CSCC Reports 2016: Symonds Yat - Oct 2016

Just after lunchtime on Saturday 8th October a very keen Will and Helen arrived (eventually, after some erroneous map reading) at Symonds Yat East, where Dan, Mark and Fiona were waiting with boats and a big pile of kit for us to try on.  We were very excited about our first experience on white water, and after a short time trying on suitable clothing and adjusting helmets, we were almost ready to go.

Fiona started the weekend with a field lesson, drawing beautiful scientific diagrams of eddies, and explaining the manoeuvres we would need to pull off in order to get in and out of them. We also learnt about signals we could use to communicate on the river; in this Fiona was ably assisted by Dan and Mark’s superb demonstrations.

At last, we made it on to the river! It was great fun! We learnt and practiced (yes, some swimming was involved!) breaking in and out of the current, edging, making the calm and safety of eddies, and ferrygliding. We also gave Mark, Fiona and Dan a chance to practice their rescue and rope skills, jumping in the river and being thrown ropes or a swimming Dan! This practice was remarkably successful, the only incident being when Helen accidentally nearly strangled Fiona, holding on too tight to her buoyancy aide!

After a few hours in the water, and getting very wet, it was definitely time for the pub!

On the Sunday we met again, in Lower Lydbrook this time, armed with sandwiches, hot chocolate and sweet treats. (Mark, Fiona and Dan had been staying at Penyard House Hotel, near Ross, which they would recommend, as “it had enough room for hanging up soggy canoeing gear and the breakfast was superb”.) After doing a car shuttle, we got onto the river, and paddled all the way to Symonds Yat. The paddle was beautiful and scenic, for most part the sun was shining and there were spectacular views of the gorge, and beautiful trees and reflections on the water. We were also thrilled to see Kingfishers! Unfortunately, the group did suffer a couple of casualties – Mark (who had been paddling a play boat) found that his legs had seized up badly and was unable to get out of the boat without Dan all but carrying him up the steps! And Dan had been deceived by the earlier sunshine, deciding not to wear his cag, and when the sun went in and the breeze blew, Dan became very cold, brrr…

Still, nothing that lunch, sweets and nice dry clothes can’t fix!

After Dan had retired to the SY tea shop, the party of four set out again to tackle the white water. Helen and Mark braved the big slide from the bank into the river (so fun!) and for the next couple of hours, Helen and Will embedded their learning and were much improved from Saturday.

Overall, it was a fantastic trip. Everyone went swimming, apart from Mark and Fiona who remained enviously dry all weekend!

Helen and Will would like to say a massive thank you to Mark, Fiona and Dan for such an amazing weekend and their excellent tuition! We can’t wait for the next one!

More photos can be found here.