So, this morning I checked Where’s the Water; dry across the country!

Only thing for it was to headfor the Lower Findhorn to catch the only drops about…it’s always a good paddle though…

When we arrived, the sun had only just started shining into the gorge, and with frost of the ground (first this year), it was a mite chilly. Made me glad to have my new Sweet Rocker, without dount the warmest helmet on the market these days!

After a false start below Randolph’s, where Jo decided to test the water temperature, we headed off (upright) down the river. It was low, but not as much of a scrape as SEPA’s guages suggested.

After a good bit of messing about and setting the world to rights with our water-based chat, we arrived at Tripple Steps. Dave Y and me decided just to read and run; nice for a change, while Jo and Paul got out to check the lines. We hung about at the bottom in case we needed to collect swimmers…

Jo and Paul both had good lines down the first step, but Jo managed to catch an edge on the middle step and ended up rolling up into a rock, which was bad luck, and pulled the deck…the water was still cold apparently!

Next, onto Corkscrew. This rapid was really pretty boney today. The right line would land you on a rock, the centre line would land you on a couple of rock and, to get the left line, you had to get over a couple of rocks; some choice!

I decided to go first and trid the river left line. Nice wee ferry glide across the top of the feature, however thinking I’d had to bump over a wee rooster tail, I put on too much pressure, missed an eddy and ended up running the entire thing backwards (no point turning on Corkscre as you’ll just get pinned). Dave Y did much the same with the river left line, albeit upside down!

Paul decided to go for the middle line and dropped the first bit with style, only to get pinned sideways on a semi-submerged rock. This resulted in a roll, an ice cream headache and a bimble to the finish line. Jo, perhaps having the most sense, took the best line; portage!

After walking round The Slot, which looked fairly knarly given the low levels, we had a nice peaceful paddle out of the gorge and into the (by now) warm sunlight. A wee play on the last feature, then the long walk out – or in my case, a 1km jog to get the car…

All topped off with a nice coffee and cake at Logie Steading…posh kayaking, huh?!

Another excellent trip down the Upper Findhorn today, with Dave Y, Paul and Tim. Originally planned to try the Fechlin as the Tarf was running high on Where’s the Water, but for one reason or another, never quite made it…

The river was a wee bit higher than last week and Dulsie, with its no warm-up get-in, was just a wee bit more intimidating! Still, we all made it down in one piece, albeit there were a few wet heads (thankfully not me)!

The river was moving fast today, to the trip went quicker than is often the case on the upper. U-bend looked, to me at least, less favourable than last week, so I decided to walk it. Paul, however, gave it a shot and, well, said hello to the fishes…

After failing to bag him from the bank, Paul managed to swim to the side a bit lower down. We then had to gather his boat and begin the search for his paddle. Normally I carry a set of splits, but sod’s law, I forgot them today. Thankfully, however, Giles from Glenmore Lodge floated past and lent us his splits…only for us to find Paul’s original paddle about 200m further down the river!

Following on from the Leven’s Gorge fun, and one or two more rolls from certain members of the team, we headed on down towards JCB. A fairly easy line today, with a lovely play wave half way down. I decided to crack on while the others discussed lines and managed to get a sweet surf or two - good times.

After that, it was a fairly quick boot down towards Ardclach. Got the boats loaded up onto my cars to run the shuttle back to Dulsie to get Tim’s motor; always seems to spend more time faffing on the bank or with cars rather than boating!

Oh, and Giles appeared just before we left to reclaim his splits…while I scribbled down a note-to-self: remember to pack my splits next time!

Great paddle today on the Upper Findhorn with Andy, Fiona, Kenny, Jim, Caz and Paul.

Levels were probably a good medium-high and the put in at Dulsie gave no time at all to get warmed up; perhaps that was the reason for the three swims?!!

Poor Jim got a gash above his eye (stuck back together with Fi’s steri-strips), Caz managed to cling to a rock above the main drop (while I chased her boat down the gorge) and poor Kenny made it all the way to the end, only to trip up on the last wave – almost there matey!

But, epic start aside, it was a grand day out on the water, with Andy and Paul showing the lines on U-Bend and the rest of the river moving reasonably quickly with some nice wee waves, a few playful stoppers and a nice roller-coaster finish at JCB.

So, my new Nomad successfully passed it’s first real test. Handled Dulsie like a breeze, particularly once I removed the seat paddling that I put in last night (you can have to much oadding on your ass), and rolled with ease. Still hanging onto the Diesel 75 for a wee while just in case, but so far so good…

PS – well done to Matt’s BCU 3 Star assessment group who were also on the Upper Findhorn – I heard they all passed!