Our group was: Harry; Big Rob; Charley; Jack; Jamie; Tom (me)
Wednesday. 8am. The chapel.
Wednesday. 8:15am. The road (with all the correct kit).
After an insanely early start, we headed to the lakes. The night before rumors of everything being in spate were heard. We had intended to run the Mint and Sprint, but overnight they had dropped off. We changed to plan B - the Clough from as high up as there was water. On arrival we were bitterly disappointed. The Clough was down as was the Rawthey.
Having driven around for a ridiculous length of time we headed to the Leven which being fed from Windermere had retained its level. Having never run the river, once again... I was apprehensive :) It was a nice run, at a nice level which (once again) for me was slightly spoiled by my lack of confidence. I portaged backbarrow falls because it looked pretty intimidating, and I was definitely not in the zone. Although i stayed in my boat, my lines weren't as good as they should have been.. but meh.. shit happens.. one day.
We got off the Leven at 2pm, legged it to the Kent, ran the shuttle, and were on the water by 3.15pm. By 3.40pm we were off the water. The first time i ran the Kent i was led down touching cloth, inspecting everything for months. The second time I lead but we inspected everything. This time we read and ran in 25 minutes. Boss.
Apart from the 5+ hours on the road, the petrol catastrophe on the return leg, and the early start,the day was pretty good. Lets just say it could have been worse :)
I'm not really sure where to go with my kayaking at the moment because this confidence/uber fear is less than ideal..