Fran to set off on our way. I had taken a cheeky shortcut (which in reality ended up being longer, but as a man stuck to the story of it being a shortcut) only to get abuse for the decision. Apparently the scenery of Cardiff is not to the other's taste, but they soon got over this and we met Phil at the Mellte car park in the pouring rain. With Cardiff having been lovely on departure, we were without waterproofs, and getting changed was horrible. Huddled as close to the car as possible, thinking that vehicular proximity would somehow repel rain, we were changed but wet. A quick shuttle saw us at the top:
I took the photo, so wasn't originally in it. However, with the marvels of photoshop, I have subtly added myself back in
With this being Simon's first run of the Mellte, his nerves were apparently running higher than a hipster's turn-ups, and when getting to the 15 ft drop he was now hit with the harsh reality; our get in is straight into a 15ft drop. Phil and I went first, Simon followed with a successful boof, but a bit of a wobble after.
My line
Phil on the edge
Another group from the South Wales area were also on the water, and we were within seconds of each other for the whole river. We caught them up on the big drop, and whilst people were deciding lines, I decided that one way of seeing the line is to be shown it. Therefore I got in my boat and run a God damn brilliant line. Like, seriously, this line was blooming perfect. A sweet boof on the top, with the line nailed, gave me a huge autoboof which raised my bow high into the air. A majestic landing led to a humbled and dignified 'That's what you get' aimed at the world.
Unfortunately the photographer had a premature flick on the shuttle button for my run
Phil mid drop
Stu also got a sweet line, corkscrewing during the second half to show the ease with which he does things.
The rest of the run was fun, good rapids and solid boating from the five of us. We got to the bottom being elated at our decision to come, and impressed with the boating everyone managed (esp. Simon on a cracking first run on the river).
Hopefully the trend will continue and more boating is to come.
You may have guessed, with the rain we've been having and
the snow melt that comes with it, there was a fair amount of water in South
Wales this weekend. I'm sure this sort of weather pattern would be seeing England warning of floods as well as homeowners frantically buying sandbags, but in Wales the norm has been restored. This is something that I have been waiting for, Christmas is now a distant memory as is the snow that followed. I have to say that I am not a Grinch; firstly because the Grinch eventually sells out and for some reason starts liking Christmas - When I've made my mind up about something, I stubbornly stick to my guns regardless of whether I am right or wrong; and secondly because I do not hate Christmas. I only dislike it as well as the snow and crappy Christmas cheer that seems to come along with it. Luckily the Christmas credit card bills and failing New Year resolutions brings the nation back down to earth :-)
With this, Jonny King and Stu Sheath, from
Procrastinate, along with Lucie Parkinson and myself went for a paddle on the
Tawe this Sunday just been. The four of us headed to the River, Jonny and I
taking a minor detour as we were following a random car with boats on, and not
Stu and Lucie, but we all ended up in the right place. The river was reading a 7.5 on
the little gauge at the get on, and was looking high. The three of us decided that Lucie
would be able to cope, mostly because she was going to be led by two manly men,
and also Jonny! but also because we were just excited about getting on and didn't want to wait. With it being colder than the hairs on a polar bear's bum, we got into our gear quicker than a Prostitute having been paid and got the shuttle over in double time.
The start of the run was real quick down to the slides, and there were
some sweet wave trains. Lucie was coping fine, which clearly displayed the talents of whoever was leading.
Now if you’re an avid STC reader, you may know that I
always seem to have something derogatory to say about Jonny King. It's not that I try to be harsh, but he is as clueless as Shaggy and Scooby before the Advert break, and happens to be one of those chaps who is hard to paint in a good light.
Uncanny resemblance here!
Yet this Sunday he
was fairly on the ball, turning up on time-ish at Team House (Stu’s abode), as well as being switched on when we were on the river. However this slightly changed when we got to the fall on the Tawe (Pen y Cae), which Stu and I styled in a
joint boof seeing us land at the same time. We were just like Tom
Daley and Peter Waterfield, landing in the pool with perfect synchronicity,
only we have better abs and Stu looks a lot younger than Tom as well as me being a lot paler than Peter.
The lads trying to emulate our moves; however Peter, it looks like your hands are half a foot lower than they should be!
Stu and I showing the way to run a drop
Jonny's first run
Lucie's run
I freeze framed these images whilst they were on the lip to avoid showing how neither of them managed the drop well ;-), and I definitely haven't shown an image of me running for the third time as this was a disaster
So as Jonny was walking up to have another run, Stu had a
cracking idea of getting all three of us to drop off at the same time. What we
hadn’t factored in was Jonny’s inability to control his boat during the very short free fall. Adding
him to the mix was unfortunately similar to smothering BBQ Sauce over an exquisite
filet mignon with peppercorn sauce, which is what I imagine a fat American would do. Much like the tenderness of the beef fillet
being enhanced by the fiery peppercorn creaminess, Stu and I made glorious kayaking
art together. However when Jonny was placed in-between the two of us, he
managed to turn sideways whilst running the drop, landing his stern on top of me and
cutting my ear, and landing his bow underneath Stu, completely destroying the former
magic the two of us had previously made.
