As a newcomer to whitewater, I had no idea what to expect when Martin Aldridge convinced me to
sign up for the trip to Symonds Yat on the August bank holiday. Perhaps the repeated adage that if
you don’t swim you’re not trying should have been a good indicator that this was going to be a wet
weekend, but fully educational.
Fifteen paddlers arrived at the river edge at Symonds Yat East on Saturday 29 August. Several nonpaddlers
came along to either shout encouragement or just enjoy the day’s entertainment. Our initial
seal launch was much steeper than anything I had previously experienced on Stanton lakes, and I
already felt a swish of adrenaline course through my veins as I slid down the launch.
As there were several new paddlers in the group, including myself, we paired up so that more experienced club members could share their knowledge and help guide us down the rapids. This immediately stood out to me as the number one reason why the HCC is such an awesome club. Even on a trip like this, experienced paddlers will give up time to handhold newcomers and help train them up to deal with all of the hazards that a river can throw at you.
I was fortunate enough to fall under the wing of Dave Clarke, who immediately started advising me on how to swim defensively in the water if I came out. On your back, feet up in front of you, bum up and arms outstretched to the side. Hold onto your paddle. Let your boat go, or it will pull you down the river. Invaluable advice. I used it almost immediately after I went over the first rapid.
The team reacted instantly, guiding me to shore and salvaging my boat. The water level was high and the flow was strong. I got back into the boat a little shaken but determined to try harder. Dave explained how important it was to make sure that you used lots of edge and controlled your angle as you used the flow to power you to where you needed to be – usually the next eddy downstream and on the other side of the river.
Several swims later, I had started to get the hang of ferry gliding out into the flow and then turning into the flow to paddle out into an eddy. I lacked the finesse and control of the more experienced members of the club but I knew that I was getting an education that was worth more than I had paid for this trip and I was in the best hands in the river.
Throughout the day, I saw club members come to the rescue of other paddlers on the river, whether experienced marathon kayakers coming down in tandem or complete novice canoeists who foolishly lacked the safety gear or experience that is so essential when paddling through a grade 2 rapid.
At lunch time we all took a break and some of us mucked around seal launching ourselves sans boat. This was just a preview of what was to come. After lunch we paddled up to Splat Rock. This rock was a fairly lengthy paddle upstream that had me feeling pretty worn out by the time we reached it. From the water, the rock seemed to tower up above us and looked almost impossible to climb with a kayak. David Garland pioneered the expedition and clambered up with assistance from Matt and Wendy Kendell. After gathering a fair sized audience on the other bank of the river and from several canoeists in the river, Dave launched himself off the rock. It did not take long for the rest of us to queue up to do the same.
This is a seriously high launch and I actually shivered when I climbed into my boat and thought that I would almost certainly swim. When I hit the water I fully submerged before I bobbed back to the surface grinning like a cheshire cat.
Dave Garland told me that although launching off Splat Rock may seem like we are just messing around, it is
doing things like this that remind you to enjoy yourself paddling. It teaches you to relax and it shows you what you are capable of achieving in your boat. This was a good experience, because when we returned to the rapids, I did so more confidently and slightly more relaxed. For the first time in the day, I navigated across the eddies in the river without leaving my boat. Dave did not. This helped to remind me that even experienced paddlers swim, because a good paddler is always trying harder.
Dave Clarke rounded us all up toward the end of the day to give us some basic safety training, reinforcing some of the swimming advice that he gave me at the beginning of the day and then
teaching us about line rescue. For this, all of us took turns flinging ourselves into the river at the top of the rapids and swimming down to a point where each of us took turns to throw a line to the swimmer. This was excellent training and made me realize how much fun and how instructional and invaluable a whitewater safety course could be. I know that I will certainly be signing up to do one in the future.
Finally, we all returned to the campsite to have dinner and spend some social time together. My better-half, who has not taken to paddling (yet!), joined in the banter and felt thoroughly welcomed by the other paddlers in the group. The HCC is not just a club. Its a group of amazing people who know how to have fun together, who care about safety and who look out for everyone whether they are on the water or not. Most of all, it is a group of great paddlers that I hope to spend many more weekends in the water with.
Special thanks to Hayley Clarke and Jonny Bennett for the loan of some of your personal kit. To Dave Clarke and Neil Smith for the personal training. To Martin Aldridge for convincing me to go. To Nikki Aldridge and to David Garland for all the training on the lake that finally paid off in the river. And to the rest of you for the rescues and the social.
Rowan Puttergill