How’s My Paddling?

®
Croydon Active Paddlers Newsletter

Volume 2 Issue 2 Often Imitated Never Intimidated March 2007

Inside this issue:

Dartly Departed
Cap That 2

We had this old bag neighbour It’s bad news for the club and us
when I were a lad; whenever me as individuals. We’ve lost the ac-
Letters To His Lordship 3
or my brother kicked a ball into cess and egress from the grounds.,
You’re Having An ‘Arfe her garden; a week or so later…it the car park, bar, changing rooms
would be thrown back with a huge and bunkhouse facilities, not to
hole in it! When we were old mention the on-site paddling shop.
What Is An OBE? 4 enough we bought a powerful air
rifle complete with telescopic sight This all came about after one too
and found vengeance in her chim- many incidents involving
ney pots, roof-tiles and birdfeed- drunken/rowdy/noisy paddlers
ers. “You talking to me” ? staying at the site and causing
Adventure Paddlers 5
grief to management as well as
Weekend The River Dart Country Park has other guests.
closed it’s doors to paddlers with
effect from the end of the month. It’s a timely reminder to us all to
Just like my old neighbour they spread only ‘peace and love’, and
aren’t playing ball anymore. that we are all ‘ambassadors of
January Revisited 6
the paddle’ on our weekend trav-
Now I’m not for one minute sug- els.
gesting a night time assault with
claymores, AK47’s and WMD’s but After all, six kayaks on the roof
I do feel the same loss as I used to rack and it’s hard to remain incon-
for all those plastic footballs. spicuous. Lord Chas
Now The Real Bravery 7
Award

Freddie Star Ate My Hamster

What
happens
Middle Tawe 8
South Wales 9
Where have you been gentle
reader? So far this year we have
been enjoying … Hurley on three
next ?
gates..! Hurley on four gates!
The Rivers.. Mellte, Nedd Fechan,
Disclaimer 10
Sawdde, Afan and Tawe. Not to
Acknowledgements mention some tasty bush tucker
along the way! Read all about it
Late News And Weather inside this issue of H.M.P ►

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PAGE 2 H OW ’S MY PA DD LI NG ?® V OL U ME 1, ISSUE 1

Cap That
The Chairman’s Chat
….. and so we approach the end of Winter and As I write this article I’m having a final look at the
Spring is just around the corner. logistics for an Easter trip. We would very much like
At the beginning of this Winter season we decided to run a large well supported trip attended by a large
that we would “go for it” and try to ensure that we cross section of Club members. Certainly the trip
had a trip away every month. This was to be a com- that we ran over Easter 2005 to The Lake District
bination of trips on planned dates but also the abil- was a huge success.
ity to “up and away” if we’d had days of rain, taking
advantage of the opportunity. This has pretty much However, there are big questions marks over
worked and we’ve enjoyed a number of Whitewater whether we will get sufficient support, whether
weekends throughout the Winter. there will have been sufficient rain to make the Riv-
ers run, possible Access problems as the Fishing sea-
Inevitably the type of people that we encourage into son will have started and the need to financially
the Club are those who enjoy leading a busy and commit to a bunkhouse, possibly a minibus etc,.
active social life. The downside of this however can when we are uncertain over all the other issues. No
be that their lives are so busy that it is very diffi- doubt elsewhere in this newsletter will be final de-
cult finding weekends when everybody can make it. tails about the trip or an advice that the trip has
Although we have a small hard core of experienced been cancelled.
paddlers who will hit the big waters at the least ex-
cuse we decided from the outcome that we must in- We recently made our first postings on YOUTUBE a
clude a couple of trips specifically targeted at our short video of Chas, Darren, Gary and Simon hitting
more “Intermediate paddlers” in order to help them BIG water in South Wales. Some impressive, if not
progress even further. frightening, footage of the boys shooting 12 – 20 foot
waterfalls in South Wales.
Sadly, these are the trips that have proved to be If you haven't seen it, or want another peek, then do
worst supported. The first such weekend, to paddle have a look at
Dartmoor’s raging rivers in December ended up http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=igP66eYMh70
without a single “intermediate” paddler as did the
February trip to South Wales. The trips still took Hopefully more such vids to follow !
place but were attended by our small bunch of
hardened White Water paddlers. This was a real With Spring around the corner we look forward to
shame, a lot of work, all to no avail but more im- starting up our Summer paddles soon and to seeing
portantly very much a wasted opportunity for many all of you out on the Water with us. Why not con-
of our members ! sider bringing a friend or two, if you really enjoy
yourselves then no doubt there are others that would
Our mid February trip had to be postponed at short do so as well.
notice. Artic conditions hit Wales a few days prior
and the Brecon Beacons were under many feet of If we are to continue running an active programme
snow. More snow was predicted over the entire then in fairness to the organizers and coaches we
weekend and then on the day of our planned depar- need to ensure that such trips are well supported
ture, we were warned that we probably wouldn’t and one way of doing this is
get any nearer than two miles away from our hill- to increase the pool of mem-
top farmyard bunkhouse, or that if we did we might bers available for such trips.
end up snowed in for the entire weekend. Have a think, see who YOU
could introduce .
Whilst visions of Snow Kayaking down powder cov-
ered hills and slaloming through the trees initially Hoping to welcome you all
came to mind in reality we had no choice but to onto trips with us in the near
postpone the trip. Our bunkhouse was cancelled, future. See you soon.
hired minibus returned to it owners and the trip
then took place a week later, sadly however only
seven of the original fourteen were able to join us. Mike

