I'd check how low the tide will be when you get to Portishead as if it is fully out you will have several meters of thick, smelly clawing mud to get through before you get to the slip way! My parents live at the top of one of the roads leading down to the yacht club and as a kid I used to see if I c...

There are some not too great pictures of the West Okement here:

http://plus.google.com/photos/114922753 ... 1049600289

If any are of any use I can give you better quality versions.

Some lovely people have been through my shed and kindly removed a well loved and used medium Pyranha burn from me along with a couple of bikes. So if anyone sees a too good to be true offer for a burn somewhere in the south of England it would be great if they could get in touch.

Thanks

Chris

If you are in any way to do with the Uni then the Student canoe club is very active and has a significant number of 'olds' who are around and often interested in random paddling trips and trips to the pubs. Apart from that there is Southampton canoe club (I think that is what Woodmill canoe club ren...

I think you might have been involved in this Beth but if you've forgotten you can always turn an S6 with a split into a Pimms fountain

The Tavy is a far nicer river than the Barle so well worth going to. If you park at the forestry commission car park just beyond Denham bridge then it is easier to park and there are no issues (well that I have come across).

Is that the Rhonda? If so does it still have the van in the river at the get out?

There is a second tree down about 100 m or so on from the first. At todays levels (low) there was no way of paddling under it so I am guessing at good levels it will also be a definite portage. By the look of the ivy on it the tree it has come down very recently.

The gallery's that JJ linked to are mine, if any off them would be of use then give me a shout and I can send you a better quality version.

I think my favourite one is this one:

The more time you spend messing with it the better it turns out

I have a 51 plate Octavia estate so the older model and the seats in that fold flat but there is a ridge behind them which works out just below the ribs if you sleep in it with the head towards the front. it is fine with a bit of padding like a towel or two but with just a karrimat or thermorest it ...

The best way of getting hold of Southampton (not quite South West) is emailing canoe at soton dot ac.uk which should go to the entire committee unless they've broken it again.

I got mine from the very nice people at Performance Kayaks. They were particularly helpful given that they had used them extensively and therefore actually knew what worked.

A group of us ran this at the weekend. It was a remarkably pleasant tree lined ditch. We had to portage three trees just below the bizarre railway bridge all reasonably obvious from above. When we checked the level on the way up the river was across the footpath behind the Castle car park and when w...

I have the Sling and krab; you left it in my car during a shuttle on Saturday.

Chris

For larger groups if you continue another couple of hundred meters past denham bridge down to the forestry commission car park river right then you can get change and faff without irritating people as much.

This summer for a car of four people going to France we spent:

Fuel, Tolls and Ferry £500
Food and beer £380
Camping £250
Working out at about £280 each

No idea on other costs and how much of the food and beer costs was beer.

It might also be worth looking at this article on UK Climbing which suggests that this might not be a real issue. I have no idea as to its validity or not.

Flashes work with guide numbers at a set film/sensor sensitivity. If I remember correctly the approximate distance a flash will illuminate is the guide number divided by the f stop. The pop up flash on my D200 is guide number 12 at 100 iso. Therefore using the camera at base iso and a standard zoom ...

Remote flash if set up well can look amazing. There were some fantastic shots that someone very good got of the Oetz cataracts last year where the paddler was the only lit thing and it looked amazing. My big flash doesn't like my DSLR as much as it liked my old fim one so I have not used it recently...

Depending on how much luxury you want in terms of accommodation there are a large number of Village halls that you can get for not much money. Southampton Uni normally stays in Cwmdu village hall ut we have stayed in Tretower and Talybont on Usk as well. They work out at a couple of quid per person ...

I am guessing we're talking about the large trucks that are operated by a numbers of companies across Africa. They usually are a tour of ten or so people that drive from tourist spot to tourist spot with all their kit in the back of the truck. They seem OK if that's your kind of thing as they do mak...

The Mighty death gorge has changed massively over the years. When I first arrived at uni (99) the weir was back inside the bridge and would even form a nice play wave with a smaller wave train behind when the conditions were right. In that incarnation the surfers right eddy could be horribly boily a...

Not from the last couple of years but as the tides are good next week (low is post work) I could take a camera down and get a few if they're wanted.

Due to a terrible inability to select which photos to post here are a good few. http://lh4.ggpht.com/Chris.Vian/SMApovadA9I/AAAAAAAAFCU/K9A4rUPB_hI/s800/Stave%20triple1%20sml.jpg Stave McCorquodale on triple step on the Guil http://lh3.ggpht.com/Chris.Vian/SMApnpK8WqI/AAAAAAAAFCM/rGg7T-Mh0QY/s800/Jo...

Thanks very much for the film. Currently at a ratio of 3.9 and rising; the joys of university internet connections!

Enjoying the free Tryweryn at the weekend I managed to rip the semi-dry seal on the arm of my shorty cag. I was thinking of stitching it up as you would with a deck but was wondering if there is a better way of repairing it or even if it is possible to do so at all. Thanks for any help.

It is amazing how bored you can get when you are supposed to be writing up scientific papers. Even spending ages on photoshop seems like a good plan.

That is probably from the Southampton Uni guys out there (unless there is another Laura McKelvie). I have passed on the details to them. Thanks for letting us know.

Woodmill Shop They got flooded out of their shop on Monday by a freak high tide and have been mopping up all week. Two of the girls from the Southampton uni canoe club had all there kit stolen off a washing line on Wednesday and are off to Scotland tomorrow. Despite having to clean out the centre a...