REGENTS NEWS | WINTER 2014
Contents
Letter from the editor
Kayaking the Amazon
3
Kayaking the Tidal Thames
6
Highland Bound
9
Conquering the Nile
11
2014 MEMBERSHIP RENEWAL
AGM 2014 – 8 MAY 2014
We would like to remind all members that
membership is due for renewal on 1 June
2014 and to ask members to renew as soon
as possible when the renewal period is open.
Put a note in the diary!!! A member whose
subscription is more than two months in
arrears shall be deemed to have resigned.
After which membership is only open to
new members. New members to the club
can only join via the Introduction to White
Water courses and through a New Members
Evening (NME), so existing members may
be required to attend a NME if they renew
too late. You will also be unable to attend
any club trips, e.g. Alps, if membership is
not renewed on time (we won’t be accepting
renewals on the ferry across to France this
year).
We would also like to remind all members
of the AGM on 8 May 2014, 8pm, in the
club room. We encourage all members to
attend and participate. A number of changes
are being proposed that will affect you
and the way the committee is run and your
participation to discuss and vote is greatly
sort and welcomed. Details of proposed
changes will be posted on the website and
via Notes for Canalside, so keep a look out.
Please come along and support the club
organisation.
Welcome to the winter edition of your
club newsletter and what I am calling the
International Jet-Set Issue! We've only
got a few pieces this month but all of them
will give you a little taste of what some of your
fellow Regenters have been up to.
First we have a snippet from Midge and
his gang who have just finished their epic
kayak trip down the Amazon. I have only
added a small section here but there are links
to their blog if you are keen to hear more
about what they got up to.
Next is a piece from Tokey providing us
with invaluable information if you fancy taking
a trip down the Thames - a little closer to
home and cheaper to get to!
Then we have another piece from Mogie
on the RCC gang's latest trip to Scotland
(admittedly it was in October but this is not
quite a weekly newsletter!)
And last but by no means least, Matt fills
us in on the boys latest trip to Uganda!
Your club committee have also been a
busy bunch in recent months - sorting out
club trips and amending our club constitution
(yes, we do have one!) All of this is done to
ensure the fair and smooth running of your
club and our roles are strictly volunteer.
Should you ever want to know more about
how RCC works we welcome anyone to come
to the next committee meeting to add their
two cents worth.
With that in mind you may want to pencil
in the annual RCC AGM so that you can see
how your club is run. Various jobs will also be
coming up for election so if you want to take a
more active role you should come along.
Many of you will have also noticed that
your equipment officer has purchased some
shiny new kit for you to try out. New boats will
be appearing in the cage over coming weeks
- enjoy!
And finally, start scraping together those
pennies to shell out for your membership
renewal. Steffi is running the membership
list with the kind of German efficiency that
perhaps only I can admire and as such you
will need to do your renewal pronto of face
the consequences (and that means coming
along to a New Members Evening to be retrained in how to pay your debts on time!)
And that's it for now!
Kayaking the Amazon
On 22nd December 2013 team Kayak The Amazon finally reached the Atlantic Ocean.
After starting in the Peruvian Andes on 28th July the expedition took kayakers David
Midgley, Darcy Gaetcher and Don Beveridge 148 days. The Amazon never let up right
to the end and we did spend several hours on the penultimate night holding on to tree
branches in the dark as the tide rose relentlessly! Here is a snippet from the trio's blog...
Well now I’ve done it. I have thoroughly
embarrassed myself on the blog. My blog
posts are rife with spelling errors and my most
recent English Language transgression is that
I confused the word “boarder” with “border.”
Thankfully Midge was able to harness the
stars (well the satellites at least) and fix my
errors with his BGAN terminal after only 2
weeks of them being online…
Luckily, I’ve never let a little
embarrassment slow me down.
For you few readers out there, I do have 3
excuses for my mistakes which will hopefully
render them forgivable in your minds. They
are as follows:
1. The spell check function of Word
Press does not work on the Spanish and
Portuguese speaking computers I am
using here along the Amazon. This, sadly,
is exposing to the world (or at least to the
5 people who actually read the blog) my
pathetic spelling prowess.
Many of you computer gurus out there
might say, “why don’t you copy and paste your
blog into Microsoft Word (or write the bog in
Word and copy to Word Press afterwards),
which will then recognize that I am writing
in English and I can spell check from there.”
Well for all you people, see excuse #2.
2. Amazonian Internet cafes are places that
I would like to spend the least amount of time
possible–and yes, even seconds matter here.
They are all terribly, hot, crowded and loud.
