Fitz, John Heath, Caroline, Paul D and Graham had a good paddle on the Usk today from Sennybridge to Aberbran. Conditions were good with the river being up but not difficult although we did have one incident which is documented well with photos.
We met at Aberbran at 9 am where we took advantage of the info from the Usk website and Cariline phoned the farmer and he said we could park in the caravan field which meant no long carry up the hill at the end. We all got changed, left my car at the end and went to the new get in on river right with all 5 boats and 2 cars so no ferry needed. Very busy at the start with a group of about a dozen open boats from PGL guys doing winter training.
This run has 3 natural rock ledge weirs which are all in the first mile. The first 2 were shot roughly centre by Fitz finding suitable boofing points (towback was minimal by doing this). Then came the infamous 3rd which has more of a drop. We all got out to inspect and met an experienced group of 2 open boats and 2 kayaks that had just inspected. The traditional higher level shoot on the right is blocked by a tree. The 2 canoeists had no choice but to portage. The 2 kayakers shot it about half way along and we had a chat with them and agreed with their line. Fitz was first on rope duty and the 2 kayakers in the other group offered water cover while me, John and Paul went back to shoot it first. The idea was to hit the centre to avoid the vicious recirculation on the left which takes you into the towback but not to far right. If you look at the pictures of me shooting it (red boat, grey helmet, right way up) and compare it to Paul D (red boat, eventually upside down) you will see the subtleties of the line that we all agreed was difficult to follow from above the drop. Within seconds Paul was over and in the far corner of the stopper with all of his strong swimmer thoughts going through his head and decided he was stuck and sensibly bailed and swam into the flow and was rescued by the guys who were waiting below.
Now the boat decided to stay vertically pinned in the stopper for a while but eventually freed only to flow down the slot on the far side and vertically pin against a rock out of reach and stuck. Working with the others one of their girls in a canoe came up with the bright idea of paddling into the eddie behind the rock in an open boat and then climb out onto the rock and attach a caribener and throw rope to Pauls boat. This eventually worked well. The rope was thrown across to the other bank but had to be picked up and carried by kayak. Seconds later boat was out and on its way back to Paul. All helpers retrieved from rock and paddles carried over by me and everyone was on their way again none the worse for wear (even Pauls pastie was OK).
The rest of the trip went without incident with a few rapids but nothing taxing. We pressed on and were off the water, changed, ferry done, boats loaded and on our way by 12:45. Thanks to you all for an enjoyable paddle and for Caroline for the pictures. Note I’ve included a picture of the Brecon webcam for 8am so we know what to compare it to.
