Lower Taff, Sunday 27 January

Report from Emlyn: "4 of us took to the waters on this nice Sunday morning. Weather Calm, cloudy ,10 deg C. Andy Rees in charge, with novices Nick Bradshaw, Nick Thorne and me (Emlyn.).Andy decided that we’d shoot the weir for starters. N.T and myself hadn’t done this before so an apprehensive start. Andy went first (to guide us) and from the top he looked o.k., didn’t realise till he explained after that he’d overshot it to the right and at the bottom shot out to safety(he’s previously described this as the pool of death!). NT went down the weir on the correct section, (the piece that is angled higher than the rest) but came unsteady at the base, overturned but managed a good roll and made for safety. NB and myself managed to get down unscathed. NB hadn’t done it over this part of the weir, he’d done it on the left previously. The river level had dropped a bit from recent weeks, but was at a comfortable level, and fast flowing, with a few rocks just under the surface at the beginning hampering progress. Saw a few fishermen on the way down – some heavily camouflaged! We were soon travelling quite nicely, practiced some break-ins and outs on the way, played a bit as well – still getting used to these could do with some more practice. Saw a couple of nasty strainers on the way down, one a shopping trolley plus a gathering of attachments – could be nasty in difficult conditions, but today were easily spotted and avoided. Bouncy bits further downand NT went over but managed a good roll again. We made it in one piece through the little rapid, that was nice and stopped for a picnic just after the railway bridge (little beach left) – mars bar and coffee really! The river was quite smooth after this and when we stopped in an eddy, saw 2 sets of white water racers going past - strange looking crafts. NB was slightly disturbed by the fast current when he made his way to the eddy (we’d used this part previously for breaking in) so he decided to practice a couple of these, unfortunately at the second attempt he went over. No problem as the kayak was brought in to the nearest bank, with Nick towing it. No more adventures, went past a few rowing boats in the lower section then the wind picked up as we neared the open area next to the rowing club. A nice morning’s outing – thanks to Andy for chaperoning."

Tags: Taff