Gopro

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The early bird doesn’t always get the worm

A big storm was forecast to sweep through the north west on Monday.  It was forecast to start raining mid morning.  With this info a plan was made.  I arranged to meet everyone at the Upper Lune at 9 am, the idea behind this would be we have a social paddle on a lowish Lune while it rains and brings up the other rivers in the area.  So after a pleasant paddle down the Lune we headed over to the Clough in heavy rain. It hadn’t risen much at all, I suggested waiting a bit as I was confident the amount of rain falling couldn’t fail to make the river rise.  Unfortunately the group decided to get on :-(,  all I can say is the bottom of boat now has considerably less plastic on it now.  All this time it had been raining so as we went back up to collect my car a plan was made to head over to the Swale.  To my frustration the Clough had now risen to a turbo high level.

So we headed over to the Swale.  On route the storm really kicked in, heavy rain, strong winds and lots of standing water on the roads.  Water was pouring down the sides of the hills.  In my head I feared the Swale was going to be too big for me.  When we arrived my fears were correct, it was huge.  If I had been boating regularly I would of probably got on but I am a confidence boater so need to be feeling good to paddle near my limit.  I pride myself on not making reckless decisions and getting on the Swale this day would of been one.

So up to now I had paddled two low rivers and I was feeling a bit annoyed.  So to save the day a quick plan was made to head back towards the Lake District and paddle something we knew well.  There wasn’t any time to paddle something new as time was getting on.  The river Sprint was chosen.  We arrived at the get on at 2:30 pm and quickly got on.  It was an quality run as usual, clear of trees and as it turned out a new high level for myself.

If we had met just an hour later the day would of been a lot different. Oh well, live and learn.

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Leven with my new Levator GoPro pole

backbarrow pole

This month I treated myself to the Jackson Levator GoPro pole.  The main reason being I wanted to see what I looked like while I was paddling.  I have become a bit of a perfectionist recently so I hope to use it for a bit of self-coaching.  From this run I know I used a sneaky back stroke (excluding backbarrow) which annoyed me, can you spot it?  .  It will also give me another angle for any upcoming vids I make.

Overall, I am impressed with the set up.  A few points that I have noticed from today:

1)      When you think the pole it is tight enough, tighten it some more.

2)      You can’t back deck roll with it fitted (going over on left rolling up on right).  So if you are like me and this is your go to roll it could become a bit of a pain.

3)      May not be suited to the tighter more over grown rivers/becks of the Lake District.

Here is the vid of my solo run.

[vimeo https://vimeo.com/78650492 w=600&h=338]

*not happy with my line through Backbarrow, I was too central which caused me to be kicked left.  Definately not ideal if there was more water in the river.

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Little Summer Treats 2

Rain was forecast for Wednesday night into Thursday morning.  So to catch the run off a plan to meet early on Thursday was made.  On waking I had a quick look at where the rain had fallen and a check of the online gauges.  The gauges showed that Aysgarth Falls on the Ure and the Swale where running at medium levels.  So we headed over in that direction.

On arrival Aysgarth was running at a nice level for my first time down them.  I have watched a lot of videos of these falls being paddled so felt like I knew the lines already but to be on the safe side we quickly went and had a look at all three.  Nerves were definitely in the air.  To cut along story short watch the video.  This is why I kayak!! Love it 🙂

 

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Moriston

With it being half term myself, Craig, Ewart, Lee, Guy, Tom F, Tom H, Dan and Ryan decide a little road trip was needed. So we headed up north to the dam release on the river Moriston. For 4 of the group this was their first time, Ryan in particular has only been paddling a year.

So the first run of the upper to say the least was a tad eventful, we had 2 swimmers one of which was his first whitewater swim ever!! And one sprained ankle from simply getting out of his boat. After the first run nerves were out-of-the-way we all started to find our rhythm, still with the odd mishap tho. I personally put the lack of my own smoothness down to having not paddled properly for a long time.

All in all it was a good road trip despite the horrendous midges!

Ant

Ant on the top drop

Tom F

Tom F on the Lower

Tom F and Dan enjoying a dusk play

Tom F and Dan enjoying a dusk play

GoPro footage:

Ewart bottom Drop

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Proper Rain At Last!

Rain arrived through the night Wednesday and all day Thursday.  So those that were lucky enough to have a day off (Craig, Ewart, Lee and Tom H) went out to make the most of it.  They started with Troutbeck at a nice level with no incidents then moved onto Skelwith with a new friend who had been soloing, for a park and huck session.

After this they paddled the Sprint at again very good levels with only the new boater swimming in “slot and drop”.  After this Ewart and Pilky manned up to a rather large Kent.

All this time I had been stuck at work watching the rain.  As soon as I could leave myself (Ant), Dan and Tom F meet up with them to paddle the Roeburn, which unfortunately (and hard to fathom) was on the low side.

Please rain like this more often and at more convenient times for me!! 😉

Quote of the day

Craig’s wife: “Just rang the house phone (9pm), you’re not there, where are you?”

Craig: “Just getting off the river, be home soon”

Craig’s wife: “I thought you had grown out of that?!”

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Trying a new Editing Software

The software I have been using is Corel Video Studio x3,  I really liked this for ease of use but was feeling a bit let down by the final converted video.  I felt it wasn’t doing the GoPro HD justice.  I had seen similar video online and could see they were alot sharper.  In an ideal world I would love to have Adobe Premiere Pro but I cant justify the price.  So with a little bit of research it was suggested I try a free version of Videopad.  I havent explored the full functions of it, but have already discovered that some parts are locked until you upgrade to the full version.  However, I do think the final product is alot sharper.  What do you think?  (Shot at 720p @ 60 fps, converted to .avi @ 30fps)

Compare it to other footage from the same day: https://lakesboaters.wordpress.com/2011/12/04/swale/

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Upper Duddon

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.

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Snowboarding

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.