With some trepidation I signed up to Leigh’s River Teith trip – she helpfully texted me the night before to let me know the water would be “pretty cold” so we would need drysuits, warm clothes and soup. We met at the container to sort out what must surely be the smallest boat ever for me – and headed up in convoy to Callander. Snow was lying all around as we sorted the kit in the car park and I’m sure that it was just the frozen ground that was giving me cold feet! We warmed up by practising some ferry gliding near the car park, with Leigh and Bernie offering encouragement and I soon found out the the smallest boat ever had a mind of its own and turned at right angles even if I so much as thought of putting the paddle in. Heading off down the river, careful to avoid the fishermen, we practised breaking in and out of the current just under the bridge. I knew that it wouldn’t be as easy to do as Leigh/Bernie/Dougie made it look – and I was right!
The weather remained beautiful and we made a leisurely progress down the river, Leigh making us practice breaking in/ out and ferry gliding at various points. There were one or two bumps as I missed spotting rocks lying just below the surface – and I one point I got firmly grounded as the river level was surprisingly low. The views of the hills were fabulous in the winter sunshine. We passed a couple of points where there were definite waves and I was pleased to note that (at least some) sea kayaking skills can be transferred to river kayaking!
We had a short break for lunch, on a peaceful spot, where the hot soup was enjoyed but it was too cold to stay still for long. Back in the boats there were a couple of challenges to come – a large rock mid-stream where we had to catch the eddy (managed it – just!) and then the final rapid. One by one my companions disappeared – Leigh and Bernie to show us the line, then Doug who successfully negotiated the rapid. Then, Leigh was waving at me to come down. Yikes! Slowly I manoeuvred into what I hoped was the line that Bernie had shown. And then I was going down. Suddenly I was in proper waves – this was like sea kayaking! I paddled as positively as I could, Leigh and Bernie shouting at me to paddle all the while, and came out the other side and promptly did an unexpected 360 in celebration. It was only a little further to the get out, then a short (but muddy) scramble with the boats to the lay-by.
Thanks to Leigh and Bernie for an excellent trip and for sustained patience with a river paddling novice.
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