Helford Passage Canoe  Fri 26th August 2016  9.7 miles

Les had suggested that it might be an idea to try a paddle on the Helford Passage and as the weather and tide was set right for this Friday we might go for it. As Jackie and I were camping at Berryfields, Porthcothan it would be less of a journey for me but a 90 minute or so for Les. We agreed to meet at Kingsley Mill  on the A30 just outside Fradden for 0800hrs.

I was awake at 0700hrs  dressed and departed by  0720hrs. I took the coast road pass Bedruthan Steps. Here the field was full of campers. There was little or no traffic on the road. In another couple of hours it would be jammed packed with day trippers seeking the beaches. It was, after all a beautiful August Bank Holiday.

Turn down past the airport to Fradden and Kinsley village. Les not yet on site.I considered a coffee. Costa was there but that's not for me. Far too pricey. I walked into the Brewers Fayre with the intention to use the loo. The woman at front of house stops me and asks if I require a table for breakfast. "No" I reply "I'm looking for a friend, I'm meeting someone inside for breakfast". I smile, she lets me pass. I make straight for the loos then out the rear door into the kiddies park and through a gap in the hedge.

Les soon arrives at 0800 hrs. and we cross deck his canoe and kit into my van and are soon away. Chatting like excited schoolboys we arrive at the car park at Helford Passage. It's £1-00 all day to park. I can afford that. I ask a local guy, who is employed by the complex here if I can we drive to bottom of the hill to drop the canoes. "Sure".There's barely room to drive down the lane with a switch back thrown in as well. We stop at the slip and double check with the girl on duty in the ferryboat/slip office if it's OK. There is a charge of £2 to launch from here but given that gives us access to the concrete slip and more importantly we didn't have to take the canoes  down the hill or more importantly drag 'em up at the end of the day which would have been a crippler. We paid up with a smile for once. 

Even at this early hour there are a few people on the beach or in the water.  We drop the kit double quick and lift off the 2 canoes. Leaving Les to organise the kit I drove out 300m  to the turning point. A woman and her two dogs caused me no end of problems, that's how tight the road is. I made a mental note not to do that again and turn on the slip. A mistake then drive up the road to the car park. Quickly changed and made my way down through the hotel letting complex and Ferryboat Inn to the beach. Les had the canoes loaded and ready for launch. I strapped on my life jacket and lifeline, double checked my water-bottle was attached and my sarnies stowed and we were off. We launch at 0930.

It was a beautiful day. Clear blue skies, no wind, no waves and we were an hour or two before high tide at 1130. We were headed up river towards Gweek. Initially we passed through the moorings for boats that belonged to the rich and famous. Well. I believe they did. Ahead are a group of canoeists that launched just prior to us and we were steadily gaining on them. Some obviously knew what they were doing others? Well I'm no expert by any stretch of the imagination but could see that they had hired a canoe from the beach at £15 an hour and were out giving it some wellie.

Further upriver we pull alongside Tremayne Quay this and the nearby  boathouse are well known to most people who are familiar with the Helford River, but for those who’ve not had the pleasure of visiting this very special place, here’s a little background.



Tremayne Boathouse

Historically, Tremayne has always been associated with Trelowarren Estate. Whilst there has no doubt been a quay located here for a great deal longer, the present structure dates from 1847, built by Sir Richard Vyvyan in preparation for a visit by Queen Victoria. Whilst unfortunately the queen never came, her great grandson, Edward, Duke of Windsor, favoured the quay with a belated royal visit in 1921 when he was Prince of Wales.

The Quay is at the end of a mile long track leading through unspoilt ancient semi-natural and plantation woodland running alongside the HelfordRiver. Some of these woods, notably the mature beech plantation in the valley at the head of the Creek, were planted specifically to impress Queen Victoria prior to her aborted visit in the 1840s. The sessile oak woodlands further down the track were managed as coppice for the charcoal and tannin trade, and like many Cornish oak woodlands, would have been a hive of activity up until the 1920s with bodgers and wood folk managing the woods. Today, the woods are better known for their beauty and tranquillity as well as the abundance of estuarine birds and woodland flora which can be spotted along the way.

The Woods and Quay were bequeathed to the National Trust in 1978 from the Vyvyan family of Trelowarren. Today, it is one of the few public quays on the upper reaches of the river, with public access right down to the riverside.

