Paddlers Triumph in Ireland

Four members of the Darby and Joan chapter of the canoe section (Shaun Clarke, John Vinten, Pete and Wendy Bridgstock) have just returned from completing the Liffey Descent in Dublin.

We all met on the official campsite in the outskirts of Dublin on Saturday morning, John and Jill after an epic drive from Scarborough after work on Friday, and Shaun after an epic breakfast in his guesthouse.

Luckily Shaun had done it last year (the trip, not the breakfast), and knew the arrangements, which helped a lot as the people who put up the road signs clearly have either a strange sense of humour, or no sense of direction. The descent, which is basically an international racing event with a recreational paddle tagged on, has around a thousand entrants, and getting the cars shuttled, kit sorted and passing the scrutineers takes a long, long time.

When the word is given, competitors move from the assembly field in Straffan to the start area in the grounds of the Kildare Country Club. Getting there involves carrying and dragging your boat for about a mile, then paddling another half mile upstream against a strong current (and almost suffocating from the overpowering stench of testosterone and bullshit! -W). After that, the downstream paddling seems really straightforward. Waiting for your class to be called to the start line gives a chance for a laugh and joke with other paddlers. Eventually, the call comes and you're off.

The river is quite narrow and there is a lot of bumping and shoving as the faster boats try to move through the field. This is not helped by the number of people who appear totally incapable of going in a straight line. It's bad enough in a kayak, but Wendy and Shaun, in their short open boats found it very hard and frustrating. In just less than a mile the first weir is reached. After all the talk in the pub, and the comments from other paddlers, a boat and paddler eating monster about fifty feet high is expected, but we all found it straightforward enough. Judging from the swimmers, capsized and broken boats and general carnage, others didn't. The river now settles into a tree lined section, and with the dam release, the water flows through the trees. Again, there were a surprising number of boats coming to grief.

A couple more weirs and Leixlip Lake is reached, across that and a portage round a dam marks the halfway point. Time to grab a bit of food and something to drink. The put in from the portage is straight into a grade 2+ rapid under a bridge which tries to push you into the uprights. Mountain rescue teams are waiting on ropes for people getting pinned, rather like large spiders waiting for unfortunate flies. There are five or six weirs still to go, and another eight miles.

There must be quite a high attrition rate, as there were still plenty of capsizes. One sad sight was a long sleek racing boat snapped in two over a submerged branch. The weirs still weren't causing any of us problems, but the spectators cheer every spill. The safety cover is excellent, with safety boaters and divers below each weir. Some people must swim on them all, as some faster boats passed us several times, only for us to pass them being rescued at the next weir.

The weirs at Wren's Nest and Palmerstown are the biggest and hardest of the lot. They are V weirs with the main flow going from the centre of the V in a tongue about eighteen inches higher than the surrounding water. No problem if your line is right and you can stay on the tongue of water, but they tend to be a bit unforgiving if the line is not spot on. (still bear the scars! - W)

Only four miles and one weir to go now. Its straightforward and then just head down and paddle. A big crowd denotes the end. There's a jazz band playing in the marquee and lots of people milling about. Like a big party. (missed all that - they must have got fed-up - W)

We all finished within half an hour of each other, in various states of dehydration, tiredness, blisters, damp and cold, but dry clothes, food and plenty to drink help recuperation. I didn't get blisters, only good thing about the day -W)

I reckon I could knock off at least half an hour next year if......…

(never, ever, ever again - I wonder what it would be like in a double ????? W)

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Paddlers Triumph in Ireland

Pete Bridgstock