Gwilym's Adventure Blog

Today Jo, Hannah and I had a quick blast on The Barle from Tarr Steps down to Dulverton.  I think this was my first (and possibly only) white water kayak trip of 2020. I am clearly out of practice in taking in focus photos for a start

A quick blast down The Barle from Tarr Steps with Hannah and Mike before having lunch in The Tavinty in Dulverton. Good levels today and loads of paddlers out on the river including a large group of 20 plus paddlers.

Out on the River Barle today with 2 clients on a white water kayak refresher course. The levels were good and both the water and air were pleasantly warm. Lots looked at including crossing the river, running rapids, hitting eddies and for one of them a little swim.

Out on the Barle/Exe today from Dulverton to Exbridge with 5 clients for some White Water Training towards their 3 star assessment. Good levels on the rise and lots of skills covered today including some rolling and wet rescues at the end of the day before coffee in The Anchor Inn. I was working for Wet and High Adventures Ltd today.

A nice bimble down The Barle today from Tarr Steps with Hannah before lunch in Dulverton. Lowish water but still above the required level for environmental protection. My paddling trips are becoming more about the availability of nice coffee and food afterwards these days rather than finding challenging rivers to paddle. I should probably up my game soon and get back on the harder stuff.

  Brrrr it was chilly today but OK if we kept moving. A one bladed jaunt from Tarr Steps to Exbridge down The Barle and The Exe just for fun with Hannah and Heidi. The levels were lowish so plenty of time (and opportunity) to mess about including trying to pole down through the play wave (pic above) though I didn't actually manage to stay in the boat.

Today Hannah and I went for lunch at The Anchor Inn at Exbridge. Of course, we parked in Dulverton and paddled there. We were going to launch from Tarr Steps but due to the blizzard we drove through and the amount of snow around and having had previous issues with conditions on the access road to Tarr Farm we decided Dulverton to Exbridge was the better choice. The water was pretty cold today (not that we swam) so winter is coming.

Out and about for the second day of Haygrove School Bronze DofE expedition and the weather was a lot better with some sun and blue skies in between the showers. Halse farm down to Dulverton along the River Barle is always a nice route especially when you get and Ice Cream at Tarr Steps

A quick high water blast from Dulverton down to The Anchor Inn at Exebridge. Medium flows made for a quick journey with the main play spots washed out.

Today I paddled the Upper Barle (Withypool to Tarr Steps) as the water levels were high enough to make this a worthwhile run. I have not paddled this section for a long time so it was nice to be back on it. It was a mixed group with me in the Open Canoe, Will in the OC1 and Mike and Leon in Kayaks. The level did drop during the day so hoping for some more rain tonight.

Today Olly and I jumped on The Barle at Tarr Steps and paddled down to Dulverton in Kayaks. Just a relaxed day off work floating down the river with a mate. We did swap boats for a Burn vs Shiva test but as neither of us wanted the other fiddling with our footrests, I was slopping about and Olly couldn't get in properly so it was a very short lived and unfair test. Then it was off to AS Watersports for me to collect some new gear

Back out on the Barle today working for Wet and High Adventures running a 3 star assessment. All 4 candidates put in a good performance and passed the award. We started at Tarr Steps and paddled to Dulverton. It was a bit low today and dropped whilst we were on it but we still found some Grade 2 rapids to run and for the candidates to demonstrate their skills. Well done Leon, Glyn, Dom and Chris

Out on the rivers Barle and Exe today working for Wet and High Adventures running a 3 Star Training course with 4 candidates. We ran the Dulverton to Exebridge section looking at some personal skills as well as rescues, rolling and throw line work, I am certainly glad that I didn't have to roll or swim today as it was somewhat chilly in the water. At today's levels the seam where the Exe and Barle join had produced a small surf wave which was entertaining and good fun to practice skills on