We had a very pleasant paddle this morning on the Avon. There was Caroline, Tony, Clive, Lyndon, Caryl and me.
We were all ready on time and left PRSC at 9:30 and headed to Fladbury as planned only to be met with a really impressive water level downstream of the weir (see pics). The usual part of the weir which is usually a scrape to go down had a deep stopper running full length so we all shot it on the right which had a nice wave train running through the middle. This was Lyndon and Caryls first river trip so they were already off to a challenging start.
The level was up and flowing well and a bit swirly all along but despite being cold it was a nice day. We finallyreached Wyre weir. Everyone got out to inspect and I inspected it and shot the weir from the water. It had good deep stoppers along most of its length but a break in the centre. The outflow was fast and changeable with strong recirculation once it reached the far bank. The consensus is that noone else would shoot it (Clive was in an open canoe and did not want to get swamped on his birthday) and we had briefings and demos on how to ferry glide across it. Everyone was keen and I did a demo although I must confess the changing flow did make it hard. Clive went first followed by Tony. It was then Lyndons turn and unfortunately it was swimming time but he was OK and did well. next plan was to tow Lyndon and Caryl in the open and me and Caroline would demonstrate perfect ferry glides. Off we continued back to PRSC.
It was worth going out and everybody seemed to have enjoyed the paddle.
Here are some trip stats supplied by Caroline.
From the garmin
- 6.08 miles
- 2 hours exactly (when moving – another 1.12 hours stationary = this is PRSC to PRSC)
- 3 miles an hour, when moving
- maximum speed – 12.2 mph! – we think this must have been the Fladbury wave train!
Hope to see more of you in the new year.
