Birthday Tweed - 2/12/2007

My birthday wish was to do something fun. Brian and I went on the EKC's Tweed beginner trip. Water and air temperatures perhaps were not very compatible with a beginner trip, but the turnout was impressive anyway.

Charlie picked us up from my place and we met everyone at the boatshed. A large turnout of beginners meant boats and gear would be at a premium. I introduced Brian to a nice, stable, tubby boat, which would hopefully help him feel less tippy then the last trip. We ran out of spray decks, so I gave him mine and I took a nylon deck. Mine would be a battle to get on the boat, but should keep him relatively dry once it was on. That was the theory anyway. The nylon deck wouldn't do that and at least I could cope with it leaking.

More beginners than experienced boaters, we stayed as one big pack but paired up with 1-2 beginners per experienced boater. Mostly, the ratio was 1:1. Upon request, Brian went with Charlie and I took someone new as my beginner for the day. The cardinal rule must be followed.

The river level was high, which made for deja vu for December beginner's trips. No one wanted a repeat of last year's Teith yard sale that nearly ended Callumless.

Break in / break out practice near the get-in had the majority of the swimmers for us. Perhaps the cold motivated everyone to stay in their boats later. Certainly, that was Brian's motivation! From what I saw, he had a good day with only one swim at that eddy.

The only real chaos came at the end when Fairnilee Bridge came up much too quickly. My attempt to spread us out made my beginner take an unfortunate dip. She walked the rest of the rapids as others chased her boat. My nylon spray deck made my run through Fairnilee much more interesting than the last time. I had half a boat full of water by the time I splashed through the first wave and absolutely no control as I splashed through the rest of them. The curvy bit from the last time that Brian flailed through was a churny, disorganised mess of waves that swamped me immediately and took all of the energy and strength I didn't have to get to the bank below the rapids. Craig was kind enough to catch me and stabilise my boat so I didn't end up in the drink in the trees. I walked downstream to help retrieve my beginner's gear and warm up a little. All was recovered, so I just held the fence gate open for them to pass.

We warmed up in the car park and ate lunch as Charlie collected his car from the top. We headed for the further warmth of home and ended the evening with a birthday meal with Tanya, Colin, Neil and Fraser at my favourite pizza place, La Favorita in Leith.