We set off on the Friday night to load up at the shed; four of us, four boats, one car; what could possibly go wrong? OUCKC trips are known far and wide for their efficiency and flawless execution. Getting the four boats to sit on the roof racks took three goes, eventually proving successful as the boys boats stacked, and the Little Joes spooned side by side. Faff levels: medium.
We set off to visit one of our favourite retreats; Aldi. After purchasing dinner, it became apparent that the campsite that we were planning to drive to that evening had in fact not been booked.  Faff levels: rising to medium-high. Upon consultation with the owners, we discovered it was full. After much deliberation we found another campsite, and headed off out of The Bubble into the depths of the Forest of Dean.
Helen, Anja, Cormac, and Squishy arose to the sunshine on Saturday morning, and headed to Symonds Yat for a bit of surf kayaking (…). Mizdrak went into full on coach mode, seeing us lying on the carpark on our backs pretending to swim down a rapid, and stuffing pain au chocolats into our buoyancy aids, while the rest of the carpark looked on in envy. Squishy’s first time on moving water proved successful, and we worked our way up the eddys and rapids practising breaking in and out, ferry gliding, rolling on moving water, and throwlining unlucky victims. The evening saw a sunny BBQ and an enormous bottle of Pimms finished off, and The Times Crossword (of course); a very pleasant evening, until the crossword was destroyed by a stray glass of Pimms. A tragedy.
Day Two saw more of the same practice, with everyone enjoying the chance to improve their skills on the Yat, and have the chance to really focus on more difficult areas without gettingcold and wet. We drove home in the sun, after another great weekend of fun, faff, and paddling.

 

Hi, I’m Helen Tatlow