These days, Tremayne is a popular place for recreation, quiet enjoyment and having fun. Whether it’s walkers stopping for a picnic or just to enjoy the unspoilt views up and down the river, boat users pulling up for a BBQ or overnight stay, or a bunch of youngsters experiencing the wonderful solitude of the river at night with a camping trip, most locals and visitors to Tremayne have fond memories of the place. It’s a place to fish, catch crabs, wild swim, jump in at high tide, make a mud pie and roast marshmallows around the campfire. It’s a place for everyone, for ever.

 



The Old Quay Frenchman's Creek

Frenchman's Creek.

Well that sounds familiar and so it should. Not only is it a real live place on the Helford river but it also a famous novel made into a film of the same name. One in 1944 and another in 1998. For all I know there might well be a stage play of that same name. It was of course written by Daphne du Maurier. Set in Cornwall during the reign of Charles II. It tells the story of a love affair between an impulsive English lady, Dona Lady St Columb and a French pirate Jean-Benoit Aubrey. It runs something like this.............

Dona, Lady St. Columb, makes a sudden visit with her children to Navron, her husband's remote estate in Cornwall, in a fit of disgust with her shallow life in London court society. There she finds that the property, unoccupied for several years, is being used as a base by a notorious French pirate who has been terrorizing the Cornish coast. Let's be realistic here. The only pirates in Cornwall are the Cornish. Dona finds that the pirate, Jean-Benoit Aubéry, is not a desperate character at all, but rather a more educated and cultured man than her own doltish husband, and they fall in love. Here we go! That old story, my husband doesn't understand me!

Dona dresses as a boy, wait for it and joins the pirate crew on an expedition to cut out and capture a richly laden merchant ship belonging to one of her neighbours. The attack is a success, but the news of it brings Dona's husband Harry and his friend Rockingham to Cornwall, disrupting her idyllic romance. Harry, Rockingham, and the other locals meet at Navron to plot how to capture the pirate, but Aubéry and his crew cleverly manage to capture and rob their would-be captors instead. Rockingham, who has had designs on Dona himself, perceives the relationship between her and Aubéry, and Dona is forced to kill him in self-defence when he attacks her in a jealous rage. Meanwhile, Aubéry is captured while trying to return to his ship, and Dona hatches a plot for his release. In the end, however, she realizes that she must remain with her husband and children instead of escaping to France with Aubéry.



 

Sir Fredrick Arthur Montague "Boy" Browning, GVCO, KB, CB, DSO

Was a senior officer in the British Army who has been called the father of the British Airborne Forces. He was  the commander of 1 Airborne Corps and Deputy Commander of First Airborne Army during Operation Market Garden in Sept 1944. During the planning of this operation he memorably said "I think we might be going a bridge too far." He was also an Olympic Bobsleigh competitor and the husband of Dame Daphne du Maurier.

Not a lot of people know that!

Paddling on we spot a potential camp site, it seems somewhat muddy here but we return some time later for lunch when it is not as bad. 

We continue upriver towards Gweek. Soon we hear the deep bark of  a sea lion. It is Gweek Seal Sanctuary.

You can call me Clarence!

 We are now as far as we can go, pretty much. This is Gweek Boat Yard. A euphemism for what I would call a Gypo site on the water. Instead of caravans they have rusting hulks of barges or half rotten hulls from some old yacht or small tug. They have added a mishmash of old double glazing units and tarpaulins and turned this small creek into a floating scrap yard. Still it has a mystical air about it. Passing through Gweek boat yard we rae confronted by a very narrow road bridge. Beneath which flows very little water. We, despite Les's best efforts can go no further. We back paddle and make our way through various muddy channels back to the main river.

It was our intention to stop at the pub but for some reason we didn't. I think we thought we might meet as unsavoury clientele in the pub as was inhabiting the scrapyard!

One of the more interesting craft on the river. 

There is another small river we follow but this soon proves too shallow for us to continue. Here as we make passage up the short navigatable stretch it allows us views into some rather splendid back gardens. Les's comments about us seeming like peeping Toms rings true and we return to the main channel and head off down stream past a huge set of warehouses or is it a factory. It looks deserted! 

The grin says it all!

