Saturday, November 13, 2010
Thursday, November 4, 2010
Teifi tour, Saturday 30 October 2010
As the 2010 winter season starts, it's high time for me to blog a trip again. I met with Matt, Aled, Bryn, Iwan, Chris W and David at Llandysul at 9.30. When we were ready to go about an hour later we were approached by two paddlers (James and Becs) who work at Call of the Wild, Neath, looking for company as it was their first trip on the Teifi. The river was at a good level, as can be seen from the gauge record. What this meant was that the weir at Pentre Cwrt was still runnable, just, and Henllan was as much of a rapid as a fall.
Anyway, a good time was had by all I think. The first near incident was when Matt got caught just below the weir and managed to roll on about his third attempt. Just as I was warning another paddler in the eddy where I was waiting downstream that one of his group looked as if he was about to swim I realised it was Matt!
Chris wanted to get in position to take some photos of the group coming down so I led off with Chris following. A few seconds later and I was boat chasing. Not many photos there then.
Henllan was the main excitement as usual. Matt went first, followed by David (who had put in some good paddling in the grade 3 stretch below Pentre Cwrt weir), me, Aled, Bryn, Iwan, Becs and James (I'm not 100% sure of the order of those behind me). As I got down the falls there was a boat and paddle in front of me. The safety guys got the boat and I got the paddle and I continued down to where Matt was rushing away to make sure David was OK. A minute or two later I paddled back out to recover a dry bag (Iwan's I found out later) and a few minutes later rescued a swimmer with a throw of my throw bag. I threw straight! (All that practice a couple of weeks ago when we had a white water safety and rescue refresher at Brecon paid off!). So we scored swims by David, Aled, Bryn, Iwan and Becs (after 3 rolls trying to avoid Aled's boat). Chris didn't paddle it but tried to get a photographic record. Actually, it wasn't the fall itself which caused the carnage but the rapids above.
Having shuttled back to Llandysul, Matt, James and I then had a warm-down paddle on the river by the centre.
Thanks to all involved. I enjoyed it and I think everyone else did too.
Hywel
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Afon Tawe, Saturday 3 April 2010
Amazingly it had rained during the week after a long dry spell, so Matt, Paul and Ben, Nick and I (Hywel) went looking for water. Matt fancied the Llia so off we went. (A couple of photos of us standing an hour later alongside the Llia which was just too low to run are on the club's Facebook site: http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=4992292&o=all&op=1&view=all&subj=61639007515&aid=-1&id=531814458&fbid=405512619458). Half an hour or so later again and we were at Craig-y-nos. The gauge just by there (on the mill feed?) read 4 and some 50m lower down another was at 7 on the lower part of the gauge. This is how the water level was at 17.00 and later:
I reckon this is pretty low for the Tawe but even so there was hardly any scraping and it was a good level for what for all of us apart from Matt was a first run on the river. For comparison, here's a similar image of the level on the Usk (at Brecon) which I ran the following day. This was pretty high for the Usk - just goes to show how different the water catchments can be.
I reckon this is pretty low for the Tawe but even so there was hardly any scraping and it was a good level for what for all of us apart from Matt was a first run on the river. For comparison, here's a similar image of the level on the Usk (at Brecon) which I ran the following day. This was pretty high for the Usk - just goes to show how different the water catchments can be.
Anyway back to the Tawe. It's a pretty continuous section, though not particularly technical even at the low level we had. There were two memorable features. The first involved a slide over a horizon line down into a frothing pool leading straight into a narrow (2 boat width?) short gully, the left hand side of which was clearly undercut. The second was a fall (8ft?). Matt ran first going straight down the obvious slot into the foaming water. Ben, in his play boat, took the same line but with a short boat got somewhat munched. Luckily, Nick rescued one of Ben's boots on its way down river. Ben stayed by his boat held by the water, admiring the view for a bit, before managing to swim away. My run involved me flaring off the left side of the slot. Nick took a similar approach but got turned so he faced the fall when at the bottom but back paddled successfully while Paul ran it impressively dynamically, landing almost too horizontally for his back. This is a great river. We must make it a regular trip, bearing in mind that it's not suitable for beginners and that the water level is critical. It goes up to Grade 5 by all accounts in big water! We finished off with the traditional pint to do our bit to support the local economy.
Sunday, January 24, 2010
3 trip weekend 23-24 January 2010
This was an active weekend for the club with members making 3 different trips.
