Dee Tour November 2002

From ICCC

People

• Rob "Anal warrior" Tuley
• Glyn "We could do better than that" Richards
• Paula "River Goddess" Volkmer
• Tim "Backseat" Burne
• Becky "Deserter" Morris

Trip Report

Friday evening saw a select few hardcore members of IC line themselves up for their third weekend away paddling of the previous four. Surely this surpasses any previous IC records!

An agreement to meet at the union was changed by Rob at the last minute from 6.30pm to 7.30pm to ensure Paula and Tim weren't late. He blamed the traffic getting back to uni with his parents Lurve Mobile, but i'm sure it was just a cheeky excuse for a prompt getaway. A pair of rob's fake breasts were attached to the front of the car in celebration of its awesome numberplate: L--- UVE and after cramming four boats onto the roof (no uprights) one boat inside, and all the kit balanced precariously around it, and we were on our way. A brief stop at a service station saw no kayak porn purchased, but a real excess of Haribo and Irn Bru. More than enough E-numbers to last the weekend. = )

Good time was made and after overtaking and mooning a number of other uni's minibusses (and accidentally one family car - Glyn) arrival in Langollen happened at about 10.30pm. We then realised noone had any idea where the campsite was... D'OH. Undeterred we got out to have a look at Town Falls where a large number of drunk students (portsmouth?) clutching wine bottles pointed us in the right direction.

When we finally arrived Becky set off in search of her mates from her old uni (then wasn't seen again for the remainder of the weekend) and we decided that we couldn't be arsed to put up tents so went in search of beer in the vast city of interlinked marquees blasting out loud cheese in the middle of the campsite. Discovery of the swimming pool amused all, and the 12 foot wide (complete with strategically placed pole in the middle) video screen would have kept Tim amused all night were it not for Robs ban on him even entering that area. Although many there had arrived early and were fantastically drunk, it was a quiet night for us as the bar shut at about two. Drunken fire breathing followed (we only participated as spectators) then bed.

Nice long lie in the following morning as no breakfast had to be cooked. A nice change to the usual hut trips! We leisurely made our way to the canal that conveniently ran from the takeout to the put in (no shuttle - nice!) and slogged our way up to the top of the river. Once at the put in, we transferred boats to the river where bank to bank plastic was the name of the game, after rescuing one muppet who'd pinned himself against a tree seconds after getting in we vowed from then on to let the leaders of other groups be responsible for their own swimmers!

Half a km downstream was Serpents Tail. The first "big" rapid of the day that the event organisers had put "safety" on. A first class descent was made by all of our group (apart from Paula nearly being annihilated by a rogue throwline whilst still upright) and Rob Tim and Glyn walked back up to play on some waves on the way down. Paula reported back that whilst we were walking back upstream, an exceptionally large and inexperienced group came down and ultimate carnage ensued. Pretty much every other person swam, and throwbags were flying into the river left right and centre. Good job there's a big eddy at the bottom!

A leisurely drift downstream with a bit of playing on the slalom course was next before we got to town falls:

Paula: "You've done this before, is it difficult?" Tim: "nothing you can't cope with" Paula: I don't really want to do this" Tim: "Don't worry, you'll be fine..." Paula: (Dubiously):"Whats the line" Tim: "Err, i don't know... just follow me!!" ...30 seconds later... Tim: Hits stopper, thinks"blimey, this is bigger than i remember it", backloops, rolls, prepares for torrrent of abuse from a sub-aqua paula. Paula: Gets a sweet line, clips the stopper, rolls on her offside, comes out grinning widely. Tim: Breathes large sigh of relief

Glyn and Rob also get down OK.

A quick change later and we were down to the nearest pub for some refreshment and a rather suspect black powdery nicotine containing substance called Snuce(sp?) kindly donated by a random from Leeds Uni. Chippy followed, then back to the beers in the tent. Nice. Rob, being Rob, sought out the guys from Aston Uni in the hope of a rematch with the milk drinking. Unfortunately there were inadequate supplies of Milk, so beer was the substitute as Mr Funnel was brought out to meet us. 2 pints in almost as many seconds. I think theres a definate investment going to be made shortly to nicely compliment Circle of Death down at the hut!

Other activities that night included the winning of a boat (again, not by us) by competing in various events inside the pool tent. These ranged from the tame (who can stand upright in a floating boat the longest) to the more obscure (Number of sex positions obtainable in a minute, but with each person dressed as the opposite sex). Much more beer was consumed, many old friends caught up with, and a number of new friends made.

(Tim in fact got sooooooo friendly with one person that he decided that a trip with her to the Luve Wagon could only do his health good. Apparently 5+ hours spent with her in super reclined Luve wagon seat mode and mucho steaming of windows isn't classed as sexual relations, but I remain dubious. Rob.)

Anyways, sunday started much the same as saturday... just add hangover... After a slight hassle with shuttles (we couldn't be arsed to paddle the canal again) the river trip passed much the same as the first... Excessive carnage witnessed, none experienced first hand... Bonus...

The legendary welshpool chippy wasn't on the way back, so we stopped in Shrewsbury instead...

This event definitely has more emphasis on the social side of things than paddling and its a great place to reunite with people that you met out in the alps!! I may be biased, but this is definitely an event we need to start going to annually!!! :o)