Cardiff Canoe Club
Teifi Tour 2022
With the unfortunate news that the Teifi Tour wasn’t running this year, Cardiff Canoe Club decided to go it alone and go and visit Llandysul Paddlers anyway. 20 paddlers stayed in the Llandysul Paddlers Bunkhouse (thank you Alix at LP for having us stay and putting up with so many changes to the plan) with the aim of an improvers trip on the Teifi. The rain gods performed but a little too much which meant that the Teifi was washed out at Llandysul. Undeterred and despite the slightly tender heads the club set out from above the lake and paddled the Teifi on the Saturday.
Navigating through the gorge from above the lake and in particular ‘the Cauldron’ certainly had people concentrating but as an improvers trip everyone excelled. The river was particularly ‘boily’ but it made the flat water sections interesting and challenging so it wasn’t only the beautiful views that had people on their toes. After an inspection of Pentre-Cwrt weir all the club members ran the rapid with only a couple of rescues required. Next up after a stunning paddle further downstream on some tricky flat water came Henllan Falls.
Paddled with caution and after careful inspection and some valuable experience in rescue setup everyone again excelled with all the paddlers getting down the rapid with differing degrees of finesse! Getting out at Henllan we drove en-masse to Cenarth falls to have a look at the rapid and decide if it was suitable.
Some ran the rapid and some chose to sit this one out. Again, with a range of ages from 14 to considerably older (!) it was a really useful chance for the leaders to demonstrate how to read and setup safety for a more tricky rapid. I for one took great pleasure in seeing my lad with a throw line as I unintentionally went down the last bit of the rapid backwards (thankfully the throw line wasn’t needed…). The youngsters yet again put the adults to shame with their clean lines and effortless paddling but it just shows how inclusive the sport is. Not content with finishing there a few of the group went for a quick lap back at Llandysul in a variety of crafts before retiring back to the bunkhouse for some well earned refreshments and a group meal.
After packing up and working out the fiendishly complicated shuttle requirements with so many people (well done Steve Wilford!) we set off for the Tywi. Getting in at the Towy Bridge Arms we paddled the simply stunning gorge to Llandovery. Despite the long paddle (circa 14 km) the views, the wildlife and the ‘out of this world’ gorge made for a memorable day. We had the privilege of a buzzard for company for a while who seemed particularly interested in what we were up to. Again, all the paddlers did exceptionally well.
After the doldrums around COVID it was fantastic to get away as a club and get a chance to develop our paddling skills, have a social and a chance to chat after the day properly and then do it all again the next day.
Thanks again to Landysul Paddlers for putting us up and thanks to the CCC stalwarts (Steve Wilford, Hugo Keene, Mike Thomas and Mark Hancock) for leading us safely down 2 rivers that were a perfect level of challenging without being dangerous for the group. I think everyone who came on the trip learnt loads and will remember the trip for a long time.
A cracking weekend and onto the next adventure.
Paddlers – Hugo, Steve Wi, Mike, Mark, Steve and Nicholas, Iain, Derek and Gethin, Chloe, Lee, Matt, Shayne, Steve C (we have too many Steve’s in the club!), Pete, Meg, Kent, Jon, Sam, Duncan – and Jura.
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