EUCC Online

Exeter University Canoe Club

No one does faff like EUCC…

Most of us assembled at the cave at 9am to sort out boats, when we were told that the bus wouldn’t start. After failed attempts to jump-start the bus, (because as most of us know, pushing it up a hill doesn’t generally work) the RAC was called. Unfortunately, “Heather” couldn’t pull through so we had to set off in 5 cars instead. We managed to make it a few miles outside of Exeter before smoke started billowing from under the bonnet of Noah’s car. After some further faffing and another call to the RAC, we left the Exeter area with an impressive journey time of 1.5mph. Luckily, we did manage to make it to Wales in time for a few hours drinking round a campfire before bed. There was even time for some of us to learn how to open and shut gates…

Saturday started with a lovely wake-up call from Noah, and a few privileged people were filmed with his camera. We spent the morning scouting out the upper section of the Tryweryn river and sending the A-Team down the white water course. In the afternoon, the less confident paddlers tried out the lower section of the river, which was very enjoyable and a great chance to practice eddying and ferry-gliding skills. We then went into Bala for some hard-earned fish and chips. Saturday night banter around the campfire was hilarious – some very funny jokes were told courtesy of Thomas.

On Sunday we all ran the upper section of the Tryweryn. Things were going well with only a couple of swims until the second group reached the big wave under the bridge. Kate found out that the hole in the wave on river left was very sticky and her heroic efforts to paddle out and high-brace resulted in a dislocated shoulder. She handled the 5+ hours of waiting in A&E and having her shoulder put back into place exceptionally well, plus the loss of her new cag and thermals! A few paddlers down, the rest of the group decided to give the upper section of the Tryweryn another try. A couple more swims, including Sarah’s long trip upside down as she struggled to get Jess’s deck off of the acrobat, proved that EUCC keeps paddling no matter what. Despite the problems, everyone seemed to enjoy the weekend and I think we’re all agreed that it should become an annual trip. Thank you to Noah for organising the whole weekend, and to Hugh and Pete for getting “Fix Up, Look Sharp” permanently stuck in my head!