Merthen Quay.

Looking downriver  from the lunch stop.

Return to the confluence for a lunch stop. We sit on the "beach" but after lunch a short wander uphill provides us with this wonderful view. Complete with old railway sleeper seat. What a fantastic view back down Helford Passage. It is here we watch a few canoeists glide past with the occasional motor boat pottering slowly upstream. At the head of the creek there is a guy fishing. He casts some distance out into the river. I make a mental note to stay well clear when we launch.



Lured ashore by the Wreckers.

Who says Cornish Wreckers are no longer at work! These are treacherous waters Jim lad. Best ye keep a weather eye open!

Newton is best remembered for his portrayal of the feverish-eyed Long John Silver in the 1950 film adaptation of Treasure Island, the film that became the standard for screen portrayals of historical pirates. He would continue to portray Blackbeard in 1952 and Long John Silver again in the 1954 film of the same name, which spawned a miniseries in the mid 50s. Hailing from the West Country in south west England, his exaggeration of his West Country accent is credited with popularising the stereotypical "pirate voice".^[2][3] Newton has become the "patron saint" of the annual International Talk Like a Pirate Day.^[4]



Durgan Beach  (NT Glendurgan)

Trebah Beach


In 1944, the beach was used as an embarkation point for a regiment of 7,500 of the 29th US Infantry Division for the assault landing on Omaha beach, part of the D -Day Landings.
At the end of the war there was a succession of changes of ownership. The Martin family cleared the moor at the bottom and introduced the massed planting of Hydrangeas.
The Boathouse is situated on the beach, this was originally built by the racing driver and designer of Healey cars, Donald Healey, to store his boats when he lived at Trebah in the 1960s. Donald Healey was also responsible for removing the infrastructure and concrete installed during WW2 and undertaking improvements to the lower lakes.

http://www.adept-seo.co.uk/inshore-patrol-flotilla/ 


 The weather national structure camping 4 guys have struck camp and loading into two motor boats one with extended arm as presumed bond film?!! Out to trebah point tank loading platforms. Chk cave back to beach out o water in minutes mike to collect van hoping land rover and trailer is clear of beach and road. Back to mall then Cornwall canoes atGrampound Rd. Higginbotham for 1700hrs circle refuge n from beach 1730 mike Mayes brew and washes wetsuit.

Helford River

Friday 26th August 2016


Les had decided that a trip down into darkest Cornwall and a day trip on the Helford River might well be worth the early morning rise and the distance travelled.

Bantham to Aveton Gifford Bridge

After our success on Tuesday I was keen to get afloat again. Talking to Les he had heard of a trip up the River Avon from Bantham to Aveton Gifford. This sounded good. The tides would need to be with us as again as we did not fancy being left without water beneath the hull in the river. Another factor was the rip tide at Bantham Beach. “No problem,” says Les. “we’ll launch on the river at the boathouse on the quay.” Now just because Mike had never seen or heard of a Boathouse or Quay at Bantham does not mean it does not exist! Bowing to Les’s superior knowledge about winds and tides we agreed to meet at 78 at 0800 hrs Friday. This would give us plenty of time to load the gear onto my truck and arrive at Bantham with the tide still in our favour.

It’s not that I am a doubting Thomas but I have on so many other occasions been wrong footed by info that certain things in life I feel compelled to check. Well would you Adam and Eve it there is a Quay and Boathouse at Bantham. GR 668437. There was also listed a harbourmaster but he was not answering his phone. I thought we might be able to park near the quay and launch but on reflection thought no.



Quay and Boathouse at Bantham.

We arrived at the carpark and the nice little man after relieving us of £3-50 said we could park just inside the gate to unload the Kayaks and that we were OK to launch on the quay. “The Harbourmaster? You’ve just missed him.” The short but steep descent to the water’s edge where the tide was already dropping would be a bit of a pull up at the end of the day but that was hours away yet. We stowed our trolleys and launched.