Typically they are have both computers and
phone booths. Most Peruvians and Brazilians,
it seems, like to stand outside the phone booth
and yell as loudly as possible into their end
of the phone receiver. So, this excuse makes
both the Word spell check not plausible and it
means that, irregardless of any spelling errors,
typos, and any other bad form of writing that I
may make, I just “can’t be bothered” and want
to get the f outta there ASAP.
3. I am just a big dumby–as evidenced by my
decision-making process which lead me to
be here doing, and blogging about, this trip to
begin with…
Yet, having laid out all my very legitimate
excuses, I still do want to offer my most
sincere apologies. In the past, I have been
intolerant of other people’s similar mistakes in
their websites, blogs, and even emails. And
now, I realize that I have been being too hard
on the world at large, for surely each and
every one of these mistake-makers must have
valid excuses of their own. So I thank the
Amazon for helping me to see the error in my
hypocritical ways and for teaching me to be
more tolerant.
Now, onto an update (and just for
consistency’s sake, I am not going to spel
chek this blog either):
We have made another major milestone in
our trip—Manaus!
We made it to the confluence of the Rio
Solimoes (what Brazilians call the Amazon)
and the Rio Negro on November 6th a little
after 6pm, just as it was getting really dark.
CHECK OUT THE BLOG AT
WWW.KAYAKTHEAMAZON.COM
Whitewater headwaters: From the source at 4,500m the gradient of the river
creates rapids that will be technically challenging. Time estimate: 24 days.
We could not see the black water of the Rio
Negro from our kayaks because it was so
dark, but once we loaded onto the Perolita
and added a little height to our perspective,
we could very clearly see the brown versus
black line in the waters, even at total
darkness. It was very impressive and the Rio
Negro is HUGE. We are looking forward to
seeing it in the daylight on Monday when we
hope to start the final leg to the sea.
Our arrival to the Perolita was a little
tumultuous. It was great because there was
a big storm approaching and so we got really
nice sunset colours and the pink dolphins
were very active just before dark. But then it
started raining like crazy and got very windy.
Because of a shallow sand bar, we had to
land on the Perolita out “at sea” (obviously not
really at sea, but it felt that way because the
2 rivers are so big and the line between them
so rowdy). There were huge waves, rain and
wind which made the whole process a little
tricky. I almost lost a Croc—yes, Crocs are my
Amazon footwear of choice–but luckily it was
recovered!
That was day 103 of our trip. We plan
to spend 4 days in Manaus. If we can pull it
off logistically, we hope to leave Manaus on
The “Red Zone”: The Red Zone comes after the white water ends in a
remote part of Peru where the Shining Path Maoist guerillas were once
a powerful force. The area is now an infamous coca (the raw material
used to produce cocaine) growing region. Time estimate: 14 days.
Monday, Nov. 11th and then will have about
30-35 days left to the ocean. So, the goal is
actually within sight now!
We hope that our departure from Manaus
will be a little bit smoother than our departure
from Tabatinga was.
Actually, we left Tabatinga with no real
issues on October 14th. It took a while for the
paperwork to be finished and for the Federal
Police to come search our boat, but at 5pm
they told us we could start paddling, and so
off we went. The late start was fine with me
as I was still recovering from a very violent
stomach illness. We only got in about 1 hour
of paddling before it got dark; but still we
were happy to be on our way again. But alas,
we woke up the next morning to find out that
the Marines had missed one piece of paper
and that we had to motor back up to the
border to complete our “departure papers.”
So, off we go, motoring back to Tabatinga.
Amazingly, even though we were in a hurry
to get this done, about 20 minutes into the
journey back upstream, the Perolita cut its
engines and the launch (skiff) zoomed off
behind us. Originally we thought maybe
something fell off the Perolita, but oh were we
ever mistaken! Edgine came back after about
5 minutes with a comparatively small fish
(maybe 10 inches long). When we asked him
what he was doing he said, “I saw this fish and
had to go get it!” When I asked how it saw
it, if it was caught in a net or something he
replied, “Oh no, it was floating belly up.” When
Don asked if it wasn’t bad to eat fish that had
died of some unknown cause, he said, “look
it’s not dead” showing us it still moved a little
bit, and then added, “and I’m going to give it
to my friend when we get back to Tabatinga.”
What can one say to that? Hence the
updated whiteboard. And if you want to know,
I did successfully NOT puke this day.
Yet, despite all the oddities, for a trip of
this magnitude, things are going surprisingly
smoothly. We are making pretty good
progress these days and, still, at least one
interesting thing happens every day! Some
examples of “interesting things” are: Dragon
fly passengers on our kayaks or clothing,
more exciting dolphin sightings, seeing a new
and very impractical kind of motor boat where
they have a hole in the middle of the dugout
canoe in which they set a motor (think a lawn
mower motor) that propels the boat and then
a “steerer” sits in the front with a wooden
paddle and acts as a human rudder. It’s the
little things that keep us going!