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PAGE 3 H OW ’S MY PA DD LI NG ?® V OL U ME 1, ISSU E 1

Letters To His Lordship

Mo from Pontneddfechan writes: The General Manager of Tesco’s Answer: Sorry Chum, but as the
Port Talbot writes: Stella’s now cheaper in Asda we
Dear Lord Chas couldn’t possibly pay you another
How come every time you stay at Dear Lord Chas visit, but thanks for the 2 hours
my bunkhouse you always break Please note that the car park bays free parking. Every little helps!
a teacup? are intended for our customers
Answer; Because you only have a only.
bench for a table, and your stone
floor is wonky. Sorry Mo!
Send your questions, no mat-
A young tadpole from Brecon ter how confidential to His
writes: Lordship at Tadworth Tow-
Have you seen my mummy? ers and we’ll do our best to
publish them right here in
An intermediate paddler writes: the next issue along with
Dear Lord Chas your full name, address and
Are you running any trips for us telephone number.
this year?
Answer: Grrrrr!

“Picture yourself in a boat on a river

with tangerine trees and marmalade skIEs”

Lennon & MccArtnEy

You’re Having An ’Arve

I don't think he believed my earnest nods for

Just got around to scanning this picture. This
a minute), but somehow I got sort of acciden-
was taken on the river Arve, (the Chamonix
tally absorbed by the kayaking expedition and,
with the children, slipped (?) into a wet suit
and then, heavens alive, got allocated to a
kayak. Now it would have been churlish to back
out at that point, wouldn't it?
The river looked fast but easy, then I peered
into the distance and saw that the river, er,
dropped away. "How many drops?!" Only five
came the reply. But, I was with a very experi-
enced kayaker who later steered my babies
through a Grade 5 river in Italy (I was not
watching). So I survived and all the stitching
river) about a month after my major opera-
stayed intact. And the picture will be sent to
tion and strictly against my doctor's orders
the Marsden to inspire awe and wonder..…
(NO!! KAYAKING!!! - said in an Italian ac-
cent and a waggle of the finger..
Pam

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PAGE 4 H OW ’S MY PA DD LI NG ?® V OL U ME 1, ISSUE 1

What is an OBE?

Out of boat experiences (OBEs) are those curi- uniformity of sensory stimulation) have simi-
ous, and usually brief experiences in which a larly found themselves apparently outside their
person's consciousness seems to depart from aircraft struggling to get in. One might well
his or her boat, enabling observation of the struggle frantically under such circumstances.
river from a point of view other than that of
the physical boat and by means other than
those of the physical senses. Thus, an out-of-
the-boat experience can initially be defined as
'an experience in which a person seems to per-
ceive the world from a location outside his
physical boat' [Bla82]. In some cases experi-
ents claim that they 'saw' and 'heard' things
(objects which were really there, events and
conversations which really took place) which
could not have seen or heard from the actual
positions of their boats.

