At last!!  A thousand thanks to whoever it was down at the Barrage that finally decided to bite the bullet and commit to a longer run before closing for the long-awaited redevelopment.  The latest word from the staff (who seem just as fed up as the rest of us by the whole "yes we're closing/no we're not" thing) is that they'll now be open 'til at least the end of August.  I know I should be moving on from t'Barrage, but its just dead handy - 15 mins away, guaranteed water, hot showers and a caff.  Too easy I guess - but ace for learning the basics.

In a bizarre kind of a way the whole closing/not closing thing has affected a lot of my year so far - in January they were confident of closing in Feb, so I bit the bullet and took a boat-break to finish turning our loft into a 'den' for my kids - its taken far too long on and off (mostly off) and just needed a big push to kill it.

By the time I was finished in April t'B was still open - but due to close "any week".  So when an invite came to go with some mates on a biking trip I left the boat to one side again and got on me bike for a bit of practice.  Now then - even after a few weeks training, there's only one thing to say after 3 days solid biking, 65+55+45 miles per day, last day all into the wind and rain ... "OUCH!"

Come May I was ready for the slightly softer seat of my GTX, and t'B was still open ... but "due to close".  So with my old trail bike being totally goosed after all those miles I went and splashed an embarrassingly small pile of ££ on a new bike and took to the local trails for a bit.

Even found time to enjoy the one sunny day this century on the north-east coast.

And so ... finally ... t'B decided to commit to a longer run, and I headed back down there last weekend.  I've had quite a few breaks over the year I've been paddling, so I kind of know how to get back to it - first session just on the top pool getting my balance back, then launching down the course next time (and generally getting splooshed a few times).  This time though, getting back into the swing seemed a bit easier, and with a bit of encouragement from a couple of the regulars ("Ha'way man, don't be so soft and get yerself down there" - they didn't have to say it, it was written all over their faces) I followed them down.  Not too much trouble, but then one of them came out with a true gem ...

"Hasn't anyone shown you how to boof?"

Turns out I've just been nose-diving into the sploosh and getting stalled/spun/flipped, when with just a bit of front end lift at the right moment I could've been skipping over the top of it.  The "Learning Squiggle" strikes again.  See ya ... 

Hey there - still chippin away here in the northeast.  There might be no running water anywhere else in the country but theres plenty up here on the Tees - it might not be pretty, it might struggle to get Grade 3 in the guide books and it might not involve sherpas or old trucks on a 4 day trek in, but it runs every day and thats good enough for me at the minute!  No great leaps forward, just steady old progress on all fronts i guess, so at risk of turning into a text book or subjecting you to 'death by bullet point' heres a few bits of wots been ocurring -

 - realised too many of my flips were cos i was sitting too far back in my boat (which has a bit of a flat back end) so jammed the footrests further forward and pulled the backrest fwd as much as poss - result, better driving position, more upright/leaning a bit fwd, less lazy-boy style leaning back, and less flips.

 - the new driving position in the boat has made me a load more focused, so rather than worrying bout where the water is taking me i'm now a bit more in control of where i'm going and how i'm gonna get there.

 - bought a new dry cag, Palm Sidewinder, thicker material, better seals, more arm articulation than my last one - result, Bright Orange Rookie.  But heres an annoying thing - how come you can get separate dry cag and trousers for £300 but a full drysuit costs £400+ (or you can sign up for a £250 Lomo but you'll have to wait til after the next olympics for delivery!).  Haway manufacturers, get real lads.

 - realised the black blades of my cheapy £25 paddles werent just difficult to see when i was paddling but also i couldnt spot them after i'd bailed out in a 'flailing moment' and they got flushed down a couple of drops.  Thought bout splashing out on something more flash but being a cheapskate i bought some spray paint from halfords and painted the blades bright orange!  Result, far more confidence of blade positioning when in the boat (and theyre far easier to spot after a spill)

 - also realised i've had enough of reading books on paddling technique - its all good stuff, but for a 'leisure activity' i just dont need all of the L-I-S-T-S and P-O-I-N-T-S and D-O-s and D-O-N-T-s.  So I left it all to one side and just got stuck in to my paddling.  The only paddle print i get anything out of at the minute is Ed Smiths irregular piece on technique in CKUK - just a few good hints on boat or body positioning and then wrapped up with 'but dont worry bout it too much, just get out there and give it a go on the water' ... i'm probably old enough to be his dad but i always pick up something to work on, nice one.

E-N-O-U-G-H-!  Youve got the picture, i'm still chippin away, and however many times i get it wrong i'm always straight back at it trying to get it right. 

Happy New Year .

So Poke was right then (see comments on my last piece) - learning to kayak isn't so much a 'learning curve' as a 'learning squiggle'.  Since my succesful rolls on the barrage I have -

 - had a nasty dose of the 'river trots' (yeucccch)

 - had a nasty coldy/flu-y thing that lasted bl**dy weeks

 - been mad busy at work

 - then been given notice at work (from xmas - good old credit crunch), but fortunately managed to find something else.

