The Exe Descent - December 2006
Ken Hamblin writes.
On Sunday 20th November 2006 the Exe Descent took place involving about 200 paddlers. The height of the water was slightly above average, which in turn made things very interesting at the various weirs that are dotted about along the course. Our club had been requested to provide safety cover as has been the custom for the past few years and we were delegated Cowley Steps, which is situated just under Cowley Bridge on the outskirts of Exeter, as our area of cover. As there is another article below about our exploits on this day suffice for me to say here that there were a lot of paddlers who were grateful for our assistance and support. A letter of thanks has been received by the club from Mike Crispin the race Safety Co-ordinator for Exeter Canoe Club and I would also like to add my thanks and appreciation to the following members who gave up their day for the benefit of the race and hope that if the race is run again next year and we are invited that we will get the same tremendous response: Ian Brimacombe, Joy Ashford, Linda and Paul Brady, Helga Pinn, Martin Mills, Dave Dixon and finally Buck Taylor who did a grand job by paddling down with the safety group at the rear of the race for the whole 19 miles. Thank you all.
Ian Brimacombe writes.
Well what did you do on the 19th November? Did you paddle the loop with Clive, join Ian Ruse in an open canoe or just lay in bed? The club was asked by Exeter Canoe Club if we could marshal the Cowley Weir in Exeter for the Exe Descent race, an event which starts from Tiverton and descends down to Exeter Canal which about 19 miles in length.
The volunteer team met at Cowley Bridge at 10:30 and the old guy of the PPCA “Ken Hamblin” briefed us on what to do during the race. Ken explained that we were the rescue party for the weir. Looking at the weir it looked very nasty with the water going round in lots of whirlpools in one section. The weir consisted of 4 drops, the 3rd forming a stopper which stretched right across the river. Although the river looked deep it was only waist deep in the middle. Ken being wise said that we would need two people on the water below the drops to pick up survivors so Dave and Martin volunteered. Two would go onto river left bank, that was Joy and Ken and four on river right bank, that being myself, Helga, Linda and Paul.
Well, after about 1 hour of being there, the racers started to come down over the weir. First there were the K2s “double paddlers in one kayak” and then the K1 “single paddlers in a kayak” then all types of kayaks / canoes. The racing kayaks had no problem with the weir due to their length, but the smaller kayaks and a few of the canoes did have some problems with the 3rd drop of the weir. Yes, as sadistic as it seems, we were happy when some people needed our help in the stopper. Ha Ha!
You could tell the ones that were going to end up in the stopper as they stopped paddling on the 2nd drop just where the whirlpool section was, thus causing them to spin, slip sideways and drop into the stopper for a nice refreshing swim. Swimming was either immediate or shortly after their sculling supports failed. It appeared that once you were in the stopper there was only one way out, which was to capsize and swim. The stopper did not pose a serious threat as a swimmer could just stand up, but it would hold onto a kayak/canoe. I suppose about 20 were people rescued by us with our throw lines but we only had one main incident and that was with a K1 kayak, which snapped in half. We did manage to pull one double kayak out of the stopper complete with occupants. The person in the back was sculling for support, 2-star stuff, and the person in the front managed to catch a throw line so we on river right pulled them out of the stopper. You could tell by the look of relief on their faces that they were very pleased with us!! Yes we did have fun on the day and Linda finally learnt how to get a throw line to land in the right place, but don’t ask Helga to rescue you with a throw line as you would defiantly drown.
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