Lakesboaters's Blog

Upper Duddon

lakesboaters — Sat, 31 Dec 2011 22:49:26 +0000

I have been waiting a while to do this river. A combination of not having the confidence over the years, it being over an hour away (lots of quality rivers nearer) and until the gauges hard to know how much rain it needed.

So with my early new year resolution to try and paddle new rivers instead of the usual suspects we headed over (Ant, Tom H, Dan, Lee and Rob) after a day of rain and a check of the gauges. Due to the rain stopping early in the night, I suspected (as the gauge suggested) it would be on the low side. However, due to its reputation/scare mongering I was happy with this for a first trip down. None of us fancied the two grade 5′s but I can definately see the line on Troutal Farm Falls. Now that I know what the river consists of below this, next time it could be a possibility. As for the Birks Bridge grade 5, to me that just looks horrible. I’m sure others will say its fine, but its definately one that it would be nice to see someone else paddle first!! I will definately be going back, if only to get my line correct in Wallabarrow!!

From the gauge you can see that it was rising while we were on it (didn’t feel like it was), I would guess that we were in Wallabarrow Gorge about 12 ish. With more water it would definately clean up some of the lines.

Snowboarding

lakesboaters — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 13:48:28 +0000

With all the doom mongering that this season will be the worst in history (the slopes were green 10 days before I went), the snow Gods arrived and have turned it into one of the best starts to a season in years!! With over a metre of snow falling the week before I went and it snowing every day except one while I was out there, I managed to enjoy some of the best conditions ever (if I could see!!). The only downside is I managed to pull my abs in a slam, I didnt think much of this until I got back and tried to paddle the Swale again. They hurt!

So here is a little edit of 2 of the best days.

Swale

lakesboaters — Sun, 04 Dec 2011 19:28:17 +0000

My first time on the Swale, which is a shame as it is only 50 minutes away from me. The team consisted of 2 older members (myself and Lee) and 4 of the next generation: George (19), Tom H (18), Tom F (15) and Dan (14). We arrived at the get on at about half 9 to find the river at a good low level (0.6 on the gauge). The river is definately worth the hype, it was a hell of alot of fun! Smiles all around at the get off, despite the snow falling. Speaking of the snow, we couldnt get out of Swaledale the way we came (Kirkby Stephen) so had to turn around and go the slower route home via Hawes.

Ant

Stomper 90

lakesboaters — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 10:26:24 +0000

My Stomper 90 has eventually arrived. However, the rain to really test it hasn’t.

So after 2 runs down the Leven and a day at Tees barrage these are my thoughts.

My previous boat to this was a Jefe Grande so that is what I am comparing it to. (The stomper comes in an inch shorter but the same volume.) The outfitting is still the super comfy badass system with a slight improvement. The back band can now be folded completely out of the way to allow unrestricted access to the back of the boat. A problem that always irritated me in the Jefe.

To paddle it is alot more agile. What I mean by this is that if your plan has gone slightly wrong you can put in last minute adjustments unlike what you could do in the Jefe. However, it is a boat that still likes to be driven (perhaps its just me paddling it like my old Jefe?). It also surfs alot more easily than the Jefe, which is understandable due to the flatter hull and soft edges.

One thing I did notice (after watching back my vid) is that due to the increased rocker it is really easy to lift the nose up with a well timed stroke. Obviously not had a chance to properly boof it but when the gradient fell away the nose could easily be lifted up and over the eddy lines.

As for how fast it was, I can’t really tell you as I’m rubbish at judging speed and comparing it to the Jefe I personally couldn’t say either way. I’ll leave that to someone with more experience.

So to sum up, I really like my new boat and am looking forward to getting it on some pushier stuff.

* Just got back from a club trip to the Teifi Tour and used the Stomper on Henllan Falls. I noticed it felt quite twitchy on the boils something I’m sure the Jefe never experienced. I guess its down to the edges and that after a while I will probably not notice it.

Ant

Tees Barrage

lakesboaters — Sun, 25 Sep 2011 21:24:21 +0000

Due to unforeseen circumstances I was unable to make Wet West again. So I/we decided we should head over and check out the redeveloped Tees barrage. Unfortunately the short course and the conveyor were out of action. However, we all had a good session and despite not being that good a playboater and bruising my foot I even enjoyed myself for the whole day!