We are making pretty good progress
these days and, still, at least one
interesting thing happens every
day... Dragon fly passengers on our
kayaks or clothing, more exciting
dolphin sightings, seeing a new and
very impractical kind of motor boat
where they have a hole in the middle of
the dugout canoe in which they set a
motor (think a lawn mower motor) that
propels the boat and then a “steerer”
sits in the front with a wooden paddle
and acts as a human rudder. It’s the
little things that keep us going!
When I am a feeling bored or grumpy I am
sometimes tempted to write in my trip journal
“nothing notable happened today.” But each
time I try to write this, I remember something
of note that did happen. So, in 103 days, I still
have not made this journal entry. Let’s hope I
can make it to the ocean without writing that
phrase.
Once we leave Manaus we will find some
new challenges. The wind has steadily
increased over our last week of paddling
which means there are bigger and bigger
waves in the river. So far, they haven’t been
difficult to kayak in (expect that they do slow
us down a bit) but they do splash over our
spray skirt tunnels and cause us to have to
sponge out much more often.
Soon we will start feeling the effects of the
tides as well. Hopefully we can paddle through
the incoming tide at first, but eventually we will
have to start waiting out the incoming tide and
paddling only during the outgoing tide.
Oh, and PS, Rachel–Midge’s better
half–was here visiting us from
London–thanks for bringing us gloves
Rachel! Thanks for your contribution
to all of us not losing our fingernails!
The river is getting so big that it is
becoming a major undertaking to go to shore
each night for camp. Just to give you an idea
of how big it is, last week we were paddling
about 100 feet from the right bank when the
Perolita discovered that the right channel
was too shallow for them and that we would
have to cross all the way over to the far left
channel. The ferry to the left channel took us
45 minutes!
But I’m sure that with every kilometre that
we paddle our excitement about hitting the
ocean will only grow and our new found trials
won’t bother us much!
I don’t think we will get internet again until
landing in Belem hopefully AFTER we have
drank salt water out of the Atlantic Ocean. So
until then, follow our Spot Tracks and wish us
luck!
Oh, and PS, Rachel–Midge’s better
half–was here visiting us from London–thanks
for bringing us gloves Rachel! Thanks for
your contribution to all of us not losing our
fingernails! While she was in Manaus we did
a little sightseeing. We took a tour of the
Opera House–Teatro Amazonas–and then
got a bird’s eye view of it from the “gyrating”
bar (rotating bar) on the top floor of the Taj
Majal Hotel (yes, we are in Brazil, not India,
and I have no idea about the name, but
their spinning bar is cool). And my personal
favourite of the day was that our tour ended
with the model of the Opera House built out
of LEGOs. Classy!
THE TEAM
DAVID MIDGLEY
The original plan for Kayak The Amazon was
written on a tablecloth in a bar in Scotland
by Midge. That was nine years ago. After
discovering that it would mean learning
how to whitewater kayak he signed up for
the beginners’ course at London’s Regents
Canoe Club in 2005 and has never looked
back. After kayaking in Norway, USA, Costa
Rica, Morocco, France, Spain, Italy, Slovenia
and Ecuador he now feels he’s ready for the
Amazon – with Don and Darcy to stop him
from killing himself!
DARCY GAECHTER
Darcy Gaechter, aka “Veloci-Gaechter” was
born and raised in Colorado. Her 35 years
spent playing outdoors have given her the
tools necessary to survive 4,200 miles of
Don and Midge!
DON BEVERIDGE
Don has been whitewater kayaking for 27
years. Almost all of his travels have revolved
around kayaking. He has kayaked in 14
different countries, and worked as a kayak
guide in Norway, Honduras, Costa Rica and
most notably Ecuador.
Don’s major concern about this trip is that
he hates flatwater.
SUPPORT
WEST HANSEN
Born in Texas, 1962. 22 years ultra marathon
canoe/kayak racer with records in multiple
categories: Missouri River 340, Texas Water
Safari. Degree in Psychology from Southwest
Texas State University. First person to paddle
the Amazon River from its longest source
to the sea. Speaks no particular language
fluently, including English. Likes long walks on
the beach, dinner with friends and cuddling.
Non-smoker. Married 23 years. Wants to be a
fireman when he grows up (or a ballerina).
[Midge: West has been invaluable during the
planning stages of the expedition, offering his
knowledge, advice and support. Not only that
- barely seven months after completing HIS
first human-powered descent of the Amazon
from its new source in 2012, he is returning to
Peru to help us out with logistics while we’re
paddling the whitewater section. We’re very
privileged to have him on board!]
