After crowding into the Bardsea pub we settled into the most luxurious LUCC trip accommodation freshers will ever know – don’t get used to it. Saturday started with a beautiful misty paddle on Coniston Water with relatively few swims, although our Social Sec enjoyed a refreshing dip!
Unfortunately the crazy tree chicanes on the River Crake drastically increased the swim count and provided an opportunity for the ‘olds’ to practise their safety and rescue skills... Well done to all the freshers who kept smiling and improved their steering to style it down the weir and final rapid to Spark Bridge! Returning to base, a curry warmed us up in preparation for alcohol consumption and an enlightening game of Never Have I Ever – we learnt a lot about our new freshers and some few gems about our olds.
After an efficient clean up on Sunday it was off to the River Lune. Kit and vehicle issues conspired to delay a few of us getting on the river, so I can’t speculate about all the swims/near-swims/adventures/swims/triumphs/swims that may or may not have occurred on the Lune! I heard all the freshers did brilliantly and apparently enjoyed themselves. Our small group had a good run although the low water levels made it hard work and certainly tested my rock-avoidance skills, not all entirely successful. I’m afraid to say not all of us made it back alive: Bryn’s shoe may still be somewhere in the Lune...
An even more eventful trip back meant an unplanned stop in Lancaster for some boats and people meaning we didn’t all make it to the pub. Hopefully we’ll catch up with you there soon or at the docks to hear your own versions of that swim or those drunken antics...
A massive thank you to everyone who was involved and we’ll see you on the beginners’ trip this weekend, I’ll be there (with my throwline ;) )...
