WYE NOT
NOW?
By Teresa Yonge
After my River Thames trip last year, I was keen to do another solo trip,
this time going down the River Wye in Wales and Herefordshire.
My idea was to drop in at Glasbury and paddle down to
Symonds Yat, wild camping on the way. However, the river
was running high and this was my first experience going solo
on a fast river with rapids and I ended up only paddling for
two days, here is what happened.
I launched in at Glasbury Bridge in Wales at around 10am and
set off down the river. After the slow lock controlled River
Thames trip that I did last year over 26 dreamy days, this felt
very different. The Wye was wild and faster and I soon learnt
to look ahead for any shallow water and obstructions, and
to scan the whole river looking for the best place to paddle
through the rapids. There were places where I was able
to relax a little and take in the surroundings. After leaving
Glasbury, I passed sand martins in abundance darting around
and across the river from their homes in the sandy banks.
The scenery was stunning from the start and I happily
learnt how to ride this wild river... or so I thought! About 17
46
miles into my first day’s canoeing, I was starting to get a bit
tired and it was getting late so I thought it time to look for
somewhere to camp. I spotted a possible campsite on my
left, but it was just before I was approaching some rapids
that stretched right across the river. I made a big mistake
of turning the canoe left towards the land, too close to the
rapids. I paddled hard and as fast as I could. Luckily I made it
to the bank under the trees, but the fast flowing water just
took me sideways, ri ght to the start of the rapids and wedged
me against a fallen tree on the bank.
To my horror, the water started flowing over
the top and into the canoe and so I baled out
with all my kit floating all about, anything
that wasn't tied I lost, including the paddle
I was using.
www.britishcanoeing.org.uk
Luckily, I had a tied on spare, but most importantly, I was
desperately holding onto the canoe by the front line as the
river was tugging it away from my grasp like a hungry lion!
I had to secure it somehow. I was chest deep in very fast
flowing water and was just so relieved to have reached the
edge of the river. The tree I was wedged against was useful
in that I was able to tie the front of the canoe that was facing
the river, but then I had to untie all my kit with the back line
and hoik it up into the tree while I then secured the rear end
of the canoe to another branch, once I had my kit safely in the
tree above the water.
I now had to think of a way to get rid of the water inside the
canoe. Alas it was too heavy for me to tip out as the river had
the canoe now flipped on its side and the full force of the
current was lodging it up against the tree, so I tried pulling it
up towards the bank, which was proving too difficult!
Heck, I needed help fast, it was getting late, I was wet and
getting cold. My mind was racing as to what to do next, I was
all alone and stuck in the undergrowth and trees and not
visible to anyone who might pass by. As I was thinking what to
do, some paddlers caught my eye who I had recently passed
earlier picnicking on the bank of the river... here's my chance
for help! I wolf whistled and hollered ‘HELP’.
I was relieved that they had heard me and realised that I
needed their help and assistance. There was no way they
Canoe Focus Autumn 2016
could have come over to me there at the beginning of the
rapids and so they paddled on through the rapids, landed on
my side further down the river and came back up to me on
foot through the scrub. Thank God for these two lads, they
helped me to turn the boat over to empty it. I then re-packed
the canoe and tied it all back on and set off again downriver
with them for the last five miles to the Bycross Farm Apple
Orchard campsite [www.byecrosscampsite.co.uk].
The next day, I paddled on a further 12 miles down to the
Hereford Rowing club where I was given a lift back to Bycross
Campsite. I had canoed 34 miles in two days which had left
my left forearm flared up and painfully swollen with a very
painful Repetitive Strain Injury, my arm had said ‘enough’
(well enough for now while I recover and heal!) A hot meal
at the campsite put me right again, but I felt silly, foolish and
disappointed in myself. I should have known better!
Anyway, it was quite an adventure experiencing a powerful
river in flood and I have learnt not to think that I could beat
the river by turning left before a rapid.
This has been a valuable and big learning
curve for me and one day I shall go back and
complete what I had started, but not when the
river is in flood!
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