Outdoor Adventures with Ancient Brit
Canoe articles - Dordogne 2003 - Day 2: May 15th
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Thursday 15th May
I got away just after 8 am on a sunny morning. This section of the river is almost
visibly downhill with a good flow over a shallow gravely riverbed. In places I had to
take a lot of care not to get grounded as shallows crossed the river. Where the water
was deeper there was very little helpful flow. Shortly after La Cère there was only just
enough water to shoot another weir. I usually stand in the canoe as I approach these
old boulder weirs and can usually spot a weak spot with enough water to float the
canoe. This was certainly a weir that would have been easier with a higher flow of
water. As I approached Carennac I came across the last major obstacle on the river.
This was a large concrete weir. Since I was last there, they had blocked the passage I
usually took through the weir, but they had built a “canoe chute” instead. This was
already eroded at the bottom and I took in about an inch of water in pushing through
the stopper below the chute.
While I was having lunch a school group passed me canoeing down a section of
the river. In the middle of the summer there must be thousands of canoes on the
river, but at the moment the canoe hire firms were only just beginning to get
organised for the season. The school group were demonstrating just how difficult it is
to paddle a Canadian Canoe. They were colliding with each other, going backwards and
hitting the banks and getting caught up with the trees. After drawing clear of them I
was able to strip off in the warm sunshine. I passed a group of naturists sunbathing on
a sandbank; a sight that would be common later in the summer. In the afternoon I
passed the first of the limestone cliffs for which this section of the Dordogne is
famous. I was surprised to find an Osprey fishing as I would have expected migrating
Ospreys to be in Northern Europe by now.
I camped near Greysse at about 6.15 pm after 7 hours of paddling.
I got away just after 8 am on a sunny morning. This section of the river is almost
visibly downhill with a good flow over a shallow gravely riverbed. In places I had to
take a lot of care not to get grounded as shallows crossed the river. Where the water
was deeper there was very little helpful flow. Shortly after La Cère there was only just
enough water to shoot another weir. I usually stand in the canoe as I approach these
old boulder weirs and can usually spot a weak spot with enough water to float the
canoe. This was certainly a weir that would have been easier with a higher flow of
water. As I approached Carennac I came across the last major obstacle on the river.
This was a large concrete weir. Since I was last there, they had blocked the passage I
usually took through the weir, but they had built a “canoe chute” instead. This was
already eroded at the bottom and I took in about an inch of water in pushing through
the stopper below the chute.
While I was having lunch a school group passed me canoeing down a section of
the river. In the middle of the summer there must be thousands of canoes on the
river, but at the moment the canoe hire firms were only just beginning to get
organised for the season. The school group were demonstrating just how difficult it is
to paddle a Canadian Canoe. They were colliding with each other, going backwards and
hitting the banks and getting caught up with the trees. After drawing clear of them I
was able to strip off in the warm sunshine. I passed a group of naturists sunbathing on
a sandbank; a sight that would be common later in the summer. In the afternoon I
passed the first of the limestone cliffs for which this section of the Dordogne is
famous. I was surprised to find an Osprey fishing as I would have expected migrating
Ospreys to be in Northern Europe by now.
I camped near Greysse at about 6.15 pm after 7 hours of paddling.
Ancient Brit in camp