RACHEL TYLER
Midge’s girlfriend Rachel can’t complain about
the expedition because she knew he was
going to do it before they even met. She will
be updating the blog when the kayakers are
out of range, flying to Peru for the weekend
to deliver equipment people have forgotten
as well as planning a kayak trip down the Nile
just to spite Midge.
The amazonas: by the start of this
section the river has already begun
to swell and as it nears the
ocean will be up to 30 miles wide
and is sometimes given the name “the
river sea”. Time estimate: 80 days.
Kayaking the Tidal Thames
Kayaking on the tidal River Thames in London – group safety and leadership See more at canoelondon.com.
Kayaking on the tidal Thames is an exciting
and challenging way to explore London’s
maritime heart, but you need to keep your
wits about you, as Steve Rushbrook from
Port of London Authority and Harry Whelan
from Kayaking London explained at a recent
symposium for London paddlers.
We started the day with a presentation
from Steve, before taking to the water with
Harry and other staff from Kayaking London.
Port of London Authority are the guys
who manage navigational safety on the tidal
Thames, from Teddington right down to the
Thames Estuary. The PLA is based in a
control room which overlooks the Thames
Barrier at Woolwich, from where their
staff monitor and oversee the movement
of shipping along this, the busiest inland
waterway in the UK.
The PLA are supportive of recreational
use of the tidal Thames by kayakers, providing
we don’t put ourselves or other river users
at unnecessary risk. For safety reasons,
other craft are not so welcome. SUPs or
Stand Up Paddleboards cannot be used on
the river below Putney Pier. See Stand Up
Paddleboarding on the Tidal Thames. The
PLA advisor was not overly keen on open
canoes using the tidal Thames either, but
experienced paddlers who can handle strong
currents and rough water may enjoy the trip.
The Thames has a tidal range of 7.5m
with a typical maximum flow of four knots an
hour. This flow can rise to five or six knots
with rainfall. Swells of 1.2m are typical, with
choppy, confused water, confined by sheer
river walls and exacerbated by large boats.
As it is a tidal river the Thames rises and
falls with the tides. Tide charts are available
online from the PLA. You don’t want to get
this bit wrong, you won’t get far paddling
against a four knot tidal flow.
The PLA advisor was not overly
keen on open canoes using the tidal
Thames either, but experienced
paddlers who can handle
strong currents and rough
water may enjoy the trip.
Good get on points are few and far
between. The sheer river walls are regularly
breached by old river steps, but these can
The tidal Thames stretches as far as Teddington Lock, marked on the far left (west) of this map which shows the
Thames as it flows through London.
Access to the tidal Thames in
central London isn’t easy.
be rotten, slippery and treacherous with a
running tide. Many of these steps are guarded
by locked gates, but if need be they could
be used as an emergency exit. Click here for
some suggested get on points.
Out on the river it is easy to be distracted
by the sights, but as a kayaker you need to
keep constantly alert for other river traffic.
Everything else on this section of the Thames
will be considerably bigger than you and
generally going much faster – and you can’t
assume they will see you or be able to take
evasive action. Traffic can come from all
directions – so keep checking over your
shoulder.
Navigation rules for kayaks are the same
as for other boats – keep starboard – you
should keep as far to the right of the river
as you can. So, if you are heading upstream
and inland, you will be paddling closest to the
north bank. Coming downstream, towards the
sea, you will be paddling closest to the south
bank.
The size of most traffic restricts it to the
deeper channels in the middle of the river,
but pontoons and piers can be very busy
with boats zipping in to drop off and collect
passengers. Kayakers need to be especially
careful as they pass such busy pontoons.
Two official regulations that directly affect
kayakers are:
A vessel of less than 20m in length or a
sailing vessel shall not impede the passage of
a vessel which can safely navigate only within
a narrow channel of fairway.
A vessel shall not cross a narrow channel
or fairway if such a crossing impedes the
passage of a vessel which can safely navigate
only within such channel or fairway
Speed limits on the river vary widely.
Not far below Tower Bridge, where the river
begins to widen, vessels can and do travel at
30 knots. Watch out for the catamarans of
the Thames Clippers service and the tourist
RIBs in which passengers belt in for a high
speed, white knuckle ride.
Between Tower Bridge and Lambeth
Bridge the speed limit is restricted to 12
knots, and then from Lambeth Bridge to
Wandsworth Bridge the speed increases to
25 knots. Once west of Wandsworth Bridge
the speed limit is a more leisurely 8 knots.
Occasionally you may spot the Marine Police
Unit or the RNLI out on a shout and moving
considerably faster than normal speed
restrictions allow.
When paddling in a group, keep all your
kayaks fairly close to each other. If you spread
out you will be harder to see. This is especially
important when crossing the river, when
passing busy pontoons and when navigating
‘pinch points’ such as the Thames bridges,
where river traffic is squeezed between
bridge arches. When crossing the river always
take the fastest, most direct route, taking into
account river currents and obstacles.