The first trip was on Saturday with Matt leading a trip on the Tarell with Andy P and Jordan, Paul and Ben, Chris, Emlyn, Kirsty and someone else who I forgotten. Emlyn reported that there were about 4 trees blocking the rive at various points and as it was low water there was plenty of broaching and scraping, making for a tiring trip.
The second trip was by the sea kayakers with Hywel leading Rob and Emlyn - out for his second trip of the weekend - from Swanbridge to Flat Holm. I'd said I wanted to practice rescues and Emlyn obliged by capsizing as soon as we went through the cleft by the jetty leaving Flat Holm. Both legs of the journey provided some testing times with a Force 3 NW wind and some rough water. 2 hours 45 minutes of paddling, a distance of 7.6 nautical miles.
The 3rd trip was led by Andy. They were meant to have been going to Symonds Yat but ended up once again on the lower Taff. Andy reported: "John Taylor run the weir on the lower Taff a little bit to far right in to the recirculating water, went over, fought to get back up, but eventually won through and rolled up!
Morale of the story is, follow the line John! But well done."
The first trip was on Saturday with Matt leading a trip on the Tarell with Andy P and Jordan, Paul and Ben, Chris, Emlyn, Kirsty and someone else who I forgotten. Emlyn reported that there were about 4 trees blocking the rive at various points and as it was low water there was plenty of broaching and scraping, making for a tiring trip.
The second trip was by the sea kayakers with Hywel leading Rob and Emlyn - out for his second trip of the weekend - from Swanbridge to Flat Holm. I'd said I wanted to practice rescues and Emlyn obliged by capsizing as soon as we went through the cleft by the jetty leaving Flat Holm. Both legs of the journey provided some testing times with a Force 3 NW wind and some rough water. 2 hours 45 minutes of paddling, a distance of 7.6 nautical miles.
The 3rd trip was led by Andy. They were meant to have been going to Symonds Yat but ended up once again on the lower Taff. Andy reported: "John Taylor run the weir on the lower Taff a little bit to far right in to the recirculating water, went over, fought to get back up, but eventually won through and rolled up!
Morale of the story is, follow the line John! But well done."
Monday, November 23, 2009
Four go Mad on the Ysgir.
Four nutters......, sorry, intrepid kayakers, Hywel, John C, Emlyn and Rob, with more gear than sense, ran the Ysgir on Sunday 22 November.
After insepcting the Tarell, which was running very high at the bridge to the industrial estate just outside Brecon, it was decided to do the Ysgir on the basis that it might be a slightly easier run, given water levels. Yeah right.
The put-in is at Pont-Faen, with Hywel opting for the busier start on the Ysgir Fach which led almost immediately into a meaty stopper just above the bridge. The other 3 opted for a lower get-in on the Ysgir Fawr, just 50 meters below.
The river was very high (1.7 on the gauge at the get-out) and running fast. Trees and branches were the main hazard in the channel, together with Hywel's dodgy eyesight, and he was supposed to be leading! At the first obstruction Hywel went river left under the arch of a branch but boofed on another just below the surface; after that little surprise the others went river right and limboe'd under the branches. Eddies were proving something of a challenge - well at least to Emlyn and Rob. The next incident was Emlyn getting pinned against a tree in an eddy which he only just made. Judicious use of throw lines managed to extract him from that without too much bother.
A few Km later two drops in rapid succession were scouted, the first quite small but followed almost immediately by a gnarly river-wide drop with a really meaty stopper at the bottom. Hywel ran first and had a wobbly drop just left of centre but managed to recover. Rob ran next a bit more to the right but was stopped almost dead in the stopper with his boat almost vertical. A few frantic strokes saw him manage to get out. After seeing those two narrow escapes John and Emlyn decided to portage.
Eddies continued to be the trip's nemesis, and with Hywel and John safely in two eddies on opposite sides to the river, Rob watched Emlym miss the eddy river right and capsize as he hit a tree, shortly followed by Rob who was also taken down to the green room, missing the same eddy because he was too busy watching Emlyn. An extended swim followed for both, with Hywel and John helpless, given the flow. Eventually, both managed to self-rescue with both boats and paddles - quite miraculous given the conditions. We re-grouped in an eddy river left with Hywel considering walking the remainder but John, in his best Scottish brogue, saying we didn't have far to go and it would be OK. The other two were too traumatised to speak.
