Wye Builth Wells to Llyswen
On Sunday 07 March 2010, six members of SVCC travelled to Builth
Wells to run the 13 mile section down to Llyswen. Of particular
note was it was Andy's son Zed's first white water trip.
On a bright sunny, but cold and frosty day we started down the
river at around 10:45am in temperatures of -1 degrees. The river
level was rather low exposing a lot of the river's bedrock, unlike
previous 100mph trips, and a lot of scraping was involved.
For this trip, both Daves had decided to go open boat, and,
given the low levels, Will decided to go tandem with DaveP leaving
his playboat in the car.
Most of the rapids were shallow and gentle and we played where
we could find decent waves and eddies.
First and only swim of the day was by Jeff travelling down a
slot rapid just above Hell Hole and hit a rock - asked where his
roll was he replied "it was tricky when one's head is dragging
along the bottom".
Eventually we reached the event of the day - Hell Hole - a grade
three rapid that was fairly technical in nature due to the low
water level, with a substantial sidewards kick. All except Zed
chose to run Hell Hole and all were successful. Will had two goes,
once in Jeff's Z-One and once in Jonny's Inazone 232, which he
struggles to fit in these days.
After running Hell Hole we proceeded another mile down the river
to the next tricky rapid which we all apart from Dave P ran down
the right hand slot without casualties.
All in all we had a great trip on a sunny day, arriving at the
get out just after 4:30pm. Thanks to Dave for arranging, and to
Jeff for providing the only swim entertainment of the day.
Lastly a quote from Zed on his first outing..
"Dear all,
Thanks very much for the Wye trip on Sunday; it was my first
with the club but a great starter (if a little long!!)
I would definitely encourage others to go on the trips, they
are really fun. I was a bit nervous at the start but after coaching
& encouragement I relaxed a bit & really enjoyed
myself.
Special thanks to Jonny for the loan of his boat, without
which the trip wouldn't have been possible.
Thanks again,
Zed"