Whilst the general rule is ‘keep right’, don’t
assume you can kayak below every bridge
arch. A closed arch is closed to all traffic,
including kayaks. Closed arches are signified
by a three red disks (three red lights at night)
on the arch, see illustration below.
Other bridge signs to watch out for
include a flashing white light (fast flashes
or four seconds on, four seconds off) which
indicates that something large is about
to use the arch. Two amber lights side by
side indicate a main working arch, open to
commercial traffic (other arches may also
be open, without amber lights) and a bale of
straw hanging from the bridge (single white
light at night) indicates restricted head room
– not usually a problem for kayakers.
The Houses of Parliament are one of the
must-see sights for any kayak trip on this
section of the Thames – but be aware that
there is a restriction zone extending 70m
out from the river bank. A series of yellow
buoys appear to represent the boundary, but
are actually well inside the exclusion zone.
Kayakers are unlikely to experience problems,
unless they venture inside the yellow buoys.
Kayakers must follow the navigation rules at Thames bridges. An arch
without any signal is generally open to navigation.
Thames kayaker opposite M16 – home to the Secret
Intelligence Service and several James Bond movies.
There is one other official exclusion zone,
at 85 Albert Embankment, on the south
bank and just downriver of Vauxhall Bridge.
This building is home to M16, the Secret
Intelligence Service, and close inspection is not
encouraged. The exclusion zone is 15m here.
The ideal kayak for the tidal Thames is the
sea kayak or a good touring boat, which will
eat up the distance, but slower, river running
boats will also suffice.
Small groups of kayakers don’t need to
inform the PLA when using the tidal Thames,
but any large group (20 or more paddlers)
would need to give advance notice and provide
a detailed plan including risk assessments. If
you carry a VHF radio, tune to Channel 14 for
Vessel Traffic Services in London. This channel
is used and monitored by all vessels in the tidal
stretches of the Thames. Alternatively, call
0208 855 0315 to get through to the PLA’s
Vessel Traffic Services.
The Thames is much cleaner than many
urban rivers, but heavy rainfall frequently
overwhelms the sewers, which then empty
directly into the river. Each year 39 million
cubic metres of raw sewage end up in the
Thames. This kills fish, damages the river
ecosystem, and makes it very wise to wash
thoroughly after paddling. In practice you would
be extremely unlucky to find yourself paddling
in recently flushed sewage, but you may well
spot the occasional Thames jellyfish (condom)
bobbing along in the current. Projects such
as the Tideway Tunnel have been proposed to
clean up this problem, but it will be many years
yet before we see any action.
Commercial traffic is generally
concentrated downriver of Putney Bridge,
but above Putney the kayaker needs to be
aware of a high concentration of leisure and
sporting traffic. 78% of all UK rowing takes
place here, so it can be a very busy stretch of
water. As kayakers we are not bound by the
rower’s code or guidelines but we do need to
keep out of their way, which will usually mean
keeping close to the river edge. Sections of
the river are occasionally closed for rowing
competitions – and that means no kayakers.
You can check for such closures here www.
pla.co.uk/Events/Forthcoming-River-Events
If you don’t fancy running your own trip,
why not explore the tidal Thames with one of
the two commercial kayaking outfits on the
river, Kayaking London and Moo Canoes?
Both come highly recommended, with
experienced, friendly staff who enjoy paddling
and sharing the river.
KAYAKING ON THE TIDAL RIVER
THAMES – MORE INFORMATION
Port of London Authority guide to recreational
navigation on the tidal River Thames.
Paddling on the Thames. Port of London
Authority web page with links.
Kayaking on the tidal Thames by Canoe
London
See more at: http://canoelondon.com/
kayaking-on-tidal-thames-in-london-groupsafety-leadership/#sthash.Agd7vT6s.dpuf
barbara taking in the sights!
NEW BOATS!
Some of the new boats have arrived!
Here is what you might find in the cage.
A small Pyranha Burn (yellow/Jaffa)
2 large Pyranha Burns (blue/white/
lime)
A medium dagger Axiom (red)
A small Wavesport Recon
2 large Pyranha Zone Ones for the pool
A couple of new Jackson play boats are
also on the way.
As you may know - new boats means we
will be selling off some older ones - watch
out for details in Notes from the Canal side
soon where they will be advertised first.
The new boats will soon have their
picture taken and be added to the boat
register that can be found on the website.
CLAIRE
EQUIPMENT OFFICER.
Highland Bound
Once again a motley crew from RCC ventured north for a spot of kayaking in Scotland.
