River Usk: Saturday January 3rd 2004
The day started as last years Usk trip with snow falling in Leamington and the intrepid band of paddlers wondering how cold it was going to be in Wales. Never the less we had loaded the boats and left the club by 730. A quick tea break was taken at Monmouth services on the A40 before we continued to Sennybridge and the get in to the river Usk. The snow had all melted by now though there did seem to be quite a few snowy cars driving around. The shuttle was speedily set up thanks to Lawrence having joined us as driver and while we paddled he took his Freelander off road in the Brecon Beacons.
A few warm up waves were surfed by all on the way to the first drop of the Usk which was safely navigated by all with Jonathan making excellent use of his paddle and the river bed to remain upright. The second drop was also safely negotiated and we all made sure to point this drop out to Janet as she completely failed to notice it last year.
The third drop was also expertly run by all concerned although Jonathan did find a slightly stickier route down than most heading a little too far to river right. Once at the bottom of this drop Sam took the opportunity to assess the playfulness of his new Riot Disco by paddling into the sticky pourover part of the fall. This turned out to be a slight error on his part as after several failed rolls, successful unintentional cartwheels and numerous other mysterious play moves which only his boat knew how to do he swam. Sam and his boat were safely reunited on the riverbank however his paddles were still somewhere out of sight in the stopper. At this point and much to everyone’s amusement Laura went mad and started throwing rocks into the stopper however there was method in her madness as the stopper gave up its prisoner and released Sam’s paddles. (Remember this handy hint).
Continuing our journey down river we encountered many more play waves, which kept everyone entertained and whilst we were all watching Miles tearing up a wave Tom Lukehurst succumbed to the power of the invisible magnetic rock and was next seen standing mid stream having swum.
Further downstream a rapid was encountered which Jonathan found a rocky route down and pinned himself however it was only a minor pin and he soon released himself. Having tried to be the centre of attention earlier and failed Tom L followed Jonathans line and pinned himself very successfully on the same rock ensuring that he became the centre of attention whilst Alec waded around in the river to pull him off. Unfortunately the riverbed was slippy and Alec ended up sat on his arse in the middle of the river. This rescue also saw Alec sacrifice his Mars bar as it fell out of his pocket and sank without trace whilst getting his sling out.
Following on from this drama the trip continued in an uneventful manner but with plenty of playing by everyone on numerous small waves and stoppers to the get out where the farmer had very kindly let us park in his yard and use his barn as a changing room. All in all a top time was had by all and the trip was a perfect way to revitalise and refresh ourselves after the Christmas break.
Paddled by: Alec Bowden, Laura Butler, Janet Bendelow, Tom Lukehurst, Tom Waterer, Miles Jones, Jonathan Hynes, Paul Furmston, Sam Butler, Connel Williams.
Swum by: Sam Butler and Tom Lukehurst