The Paddler Magazine Issue 67 Late Summer 2022 | Page 22

That first night lap was hard .

We had been paddling for about 12 hours , and I really started to notice just how tired I was on this lap , said Del Read
Wraps for dinner by Amanda Macken
Group selfie before final Town Falls run by Aaron Kendall
TOWN FALLS Town Falls is the last rapid on the section of the Dee we were paddling . It is just before the main bridge going through Llangollen , so there are always spectators . It was also the most challenging river rapid and required just a tad more concentration . Coming down successfully with a crowd applauding you was quite special ! The biggest cheer came on our second lap when Ibbo took one for the team with the first roll of the 24 hours ! Luckily his lovely girlfriend Kerry got it on camera for him to savour the memory forever . On that same lap , I also rocket launched the Ripper hard . This is when you get the tail of your boat entirely under , and the boat goes vertical . I managed to come out of it upright so was very pleased !
As the day continued Llangollen and the waterways got busier . The canal was busy with horse-drawn canal boats , and the staff began encouraging the customers to clap us as we paddled past them . We quickly established that Jake ’ s favourite part of each lap was the canal , and he was very vocal about how much he loved it . Having those cheers just added to the experience .
DEE PIZZA The day went quickly as we smashed out laps and spirits were running high . In the evening we paused to have a hot meal and change gear . We must say a big thank you to Dee Pizza for donating us six hot wraps for our dinner – it was very kind of them .