Which all kept me off the water.  So when I finally headed back off to the Barrage after the long break I didn't know what to expect.  Shouldn't have worried though - my paddling had improved no end!!  I haven't read that one in any of the books - "The best way to improve your paddling is to have 5 bad weeks away from your boat, plenty of illness and a load of strife in your life".  Looking fwd to the Tyne this weekend - my first excursion into that neck of the woods (thanks to the Dales club for the invite).  Hope you all get out and about too.

Hey there

Say hello to the new me - the me who can roll on moving water!  Just been on the evening release at the Barrage, for a bit of a splash after a tough couple of weeks, and managed to roll twice after getting flipped.  I kind of knew I had it in me - I'd already figured it was mostly hip-flick and body-position, with a bit of paddle to help things along, and wrapped up with Corporal Jones screaming "Don't Panic" in your ear!  Maybe subconciously I was waiting for my course at Glenmore Lodge in October to actually give it a proper go.  But after a couple of scrapey swims on the Washburn I reckoned it was time I sorted myself out. Bizarrely it wasn't the swims themselves that made my mind up - I've taken plenty of knocks over the years from various sports - it was seeing how much trouble it caused other paddlers, rescuing boats wedged in trees and paddles wedged in rocky drops.  Swimming and letting your kit go is ok on the Barrage cos you just pick it up from the bottom of the horseshoe - but swimming and letting your kit go on a river is clearly a different kettle of chase-boating.  Crack open the champagne!  (Oh feck, haven't got any, Guiness'll have to do.)    See ya .

The Washburn.  Being new to paddling I’d never really heard of it ‘til fairly recently, but since I got invited down there by Gary from the Dales club I did a bit of asking round and web-surfing.  The only dam-release river in England, everyone seems to tell the same story – Grade 2/3, its quite fast, the eddies are small, the water’s cold and there’s a tricky drop halfway down.  Just what I needed to push myself on a bit, “so let’s give it a go then”.  (By the way, sorry there’s no river-action pics, our official snapper was laid low with a nasty bug – hope you’re OK soon Alex).

First impressions?  “Jeez, there’s a bit of a tricky drop at the top as well, not sure I’m up for that just yet”.  Now if I was a proper rainchaser …

First job of the day was to walk the main parts of the run, with Gary pointing stuff out.  Everything I’d read and heard was true - its quite fast (about running pace), the eddies are small (most of them didn’t even look like eddies to me, just half a swirl behind a tree or rock), the water’s cold (you can actually feel the cold in the air) and there’s a tricky drop halfway down ... 

The run is in three sections - upper (Gr2-ish), middle (Gr3-ish, with the tricky drop) and lower (Gr2-ish again).  You can jump out and portage the middle section if you want, and jump on again for the lower section.  Car parks top and bottom make the shuttling nice and easy.

We jumped on right at the top and warmed up above the put-in, then did a couple of runs straight down the upper section (Gr2).  Carried back up to the top for another go and tried catching some eddies and playing a bit – the speed caught me out a couple of times, with my old favourite ‘lazy upstream edge’ reminding me that I need to concentrate instead of thinking “I’m doing OK at this”.  Then another run and I started to get the hang of the eddies, so thought it was time for the Gr3 section and tricky drop.  First run Gary got through fine, I managed down to the drop OK and got 90% through it, but got flipped (didn’t quite hit the right line and got caught in some boily stuff) and had a fast rocky swim.  Not put off though we carried back up to the top of the Gr3 stretch and jumped straight on again, this time both got through OK (right line, yee-hah) then ran on down the lower Gr2 section to the car park and trundled back up for a spot of late lunch.

Now then, they say a picture paints a thousand words, and this one does it for me cos it captures quite a few ‘firsts’ – my first run down the Washburn, first session of micro-eddy-hopping, first long run on a fast-ish Gr2/3, first swim down a rocky Gr3 (the red stuff on my leg is real but was just a graze, and my defensive swimming worked fine), first successful run down the tricky drop, first river-trip with a ‘get-to-the-bottom-and-jump-in-the-car-for-another-go’ theme … and first use of a mate’s boat as a picnic bench.  One for the memory bank.

We were both a bit done-in by this time, and perhaps a bit slow after our scran, but decided to give it another run anyway.  Upper section went really well, with lots of big grins as the eddies seemed to have grown a bit and we just about managed to squeeze two 8’ river boats into some of the small swirls.  We should’ve called it a day then really, and jumped out at the bottom of the upper Gr2 section, but I kind of felt up to another go at the Gr3 stretch – turned out Gary was up to it but I wasn’t really, I got down to the drop OK but only got 90% through again and had another bumpy scrapey swim down the fast rocky bit.  For some strange reason I still climbed out with a massive grin on my face … I’m seriously starting to doubt my own sanity!  Packed in after that, but not in the least put off by a bit of a bashed thigh and backside from the last swim - I should learn to pack in when I know I’m already tired.  Big thanks to Gary for all the guiding and chase-boating.  Thanks also to the other boaters who stopped to help passing swimmers (I wasn’t the only one), hope we didn’t get in your way too much.

The Washburn then.  Its quite fast (but you kind of get used to it).  The eddies are small (so you feel pretty good when you make one). The water’s cold (but you don’t notice once you’re paddling).  There’s a tricky drop halfway down (but its OK if you hit the right line).  And it’s a total blast!