The Averon was running at a nice low-medium level today, so Ron, John, Paul, Martin, Lucas, Brigitte and my good self headed out for a wee scoot from Newbridge to Alness. Plenty of interest, but nothing too pushy.

Two thumbs up for Martin and Brigitte who paddled extremely well for their first time on the river; no swims and only one brief dip under the water. I think they even got the best line on the first gorge section rapid!

Second day of paddling in a row – saaweeeeet!

Lovely sunny paddle (surprising for October!) down the Averon (Abhainn Abharan) today. Bit of a scrape, but a great chance to try out my new Nomad…

Lovely boat, felt at home it in within minutes. Easy to manoeuvre, easy to roll (not that I had to for real) and really responsive; looking forward to more Nomad paddling to come!

Well, after keeping our fingers crossed all week for rain, boy did it come on Saturday!

Streets were awash, homes flooded, the Findhorn was pumping out of control…so we headed for the Averon by Alness for a change of scene. It’s a great river, but general loses its water quickly so needs a good dump right before you head out.

When we got to Alness, the level below the road bridge was reading a little above 3.5 which, according to Where’s the Water, meant that we were in for something more than a ‘stimulating paddle’!

After meeting up with Robert and his son, Ewan, we headed up towards Dublin and wandered down to the river. Firstly, you could hear it long before you could see it, and then when you could see it, it was moving fast, almost no eddies in sight and lots of overhanging trees to wrestle with; rock on!

Anyhow, to cut a long story short, we had a great paddle. Some fairly meaty rapids, lots of fast moving water, some surfing, a bit of chase-boating and paddle hunting…and I even had to disentangle myself from a fisherman’s hook which he had kindly left hanging in a tree at eye level…quite a day!