Devon May 2006
From ICCC
The Participants
- Alice Grogan
- Alistair "Veggie chef" Cott
- Claire "Boat magnet" Browne
- Kirsten "It's so much easier on a surfboard!" Bentley
- Mark "Happy" Flower
- Nina "Mark's nonpaddling better half" Brixey
- Paula "Uber muppetry with keys" Volkmer
- Rachel "Pirate" Fox
- Ralph "Minor muppetry with keys" Evins
- Rik "Dressing gown in boat" Williams
- Rob "Is getting zero" Jarvis
- Ruth Loeffler
- Sophie "Evil" Gore
The Events
We left the union at the unprecendented time of 5:30, mostly because all the kit had to be picked up from Paddington. With all the boats on, we still had to wait for Rik, so Mark spent the time making spiders webs of rope across the roof. We were making very good progress until just beyond the Bristol services, where we spent far too long in a traffic jam. Realising that we would be arriving at the scout hut at about 12, we phoned Ruth to get her to collect the keys. People stayed up suprisingly late chatting, the last going to bed about 1:45.
The next morning most people (except Rachel) were woken by the fire alarm announcing that Sophie had burnt something. Since it had been raining fairly consistently for the past few days, and for most of the night, we decided a river was in order. We did the Walkham into the second bit of the lower Tavy. At the small slot-drop, Sophie demonstrated what can happen if you fail to align your paddle with said slot - it hits you in the face then disappears. A quick eskimo-rescue, and a paddle kindly donated by the rescuer, and all was well again. Everyone else styled it. Rob and Rachel had 'silly swims' at various other places. At the weir on the lower Tavy, Paula led a small delegation to walk round, while most ran the chicken shoot on the left without issue. At the takeout we had the pleasure of an ammusing conversation with a local landowner.
It was decided there was time for some surfing in the afternoon, so we drove down to Bigbury. By the time we got there everyone was cold and quickly decided against the idea, except for Rik and Alistair. After a long conversation with a very not-keen-on-getting-wet lifeguard, they decided to get on, despite the red-flagged beach, the onshore wind, the general messiness of the surf, and the fact that the main breakers were heading straight for the rocks. Everyone else watched their antics from outside the pub. Rik managed about 30 seconds before his first swim. The lifeguard politely noted that very dumpy surf can easily pop your deck. Undetered, they continued battling with the waves for a while. Their words when they got off say it all: Alistair - "That was the best time i've ever had"; Rik - "I'm sooooo stoked!! Arrgghh!". They then went for a swim.
We all returned to the scout hut, where Alistair cooked African Sweet Potato and Spinach Stew, and Mark cooked chilli. Sophie and Rob headed the heavy drinking contingent, with Sophie repeatedly insisting she was going to give Rob zero marks for all his lab reports unless he did her washing up. We avoided the temptation to indulge in any drinking games, and people drifted off to bed, leaving Ralph, Rob and Alistair up last.
On Sunday we debated extensively whether to do more rivers (it rained over night), but decided that more people wanted to go surfing, so following the lifeguards advice we went to Bantham. Everyone except Nina got on to surf ... or were just about to when Paula (with some help from Ralph) managed to lock the bus keys inside the bus. Basically Ralph forgot the keys were in his pocket and got on the water. Paula then found Kirsten's (also Ford) key, and locked the bus shut by pressing the button on the door. Bother.
Those not yet on the water decided to stay dry until we knew when the AA were going to show up. Thankfully they were there within an hour, and broke into our bus for us in 15 minutes. So everyone eventually got on. The surf was a bit messy, but quite reasonably sized. Out at the back the waves were big enough to hide everyone else when you're down in the trough, and with luck the far-out breakers could be riden all the way to the beach. Kirsten was the first to require the assistance of the lifeguard, as those on the water were failing to get her boat to shore. They launched their RIB, heaved the boat into it and whisked it back to the beach. Various other people had swims, and Sophie was the second to need the lifeboat. This time the other paddlers had pretty much abandoned the boat, and the lifeguard got a bit pissed off. Time to call it a day.
We left Bantham pretty early, and stopped in Exeter for a takeaway, walking the length of the town centre in search of one. The speedometer broke, but Mark fixed it by fiddling with stuff. We arrived back suprisingly late having got caught in the M4 roadworks. The Shell garage behind Tesco had disappeared, and Mark and Ralph managed to get their bags left in Paddington. Nevertheless, a good trip all round. Bring on more summer rain!
