Whitewater CPD at the Tees Barrage

Although we’ve been paddling a lot for the last 10 days, it’s all been on flat water running sessions for cadets on their central camp. However, a couple of us decided to head up to the Tees barrage. I’d never been there before, but two of the others seem to have used the venue quite a bit and thought it would ring the changes. So, with boats and kit loaded onto cars, the convoy headed up the A1 for a spot of professional development.

Ben surfing a wave

It was only at this point that I remembered just how long it’s been since I was in this kind of environment in my kayak. Much of my paddling work is on less bouncy water and, although I’ve spent a fair amount of time on moving water in the last year, most of it has been in a canoe working towards open boat qualifications. So I must admit that my first run was full of nerves – not much finesse, survival was the order of the day.

Sam playing in a stopper

Confidence was starting to grow on the second run until I drifted wide towards the end, and found myself dropping off a step and into a hole which gladly sucked me down. Keeping my composure, I got set up to roll back up when I sensed the boat getting sucked back down again. Enough was enough and as I pulled the deck the sense of frustration at having made such an error was balanced by a weight being lifted – if I’ve already gone for one swim, there’s no point in trying to stay dry now.

I’m not sure how many runs I made of the course, but it was encouraging to find myself catching more and more eddies each time, showing better control and giving myself more thinking time. It’ll be a while before I’m playing in the stoppers like many of the other paddlers, but it was a great evening on so many fronts. I’d like to say a particular thanks to Sam who kept an eye on me and was so encouraging.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *