GUIDE TO THE RIVER DART

(Buckfastleigh to Staverton)

NAME OF RIVER: Dart.

WATER LEVEL, ACCESS AND HAZARD UPDATES: Here.

WHERE IS IT?: The classic SW paddle, this trip is on Dartmoor, would you believe it, not far from Ashburton and the A38 Plymouth - Exeter road.

PUT-INS/ TAKE-OUTS: Put-in is at or near a 'Little Chef 'on river left directly downstream of the stone bridge in Buckfastleigh (as opposed to the huge A38 bridge after it). Finish 5 miles downstream at Staverton Bridge or continue to Totnes. See also the DART ACCESS link.

Dart Access (August 2005)...'The Little Chef business has now closed (part of a national downsizing programme). The situation with regard to parking there is unknown at present.'

APPROX LENGTH: 5 miles.

TIME NEEDED: At least an hour and a half.

ACCESS HASSLES:

WATER LEVEL INDICATORS: It should be paddleable throughout the winter months.

GRADING: Grade 1 and 2 with a weir.

MAJOR HAZARDS/ FALLS: A weir.

GENERAL DESCRIPTION: Directly downstream of the put-in, you encounter Salmon Ponds weir. This consists of small steps and chutes but is currently quite dangerous...

Update about this weir from Fogey, Nov '99...'On a recent Dart trip we carried on down past Buckfastleigh, over the final stepped weir. Due to some pratting about, one of our party ended up swimming just above the weir. His (empty) boat got washed over the lip, just to the right of the right-hand wall of the narrow walled slide/chute. To our surprise, it disappeared totally. It was pinned under a clear 2 feet or more of water. There seems to be a metal bar or rod projecting out across the weir from the concrete wall of the chute. The water level generally was low...but above bump-and-scrape. Despite this, anyone in a boat doing this would be in a very serious position and lucky to survive! It was no big problem to us as it was just an empty boat. My worry is that over the years we have shot this weir in most conditions, never worrying too much about the line although the recommendation is to take it on the left. Anyone know what this rod is, how far it extends across, and whether there are similar bars on any of the lower steps?'

Dave Pearson also has recent experience of this...'I can only sympathise - agree - and take this opportunity to reinforce (no pun intended) the warning. That bit of the weir (and it's where most of the water's going over) is currently *very dangerous*. Same thing happened to us yesterday. The key problem is that the concrete chute is almost certainly the *safest* way down - but right next to it, just where any problems getting down the chute will take you, is by far the *worst* bit. In our case, a relatively inexperienced paddler tried to get down the chute, but not appreciating that as it was quite dry there was a bit of a lip, didn't have enough speed to get over the lip. The current going down just right of the chute spun his boat round, and he dropped over the main fall *sideways*. Fortunately, he bailed out safely, but the back end of the boat jammed under the rod, and by the time we managed to pull it free (at an awkward angle, from a position standing on the concrete chute) it was significantly banana shaped - and probably a write off in terms of serious white water use. Having done the self-confident, blas "blind probe" bit 5 minutes earlier and run the drop just right of the chute to check it out for the group - and neatly attempted a back loop in the process, SuperSports aren't that buoyant! - I was really rather glad I hadn't myself run into problems with the bar. Otherwise, I probably wouldn't be writing this. Level was "medium/low" depending on your persuasion. Clearly, people should be *very* careful with this weir. The route just right of the chute is potentially lethal, particularly in anything other than a high volume boat, even for competent paddlers. At yesterday's level, the chute itself is fine - but unless people aren't *completely* sure of getting into it, they ought to be portaging. And with any relatively inexperienced paddlers, it's not a place for anything other than very cautious group control and leadership. We were probably being a bit complacent. Clearly, mistakes can rapidly get rather nasty here!'

The good news is that the rest of the trip is easy and danger-free, once you have portaged/ paddled the weir. Samll rapids maintain interest all the way to Staverton bridge, where you can finish or carry on to Totnes.

Graham Kirkham...(Nov 2002) 'After paddling on the lower sections of the Dart over the past couple of days (21-22/11/02) i must ask that anyone paddling should take great care about a mile below Kilbury Weir (below little chef). There is a fallen tree that stretches most of the way accross the river, in the current water level there is a route past on the right hand side although as the level drops this will disappear and there may be no way past. A small section of the tree is below water and it is tempting to go over this bit. Beware!! one of our open boaters tried this and pinned his boat under the tree, fortunately he came out the other side and we managed to retrieve his boat.'

OTHER NOTES: For the latest information on trees, weir conditions, parking etc., please check here

CONTRIBUTED BY: Mark Rainsley, also Fogey, Graham Kirkham, Dart Access and David Pearson.