White Water Course October 2010

Pure Liquid Kayaking ran a super-successful white water course this October, based on the River Dart in Devon. I couldn't have asked for a better group of paddlers to coach on the river, with every single one of them super-keen and enthusiastic, hungry for new challenges and to improve their skills, and up for every task I set them. It was a total pleasure paddling with; Rob Tew, Ben Hipwell, Nick Richards and Jon Roberts. The course ran over a series of four Saturdays during October, with week one covering the fundamentals and basic skills on the Lower Dart. Progression was rapid to say the least (excuse the pun), especially for Ben who had never paddled on moving water before, and by week two we were on the Loop in low-ish flows utilizing the abundance of quality features there. A successful trip was had by all; running every section, including boofing 'Washing Machine' and eddy-hopping 'Triple Falls'. Week three saw higher water levels, with it lapping the ledge on the 'Loop put-in', so a perfect progression onto stronger flows - we even ran the last Km or so of the Upper Dart to start the day off with more excitement and the new challenge of running drops. The faster flowing water allowed the students to charge harder into and out of eddies, and further improve their river running skills. Right at the end of the day we did a safety and rescue session involving swimming down rapids and using throwlines for rescues. For the final week of the course the levels were slightly low again, but this didn't mean that we weren't going to have fun and further push our skill levels on the river. First up, we found a great little spot for having a go at flat-spinning our kayaks, before embarking on the main focus of the day - hitting as many eddies as we could on every rapid on the river. The guys discovered eddies they never knew existed before as we eddy-hopped our way down even the more challenging sections of water such as 'Lovers Leap' and 'Triple Falls'. We also found plenty of surf waves to play on, and in between all that we looked at leadership - with everyone having a go at leading the rest of the group down. Some of the more exciting elements of the day included a 'boof-fest' at the 'Washing Machine', (where we discovered Ben was a boof-a-holic), and trying our hand at some super-exhilarating pop-outs in the first drop of 'Triple Falls'. All in all, a fantastic day was had by everyone, and at the take-out we had a super-positive debrief and feed back session. From my point of view; I'd had a great month of paddling with and coaching a superb group of paddlers, and their progression throughout the course was phenomenal - with all of them looking super-comfy on the 'Loop' and paddling really smooth and strongly by the end. Well done Guys! Keep at it! And maybe not long before we get you on the 'Upper Dart' eh?! ;) 

Photos courtesy of Rob Tew.