The three of us lining up. It looks so promising
Lucie took a knock to the head further down the run, ending
up in a swim. I scrambled out of my boat in the nick of time, got my throwbag
ready and threw the line just as she was swimming past. The unfortunate reality
of the situation was that the line ended about 3 meters upstream of her, and
therefore was no use at all. Stu and Jonny managed to sort the situation out
and we got to the bottom feeling happy about a good run.
Driving back to the top, we met up with the Cardiff Uni
Kayakers, who were preparing to jump on. Jonny, Stu and I were already set for
another run, and said that we would get on with them. Unfortunately this is
when the faffing began. We thought Jonny was able to faff like no other, but apparently as he was on time today, the world's 'faff books' needed to be balanced, and it was Cardiff Uni to the rescue. It took about an hour for the Uni lot to get themselves
in a fit state to jump on. If it ever came to a nuclear evacuation, these lot
would be left behind due to their shear inability to move above a snail’s pace.
They would probably be able to get far enough away to avoid being melted by the
blast, and just receive a good old radiation dose. (However it did work for
Spiderman, and although I’m not recommending it, you can clearly see the
benefits in The Amazing Spider-Man movie).
The gauge was showing around a 6 by the time we got back, and this was fairly obvious from the character of the
river. The run was still good fun, and the main rapids were fairly well styled
by the uni. Chris Corkill nearly re-arranged his face on one of the slides, but managed to just get his arm in the way first and Helena Goode did an amazing 360 spin whilst descending the same slide. It would have been great to say it was on purpose, but alas, I fear it was accidental. It was a cracking day, and good to see the rust off that had settled over the festive period.
The evening ended with the traditional curry in the Balti Cuisine on Woodville Road, where I had a cracking meal, albeit one not in line with a tradition athlete's diet. Jonny and Stu tried to show their manliness by going for a hot curry (the names of which escape me), but this manly facade soon crumbled when Jonny started crying and sweating like a fat child being made to run!
Happy New Year to all the Stuff The Consequences readers, visitors and friends. We hope you had a brilliant Christmas and New Year.
2012 has seen a wicked year from Stuff The Consequences and also the boys from Pro-Crastinate. Fran Smith, Pro-Crastinate's founder, has created a review of the year, showing some of the highlights from 2012. This is a cool little edit, and shows some sweet boating from STC's closest friends. Let's hope that 2013 brings some cracking water, with an Easter and a Summer trip between Pro-Crastinate and Stuff The Consequences in the planning stages.
For more videos from the Pro-Crastinate crew you can check out their Vimeo page by clicking on the image on the right;
Otherwise you can go onto their website and check out everything they get up to.
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.
So, its Thursday evening and I get hold of Dave Underhill. Its been raining so much that boating is needed. With the boat on the car, and kit inside as well, we're contemplating a new river, which always adds the danger factor. I'm nervous and excited, its like a school girl getting ready for her Prom; you know you're gonna have a cracking time, however there is a large chance you could get fucked!
So now it's Friday and I'm at work, but as ever, the slightest talk of boating had dried up the sky. It's as though Mother Nature isn't getting the foreplay she desires! However we decide that the Rhondda may have some water in, so the plan was to meet at 13:00 at the get off. As I drive up, it is clear that the river is nice and full. We get changed, both boats on Dave's car, and off to the top. The run was a real good laugh, and getting to the bottom we decide another is in order. So quick shuttle and back on it. This time Dave decides that I need to follow him close so that we can get a good video of him on the rapid. However this sort of takes from our sense of how to actually run the rapid, and we both get dangerously close to getting munched by the rather large stopper.
Seeing sky after following Dave
But it was sweet to get back on a river, and I'm glad we did get on something.
Now it's Saturday night, after a day of chilling out and watching Wales lose to New Zealand, and I am once again getting prepared for tomorrow's boating adventure. It's raining hard in Cardiff, so hard in fact that it's as though the clouds have employed the best fluffer money can buy! I've still got that feeling of being a girl on her way to the prom, I just really don't want the get spanked too hard tomorrow!