0915hrs. The sun was out and the Met had promised us full sun and little or no wind. Wrong again. The sun soon disappeared and the wind sprang up. It stayed with us the whole paddle up to AG bridge. Straight ahead lay Crusoe Villa and Boat House Quay at GR 670447. A beautiful weekend retreat. The Avon, it must be said is a stunning river, even on an overcast day. Trees line the water’s edge on both banks along most of it. Where these peter out, reed beds and wetlands allow for nesting birds and swans. In places you can kayak along under the overhead tree cover with a pretty perpendicular wall of stone beside you. There are very few houses on the water’s edge so apart from a few cows in the fields you really have the river pretty much to yourself. We only saw three others all day on the river, two females out in their canoes and a guy.

A few rock ledges amongst the trees and the odd small beach gave us an excuse to explore for bivvy sites for a return paddle. At GR674459 there was a potential overnight beach but it was closer to AG Bridge and the public slip and car park as well as being pretty fouled with jetsam. A slow trickle of water from the nearby field did not help overmuch with the slightly swampy area and numerous sand-flies. I’m not painting too good a picture here am I?

Back on the kayaks we set off again. Still into wind. At times it seemed we were going nowhere and the thought crossed my mind several times “Do I really need to Kayak under AG bridge?” Well no I don’t but what happens if I never come this way again? Let’s press on. The tide had now well turned and it was difficult to tell which was worse the wind or the tide. None of this helped us but the young man bearing down upon us like an MTB was certainly benefitting. He managed to enquire of us “A bit of a struggle going upstream?”  I realised what the cheeky beggar might have been implying after he had passed.

I gritted my teeth and lent to the paddle. Les who was by now quite some distance ahead and hanging onto a mooring buoy for dear life suggested we might as well turn and head back downstream. I pretended I had not heard him and pushed on.

Now with the bridge in sight the wind dropped to nothing and the sun came out.



Approaching Aveton Gifford Bridge.



1105hrs. A quick photo call under the bridge which carries the A379 from Modbury to Kingsbridge and we could drift back down. At a slower, more leisurely pace. Les suggested we kayak under the other section of the road bridge but we were distracted by the antics of a 4x4 drive Japanese truck. Here the tidal road, marked by large wooden posts showed the direction of the tarmac but not the depth. Our City Slicker had stopped and was wondering what to do? Mike quick as a flash assessed the situation and with a few deft strokes of his paddle was over the road and standing his paddle on end indicated to the driver the depth to be no more than eight inches. He gave me the thumbs up and came on. Shouting “Thanks.” as he passed. I replied with “Should have bought a Landrover.”

Not knowing how much water we would lose to the outgoing tide we headed back towards a potential brunch stop at GR 677451 the old kiln on the edge of Stiddicombe Creek. However it was occupied (by the two ladies in canoes) who like us had the intention of a leisurely lunch. Not wishing to share we pulled for the opposite shore and found a respectable beach upon which we could land that had some shade amongst the trees to protect us from the sun whilst we cooked brunch.

1155 hrs. This was some feast. Not for us a limp lettuce and egg sarnie. We had the makings for a truly royal feast. I had suggested to Les that he brings a burner and mug and we would have a fry up. Whilst I fire up my micro gas burner and start to cook some onions and mushrooms in an old Fray Bentos pie tin Les has produced something akin to an Aga with a range of pots and pans Jamie Oliver would have been proud to own. My Quorn sausages looked pathetic compared with the rashers of bacon Les was cooking in a full sized fry pan.” Les, please don’t contaminate your food with bacon fat for me I’m happy to eat the Quorn sausages.” I said.  I cannot, or will not re-call what Les replied but it was something along the lines of “I am not over-convinced as to the quality and taste of Quorn products in general and their sausages in particular, therefore I need to decline your kind offer on this occasion.”

Les marvelled at my skills with a couple of metal mugs and the old Fray Bentos pan. He swore he had never eaten as well before whilst out and continued to marvel between bites of his bacon and egg banjo. I told Les “That in truth generally if it’s not dehydrated and can’t be prepared in one metal mug stowed in the back of a bergan with my micro burner or over a small open fire I don’t bring it.

He had that look which doubted me! Unbeliever.

 

 

 

1300hrs. Brunch finished we stowed kit and continued downstream. Now opposite the Put In we decided to try to exit the Avon into the sea and kayak around to get nearer to the beach exit point for the car park. A good idea but grounding by Les and the current in the river now pulling me gave us other ideas. As we sped towards the last bend of the river before flowing out towards Burgh Island we decided to run ashore, beach ourselves and carry out a recce. Caution served us well on this occasion. We both decided the surf was too strong and with all the swimmers and other water users out there we did not want to become the afternoon entertainment. We hauled our kayaks up the beach, then up some newly cast concrete steps at Ham End and onto the cliff path on Bantham Ham. After a short 20 metre portage we could break out the trolleys and wheel the kayaks the half mile back to the truck.

