Harefield (26 April 2008) |
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We went to Harefield on the first really warm Saturday of April. It is a small basin on the Grand Union Canal, near the charming Coy Carp pub where we parked, which makes excellent food and drink. Two fast sluices enter a rectangular enclosure at the top making a series of waves and tiny miniature stoppers / boils between two long eddies, one of which recirculates gently against the right wall. The sluice jets are fast and players don't seem to last long there, although the wave can be surfed if approached with determination (mind your head, the arch is low). Helmets are also a good idea to avoid being clouted by slalom poles. Multiple users should be able to manoeuvre well in the current to avoid taking out their friends sitting in the stoppers lower down. The best parts, for me, were visiting a little stopper which could be approached from the recirculating eddy or from below by hopping from boil to boil. This mini stopper catches your boat just after you break in and coyly juggles your edges as you sit in it sideways. Also ferry gliding and breaking in forwards and backwards, and going round and round, trying to go through the slalom poles sideways or backwards. The central flow is fast and helps you to sort out your edges by dumping you over if you mix them up. The foot of the flow is gentle, nice for rolling, and the canal is placid, clean and scenic with lots of swans, ducks and barge dwellers to talk to.
The first victim of the day was our `instructor', who was `squirted out' upside down into the recirculating eddy. The boat stayed at the top of the eddy where there is a small paddle snatching undercut and the eddy claimed both boat and paddle. Our swimmer was in no danger though, just a bit surprised. The ensuing boat-based rescue was tricky as although the boat was easy to reach, it was difficult to push it either down or out of the eddy. We did get it out without needing to tow it, but it took quite a few attempts. The opposite eddy is mostly calm and shallow. At the foot of the flow, a tail of current goes under the bridge (river left) and stray paddles / boats inevitably head this way towards parked barges around the corner. We were a bit worried about them getting stuck and chased them enthusiastically. It is also really nice to have someone watching at the bottom for oncoming barges as you can't see them from the basin. A few other paddlers came and went, but we had the basin to ourselves when we were on the water.
Some pictures
