The PaddlerUK magazine July 2015 issue 3 | Page 20

P D L RUK 20
A DE

As with many challenges getting to
the start line is sometimes tricky

Getting ready for launch

We launched at a tiny village called Radclive,
negotiating our way past the local sheep and
over a fence to get on. Our team consisted of
myself, my brother, Matt, (in a canoe), Jay Goss,
one of our coaches (kayaks) and a couple of
friends, Tom Rowland and Ed Taylor(kayaks). Tom
and Ed has contacted us the previous year
wanting to learn to kayak and do a charity
challenge and we had become friends.
We set off close to mid-day and paddled down to
Buckingham wading and dragging our boats to get
past shallow stretches which reminded me of a
similar trip at the top of the Thames. We arrived in
the county town of Buckingham passing old stone

bridges and meandering past the back of the
University. Since the river is not widely accessed it
also means portages and obstacles are not easy to
traverse.

A different challenge

We also found different places were the river was
blocked with fallen trees, debris and other rubbish.
Each one posed a different challenge to get past
without losing considerable time.The best options
were to wriggle and pull our boats through small
gaps, bushes and branches without getting out.
We shot various weirs and carried around many
obstacles. It was tough going and we worked as