OBEs are surprisingly common; different sur- Not all OBEs occur spontaneously. Using vari-
veys have yielded somewhat different results, ous techniques, some people have apparently
but some estimates indicate that somewhere cultivated the faculty of inducing them more or
between one person in ten and one person in less as desired, and a number have written de-
twenty is likely to have had such an experience tailed accounts of their experiences. Common
at least once. Furthermore it seems that OBEs aspects of the experience include feeling a
can occur to anyone in almost any circum- sense of dampness, feeling vibrations, and hear-
stances. ing strange loud noises. Such persons may find
it hard to believe that they did in fact leave
their boats, and they may draw the conclusion
“Common aspects of the experience include that we possess a separable soul, perhaps linked
feeling a sense of dampness, feeling to a second boat, which will survive in a state of
full consciousness. Conceivably in the future we
vibrations, and hearing strange loud noises.”
might find ways of measuring, or establishing
external criteria for, the OBE, but at the mo-
Researchers have approached the question of ment we can only take video of it.
the timing of OBEs by asking people who claim
to have had OBEs to describe when they hap-
pened. In one of these, over 85 percent of those
surveyed said they had had OBEs while they
were running rapids, surfing or even in a topo Simon Lloyd OBE River Melte
duo [Bla84]. Other surveys also show a smaller
Gary Ransom OBE Nedd Fechan
percentage coming while the person is drugged
or medicated [Gre68a, Poy75]. But they can oc- Chas Donnelly OBE Afon Afan
cur during almost any kind of paddling. Green
cites a couple of cases in which kayakers, pad-
To be continued.
dling at speed, suddenly found themselves
floating alongside their kayaks looking up at
their own boats still driving along. Accidents
Chas
did not ensue. Pilots of high-flying airplanes
(perhaps affected by absence of vibration, and

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PAGE 5 H OW ’S MY PA DD LI NG ?® V OL U ME 1, ISSUE 1

Adventure Paddlers Weekend

So while the ‘blushing school girl’ was nominated to am not sure if it did actually take that long, but it
do the Dart write up from December, in the last is- felt like it!) Anyway so about the river…..I had not
sue, Lord Chas forgot that this particular blushing run the Upper before and was a bit nervous at the
school girl had exams in January and so you will start, but soon was into it with a few words of en-
forgive me now if I forget certain less memorable couragement. At this point is where my memory
facts from the said weekend. However saying that I starts to fail slightly as I think only Darren had run
think that March is fast approaching (at the time of it before, which put us slightly as his mercy! How-
writing) and it is time to crack on with it! ever saying that we had an excellent run down, and
only being over taken by Simon Westgarth’s group of
The weekend started off with the usual chaos at the ‘extreme paddlers’ who somehow managed to blast
Ransom household with things taken twice as long down the entire river in less than an hour! Everyone
as we had planned, but we were soon on the road managed to run the entire river apart from Euthana-
down south. Before I knew it we had arrived at the sia Falls and Pandora’s Box, where some walked
Dart Country Park just in time to meet the rest of round, including me, as it did look a bit scary!
the CAPs and fit in a few drinks before bed. (It may
be worth mentioning here that the journey only After our long wait in the car park, with numerous
seemed to take about 20 mins to me, as that was all laps to keep us warm and chocolate donated by a
I was awake for!) passer by, Simon arrived with the car and we all
bundled into the warm and back to the country park
The plan for Saturday, due to the distinct lack of for showers and food ready for the evenings proceed-
intermediate paddlers, was to run the Dart Loop as ings. This particular weekend was the Gene 17 Pad-
a warm up and then the Upper Dart later in the dling Weekend and there were presentations about
afternoon, just before nightfall. So trips and humour from Dave Car-
we set off all crammed into the roll and an endless supply of al-
Mike Mobile to the get in at New cohol, as some seemed to find
Bridge, and a quick play on the out! The evening was very pleas-
little wave under the bridge before ant, although some of the presen-
setting off down the river. The tations were a bit dull, but there
river was on a perfect level which was a raffle!! The evening contin-
despite the freezing weather made ued in high spirits, with the
the run down very enjoyable, with drinks flowing, but that goes
enough play waves and rapids to without saying on a CAP trip,
keep us all occupied without test- and carried on into the small
ing our limits too much! However hours of the morning.
one may want to be warned about
the Anvil play sport (or the Nookie The next day was a bit hazy from
Wave) as it seemed to be a little bit sticky for those a few perspectives, although we all managed to get
not in playboats, just ask Stewart! We all managed up and out by a relatively early time, if I can recall,
to survive the freezing water, although my hands and on the road to paddle the next river. The chosen
did turn blue, and I somehow manage to guilt Dar- river for the day was the Lower Walkham which is
ren into giving me his gloves, which incidentally I described as a ‘pleasant, wooded valley with little
still have commandeered for future paddling trips!! evidence of civilization’ and has a few interesting
features like an unconvincing looking slot which
So while the guys loaded all the boats up (I love be- leads into a twisty rapid. The river look a few hours
ing short enough not to be able to reach the roof!) and before we knew it we were back on the road to
and kit was packed away, we all once again loaded sunny Croydon.
into the Mike Mobile to do a quick run of the Upper
Dart. By our calculations we somehow managed to The weekend was fantastic and anyone who didn’t go
think we could just about finish before the night really missed out. A huge thanks have to go out to
drew in, needless to say this calculation was some- everyone who organized it, drove the Mike Mobile
how wrong and we did have to hurry a bit towards and helped keep me safe on the river and I look for-
the end to get off, and then had to wait in the car ward to the next trip!
park for about 45 mins for the shuttle! (Honestly I Vicky

