Great day out on the Tummell today with Steve Mackinnon.

Posh start to proceedings with breakfast at the House of Bruar, then off to the river for a training day; focus on boofing.

Gentle start with not big incidents. I had a wee roll BEFORE the s-bends, not quite sure how though, and Steve Mac ran the Linn backwards in style – class!

Fun all round, including Stewart who ran the Linn of Tummell upside down in order to give us a heads up on where the submerged rocks where – very kind of him!

Only pain in the backside where the rafters. About 9 rafts crowding the Linn at one point, punting boaters out of the way; not cool. And what a complete mess the public road is and also the get out is; looks like a shanty town. Sadly, I’m not surprised the locals get annoyed…

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!

Great wee paddle down the Top and Upper Findhorn today.

Levels were probably around a low medium, but a nice level for most of the features; albeit the U-Bend looked a bit nasty with a tricky and limited run in and a grabby looking hole!

Thanks to Donald Macpherson of www.ExploreHighland.com for some wee vids of the day…

http://www.flickr.com/photos/explorehighland/sets/72157626093053077