Being rather accustomed to padlding anything with at least 3 cm of water in it, a few
were a bit surprised to see water levels a bit higher than previous years. Our roving
kayak reporter JAMES MOGIE tells all.
For many on this trip (myself included) it was
their first visit to Scotland with Regents. We
had a rough idea what to expect after seeing
videos from previous years. We were also lucky
enough to watch Mark Lamb's 'how to rescue
a boat' video in case any of us found ourselves
in trouble on the river. Luckily there were many
small sticks around, so we felt we could get
ourselves out of any bother if it were to arise.
After a long drive up to Dumfries we all
settled into our B&B's, eager to start the
week's paddling. The first river (Nith) was a
good warm up. It was well needed as a lot of
us hadn't paddled in a while and needed to
get used to being on a river and rock dodging
again. After this run we had the final leg of our
journey up to Fort William. It was then that the
skies darkened and it began to rain. It began
to rain a lot. After skirting around a couple of
loch's we headed over the hills and through
winding valleys. The dark skies, lashing rain
and looming hills painted a rather wild and
forboding image of Scotland.
We arrived in Fort William and our
accommodation ready for a few beers and
some food. Fort William is a relatively quite
town sitting on the shores of Loch Linnhe. The
town itself climbs steeply up the foot of the
Nevis Range and is a popular destination for
many outdoor activities.
Our first day paddling around Fort William
started early. We were keen to get back on
the water and there was plenty of excitement
as a lot of people had never paddled any of
the rivers being mentioned. It was decided we
would head over to Roy Bridge and run the
lower. After a long walk down to the get-on
we split into groups and headed off down the
river. The Lower Roy a grade 2/3 run was very
picturesque, but our group fancied something
a little spicier. Mark Rowe had suggested we
run a tributary which would be a Regents first
decent.
After finding where the trib entered the
Roy, myself, Mark, Sean and Malika left the
comfort of our boats and started a long climb
up a very steep hill. Once at the top we then
had to get our boats down the other side and
find somewhere to get on the water. Getting
down with our boats proved a bit treacherous
so we rigged up some throw lines and I
volunteered to catch them at the bottom. One
thing I didn't expect was at the bottom was a
full on Scottish bog hiding under a camouflage
of autumnal leaves. I was very glad for my
dry suit. I did warn Sean but he still ended up
sinking to his knees. We found a suitable place
to get on and descended the trib – a series of
drops and short rapids. One drop we had to
portage as we weren't confident of being able
to offer sufficient safety support if something
went wrong. With a slightly larger group and
slightly higher levels this would be a blast.
Highly fun and very much recommended if you
can handle the strenuous walk in.
Monday brought us to the Spean Gorge.
I was really looking forward to this as I always
enjoy gorge runs. After a fairly long paddle
in we came to our first rapid, the Fairy Steps.
We had a fairly strong group and could see
to the bottom so we decided a full inspection
wasn't necessary. Liza led with me following,
Katie behind me and Krzysztof and Becky at
the back. Everything started off fairly normal
until I noticed Liza's boat upside-down and
Liza clambering out onto some rocks. I agreed
that this would indeed be an excellent place to
test our groups boat chasing skills so followed
Liza's line into the stopper and out of my boat.
Katie also didn't want to make it too easy for
Krzysztof and Becky so she abandoned her
boat. It must be said they did an excellent job
of returning all our kit.
The rest of the gorge was fantastic.
Beautiful scenery, strange boily black water
with unpredictable currents and bubbles rising
from the unknown depths gave the whole day
a strangely mythical feel. After the gorge and
a spot of rock jumping / boat sinking silliness
we rounded a corner to be confronted by what
I can only describe as a monstrous mountain
of water descending into the river. We had
found some kind of hydraulic power station.
Salmon could be seen jumping into the flow in
a kamikaze like fashion. Ben Mcphee assures
me this is runable in lower levels.
The rest of the gorge was fantastic.
Beautiful scenery, strange boily black
water with unpredictable currents
and bubbles rising from the unknown
depths gave the whole day a strangely
mythical feel.
Tuesday the main group headed off to the
middle Orchy after deciding the levels were
too high to run the Etive. Aisling, Amy and I
decided to run the Coe Gorge as it was closer
and a shorter run. We were a bit tired by that
point and the Orchy is a long paddle. I was also
keen to get another Regents first decent under
my deck. We found the Coe easily enough but
had a bit of trouble finding the Grade 6 which
was rumoured to be pretty close to the get off.
We also wanted to find a Grade 5 which was
very close to the exit of the gorge so we could
get out our boats and inspect when the time
came. Unfortunately we could see very little
from the woods above the gorge but we could
hear a lot which wasn't good for our nerves.
After a very quiet/nervous change in a
rainy car park we were ready to run the gorge.