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PAGE 6 H OW ’S MY PA DD LI NG ?® V OL U ME 1, ISSUE 1

January Revisited
CAP Jan 2006 First river of the year; Melte, hard, I sneaked off to run my first new river of
we started late, it was shallow, darkness fell, 2007, the Heptste, (well a good 25 metres of it,
we walked out with our tails firmly between but they all count don’t you know). Then it was
our legs. off down the gorge section for more fun in the
Fast forward to Jan 2007. First river of the sun. Later that
year; Melte, we started early, it was stonking, evening, when we
the sun shone, we paddled out wagging our were all spruced up,
tails behind us. the new girlie mem-
2007 the year of the cap, and South Wales ber insisted on tak-
was on the menu as an aperitif to the coming ing us down the
year. Mike had strategically planed this one Craig y Dinas Hotel
out, to the last detail including the weather, he again for as much
even brought along a new girlie who new meat as you could
South Wales better than the back of my hand, eat for a tenner, with a half a shandy of course.
which was surprising as we’d never met before Which reminds me Simon had a little swim ear-
but more of her later. When we arrived, never lier in the day. OBE?
mind the bunkhouse, she took us straight to Sunday morning fry up was followed by our ea-
the pub for a pre-booked dinner and accompa- ger new girlie, sitting on the dashboard again
nying half a shandy. this time demanding to be taken to Nedd
Fechan. Which was another day of portaging
and paddling with a little bit too less water in it
making some of the lines, tempting but not
worth the risk. Gary managed to seal launch me
into a rock, ouch, why don’t kayaks have air-
bags? lots of scouting humming and harring,
and a strange pair of weirdo’s kept following us
with a video camera, but it was actually Simon
and Mike! At the take out once we were suitably
attired; our girlie in her seductive voice insisted
on taking us back to the pub for Sunday Lunch,
Saturday morning Simon cooked a lovely jub- washed down with half a shandy, which re-
bly pukka me ole china isn’t Sainsbury’s try minds me Gary had a little swim earlier in the
something new today, cor blimey guvnor tradi- day. OBE? If you still haven’t guessed our new
tonal fried breakfast. Then we put our boats on member’s name, and she really does have a
our shoulders, burped loudly, and casually lovely voice and to sit up on the dashboard
strolled to the Melte get in. No shuttles for us ……., why it’s tomtom.
thank you. Long portages around big water- Chas.
falls followed, but not all of them; Darren ran
mega waterfall No.1, making a line that any
flatwater paddler would have been proud of …
perpendicular! Then one by one we got to run
Sgwd y Pannwr, probably the biggest drop any
of us had done to date at around 25ft.
While al fresco lunch was prepared on the
very spot where we gave up last year, I up-
turned my kayak and opened the bar, by lining
up all our drinks selection, Tea, juice, lucozade
and Stella. And while the others swallowed

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PAGE 7 H OW ’S MY PA DD LI NG ?® V OL U ME 1, ISSUE 1

