Plas y Brenin "Discover Canoeing" weekend
We've had our boat since the spring, and we've played on a few lakes and canals, but with the Thames going through the town it seems an obvious next step. However, having on many occasions stood on the weirs and felt the ground shake with the power of the water flowing through, it's a step we didn't want to rush!
A bit of digging around turned up PyB's Discover Canoeing weekend (http://www.pyb.co.uk/courses/canoeing.php) I know PyB, having done my Summer Mountain Leader training and assessment there, and I've always found the courses and facilities there excellent.
So Friday night saw us failing to beat the Bank Holiday rush, and the 190 miles to Capel Curig took 6 hours - not good, even allowing for a 16 foot canoe on the roof rack! However, within 15 minutes of arrival our stuff was in our room (mostly twin, all(?) en suite) and we were sampling the products of the local Purple Moose Brewery in the bar.
Saturday starts with breakfast at 8, collect your packed lunch and fill thermoses, with an introductory talk at 9. Then you meet your instructor for a briefing and to understand what you want to get out of the course, collect what kit you need, and off you go. There were 6 booked on our course (maximum 8) but two didn't show, so we ended up with two tandem crews and an instructor. She'd just (still slightly jet lagged just) come back from a month's wilderness tripping in Canada, so clearly knew her stuff.
Kit wise, you can borrow pretty much everything - just bring uderwear! We took our own gear including boat and paddles, while the other couple on the course borrowed pretty much everything. We also tried a number of different boats and paddles from the stores over the two days - fortunately I liked ours best, though solo in Rose's 15 footer was quite fun...
The day started on the 'pond' (really Afon Llugwy) below the centre, practicing the basics (we had turning sussed, it was straight lines that we were struggling with!) and poking our noses into the stream from a small rapid. After lunch, we lugged the boats above the rapid and into Llynau Mymbyr where we learnt lots about the importance of trim and a keel when going into a force 3... An hour or so on the lake was quite enough, so we span round and shot the rapid back into the pond - yay!
By about 4.30 it was heading for tea time, so we fitted the boats to a trailer for the morrow and went for cake before the 5.30 class room session. This covered many aspects of planning a day out, and was put into practice to work out what to do on Sunday. 7pm saw dinner (soup or melon, half a dozen different main courses, puddings) and then 8pm was a general interest lecture. They are optional, honest, but it was Rose, and she was talking about last year's trip from Lake Superior to the Hudson Bay - it looked fantastic, apart from the midges!
Sunday dawned in typical Bank Holiday style - driving rain and breaking rollers coming down the lake, so the bad weather plan came into play - the lagoons on Llyn Padarn! Here we practiced more skills, playing 'follow my leader' through the trees and small islands, before venturing up the lake and discovering the delights of non-dairy ice in the parlour next to Pete's Eats (I didn't realise it was non-dairy at all - my wife had to tell me!). Eating lunch en route in the minibus, we went back to the pond at PyB - which now had quite a bit more water in it - to practice breaking in and out of the stream, before finishing with a run of a kilometre or so of small grade I rapids, getting out just above the grade II at Jim's Bridge - a very satisfying end to the day.
While Ed & Sarah headed for home, we were with boat and without children, so opted to stay on. Monday's weather was foul, but we fortified ourselves by spending lots of money in Surf Lines in Llanberis before venturing back onto the water. Looking at the waves coming down the lake, I doubt we would have gone out before the course, but we were now quite confident to do so, and had a real hoot riding the waves down wind (though I remain to be convinced about paddling in to that much rain!)
An obvious question is costs... The course is £175 per person for two days, which sounds quite a bit. But factor in two nights B&B and packed lunch, dinner on Saturday night, afternoon cakes, all the tea you can drink and free access to the climbing wall (if you have the energy), and I reckon it's pretty good value. For comparison, our hotel in Betws on the Sunday night cost £50 per person, B&B only, and we spent another six pounds or so on sandwiches for lunch.
In summary then, an excellent weekend, and thoroughly recommended to the less experienced paddlers out there - we got a real boost from it, and the kids are already booked into Grandma's for Sunday afternoon so we can go and play on the Thames! The option to try lots of gear before you buy is also great if you have not yet taken the plunge.
Martin
Reply With Quote
Originally Posted by Helen H
The family kayaking week with the kids looks like a plan for next summer, and canoe w/w skills weekend looks good for another weekend without them (there's one very close to my birthday...)
