With all the water last week we looked set to have a bumper week of paddling! But for some reason neither Sunbury or Shepperton really got them self up nor going, I think the reason for this was due to the pool levels. Both seamed to open fast and although we had plenty of water the EA seamed to let it all pass straight away.
But anyway we still had a great session on Friday Shepperton was on a funny flat 10 gates but the second wave was big and bouncy, if you could stay upright! After an hour there we shot of down to Sunbury for a quick look and to some of the groups surprise found it to be ok.
If you could get yourself over the eddy line of doom the wave was ok / a good medium level I would say. Over the next few day’s the river fell and although quite a good laugh in creak boats and C1’s it wasn’t ideal for the masses of play boaters watching from the side. Fast-forward to Wednesday night, slalom night and the return of a legend.
After some year’s absence from C1 slalom George has finally strapped himself into a boat again and started to train, down at the weir last night George and Mike cruised around making gates and perfecting there roll. Watch this space Div 1 again?
We had a customer ask us last week just how much paddling do we do! So here is last weeks paddling
Sunday / Surfing down on the south coast, Shoreham Monday / Sunbury Pre work paddle Tuesday / Sunbury pre work / Shepperton after work Wednesday / Sunbury pre work / Shepperton after work Thursday / day off paddling late night at shop Friday / paddling with the boys Shepperton / Sunbury all day Saturday / quick paddle Sunbury pre work / Shepperton Creak boat after work Sunday / paddle with mike Mike, Jez, Pete / Shepperton / Sunbury
Not a bad weeks paddling! Keep an eye out for this weekend. Hurley Classic on Sunday and loads of rain forecast should be some rivers to paddle in Wales or South west. And the surf should be epic…..
I have returned from the kingdom of Nepal, here are some pictures.
(Even the local kids couldn't believe how long Pedro's Boat was!)
(Bill on the Sun Kosi)
(Cuppa tea)
(Stefano, my Bivy buddy from Italy)
After an unplanned night on a Bahrainian building site, watching England loose at rugby, we made it to Kathmandu where we were whisked straight of to Sukhte beach for more beer & whisky. I also bumped into Chertsey regular Pete Young who was also off down the Sun Kosi.
I can’t remember how long we were on the river; I don’t think we broke any speed descent records!! After the Sun Kosi we bussed up to Mulghat for a quick bivvy & an enjoyable day on the last section of the Tamur. The following day Slime, Pedro & I said our goodbyes to the rest of the group, who were returning to Kathmandu, while we were heading off to do a self support trip down the Tamur. Slime managed to get us a lift up to Besantapur with a group of Canadians where we could hire porters for the 3 day trek up to Dohban & the start of the river. The Tamur kicked off with fast & furious rapids made all the more challenging by our heavily loaded kayaks & the cabbage I was carrying in by buoyancy aid pocket. The river mellowed out before picking up again above Mulghat, below Mulghat we were back on familiar waters down to the Sapta Kosi confluence & on to the Rafters paradise that is Chatra.
On arriving at our hotel we realised it was the final night of Diwali & we were invited to join in our host family’s celebration (a bit like Christmas dinner), drinking rice wine & receiving Tikka’s. The next day we flew back to Kathmandu for a couple of days R&R and shopping before heading home to find the heavens had opened & the weirs were running !!(Must have been the good karma from all those prayer flags!!)
(The trek into the Tamur with drunk porters, Hard work)
Last night I was lucky enough (I think I’m right in saying) to go and watch England v Croatia at the new Wembley stadium.
I had a great night out with Amy, just a pity that we seam to have fielded a pub team! And what was that goalie doing!!! Great stadium, well run. Thanks’ Lou for sorting it all out you’re a credit to the FA, unlike the ex Mr mclaren.
A grey and wet day greeted the 14 competitors for the 6th running of this auspicious event, however after a hearty breakfast The groups headed to the first tee under a clearing sky and the hint of sun. Former Champion George Woods of “Whitewater the Canoe Centre” had the dubious honour of Taking the first shot before an expectant audience. He led his group off the first tee in search of both individual And team honours, with colleagues Graham and Aaron from the shop to support him.
Next on the tee was Steve Cooper from “D M”, getting an impressive drive of the first with a Much admired driver. He was joined in pursuit of perfection by Billy Booth and Brian Paynter representing “Mailspeed”, Was Brian’s rather tidy outfit giving a hint of the ability within? The third group was led off by Nigel Bourne of “Abersoch B”, two times winner of the “Auld Git Trophy”. Nigel led a mature party round the course, with Peter Richards and Paul Richards of “Morton” joined By Crewsavers own (and able) Mark Lutman. Some would say Paul had the look of a quietly confident man on the first… The last group away had defending champion Mark Raynor at its head. With his handicap docked the traditional champion’s two points it was looking at being a long day for Mark. With last minute retirements, first substitute Justin Snell of “Ocean Kayak” represented those Unable to attend due to work commitment. Crewsavers own Pete Evans had the weight of organisation weighing Heavily over his game as he headed up the first. With battle joined, the course rang out with cries of joy and despair and more frequent giggles at the Expense of one and all. The odd expletive was also muttered, as each players game ebbed and flowed like The traffic on the (very) nearby M6. The second hole was the nearest the pin hole which saw George Tiger Woods (WWTCC) hit a beauty on to the green and within 15 foot. This shot was never bettered and George was awarded a very tidy pair of Fleece Gloves for his effort. As players approached the 8th thoughts turned to unleashing the big gun and taking the coveted longest drive. Each group had at least one ball up the fairway, but it was the drive of Nigel that no one could get past and Nigel was Awarded a very snazzy pair of socks…..a fair return on the cost of a new driver! With fairways running along side each other, many players took the opportunity to drive on to the wrong one to have A chat and “network”. Also, whispers about how scores were going started to be exchanged, putting pressure on shots As the difficult 18th came closer. In the fading light, it was fitting that defending (and very obviously outgoing) Champion Mark Raynor Sunk the last putt (for a great net par) before the last group headed into the club house. As scores were finalised, it became obvious that the results were close. The team competition went to the furthest travelled team of George Woods and the lads from “Whitewater”. They each received a Crewsaver Polo shirt and a “club head cleaner” to share for their work. (Over all honours went to Mr Graham Laycock “Whitewater” with a score of 35. I have changed this from the original version sent round, but only because Graham won and he played really well!)