I had only been to the old course once before and my memory is a tad hazy so I cant really compare. I was told by a couple of the others that it was definitely deeper in places. I will definitely go back but I will wait for the short course and the conveyor to be working.

Ant

Wenning Special

lakesboaters — Thu, 11 Aug 2011 16:44:21 +0000

I think this wave is becoming less of a secret nowadays, but saying that its been ages since I have caught it at a good level. Also the motivation to go to it just isnt there as I prefer running rivers. However, today with only two of us, one car and all the other rivers being massive we headed over.

Neither of us are amazing playboaters so dont expect much from the vid. The main reason I made it was because I wanted to try out different angles and see what the GoPro was capable of.

The level was about a 1.2 on the gauge and slowly dropping. Enjoy.

Ant

When it goes wrong!

lakesboaters — Wed, 10 Aug 2011 22:18:23 +0000

With rain falling all day three of us headed over to the lower Clough. It was high but we had all done it at a similar level before. We didnt make it to far tho, the 2nd ledge drop caused 2 swims and a lost paddle, I had made the eddy above it and couldnt see what had happened but saw the messy hole and walked around. Unfortunately due to miscommunication I walked by them and got on (as I couldnt see them and thought one was boat chasing). By the time I had got to the entrance to the gorge I got out and waited. Half an hour later and a few relieved faces all round we were reunited and discussed how that epic had happened. It was our own fault as we didnt scout, and my fault for not fully checking the bottom of the drop to see if they were there. Lessons learnt.

Sam’s view of the river:

My view:

Ant

Roeburn

lakesboaters — Tue, 19 Jul 2011 19:40:43 +0000

I havent posted in a while for two reasons. Firstly I havent done much boating and secondly I havent done much new. After a weekend of doing the same old rivers, I have decided that new rivers need to be a priority.

The first one done was the Roeburn. Considering it is 15 minutes from my house it should of been done a long time ago. So yesterday with local rain all day Craig and myself met up after work and headed over. What we found was a nice continuous river, running at (in my opinion) the lowest you would want to run it and it still be a “fun” level. On the negative side we also found 4 trees and a fence of which 4 needed portaging. This river has great potential with more water and less trees.

I have made a rough edit of my GoPro footage, unfortunately my memory card filled up just before the main ledge drop fall in the mini gorge. After this there is a couple more rapids and then the bimble into Wray village.

Enjoy.

Ant

5 Star

lakesboaters — Mon, 14 Mar 2011 17:43:49 +0000

This weekend Me, Craig and Sam headed up to Scotland for our 5 star assessment. The course had already been cancelled once back in December due to snow, and this time snow was forecast again for the Highlands. We met at the Green Welly at 9am on the saturday morning, with the snow falling fast and heavy. After the initial paperwork was out of the way we headed for the Orchy. By this time there was a significant covering of snow on the A82, which in a loaded front wheel drive van is not a good combination. Slowly we made it to the get on with only one near miss with a snow plough. The Orchy was at 0.7 on the sepa gauge which I was told equated to a Low (but not scrape) level. As this was a new river for me it would give me a real leadership test. The first day went well for me on the leadership side but the nerves of assessment had affected my paddling. I wasnt paddling as smooth as I could and was missing the odd eddy. I knew I needed to do better on the 2nd day.

The 2nd day saw us meet at the get out for the Leny, another new river for me. Today would be different, we would have some “clients” to guide down the river. My nerves had settled and I paddled a lot more consistently. I was happy with my performance, but throughout the weekend none of us had been given an indication either way as to how we had been doing. So off for our debrief we went. I was last in, out of the 4 before me 1 had failed so I was still not sure what the outcome was going to be. As I entered Sean said “Well done ……………… for waiting so long” ” and well done for passing”. A sigh of relief from me as I listened to my feedback.

All that was left was the 4 hour drive home, at least it was a happy van as all 3 of us had passed.

Deep in thought

Ant

Backbarrow Weir

lakesboaters — Sat, 22 Jan 2011 20:05:23 +0000

Forgot about this, a few months ago one of the guys fired up the new weir.

Ant