We then heard the list of obstacles; Rapids, Washing Machine, Lovers Leap, Waves, Tumble Dryer, Triple Drop etc. I left the meeting with pictures in my head of huge white water and was looking forward to being challenged, and pushed to the limits on my abilities. We were all excited and Friday could not come quick enough.

The Journey
Friday finally came. We had all prepared ourselves for the long haul down there (about 6 hours). Chris & Me had about 30 hours of rock music, Graham had a case of larger, and a box of caramel bars, and Andy had the Maps, just as well it was this way round as Andy was doing the driving.

Day 1.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      I woke up to Andy and Graham going for their first cig and moans of waking people. I dragged myself up, got my kit ready before breakfast as instructed and looked at the beautiful day, it appeared to be a perfect day for kayaking. We arrived in the dining room that had a large caricature painting of the river, with each obstacle marked.

Never follow Jason as he rarely got the route without getting pinned or stuck. And we were glad the water flow wasn’t much greater as he always got pinned the wrong way round.

Never follow Andy or Graham as they always ended up sitting next to each other on a rock contemplating if it was now time for a cig.

Arrival
We arrived at approx. 8.30pm to find Dennis and the rest of the Arun Canoe Club in the bar. It was great to see some new and old faces from the Arun Club. The problem was that the water level was very low, running at about a grade 2. After settling in, Me, Chris and Flick (Arun club) wandered through the forest down to the River, and I must be honest, we did all feel disappointed, especially at the size of the Anvil (a hole made up of a steel girder) which is normally a good size play hole, but was no more than a trickle, we kept our spirits high, and returned to the bar for a few drinks and watched the non-stop playing of extreme white water videos. Having ordered our breakfast for the following morning we flopped up the stairs fairly early (11.30 ish) to get plenty of sleep for the day ahead.

After a good breakfast and great talk from the experience Arun lot to us Waveney Dart Virgins, we were off. Once all the ferrying of cars was complete and throwline practice had finished, we split into groups. Waveney stayed together, and Dennis led our group. He explained the hand and paddle signals for travelling down the river and getting in and out of eddies and around obstacles. Although the water had rose slightly over night, it was definitely going to be a bump and scrape paddle, and some obstacles would be small or non existent, we were going to treat the river as if it was flowing at full speed. This meant getting out and checking ahead to see the correct way to run the next part of the river. The first obstacle we came to was a small play wave which was surfable and a good start to the day. As running the rapids was more like dodging the rocks and trying not to get stuck on top or pinned against them, we all learnt very quickly how to read the river flow and try to float through, rather than scrap more plastic off our boats. The main rules seemed to be …

The main thing that came out of running so many sets of rapids with such a low water level was, that we all had loads of practice rescuing each other off rocks. By hanging onto the boat and dragging it out of the position (in some cases it took 2 people holding on to set the boat free) or by banging into the boat to free it (which meant that sometimes you then got stuck in the same spot). The other obstacles that we met were small play waves that we all had a go on. One or two of the stoppers were still running quite nicely and provided us with good practice at using them to glide across the river and using sculling for support etc.

Fun time came just before lunch at Lover’s Leap, with a seal launch session. This comprised of a 50-60ft slide down the rocks and to be launched approx. 8 foot above the water. How you landed on the water depended on how you left the rock. Both groups were now together and everyone agreed the most impressive launch was by ME. Because when hitting a bump in the rock on the way down, I was flipped into a vertical position and pirouetted mid air only to land dead flat on my bum in the same direction as I started, amongst cheers from the others in the water of “ooh that hurt”.

If Dennis hadn’t said, ‘lets move on’ I think we would all still be there having the time of our lives. After lunch at Lover’s Leap we continued down more rapids to the Triple Drop, we all got out and there was more surveying of the river.

We set off, Dennis leading, the last drop, had a rock in the middle that we agreed to try and miss, only Dennis decided to hit it and the next thing we saw was the bottom of his boat. A thought flashed through our minds … ‘Will Dennis Swim?’ but true to fashion he just rolled up as if nothing had happened, this also reminded us that the ‘ROCK’ must be missed and we all made sure we did just that. We set off, Dennis leading, the last drop, had a rock in the middle that we agreed to try and miss, only Dennis decided to hit it and the next thing we saw was the bottom of his boat. A thought flashed through our minds … ‘Will Dennis Swim?’ but true to fashion he just rolled up as if nothing had happened, this also reminded us that the ‘ROCK’ must be missed and we all made sure we did just that.

After a slower start, we packed up and left for Widemouth Bay, this was a longer journey than I had hoped. And after all this effort, disappointingly there was a very strong offshore wind and hardly any surf, so the session was called to a halt after about an hour. With many thoughts in our heads, we slowly made our way home. Once all of us were safely down Triple Drop. Another play/practice session took place and a couple of the Arun Club swam. Again we were reminded that this water is to be respected, both swimmers were very good and able paddles and knew the river well. From here we carried on down to Holne Weir and ran the main weir that is normally very dangerous, but as the water was low, was safe. Another mile or so saw the end of the trip. We all finished, tired, weary and with far more experience than we started.

That evening after a hot shower, some of the Arun club, Me, Chris, Jason and Will went on the climbing wall, followed by loads of games of pool. While the rest of the group sat in the bar drinking, everyone was full of laughs and jokes and stories of the day. Before most of the group had too much to drink, it was decided that in the morning we would go to Widemouth Bay, as the River Barl would be low and a surf session would just finish of the weekend.

Day 2
After a slower start, we packed up and left for Widemouth Bay, this was a longer journey than I had hoped. And after all this effort, disappointingly there was a very strong offshore wind and hardly any surf, so the session was called to a halt after about an hour. With many thoughts in our heads, we slowly made our way home.

Summary
The entire group from Waveney had a great time and the Arun lot seemed to too. We all learnt a lot and in some ways were thankful for the River Dart water levels being low (although another foot would have been nice). It gave us the chance to have a sort of practice run and now that it is over we all want to go back as soon as possible, when the level is as it should be for a good grade 2-4 river. We all cannot thank Dennis enough for giving us all a very memorable weekend, Which is still being talked about.