55 km of river paddled in just 2 days, The University Canoe & Kayak beat records on there trip to the River Wye this month.
On Friday the 6th of March members of the Lincoln University Canoe & Kayak team (L.U.C.K) made there way down to the border of Wales to enjoy a weekend of canoeing on open water. More specifically the River Wye.
The River Wye is the fifth longest river the UK and stretches some 215km, at some parts it even forms the border between Wales and England.The water was moving steadily and the weather was in our favour. Instead of running the 2 day route, we signed up to run the 3 day route, but still in 2 days.
Starting from Hoarwithy, on the 7th of March, the team of 18 set off in 6 Canadian canoes down towards the end point in the town of Ros-on-wye. The weather much to our surprise, was perfect. The sun was shining onto the clear water and the wind was settled. With 2 members in each canoe teamwork was key, the back paddler is responsible for the steering of the boat, while the front paddling is responsible for providing the ‘power’. Both members needed to work in sync the keep the boat moving at a steady pace and keeping it stable when the wind did blow in the wrong direction.
However the lack of rain and high winds made paddling the first day a breeze, even if we did manage to cover 30km, none of the teams spirit was dampened! And a well deserved pub meal was in order when we arrived back at camp.
The 2nd day the weather had turned back to being British, leaving Ros-on-wye the team back in the canoes set off down to Symonds Yat, right on the border with Wales. Passing on route were the ruins of Goodrich castle. While a few issues occurred when one our freshers managed to get himself caught by a fishing line on the bank, but the weekend passed with no swimmers or capsizes. Finishing the days paddling at 3pm the team got off and set back home to Lincoln.
Overall while it might be far off from the most thrill seeking of rivers, but it provided a great chance to nail down our Canoe skills and explore one of the most popular paddling rivers in the UK.