Now The Real Bravery Award

In the last issue of “How’s My Paddling” I men- experiences just how gruelling the inevitable treat-
tioned the paddling bravery of Ed and Tom and also ment, operations and courses of chemotherapy would
referred to Pam (Farmer’s) conquest of the “mighty be, indeed these have dominated Pam’s life over
Nene”. What I didn’t refer to was Pam’s very real most of the past ten months.
bravery, indeed a battle that has been going on for
most of the past year but only now that Pam has Both Pam, her husband Chris and Bob and Ed have
“come out” in the last issue of “How’s my Paddling” been extremely strong. I spoke to and emailed Pam
can I be free to mention it. numerous times over the next few months and whilst
she was at times no doubt going through hell she al-
Back in May we ran a Club trip to the River Med- ways remainder strong willed and positive of mind.
way in Kent and Pam and family were paddling Indeed, recently each time I have spoken to her, she
with us. As we paddled my mind went back to when has been far more concerned about my recent eye op-
Pam had first joined a year or so earlier and how at erations than she was by her own far more serious
that stage she had been terrified of getting in a and distressing condition. As she recovered from
Kayak and paddling around the pool let alone over- each bout of treatment Pam set herself new goals
coming her fear of her face being underwater. On and was determined to achieve them. One of these
this occasion however, Pam was determinedly was to join us at Holmepierre Pont in August and to
storming ahead of the tribe for most of the trip. We watch Bob and Ed in action on Whitewater. Pam and
approached the canoe shoot, but far from shying Chris duly turned up, supported by her Sister. Bob
away, as she would have done a year earlier, she and Ed were determined to reward their Mum ac-
was determined to conquer her fear and be one of cordingly, Bob performed brilliantly as usual and Ed
the first to fly down the shoot into the swirling wa- was outstanding, conquering his own fear to show
ters below. Pam was like a woman possessed, deter- Mum just what he could do, and succeeding in pad-
mined as I thought at the time, to conquer her De- dling the entire Grade 3 Whitewater course, much to
mons. Mum’s huge delight and Chris’s extreme trepida-
tion ! This paddling goal achieved, Pams’ next target
was to Paddle the Thames through Central London.
However in the day’s prior to the Club trip Pam was
suffering and she was on the verge of cancelling.

I spoke to Pam and stressed that if she really still

wanted to give it a go we would support her all the
way. We arranged to take the Topo Duo so that if
Pam found it too much she could swap boats, sit
back, relax, and be chauffeur paddled along by Gary
or Simon. We also took tow lines in case she needed
a tow and finally we had contingency plans so that at
any stage Pam could be piped ashore and accompa-
nied by taxi back to the Boating Base. In the event
As Pam was to tell Simon and I a few days later, Pam did really well, completed the entire trip un-
this was exactly the mood she was in but sadly the aided and had a huge smile on her face all day, in
demons that she was really trying to conquer was her own words......... “free at last, leaving all my
the fact that only days earlier she had been diag- worries and concerns on the bank”.
nosed with Breast Cancer. Her show of determina-
tion was actually as much to prove to herself that Pam “you’re a marvel” and a real example to us all of
she could, and would overcome whatever obstacles how to battle life’s demons and to remain positive
were to face her, be they on the River or in the throughout. Fortunately, the sessions of treatment
months of torturous treatment and chemo that and chemotherapy have now come to an end and
were to follow. hopefully Pam can now begin to move forward with-
out that terrible black cloud hanging over her. On
Pam had been diagnosed and treated for cancer behalf of everybody in the Club may I wish Pam all
some years earlier but in 2005 had been given the the very best for the future and we look forward to
ten year “all clear”. Sadly this was not to be the you joining us the water again soon.
case and Pam knew only too well from her previous Mike

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V O LU ME 1, I SS U E 1 H OW ’S MY PA DD LI NG ?® PAGE 8

NB Pam has asked that we publish this footnote which we are more than happy so to do :

No-one is exempt from the risk of breast cancer. Many women (and some men) of all ages are di-
agnosed every year. Youth, good diet, exercise and healthy living do not provide 100% effective
protection . You can do all the right things and still get cancer. Vigilance is key.
Whilst "changes" ie lumps, rashes etc can indicate a problem, often there are no outward-
signs. Men must bear in mind that they can get this form of cancer and be alert to changes and
women from 40 onwards would be wise to get a mammogram every year (as recommended in the
United States). Our health service only offers mammograms to women every 3 years from 50 and
nothing for the under 50s or men - if I had not taken the decision to continue my yearly mammo-
gram and had waited 3 years or even not bothered at all, then my prognosis would be very poor
indeed. The earlier we can catch cancer the better the outcome. There are loads of cancer survi-
vors. Most of us prefer to get on with our lives than to dwell on it, so don't talk about it much.

