PADDLER 86
Words : Nick Boreham ( https :// riverstench . com ) Photos : Pete Atkinson
PADDLER 86
CZECHS
THE WHO CAME TO TEA
THE DEE EUROPEAN CANOE ASSOCIATION CUP
Words : Nick Boreham ( https :// riverstench . com ) Photos : Pete Atkinson
If I had one word to describe the weather in the UK , it would be ‘ changeable ’. And , after one of the mildest Autumns the paddling community can remember , the weather changed . The last 2024 European Cups Race was to be held on the River Dee , North Wales , and the Czechs had assembled a small invasion force . Their plan had been to arrive early on Tuesday and tour around the UK , sampling rivers and campsites . But as they disembarked the ferry , they were shocked to find empty rivers and snow blanketing . Then , they turned to the backup plan : Nottingham and my apartment floor .
Anyone who has visited my flat may wonder how I could fit five Czechs plus an additional Slovakian . However , where there is a will , there ’ s a way , and my unannounced house guests proved adept at tessellating themselves into my limited floor space like a bizarre game of human Tetris .
During the day , Molly did an excellent job showing our guests down the white water course , but the evening sessions , in the dark and sub-zero temperatures on the Trent , shocked our friends . I ’ m led to believe that over in Czechia , it gets so cold all the rivers freeze , and they all take up more appropriate and sensible sports like skiing . In contrast , the UK climate exists in some anti-goldilocks zone where it never gets cold enough to do proper winter sports but is more than cold enough to be utterly miserable . Yet there is a saying , “ There is no such thing as bad weather , only bad clothing ”. And in the bleak midwinter , bad clothing consists of anything less than a hat , cag , pogies , and at least two thermals . But we paddle on as ice forms on our boats and spray decks freeze like concrete . Getting off the water , Alexandra turned to us and said , “ We have a newfound respect for the British ; you are very tough !”
While hanging out with everyone for a few days was lovely , one thought had persistently troubled me : The low river levels . Rarely are you unable to paddle the Dee , but as the water gets lower , it certainly becomes more unpleasant . Alex had been over to the racecourse at Llangollen the previous week and had described the experience as ‘ crunchy ’. With folks travelling from across Europe to come to our little race , it felt embarrassing to show them the UK paddling at its absolute worst .
These conditions ( cold and empty ) persisted on Friday as paddlers from France and the Netherlands joined the practice sessions on the Dee . However , I ’ d spent the week making prayers and sacrifices to the rain gods , and fickle as they are , the rain gods answered with storm Bert .
It had rained heavily through Friday night , and by Saturday morning practice , both the river and temperature had risen to much more comfortable levels , although those of us who know the Dee well knew the river level was unlikely to stop there . All rivers in the UK are significantly rain-dependent . Small catchment areas generally mean rivers rise quickly as it rains and promptly fall off as the weather clears up . The Dee is by no means the worst offender , but with the heavy rain melting the snow that still blanketed the hills , we knew there was a lot of water on its way , and yet we still underestimated how much and how quickly the river would rise .