Burgh Island in rear.

1400hrs. With everything stowed we headed for home, a spa and a beer.  A brilliant day and one that would need repeating.



 

 

First Outting.

 Now this sounds somewhat like a “coming out party” but I can assure you it is not. I have covered the 9.5 miles down the Tamar from Calstock to Saltash Public Slipway, on many occasions, with Tim in the Klepper and more recently with Les and Jackie in his Canadian Canoe during the last eclipse. The Tamar has the benefit of a push from the ebbing tide and pretty though the scenery is there is nowhere to land. The other disadvantage, as with most river journeys is that you need a crew ashore to drive to drop and collect you. Difficult if wives and girlfriends (WAGS)also enjoy a paddle.

Calstock Public Slip

The Put In. Calstock GR 435685 is a small village on the upper River Tamar. The village has been an important river port since Saxon times. It is dominated by the Grade 2 BR Rail viaduct which stands at 120 ft. high, well 110 ft. at high water. With its twelve 60ft arches, three of the piers have their foundations in the Tamar. It was constructed between 1904-1907 by John Lang. A Liskeard man. It is constructed using 11,148 concrete blocks cast on the Devon bank. I always thought they were granite!

Approaching Calstock Viaduct.

The Kayaks were soon in the water and as the tide had turned this would allow us an easier paddle to Saltash, getting a “push” from the ebb tide. I parked the truck in the free car park. Oh joy. Doubled back along the river bank looking rather fetching in my neoprene trousers and shiny new lime green cag jacket, down the public slip and onto the kayak, a quick push with the paddle and we were away. By the time I managed to get my camera out of my lifejacket I was all but under the viaduct.

The "Shamrock" @ Cotehele Quay.

Within a mile we were passing Cotehele House. This National Trust owned 15^th Century house once owned by Sir Richard Edgecumbe is supposedly one of the least altered structured houses in the land. With its river quay, watermill, estate workshops and woodland walks, it makes for a great day out. So they say. Me? I’ve never been there ‘cept early one morning to launch a canoe in the early winter mist before the staff caught me!

The Tamar is a huge wide snake of a river. Its banks are glutinous mud. For much of the way on the upper stretches it has numerous reed beds. The fields of the steep valleys allow for cattle grazing and in more recent years the growing of grapes on the south facing slopes.

The sun which had graced our start now disappeared behind grey clouds, a head wind sprang up and there was a decided chop to the surface of the water.

I might, for those uncertain about a Sit-On-Top Kayaks design take a few moments to describe it. At some 12ft long it has a moulded hull and deck onto which the paddler sits, legs outstretched as opposed to in or on as a traditional kayak or canoe. There are a couple of storage hatches for a tent, sleeping bag, poncho, scran etc. with a large well deck aft of the “Captains” position. All sounds rather grand but in effect it is a piece of plastic which floats. The Sit-On-Top is therefore “open” to the elements., If the wind gets up and starts throwing water over the bow (pointy bit up front) or beam (one of the two sides) then you’re going to get wet. Thus it is. Here the cautious Kayaker has invested in some wet suit trousers, a shiny new Goretex jacket, neoprene boots, woolly hat, gloves and a PLP (lifejacket). A floating gin palace it ain’t!

The Tamar snaking from side to side offers alternate wind directions and opportunities to catch you unaware with water over bow and beam. The see-saw action of the craft was at first quite novel. Now those of you with any interest in this are thinking “If all this water is coming in how does one get it out?”  Good point. There are things known as scupper holes and through these six holes in the base of the Sit-On-Top the water drains automatically. I know, I couldn’t get my mind around that one either till I saw it in action. Let’s just say it works.

Onward, into the wind and the chop.

Get yer own oggie!