The get-on is about thirty meters above the
entry rapid so not much time for a warm-up. I
followed Aisling as best I could but didn't make
it quite so gracefully. A rock and a high brace
later I was in an eddy looking upstream to see
Amy wrestling with the side of the gorge. At
least I wasn't the only one with a rock magnet
in my boat. The rest of the gorge was a fun 3+
run. Very fast and technical. In higher levels it's
a Grade 4. Shortly after the gorge we got out
of our boats and inspected what we thought
was the Grade 5. Aisling (who had run this
section a few years ago) assured us this wasn't
it. What we were looking at was a fun looking
rapid with a hideous constriction halfway down
at exactly face height. With barely enough
room to squeeze a boat between a rock and
a hard place we decided to portage. We still
had the next feature coming up so we took it
slowly until we were sure we had found it. In
these levels it didn't appear to be a Grade 5 so
Aisling and myself ran the drop on the far left
as it looked like there was some quite nasty
tow back as you got nearer the centre.
This completed our run of the Coe gorge.
By Wednesday people were getting tired.
More tired than in the Alps. I put it down to
having to keep warm as well as paddling using
up energy. Still we soldiered on and drove
to the Pattack. I think this was possibly my
favourite river. The river itself winds through
some stunning woodland. A huge array of
plants and trees are on show. Very different to
the commercial logging forests which, it seems
are all too common in Scotland. The get on
is just under a huge waterfall which you can
paddle right up to the pool at the base of the
falls. Great photo opportunities if you want to
scare the life out of your parents. “Look what I
did mummy!” The entry rapid is simple enough.
Well, unless you're Matt that is and decide to
unintentionally bust out some pretty confusing
moves over some rocks. The rest of the river
has some really nice Grade 3 sections and a
couple of Grade 4 features. The first being a
drop and the second is a short rapid with two
distinct lines. Mark Rowe decided to break with
tradition and run this with a spray deck on and
facing the right direction this year. Everything
on this river is perfectly runable with the right
safety cover and a bit of inspection.
What we were looking at was a
fun looking rapid with a hideous
constriction halfway down at exactly
face height. With barely enough room
to squeeze a boat between a rock and a
hard place we decided to portage.
So Thursday was Hallowe'en. We were
having a pretty surprisingly carnage-free
week. I think the river gods were busy with
something. Still it wasn't long before they
realised Regents were paddling and fancied a
good laugh…
It rained a lot during the night. And it was
still raining a lot when we were driving off to
inspect the Loy. When we arrived it was clear
the river was not for everyone. It was full to
the banks so all eddies were washed out.
There were a few small ones but they were in
amongst tangled sodden trees. Chunky rapids
sat in intervals. All looked as if they had one
line down them and some would require quite a
bit of work to get the right line. Consequences
of mistakes would have been made far worse
by the inability to set up any meaningful
cover. So we decided as a group to let this
one go. “Let's go and look at the upper Roy,”
someone said. So off we went. From the top
of the valley the upper Roy looked like a lovely
picturesque postcard perfect scene. White
water cutting it's way through two stunning
hills. Proudly carving out a place for itself over
the millennia. Some sun even decided to make
an appearance.
All was well with the world and we didn't
have to paddle the scary thing we left far,
far behind. Our group was the lead group
and it started off alright until we got around
the first corner and the waves and speed
picked up massively. And carried on picking
up and up and up. The first rapid came into
view. Then we had a swim. We chased the
swimmer leaving the kit to the river. We got
our swimmer to the bank and I sat in an eddy
on the opposite side waiting for the other
group to come down. Two of the group did
but without their boats! They were frantically
hauled out of the fast flow as their boats and
paddles hurtled towards the Roy Gorge. It was
clear that stopping a boat on that river was
going to take more people-power than we
had to spare. The swimmers and final group
were the main priorities. After the swimmers
were out of the water they – and some
people who decided to get off – headed
down river on foot to find kit. A few of us
decided to continue the run and set off back
into the flow. It was a hair-raising experience
and really got the adrenaline going. We did,
however, call it a day shortly afterwards. Too
much kit had gone missing and we decided
we needed to launch a salvage operation.
A group set off to walk the gorge to see if
they could find any pinned boats, while myself,
Amy and Mark Rowe paddled off down the
lower to see if any had washed through. The
lower had transformed into an unrecognizable
river from the one we paddled before.
Long wave chains intersecting each other
accompanied us down the entire way. One boat
was found but no sign of the others. It was
getting dark by the time we were off so we had
to call it a day. One boat was sighted a little
further downriver by another group of paddlers
so we knew where to head the next day.
