Alan Mellor and Gary Rice
The Spey Experience - May 2014 On behalf of the OCA, Gary Rice planned a River Spey multi-day trip for 2014. It was open to all members and included Matt Thompson of Wilderness-Canoe as the guide. Matt is well known to many OCA members for his holistic approach to learning in the great outdoors and adventure based tripping. An excellent coach and guide. The trip filled rapidly with eager OCA members wanting to experience their first decent of the Spey. A Facebook group was set up so that participants could exchange views, ask questions and make vital travel and accommodation arrangements and soon all participants went on an adventure. Over the years many OCA members have undertaken this trip and in years to come many more of you will join in this iconic decent. So I will focus on the many options that we considered, the decisions that we made and possibly a bit of reflection that I now have. Solo or Tandem? This was a tricky one. Like many paddlers, most of my moving water experience has been solo. In addition I have a very comfortable solo tripping boat with adequate capacity for gear. So why did I elect to do the trip tandem with Gary Rice? After all, Gary is not known for his extensive tandem skills. Prior to this trip Gary had succeeded in swimming on the majority of his tandem quests, most of them with his son AJ. For me, the decision was based upon wanting to enjoy the whole trip without feeling
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that I was under any physical pressure to “keep up”. I wanted to feel like I was doing this trip as a group and not a single entity. With Gary living in the south and myself in the Midlands, getting any tandem paddling practice was almost impossible. However, we did have an excellent session with Ian Dennies at the Canoefest. He reaffirmed what we already knew: communication in the boat was key to successful tandem paddling. Plus, choosing strokes that compliment and not cancel out your paddle partner. After this session, with me electing for bow seat and Gary the stern, it did feel a comfortable and powerful combination. Kit. As Ray Mears put it in his book Essential Bushcraft, you will require: something to carry your outfit in, something to sleep under, something to sleep in, something to sleep on, something to cook over, something to cook in, a mug, eating utensils, food, medical kit, illumination, wash kit, clothing and stuff to make life comfortable. Everyone on the trip did all of this but in many different ways. Several made groups to share the cooking burden, some went completely solo. Many took too much kit and few admit to getting it just right. For myself, I would swap my tent approach for tarp and hammock. I would reduce foodstuff and take more dried food and fewer pots and pans. Basically you must balance overall weight and volume of your kit. Planning. We agreed a trip plan and built in contingencies for any emergencies or bad weather. The plan was to rough camp every night, hopefully on islands, and travel three long days with a short fourth day to take account of the final shuttle before the long drive south back to civilisation. In general we managed to keep to the schedule, found good camp grounds and maintain a “leave no trace” philosophy. There was just one day that the schedule looked in doubt following an incident on day three just outside Abelour. Gary and I had paddled well to this point, negotiating the biggest and most recognised rapid sections without any issues. As Gary and I both have the same 15ft canoes, Matt agreed to loan us one of his
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new 16ft composite Swift boats, the Kipawa. We were under some pressure throughout not to scratch or damage the boat in any way. However in a long and innocuous wave train whilst leading the group our boat completely swamped to the point that it sank below us. We were swimming but kept hold of the boat and kit whilst our rescuers came to help out. With the next rapid approaching, Gary swam to the side and I was taken on the stern of Arthur's boat. Matt and Dave went with the laden canoe. After running down the riverbank I found the canoe had become pinned to a rock with Matt in the water freeing our lashed in kit. All took part in the rescue with slings, karabiners and ropes. Matt took charge of the rescue. The freed boat suffered creasing at the centre thwart but was otherwise paddleable. However, the two wet, cold and weary crew needed a break. We all went for an unplanned stop at Abelour and had hot food and drinks. We made the camp as expected, much later than we anticipated and lit fires to dry our wet kit. Reflection. This trip has inspired, and I long to do more multi day trips. I certainly want to return to the Spey. I will do the trip solo at some point but I will definitely do the trip again as a tandem. Paddling tandem gives you a stronger connection with teamwork. It is a sharing experience that you do not get as a solo paddler. I will take less kit, a simpler meal plan and I would ask Matt Thompson to guide, coach and mentor a trip again. If you get the chance and feel that you have developed your basic skills to a competent level, get out there and give it a go. Participants. Matt Thompson – solo (Guide) Dave Priestley – solo Dave Allen – solo Gary Rice & Alan Mellor – tandem
Paul Sutch & Dryston Furby – tandem Timothy Twitchen – solo Arthur Green – solo
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Paul Sutch and Dryston Furby
The Finish: Spey Bay Article – Alan Mellor Photos – Matt Thompson, www.Wilderness-Canoe.co.uk
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