Sunday morning took too long to arrive, and waking up at 07:00 wasn't pleasant. Getting my stuff together to meet Dave for 07:30 did excite me, but checking the online gauges took this feeling of inner happiness away, and I really don't enough that I can afford to lose any! Although the gauges were reading medium for the Mellte and Tawe, this meant that the Giedd would not be running, nor the Upper Tawe. These were the two rivers we were gonna be looking at if water was high. However the option was to meet Max and Stu from Pro-crastinate at the get off for the Nedd Fechan, along with Will Bevan. Now if you're a reader of the Stuff The Consequences blogs, you may notice the name Will Bevan, and this is fo sho the one and only Adam West to my Christian Bale. This was gonna be his first time on the Nedd and the Mellte, so it was still gonna be an interesting day, regardless of the boating we could have had.
The Mellte was on a 0.7 in the morning, but as both Dave and I hadn't run the Nedd in a while, and the others not at all, this was gonna be the first river. So a drive to the top and a quick shuttle saw us on it. The first couple small drops saw us on form, and the river was a treat. It did have a fair amount of trees in, two of which were in drops that would have been quality to run, but this really didn't detract from what is a spectacular river. The most notable event on the Nedd Fechan was the drop that has a shallow landing. A quick look, and Stu said he was doing it. Dave and I looked on nervously, but Stu styled it; a nice boof and a as-good-as flat landing.
Stu headcam on the lip
Then I was to run, again I got a good flat land, however pulled slightly too hard, trying to gain some speed, and landed sideways. However the fact that it was flat was all I was concerned with.
My headcam still from the lip (what's nice about this is that you can still see the Welsh Club stamp on my hand from Friday. I swear the ink cannot be washed off!)
Then it was Dave's turn! Well, as the last to run it, and seeing that both Stu and I got a nice flat land you could probably have agreed that the run was OK to go, but we still were not sure on depth. Dave now wanted to prove just how deep the pool was, and wasn't gonna give a dam about his body during this escapade. There is a slight rumour going around that Dave is 'made almost entirely out of steel', and I dunno how true this is, but he re-surfaced unscathed.
Dave nice and vertical
Apart for this, there was not much else of massive note about the river. Getting down to the bottom, it was obvious that Will had a sweet ride, and then it was off the the Mellte.
Getting to the top of the Mellte, we met a couple lads who were waiting on the rest of their group, and had been for about an hour. If I had been made to wait over an hour for others, there would be some serious law being laid down when they eventually turned up. We ran the shuttle, and by the time we were ready to crack on, the boys had found out the rest of the group had been caught in some floods. They seemed to think this was a fair excuse, but if it were I who was caught in a flood, do you know what I would do? Not be caught in a flood! But it seemed as though these fools hadn't considered that approach. I guess that's why I got a First Class Hons Masters degree, and they're just mincing around some puddles! So we let the lads join in our group, and to the get on it was.
So the 15ft drop was gonna be the first drop that Will would have done (except a low Right Angle on the Etive), and he did it very well. When he got to the bottom you could see on his face that he was happy. Do you know that face a baby makes, straight after it has been crying because it crapped itself, and just as its mother is opening the nappy to find a holocaust of liquid excrement? Well that's the face that Will had at the bottom pool! A smug smile, whilst saying with his eyes, 'yep, that just happened. I did that', and well deserved too.
Will on 15ft
My 15ft
15ft head cam shot
Stu's 15ft run
The run down to the big drop was quick, and we had a cheeky scout of the large drop. All of us, except Will, were gonna attempt the double, with Will giving the full whack a go. Here are the results:
Dave going first
Now I didn't see Dave go, as I went second, and was on the water by this point. What I did see however was him stopping at the top of the drop to line up. This messed with my head, because I was under the impression that we'd already decided a line, but oh well.
My head footage
So straight after Dave I ran it, and its wasn't amazing. I got the boof on the first drop, but was far too left, and didn't react fast enough going down the second, and went in at about 50 degrees.
Andy (one of the chaps who we met) nailing his line
Andy was one of the boys we met at the get on, and he ran the double after me. And he fucking nailed it, a beautiful double boof to crowning glory.
Max running double
Stu running double
Will running the beast
Will once again did very well, and run the full thing almost perfectly. When he tucked up, he rotated with it, and therefore re-surfaced upside down, but still, it was cracking.
From here the rest of the river is still a beauty to run, but not much to really talk about. There were trees about, but all could be paddled around. The whole day was awesome, and even though it wasn't the boating expected, it was still a beaut.
We went to the pub at the get off for the Nedd Fechan for a swift drink before returning to Cardiff. Lucie Parkinson had spent the day slaving over a hot oven to prepare a cottage pie for us lads, and a vegetable whatever for gay boy Max. It was a sweet way to end the evening, and the cottage pie was cracking. A massive thank you to Lucie, and to whomever taught her how to cook, one would assume Lucie's mother, who I hear is a Stuff The Consequences follower ;-).