We scouted the next series of drops in a tree-lined gorge and decided to portage - a wise move in all the circumstances. We continued for a few K with lots of wave trains and very wobbly entries
into eddies, particularly from Rob. It didn't seem long before a shout from Hywel told us we were upon the weir at the get-out at Pont ar Ysgir. It looked lethal with a big towback and had risen to 1.9 during the trip - so we got out above and finished the trip with a change in the pouring rain.
But all became well with a drink in the pub at Libanus.
Four nutters......, sorry, intrepid kayakers, Hywel, John C, Emlyn and Rob, with more gear than sense, ran the Ysgir on Sunday 22 November.
After insepcting the Tarell, which was running very high at the bridge to the industrial estate just outside Brecon, it was decided to do the Ysgir on the basis that it might be a slightly easier run, given water levels. Yeah right.
The put-in is at Pont-Faen, with Hywel opting for the busier start on the Ysgir Fach which led almost immediately into a meaty stopper just above the bridge. The other 3 opted for a lower get-in on the Ysgir Fawr, just 50 meters below.
The river was very high (1.7 on the gauge at the get-out) and running fast. Trees and branches were the main hazard in the channel, together with Hywel's dodgy eyesight, and he was supposed to be leading! At the first obstruction Hywel went river left under the arch of a branch but boofed on another just below the surface; after that little surprise the others went river right and limboe'd under the branches. Eddies were proving something of a challenge - well at least to Emlyn and Rob. The next incident was Emlyn getting pinned against a tree in an eddy which he only just made. Judicious use of throw lines managed to extract him from that without too much bother.
A few Km later two drops in rapid succession were scouted, the first quite small but followed almost immediately by a gnarly river-wide drop with a really meaty stopper at the bottom. Hywel ran first and had a wobbly drop just left of centre but managed to recover. Rob ran next a bit more to the right but was stopped almost dead in the stopper with his boat almost vertical. A few frantic strokes saw him manage to get out. After seeing those two narrow escapes John and Emlyn decided to portage.
Eddies continued to be the trip's nemesis, and with Hywel and John safely in two eddies on opposite sides to the river, Rob watched Emlym miss the eddy river right and capsize as he hit a tree, shortly followed by Rob who was also taken down to the green room, missing the same eddy because he was too busy watching Emlyn. An extended swim followed for both, with Hywel and John helpless, given the flow. Eventually, both managed to self-rescue with both boats and paddles - quite miraculous given the conditions. We re-grouped in an eddy river left with Hywel considering walking the remainder but John, in his best Scottish brogue, saying we didn't have far to go and it would be OK. The other two were too traumatised to speak.
We scouted the next series of drops in a tree-lined gorge and decided to portage - a wise move in all the circumstances. We continued for a few K with lots of wave trains and very wobbly entries
into eddies, particularly from Rob. It didn't seem long before a shout from Hywel told us we were upon the weir at the get-out at Pont ar Ysgir. It looked lethal with a big towback and had risen to 1.9 during the trip - so we got out above and finished the trip with a change in the pouring rain.
But all became well with a drink in the pub at Libanus.
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Dart Loop, weekend 24-25 October
A grand total of 17 members made their way to the Dart for the trip on the Saturday, namely Andy R, Ieuan, Matt, Mark, Steph D, Chris, Aled, Iwan, Bryn, John, Siân, Paul, Ben, Nick B, Lewis, Euros and me (Hywel). Most, but not all for some inexplicable reason, are in the picture.
It had rained on the Friday and on the Saturday morning and the river had come up to a good medium level. We split into two groups: Matt and Del led Paul, Ben, Mark, Chris, John, Siân while Andy and Hywel went with Nick B, Lewis, Aled, Iwan, Bryn, Ieuan and Euros.
There was plenty of boat chasing! The inexperienced paddlers all seemed to enjoy themselves nevertheless, as did the experienced.
The water level fell dramatically overnight. After hopefully scouting the River Walkham we (as above less Andy, Ieuan, Aled, Iwan, Bryn, John and Siân) returned to the Dart still thinking a trip on the Upper might be on but found the level had dropped perhaps two foot overnight to be some 6 inches below the lowest part of the ledge by the bridge at the put-in for the Loop. With no other options the Loop was run again but with considerably less excitement than on the first day.
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