Introduction to White Water Kayaking (June 18th 2017)

It was an early Sunday morning for our club, all the kayakers waking up at 5am to get ready and hit the road to venture to Symonds Yat. There was a lot of communication through the Facebook group going on, spotting each other on the motorways! Neil Smith being courageous and “not needing a satnav” missed the exit on the M6! With a quick service stop, Nikki & Martin being Healthy and the rest of us stopping for a McDonalds we eventually arrived!

Everyone got geared up, me and Maxine taking a little paddle to cool down in the 27degrees weather! We then headed over to the mighty Seal Launch, with a few bruised bums from sliding down it, and a few people capsized going down backwards 😉

After that, we took a paddle down to the slalom, following the Dark Green water and making our way into an Eddie that looked comfy! With a lot of help from instructors we all started to get the hang of it, making our way slowly but surely up, ferry gliding between them! With a few people using Canoes and a lot of people using Kayaks, we had a very good few hours on the white water, with lots of fun involved! We headed our way back up to the car park, taking a lunch break! Lots of food was needed to fuel us for the next 5 hours!
After Lunch, we split into two teams – one to go to Splat Rock and one to carry on with the slalom! The Majority of us headed to Splat Rock, with 2 people volunteering to launch off the side (Maxine and Tyler) and of course, for the people who didn’t fancy a launch, a bomb off the top was a good idea!

Again, Neil strikes by betraying the team running off during a group jump! (Picture 3)

After fun at Splat Rock, we headed back down the river to the White Water, for some more Kayaking and Canoeing! Lots more fun was had, and towards the end we began to do some rope exercises! Walking as far into the rapids and being swept off your feet, desperately trying to swim out! What could go wrong, eh?

It was successful and we have only had a minor case of sore feet on the rocks 😉

It gave the instructors a good time throwing ropes, and us beginners the chance to learn how to catch a rope and be pulled out correctly! Eventually, it was time to leave ☹

We paddled back up shore, returning to the Car Park for the final time, we had had lots of fun and didn’t want to leave!

Everyone packed up their gear, attached Kayaks to the roofs of the cars and got changed into dry clothes, then one by one we left.

It was a really good day, and we where all super grateful for it being organised, as we all had lots of fun! The scenery at Symonds Yat was amazing, and we couldn’t have wished for better weather! Hopefully we will return their soon!

Thank you to the rescuers for retrieving 15+ Kayaks, a water bottle and not to forget… Suncream! (Unfortunately that doesn’t count ☹ )

Look out for the next Beginners trip available, as it will be coming very soon to a Hinckley Canoe Club near you!

– Stanley Crane