The following link is the GPS track for our first day’s paddling:
72o2 Day 1 - Avonmouth to Bath
We had a 6:30 start to catch low tide, the idea being it would carry us up into Bristol and beyond. The only problem is that we had to get down to low water, easier said than done…
John, the Haven Master at Avonmouth Port had kindly said we could launch from the docks and he could crane the canoe the 15 metres down to the water… unfortunately the crane failed on the day so out came the rope…
and down it went…
It’s a long way down and the steps don’t quite make it all the way! This is the north side of south pier (in the dock) the other side of the pier is the river Avon.
It’s not particularly elegant but hey, it’s a long way to stretch… and pretty scary.
I’m not sure who was most releived when we were all safely in the canoe, us or Eddie (Nigel’s dad) and John…
OK, we’re off….
Going around south pier, we’re now in the Severn estuary.
Eddie and John wave us off from the south side of South Pier
A happy Gordon.
Heading under the M5 Avonmouth bridge it’s a bit overcast
The tide is truly coming in now, the water is rushing upstream
Out first view of Clifton suspension bridge.It really wouldn’t have been nice launching over mud like this..
It’s pretty imposing
especially as you go under it…
Bristol’s old docks
We arrived in the New Cut a bit early and didn’t have enough water… we had to hold up to let it come in, we were amazed at how quickly it was rising, this photo was taken at 08:05:24…
and this one in the same place at 08:08:29, three minutes to rise 6 inches or more (ooer guvnor!)
We battled on, paddling, waiting for the water, paddling, waiting for the water but as we approached Netham weir it became so frustrating Gordon decided to take things in hand… literally…
it got worse and worse and there was so much debris in there from shopping trolleys to tyres…
we all decided to get out and pull…
Now we’ve portaged over Netham weir it’s all gong to get easier…
and it did… all the trials, tribulations were all sorted out with a cup of tea and a scone at Beeses cafe on the river bank
Ahhhh, the tranquillity of the upstream River Avon after Bristol and the New Cut
A bit of a breeze blew up and we tried out the brolly… unfortunately, as soon as the brolly was up, the wind was down… it happened in this way every time we tried it throughout the whole trip. Gordon went in a sulk when Nigel and I told him his brolly didn’t work… the truth sometimes hurts I’m afraid Gordon!
No comments:
Post a Comment