Well it’s all in the title really! Yes we have loads of water down here at the moment but the lockeys’ seam to be trying new gate configurations out at Shepperton and Sunbury and as a result the normally epic waves are a bit iffy. Sunbury was great last night but this morning they had opened another half gate Sunbury side and as a result, we could not get on it. Shepperton, bit funny too. There are 4 gates open in the middle then 1 shut either side of that, then some open and some closed, so if you can make it into it, just beats you! Let’s hope things have changed by tonight.
(yes we have managed to take a picture on the Camera!)
We really have had a bit of an electronic mishap! Are hp camera is broken (Jon did it!!!!!!). So as a result we don’t have any pictures of paddling what so ever but I can report that we did have a fantastic day’s surf on Sunday down on the south coat. I woke up bright and early on Sunday witch is a bit of a rare occurrence to go for a paddle in Shoreham Harbour, Shoreham is a great little spot you can surf it a low tide and because of the protection you get from the harbour walls you can paddle there when it’s blowing a hurricane (Like is was Sunday) But hay I took the Talleywhacker out for a couple of hours of great surf.
(nothing to do with this weekends boating, but it's a picture!)
Even the local long border seamed pretty impressed as I over took a fishing trawler tearing down a particularly big wave, as the said mentioned boat struggled back into the harbour mouth! After I got off the wind started to blow even more and the rain came all the perfect ingredients for a late afternoon session at the infamous “Sea Lane Café” I met up with local boater Paul & Rich, interestingly I’m going to be Rich ‘is Best Man at his fast approaching wedding! Cool…. But any way with the wind and rain blowing in on super strong southerly we all jumped in for a surf. Even Mike turned up and climbed into his 1950’s shoe and started to shred! All in all not a bad weekend and now the rain has started to fall looks like we will shortly have some weir action to enjoy. I will endeavour to get the camera fixed so you can see some pictures.
PS have a check on the Shepperton Weir page. We now have a weather report up there, clever hay! Cheers jez…..
It’s been a quiet couple of weeks on the Thames now, winter has started but alas the rain that normally goes with it hasn’t and as a result many of the big weirs are all still shut! Indeed both my self and Jon have spent the last few weeks perfecting our golf swing down at the local Top Golf centre, a truly fantastic place where you can play golf 2 stories up and bring you beer! (King Rock him self Mr A D) But back to the paddling there are still a few little spots to go and have a laugh at Chertsey always works check out the last post to see what it’s like to paddle there. The other spot that I’m always surprised when I visit it is Hambeldon, Back in the early days when paddling in the valley was still in short trousers this place was King! (Adam Spin to win! Knight) Then the EA changed it, other weirs were easier to catch at a good level and it seams to have just fallen out of fashion with many of the local paddlers. (Simply the Best!)However Hambeldon is still a top place to paddle the guy’s at Chalfont Park CC do a fantastic job at sorting out a great wave / hole thing via an hydraulic ramp witch they connect up right on the weir. So last weekend Jon (Yes I am “The Jon Best”), Aaron (Mr Square Rock) Adam knight (local Jackson ripper) and my self nipped down for a blast, when we arrived the guy’s from Chalfont had a fast wave set up but this wasn’t proving to retentive so a quick squirt of Hydraulic pressure turned the wave into a BIG wave with an even bigger pile! Much better…… (Pete & his new best friend "tREV") Big loops, cartwheels, shoulder dislocations, power flips we did them all and we did them with a great big smile on our faces. And it was totally empty a rare thing theses days on the weirs. (The valley showing off, breath taking scenery)
From a work point of view it was great also to see how the new Pyranha Rev faces up against the now Legendary Jackson All Star and super star and I’m pleased to report things are looking good for Pyranhas new little ripper.
So the Winter is creeping up on us, but still there is no sign of any water. Because of this travesty we are having to bide our time at Chertsey weir. We decided to make a film of this wonderful place, and here it is.
Filmed by Pete Scutt and Jon Best Paddlers were Pete Scutt and Jon Best Edited by Pete Scutt and Jon Best
Well we did go for a paddle this weekend however we seam to be suffering technical difficulties today! So you will have to wait for the main blog tomorrow, but for now here are a few pictures of Jon playing around on the paddle home.
With the water level really a bit lower than we would have hoped for Jon practices a new technique for catching some air time!
The long awaited Air Head Dry shell has arrived, in all sizes! This 3 ply top is super dry, super warm & looks super cool and has a very good cut for all you aquatic gymnasts!
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