River Tay (Stanley) Lather. Rinse. Repeat. – 5/11/06

My original plan for the weekend was to find my way into the Pentland Hills, finally, for the bike trails. I had two possible ways to go, either with Neil and the boys or meeting up with the weekly Edinburgh Road Club group like I’ve meant to do for ages now. Then Amy called. She, Bram and Tracy were planning for Stanley on Sunday for Tracy’s first time on a river. Stanley won.

The plan was to pick me up at 9am, swing through Auchtermuchty to show Tracy and me the cottage-in-progress and pick up Bram’s paddle, and then drive to the Stanley get-in. Between morning faff (or is it pfaff?), retying boat faff and cottage faff, we rolled into Stanley village just a few minutes after noon. Normally, the drive takes about an hour. We decided to run shuttle at the end, so into the water we went.

Bram attempted to give Tracy some introductory tips. I talked him out of trying to get her into the top eddy below the weir. Given that as her first ever eddy to catch, I thought it would have been a yard sale. Instead, we planned for one on river left, as soon as reasonably convenient for her. The plan was for Amy to lead, Tracy to follow, Bram to clean up and me to stay out of trouble in the back. My dry top did not arrive on time from regasketing, so I made due with fuzzy rubber and fleece and made not swimming an important priority.

Stanley weir was good fun. Once again, I bobbed like a cork through the biggest of waves. I caught the river left eddy that would have let me get over to Charlie’s group from the week before, but instead had to paddle downstream a bit to the next eddy on the left. Tracy was struggling to get there, so I told her to pick a point on the bank and paddle to it. It worked: she arrived upright, though feeling a little out of control.

After Amy played in some of the surf near the top of the eddy, our next move was to paddle through a few more waves and stoppers to the next friendly eddy on the left. Amy led Tracy through the meat of it. She got sideways and then upside down quite quickly. She and her kayak caught the eddy separately, with some help from Amy and Bram to get there. Overcast and lack of sun made for a lack of warm rocks to slither onto, so Amy shared around some tea.

We continued downstream, bouncing our way through more waves as we worked our way around the first riverbend. Amy led Tracy straight through the stopper that ate me on the last trip. It’s quite friendly if you hit it straight on. I made the line I missed the last time and bounced through some friendly waves. We skipped the breakin eddy from the last trip, but found an easier one just downstream. Tracy ended up swimming into it again. I’m not really sure what got her, because she was out of the boat before the eddy line. The swim was pleasant enough. Amy and Bram reunited her with kayak. Then we practiced break-ins and break-outs. I had a little bit of trouble getting across the eddy line, but after about 10 practice runs, I was able to surf out across the top wave and break into the current properly. Amy did stern squirts. Tracy mostly watched, but attempted a few break-ins. When Bram was done with his practice, I gave him my camera to take our pictures.

After turning down another opportunity for tea, we headed downstream for Thistlebrig and the get-out. Amy led Tracy through it and just like Kieron the week before, Tracy was out of her boat by the end of the rapid. Her swim was pleasant enough to the right bank. Amy and Bram helped get her boat to the bank, and at that point, I’m sure Amy was happy she borrowed my tow line.

Being terminally slow with one blade and a short boat, I was on my own through Thistlebrig. The approach was easy enough, bobbing corklike through waves. I managed to hit something just right and lean back enough to stand the boat on its stern through the last of it. First my eyes got big. Then I got the giggles. Now I want to learn how to do it again on purpose. 

The only downside of paddling Stanley is the long hike back to the car. The SCA work over the summer has made the path much nicer, but the hill is still just as big. We got to the top, but couldn’t manage to hitch a lift back to the village. I took over hitching from Amy, since I was dressed slightly more respectably. A first, I couldn’t get a ride either, so Amy and I ran the shuttle, literally. It was a bit more than a mile back to the car, but an easy enough jog even in paddling gear.