Coming through upright in Llangollen
The day kicked off with breakfast at the hostel alongside the WKCC crew, with bacon and egg baps setting us up for a day on the water. Once we were fed and watered, it was a quick drive over to Mile End Mill to meet our coach, Stephy, from Stephy Kayaks Coaching, and have a quick briefing before getting down to the river and seeing what the day had in store.
I was paddling with Carlos, Gregg and Claire, and we headed down to the river to run a few drops. This quickly turned into a bit of a boof clinic as I managed to take a swim on my first couple of attempts. Always good to get the swims out of the way early, I suppose.
We spent some time practising key strokes to help us get down the drops and rapids with a bit more confidence. It was good to work on the technique and start putting it into practice on the river. Carlos, Gregg and Claire all did fantastically throughout the day, and it was great to see everyone developing their skills and building confidence on the water.
We headed back to Mile End Mill for lunch, where we met back up with Aimee, who wasn’t paddling that day after sustaining a finger booboo the week prior. Aimee and I grabbed a pizza before heading back out for the afternoon session.
This time, we made our way up the canal towards Chainbridge rapid, practising our eddy hopping as we worked our way towards Serpents Tail. We stopped to have a look at the rapid before taking it on.
After struggling to adjust to my new Axiom earlier in the day, I was a bit daunted by the prospect of going down Serpents upside down, but I hit the line perfectly and pulled through upright. As always, the feeling was incredible. There’s something about being on the water that just clears your head completely. For those few moments, you’re not thinking about anything else; you’re just focused on the river and what you’re doing. The rush of getting through it successfully was brilliant.
We then floated back down towards Mile End Mill, where I got the chance to have another go at the drop I’d taken a swim on earlier. This time, I managed to stay upright. It was a nice way to finish the day and see some progress, even if it took a couple of swims to get there.
Finally, it was back to the hostel for a lovely shared dinner, with everyone bringing something along to contribute (shoutout to all the great chefs of WKCC). A great way to round off a day on the water with good people, plenty of laughs and a few little wins along the way.
A brilliant day of learning, pushing myself out of my comfort zone and enjoying everything kayaking has to offer. Huge thanks to Stephy for the coaching, and to Carlos, Gregg and Claire for a great day on the water. Already looking forward to the next one (maybe the Lakes next year).
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