For inspiration look at the brilliant Lance Armstrong and his Foundation's website:
http://www.livestrong.org/

They say: We believe that in the battle with cancer, unity is strength, knowledge is power and atti-
tude is everything.

Pam

Middle Tawe South Wales

The morning was fresh, with moisture cling- smell of damp kit that had lingered in the air. All
ing to the wisps of country air which that was left to do was a quick check
blew through the front door of the round the bunkhouse; hide the broken
bunkhouse, as the team were busying glasses, bid farewell to our lesbian
themselves with the laborious task of landlady Moe, and jump in the pas-
tidying the mess that had accumulated sion wagon and down the hill to the
over the weekend. Just a slither of skin local pub for a spot of home cooked
was visible through the breathing hole Welsh breakfast.
that formed at the top of my sleeping
bag. I had become very attached to the After a full breakfast, 4 rounds of
warmth and security of my bed, after toast and 5 rounds of tea, it was fi-
spending the last 14 hours completely nally ready to make a move for our
sparko, recovering from a slight stint of final paddling adventure of the week-
alcohol abuse experienced on the Fri- end. We had all done the river before,
day night. be it a few years ago, so we were all
ready and raring to go. After we had
I eventually managed to drag my sorry found an alternative get in to miss the
self out of bed and into the shower, for low water bump and scrap above, we
a quick freshen up. I had been out of all kitted up and were on the water by
action for a day and missed out on the 11am. Vicky had opted out that day
team discussion in the pub the night due to her wrist swelling up from an
before. Because of this, I was throwing allergic reaction to latex. So instead
myself into the unknown. What were she kept our chauffer company on
the plans? Where were we going, there own mission to find a path to the
Where was all my kit? I didn’t let it get waterfall!
to me much. My beautiful lady had
taken care of everything. My lunch had The river started off quite low, with
been made, my kit was dried, folded and packed, different lines being taken with varied levels of suc-
and the bunkhouse had already started to lose the cess. Although it was only grade 3, each and every

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PAGE 9 H OW ’S MY PA DD LI NG ?® V OL U ME 1, ISSUE 1

