| River Flags: | |
| Isis: | |
| Godstow: |
We met at 2pm on Sunday 6th June at the scout hut and I have to admit that some of us felt slightly intimidated by the field full of brownies wearing pirates hats! With a good turnout of 12 people in a mixture of open canoes and sea kayaks it was a very social paddle in beautiful weather up to The Waterman's Arms near Osney.
At Folly Bridge, Gwylim, closely followed by Paul, headed off to find a short cut that turned out not to exist. The group then continued on up to the lock at Osney mill which was a new experience for some and very interesting. After stopping for a refreshing drink at The Watermans Arms (served up by a landlord working at a speed that allowed a new species to evolve!) we made a hasty exit to our boats as the rain began to fall.
We then hung a left to turn downstream and portaged a weir (where Gwylim decided it would be an ideal place to lose both his kayak and paddle!) and then another which was shot by some and portaged by others. Following some fun and interesting paddling through varying amounts of vegetation and 'canoe on kayak ramming action' in not an awful lot of water, we found a couple footballs to use for some essential polo and target practice before arriving back at the scout hut at around 6pm after a particularly close shave between a kayak and a scull.
The general consensus was that there aren't many more relaxing ways to spend a Sunday afternoon so a big thank you to all those that came along and made it such a nice time.
-PaulPhotos by Jen.