There will be a video coming from somewhere of this trip soon, although how soon cannot be disclosed for security reasons.
So finally, something else to post about. It has been a long time since I have been in a river kayak, polo once again has been taking over. However Cardiff Uni Kayakers (CUK) has saved the day by running the beloved Usk. Now this isn't a difficult river, but for the freshers of the club it gives a good little ride.
So Sunday morning I picked up Procrastinate's Stu Sheath and Duncan Sinclair, as well as CUK committee Gimp, George Williams, with some banging beats being blasted out. Testosterone levels were running high, as both Stu and I had been shooting the day before. (I mean the manly kind of shooting with guns as opposed to the dirty gyppos that you see shooting up) So we were on a manly high, and to fuel our manliness we went for breakfast. I enjoyed this start to the day, a relaxing breakfast should be eaten before every club trip!
We got to the Usk at around 11:15 and managed to get the van un-packed in a reasonable time. Once again I was placed with the mighty Will Bevan of CUK, and we are swiftly becoming a dynamic duo of power. You may be thinking Batman and Robin? NO, neither of us are Robin. He is a chump that can't take the heat. We're basically Batman and Batman, you can see a photo of the two of us standing next to each other below:
Will and I
OK, so I'm not actually saying that we are both Batman, Although if we were, then I would be the one on the left!!
Down to our group, we had an quality bunch this weekend:
The group
Jumping onto the water, we had no troubles, the girls were rocking it, and Jordan was holding it tight for the blokes too.
So, Mill Falls being the tasty section on the Usk this is really where we're gonna get down to the nitty gritty. To be fair, Holly swam further up, but the less said about that the better. *Note to self - take that comment out to save Holly the embarrassment* *Second note to self - Actually don't*
Mill Falls Eddy
We got out to have a cheeky gander at the section before we ran it, and you could see a couple faces drop at the idea of it, but this wasn't gonna stop us. Watching others get down to the bottom gave us the excitement to get down. Everyone nailed it, well actually we did have someone beach themselves on a rock half way down, but she managed to sort herself out and get tot he bottom. No swims!
Then it was just was simple paddle to the get off and time to get warm. Next week is the CUK North Wales trip, and this should really see some excitement and hopefully some banter to discuss. Watch this space.
This Saturday just been the Cardiff Uni Kayakers annual Fresher trip to Cosmeston Lakes. It was a nice sunny day, but having to get up at 0800 still didn't seem worth it. Getting to the lakes however made everything better, as the sun was breaking through, and the heat could already be felt.
I was asked to take a group with current Polo Secretary Will Bevan (seen below), and therefore I delegated my authority down to him. That's what they told me to do whilst in Uni, so I was just was applying my learning.
Now Cosmeston is a large lake, with nice surroundings. But this has also attracted some unwanted and unsavoury characters. No I'm not talking about gypsies, albeit they are highly unwanted, I'm refering to swans. I hate swans, I don't like that they are as big as they are and people are still happy with them plodding about. And what's with them being so f**king white, just f**k off swans. If I were the queen I would have them culled, its not as though they add anything. They just crap everywhere and get in people's way. Also when I was walking my boat to the waters edge, they were hissing and making the sort of noises that would lead anyone to believe they were about to attack. I'm not proud to say it, but if sh*t did start kicking off, I would have grabbed the nearest person and sent them to the slaughter.
With the swan rant over, luckily everyone surviving this time, I'll go back to the kayaking trip. So the first group Will and I were in charge of had luckily all paddled before, and showed some tasty skills whilst on the water.
Some tasty skills on display
All the groups then got together and had some fun on the water, as well as in the water.
The first lot then got off to play some games, and our second group got on. These chaps and chapettes were not as good, however showed as much determination as could have been hoped for, so well done to them.
The second group were warming up as the first were getting off. apparently this is what warming up looks like:
I dunno why the glutes are needed to be stretched so much, but apparently these two girls had a reason to do so!!! ;-)
After the kayaking part was over, both groups got changed and had some BBQ food before a couple more games were played.
A possible reason to stretch those glutes
People attempting to sit on each other
People succeeding at sitting on one another
Rope game
I was the one spinning the rope in this game, and I'm not gonna lie, I was hot and dizzy. It knocked me down for a good 5 minutes after.
Standard student games tend to involve beer
And spinning (bottles and spinning?)
It was a sweet day, and seemed as though everyone who attended enjoyed.
The main reason for this post was to get some of my camera's photos up, as I try and use it more and more, although most of these snaps were taken by Miss Pelech. For the rest of the photos, the will hopefully be on CUK's facebook page soon.
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