Les suggested a coffee break and we pulled into the lee of an old stone pier at Hole’s Hole GR 430652 The landing here was not the usual Tamar gloppy mud but almost as bad, slippery seaweed and mud covered stones. There was nothing to recommend going ashore. Thus we sat in our craft “rafted up” and drank coffee from my flask and munched on a couple of pasties and Hot Cross buns supplied for us guys by Margaret. The sun re-appeared, warmed us and highlighted how fast the tide was now running. A short distance away lay Weir Quay Boatyard and its pontoon at GR432648. When last we stopped here the owner soon appeared and asked us if we wished to stop to finish our brew and if we were it would be a £10 landing fee. Well you can imagine the end result. Thus we avoided it on this occasion.

Coffee break over we continued downstream. Cargreen was soon upon us. Alas the Spaniards Inn is no more. It has long since ceased trading but has found a new lease of life as a film location. It doubles as The Black Dog Inn for the BBC Daytime Drama TV series The Coroner which has been filmed mainly in the South Hams. However the crew travelled to Cargreen once every three weeks to shoot in the derelict Crooked Spaniards Inn, which provides the set for The Black Dog Inn.

Ahead on the port side we saw 17 arch bridge. This structure bridges the Tavy at this point and carries the railway to Calstock. Another smaller span bridge further down crosses Tamerton Creek. Soon we were at Kingsmill Lake and as the Tamar road bridge and Brunel’s Rail bridge were now in sight we had time for a final landing on the pebbly beach at Neal Point GR 434611. Here we drank the last of the coffee from my flask and stretched our legs. Les found some rather nice pieces of driftwood which he intends to use to frame an old mirror.   The last short distance to Saltash public slip was short but choppy with water again entering the kayak over the bow and from abeam. But by now I had become accustomed to the numerous changes in wind direction and the way this piece of plastic handles. Heading into a strong wind the bow needs to be kept directly head on otherwise the kayak has a tendency due to its reasonably high side and my size quickly  bring its stern around with one needing to overcorrect again to bring on course. With little or no wind the craft tracks well despite its lack of rudder. The rudder is an optional after-market fit if required.

Saltash Public Slip.

At Saltash slip we waited whilst a power boater trailered his boat out up the concrete slip but once ashore whilst I stowed various pieces of kit away Les doubled away with his Triumph Perception on its trolley for home, a short walk up the hill, collected the car and returned to collect yours truly. Back up to home where we washed both kayaks and all gear of any salt water then placed mine back on Les’s car for the short journey to Calstock where we cross decked all of my equipment before heading into The Tamar Inn for a pint and a de-brief before we headed our separate ways home.

 

 

 

 

Mike collects his new Tarpon 120

It was Jackie’s original idea that on collection day from AS Watersports Exeter http://www.aswatersports.co.uk/ we would park at the swing-bridge at Countess Weir GR 940894 and tabb along the canal towards Exeter and the basin, collect the Sit-On-Tops, then canoe back the three miles to the car park, hoick ‘em out, lobb ‘em on the roof and drive home to Plymouth. Brilliant idea. I wish I had thought of that. However we didn’t factor in Jackie breaking her femur and needing a replacement hip! Neither, another significant point, did we think the manufacturer would be late in delivering Jackie’s special order mango coloured kayak!

Thus it turned out that Mike drove to Exeter canal basin on his lonesome, paid over more cash and then lashing the kayak to the roof-rack took away his Lime green kayak and paddle.

 

 

We order two Wilderness Systems Tarpon 120 sit on top Kayaks.

http://www.wildernesssystems.com/au/experience/videos/video/tarpon-series


Tim has always been good enough to let Jackie and I borrow his Klepper on numerous occasions.http://www.klepper.com/en/folding-kayaks.html

Whether it be on Lake Barcroft or at home in UK waters.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Barcroft,_Virginia 


Last summer the weather was not too good and despite the odd weather window and some great Kleppering the opportunities were few and far between.

A launch off Wembury beach showed both Jackie and I that we were getting no younger!! In fairness the Klepper is a weighty beast of a unit but as solid as a "Dreadnought".


Life with the Klepper was becoming a struggle, lifting in and out and carrying to the launch point. After much discussion we decided it was time to try something slightly lighter! We have therefore, after much investigating ordered two new Wilderness Systems Tarpon 120 sit on top Kayaks.

Where did that young man go?

Kleppering somewhere up Liverpool way in some race that I was foolish enough to volunteer to participate in.