Friday was a boat searching day for some,
river running for others. The lower Roy was
now in-between the low level from the first
day and the stonking level from the afternoon
before. This medium level really let the river
shine. It was a huge amount of fun. Big bouncy
waves and rocky rapids. It was the prefect
run for weary paddlers. Mark Rowe's group
came across a missing boat in an eddy and ran
the river with it. All the boats were found and
people were happy after a fantastic week. We
finished the week off with a few beers and a
curry in town. That evening Fort William was
wet and colourless, but the friendly locals and
good whisky more than made up for it.
Conquering the Nile
Sean and Daryl's adventure in Uganda last winter clearly gave these boys the bug and
this year Sean organised an even bigger group to go out in February and get their
first taste of MASSIVE white water on the Nile. MATT COLLINS gives us the lastest.
It’s barely lunchtime at Gatwick Airport and
I’m sat in a bar in North Terminal departures
with the distinct smell of Red Bull and
Jägermeister wafting around in the air. It’s
at this point I realise this is going to be a
heavy two weeks of not only paddling but
drinking. A merry bunch (yes even Krzysztof)
of Regents we are off the Uganda to conquer
the Nile!
First some background: some of you may
ask, why Uganda? Well Uganda is the home
to the source of the River Nile where it flows
out of Lake Victoria. Just downstream of
this is some of this is some world class white
water and boy is it big, personally I’d never
seen anything like this let alone paddled it.
And as if that wasn’t enough, it was warm,
I don’t mean summer-on-the-canal warm, I
mean scorching. We had two weeks to get
used to all of this and enjoy the thrills and
spills the Nile had to offer, thankfully all
under the expert guidance of the team from
Love it Live it & Kayak the Nile.
... personally I’d never seen anything
like this let alone paddled it. And as
if that wasn’t enough, it was warm,
I don’t mean summer-on-the-canal
warm, I mean scorching.
sean taking his own - less advisable - line
The first day we took some baby steps
getting used to the high volume water, its
monstrous eddy lines, whirlpools and boils.
We then paddled down the river and towards
a feature called ‘Retrospect’, I saw the
horizon line approaching quickly and then
suddenly a wave over head high travelling
quickly towards to me at speed. A little
squeal of some obscenities was released but
we all survived, this was just the start of what
we were to face during our stay.
After day one the trip was spent partly
running a section of the river that offers
some big rapids and partly at some great surf
and play spots as this was after all a freestyle
kayaking trip. Super Hole was our first taste
and it was truly super it was an fairly easy
and not to daunting surf. The same can’t be
said about Nile Special, a huge wave with
a wave train after it that’s a interesting ride,
especially if you’re the wrong way up. It’s a
tricky one to get onto, but one hell of a ride,
bouncing you up and down like a yoyo
Nile Special is just upstream of the
paddling paradise that is the Hairy Lemon,
one of our places to stay. The other being
the infamous Nile River Explorers camp in
Bujagali. Nile River Explorers is full of people
passing through on their travels and the bar
can often be pretty heaving. Sean and Daryl
could quite often be found in there learning
to ride Boda Boda’s (motorbikes) or watching
the Naked Ninja do his stuff. That is when
we weren’t there doing funnels (read beer
bong if you’re American) as punishment for
swimming. This is probably where I should
admit I had to do the most of these. I’m not
sure if it makes it better or worse but I will
also point out that only one swim was on
white water!
While staying on the Hairy Lemon we had
the pleasure of sharing the place with none
other than the Jackson kayak team including
EJ and Dane. This meant any time spent up
at Nile Special, or it’s little brother Club wave,
was spent with the worlds best freestyle
paddlers doing their stuff. It’s quite infuriating
when you’re struggling to paddle on to the
wave and get a surf and then see Dane
Jackson hand paddling and doing air screw to
air screw combos. But that’s not to say they
weren’t a friendly bunch we managed to teach
them the rules to shit head which lead to
some great games in the evenings.
All in all the trip was amazing, the Nile
offered some amazing paddling. I can highly
recommend it to anyone who wants to
experience high volume water in a relatively
safe environment and beautiful surroundings.
Adding to that the great coaching and
experiencing all that Uganda has to offer, it
was definitely an adventure.
Lastly I wanted to say thanks to Sean for
organising the trip and destroying our livers.
And thanks to the rest of the gang; ‘One
week’s enough’ Tadhg, ‘I do actually Smile’
Krzysztof, ‘Paddle to you swim’ Daryl and ‘Sax
practice’ Ben for making it a great trip.
Super Hole was our first taste and it
was truly super it was an fairly easy
and not to daunting surf. The same
can’t be said about Nile Special, a huge
wave with a wave train after it that’s
a interesting ride, especially if you’re
the wrong way up.
right top: daryl making it look easy
right below: sean making it look good
below: matt doing it with style