one of us had to stay switched on to avoid any un- the river just in front of us. This was a familiar
wanted pins or a possible mass pile up some where sight, well remembered from our last adventures on
down the river. As we moved further down, small the Tawe. This was the final eddy before we hit the
tributaries had started to enter the river from the main Waterfall beneath us.
banks, adding more volume and pushing up the Once again Gary set himself up with the
grade to 4. The sun shone brightly up in the sky video camera whilst the rest of us inspected the drop.
and glis- Fairly simple, line
tened on the yourself up around
first of the the middle of the fall,
intimidating ride the lip with a big
horizon lines boof to lift the front of
that were to the boat as you plum-
test us on met down the 10ft wa-
this trip. We terfall. We were all
shot through a fun little slot drop just above and happy with our lines so I decided to go first. I ap-
decided to run it several times, whilst Gary went proached the lip as slowly as possible, looking for the
and set himself up at the bottom of the horizon line point to place my paddle for the boof. It came into
with his video camera. view as I reached out and made contact, giving a big
pull to throw me forward. I fell over the edge with
The drop consisted of a series of rocks and slabs nose dropping fast, water pouring over the back of
that had been worn away over the years by a con- my head, and the plunge pool rapidly approaching.
sistent flow of water, producing an awesome 20ft Then all of a sudden it was like the lights had been
slide funneling the river into a tiny 5ft channel at turned off and I was in a tranquil world of my own
the bottom that went on for 15ft, giving the feeling with light fluffy bubbles floating around my ears. As
of a mini gorge. As Gary was set up with quickly as I had been submerged, I was pro-
the video camera we thought we would pelled back out, greeted by the sun beams
put on a show by the 3 of us running it that shone brightly onto my face as I
together. We lined up at the lip of the emerged from the bottom of Pen y Cae Falls.
fall, trying to steady ourselves to keep in
formation. Stuart came thundering up We spent about an hour just re-running the
from behind and gave the cue to push falls with varied levels of success. Some per-
on. My boat teetered on the lip, rocking fect, some side wards, some upside down,
forwards and backwards fighting and I tried it without a paddle. We probably
against the flow. As the water caught ran it around 6 times so as to make the
the boat it flung me forwards and onto most of the trip. I even decided to summer-
the slide. The boat made contact and shot forwards sault off the top into the base of the fall, regretting
at great speed. I clipped a small rock and it redi- my actions instantly as freezing cold water poured
rected my boat of to the left, and at that point my through my dry suit piss zip, with I had stupidly for-
right hip smashed into another large devious rock gotten to do up. Stuart joined me for a swim before
just a few feet from the lip. My body weight was we decided to call it a day and carry on down.
pushed up and over the rock, with my boat follow- There was about another 2miles of grade 3-4
ing. I was about to land face first, upside down with water which entertained us until the agreed egress
still 15ft of slide still to go. Not an inviting thought. point down by Abercraf Weir was reached. We opted
With that in mind I pushed my paddle against the out from running the weir due to exposed metal
slide and regained balance to bring my boat upright stakes, which had our names plastered all over
again. them. At this point Gary and Chas chose to walk up
I looked to the left and saw Stuart and to the car whilst Stuart and I carried on down a few
Chas thundering down towards the stopper at the hundred meters to enjoy the Grade 3 gorge just be-
bottom, paddles spinning in the air and wailing like low.
a pack of crazed hyenas on the hunt for their daily We all finally met up on a road bridge above
feed. We all hit the bottom with huge thud and an the river. Packed the boats on the roof, kit in the
even bigger grin spread across our childish faces. trailer, made the car as comfy as possible, cracked
We decided to run it again for the comedy value open the Stella, and started on our return journey to
and Gary made a solo descent after. the unknown wilderness they call London.
We pushed on through a series of reef rap-
ids with a few boney drops to test the feet, and a Darren
couple of surf waves to free the mind. To the left a
small, cool, refreshing waterfall cascaded 100ft
down the mountainside finishing with a splash into

Copyright © Croydon Active Paddlers Newsletter 2007

Contact details have been removed from
the electronic version of your newsletter DISCLAIMER & WARNING: The information in this newslet-
for reasons of personal privacy. If you
ter is incomplete, semi-inaccurate, and possibly unreliable. Use
need to contact the Editor or any Commit-
tee member then please leave a red light with caution. Whitewater paddling is a dangerous sport and the
on between 12.00hrs and 03.00hrs every
information here is not a substitute for actual knowledge and skill.
other Tuesday; we know where you
live…..! Alternatively just use the usual The authors are not liable for your actions. The tips and tech-
mobile numbers or email addresses to niques presented in our newsletter are meant to be used only as
which you always respond to so tastefully.
guides and are not substitutes for professional instruction or real
Ed. world experience.

The editor reserves the right to change the content of any sub-
mission without prior notification.
Croydon Active Paddlers

Acknowledgements:
CAP ...Come And Play!
The Editor’s thanks go out to the following for their assistance
in contributing to this issue of How’s My Paddling?

We’re on the web, visit us at Mike Ransom, Pam Farmer,

www.croydonactivepaddlers.org.uk Darren Ransom, Vicky Adkin.

Late News And Weather

Newsflash: Up And Coming

Trips:
Ireland's worst air disaster oc- There is no such thing as
curred today when a small two- certainty, only opportunity.
seater Cessna plane crashed into Keep checking your email
a cemetery early this afternoon on and future newsletters for
the outskirts of Dublin. last gasp details.

Irish search and rescue workers

have recovered 326 bodies so far
and expect that number to climb CAP’s Mr. Interesting...
as digging continues into the eve- Voted Paddler of the Millennium
ning. By HMP readers. Metcheck:
Simon is available for one on one
It only rained twice last
ASBO’s: coaching, mentoring, moustache week. First time was for
Anti Social Behaviour Orders will grooming tips and light domestic three days and the second
be sent out to every member who chores. for four.
declined or ignored our warm invi- P.O.A. On Monday the wind blew so
tation to come dancing. Next time hard in Dartmoor a chicken
it’ll be a damn good thrashing! laid the same egg four times.

Copyright © Croydon Active Paddlers Newsletter 2007