The pirates have been anticipating the trip to Bavaria for months since the idea was first banded around at the end of the white water season last year. Some where nervous, some were excited and some just went for the ride.

We had two cars, 8 men, 8 boats and bags of kit. Friday afternoon at work couldn’t finish quick enough. A race home and throw the boat on Soggys car and then race to pick up others en route then brought all the planning together and within a few hours we were off.

The trip to Dover was typical with a few slow stints, fast food on the way and then a 5 minute wait at Dover. Not because the Dover port authorities are efficient but because we only just got there.

The crossing was uneventful and consisted of food and coffee as it was 1 o’clock in the morning. The idea was to drive until we got there. With multiple drivers it wasn’t as bad a trip as one might have expected. The route took us through France Belgium and into Germany. We wernt the quickest down the autobahn but we tried. We had a bit of cross country travelling to avoid the traffic as the Dutch school holidays had started the day before so there were plenty of clog wearing caravaners on the German roads.

As we approached southern Germany the Alps came into view. They are quite big if you weren’t aware. Some snaking through valleys brought us to Immenstadt, where our hotel, Hotel Schiff, was for the first few nights. The hotel was seen and equipment ditched as we headed for a session on the lake Alpsee. We had to get wet as it was what we were there for. Some rolling and general messing around showed we were in for a fun packed week. We had lots of pictures but Mark lost his camera so you will have to trust what I tell you.

We finished a long day in the restaurant at the hotel with steak, schnitzel and beer. The only bit about this was the bad calculation by a member of the crew which made the waitress blush and we thought she was mad. She wasn’t mad but about 30 euros richer as we miscalculated the bill.

A few beers in the local pub finished off a long and tiring day.

Day one on the water. The river was the Iller (see map for location.) After a good breakfast and about an hour sorting kit, loading trailer we set off for a local river which was about 20-30 minutes drive away. We checked out the get out point and then drove up to the get in. We did the shuttle runs for getting cars in the right places and then the guys dropped onto the water and did the first run of the summer for most of us. A small drop and a hole. A nice gentle hole to play in and get used to the speed of the water etc.

Some practice rolls were done in the fast moving water to get the experience and also to build the confidence as the majority of us were novice on rivers. We spent a good hour playing and trying each others boats. BOT and Scratch decided to try the water with out the use of the boats which ended up in a little scuffle and a push. BOT got wet and then Scratch followed.
As we moved a little further down stream we looked round to see BOT take the first swim. However you look at it this was the first swim of the trip. FACT. Even though he ended up with no spray deck as his boat slid him into the river and he managed to hold it in the hole, again with no spray deck doesn’t matter. BOT was the first swimmer. This was a comfort for all us that were expecting to swim as soon as we hit the water.

A few small rapids and some shallow water brought us to a multiple drop and a tree that had been washed down the river. We managed to rack up three of us pinned on a rock as we didn’t keep the distance and didn’t have time to react. A little juggling and a push from the Cabin boy who was quick to respond as per usual sorted the situation.

Lesson number one. Keep good but sensible distance so you can react to a given scenario with out rushing. i.e. get out of the main stream of the disaster that is taking place.

We managed to all get sorted and move on down the river. While at this point though a couple of German paddlers wanted to join in the trip down the river. Of course being social animals as we all are we said of course. They caught us up a little further down stream once they had got changed.

The scenery was fantastic and the weather was holding up to a pleasant 20 degrees if not warmer. I didn’t take a weather station so can give you precise temperatures.

The Iller as with most rivers has had a few turbulent years with extreme high waters. The debris and the damage down the river shows what a dangerous place fast flowing water is. We did have pictures but they are on Marks camera and he kindly gave it up to a German we suspect. At what point we don’t know.

The Iller was chosen as it was a good starter river for the group. We could play and there were any major obstacles to over come. We had a few drops but nothing worse than the Loop on the Dart in Devon. We had all done the Loop so were experienced enough to gradually move onto bigger and better things later in the week.

Some good waves albeit small and some small drops provided entertainment for the day. We cam across a drop with an unusual kick in it. Wits were needed to get round the drop and all ran through it. Only the odd one decided to look at the bottom from the outside of there boat.

The run down to Fischen was mellow with some gravel scrapes and a few rapids until we reached the get out point a good few hours later. We got the boats loaded and then went to the lake Alpsee for some food and a play on the lake.

A point to be made here. When in a foreign land and you don’t know the lingo try English. This will stop you just eating chips. A few of the early arrivals at the café enjoyed chips as they couldn’t communicate with the lady at the café. Then the majority turned up and had curried sausage, Schnitzel and cakes. Along with various other delights. And why Cos we pointed and grunted what we wanted. Everyone understands the great sign language of pointing and grunting.

 A few beers were consumed in the hotel that evening and many wrongs of the world debated and put right.

The next day, Monday, saw the sun shining and a return to do the Iller again. This time we were pushing the play spots and tested out what we could do. Many rolls were done in anger as we attacked every play spot looking for those elusive routes through that challenge everyone’s skills. We were accompanied by Paul Boag of K4U of Bavaria. Paul is a coach who takes many outdoor pursuits in the mountains and down the rivers. A wealth of experience and guidance was gleaned from Paul who knows these rivers like the back of his hands. He guided us down the Iller pointing at things that we had glided past the day before or missed as we were moving too fast to play on. He managed to position himself for some excellent photos of which can be seen on the web site.

We spent just short of two hours on the first drop alone. Boats were swapped to gain as much experience in as many situations as possible. We were also treated to a display of play boating from the BOT in an Inazone 242. Try standing one of those on its end. We had the group photo which shows the scenery and camaraderie of the trip.

None of the drops were challenging for any of us as we had been on the water for nearly two days now. We were looking for more. We got to the spot that we had stopped to play on yesterday.

This spot was interesting as it intimidated us the day before. The level had dropped slightly and gave a different set of obstacles to contend with. This area was run several times taking a more adventurous route to show how to handle different water features. As always all learned and all experienced some valuable lessons here.

The run to the get out was one of messing around and laughter. We all got changed and went back to the Lodge. Old acquaintances were met of the Cabin Boy who treated us to a damn good feed. A mountain of food was consumed  and some beers downed as the evening rolled on. The website was also updated to keep the guys and girls who regretfully missed the trip, up to date on the goings on. We had moved from the Hotel Schiff to Robbies Mountain Lodge. Robbies Lodge was a simple place with beer and beds. A bathroom for all to share which just meant we got smelly. Robbie runs trips in summer kayaking and in winter the usual winter sports that area provides. A fantastic place to visit and also half way up a mountain high above the lake Alpsee.

The next morning was an early start as we had to cross the boarder into Austria. We were heading for the Lech Vally and the river Lech. We stopped for breakfast and consumed a typical breakfast of filled rolls and pastries. We then traveled up some fantastic mountains into Austria. There the petrol is cheaper so cars were filled up. We stopped at the supermarket for rations for the day and met the Germans whom we had paddled with on the first day on the Iller. They having one car were a bit stuck for shuttle runs etc so they joined us to do a marathon 25 kms down river. The river was long but more lessons were learnt. The art of reading rivers and leading was taught to all so we all had experienced in calling the shots. Developing the group is seen as important so we can all get on the rivers were ever we are and be confident in leading, reading and being safe. Lots of eddies were broken into and broken out of. The river had changed over the past few weeks as they had major floods in the area. We needed to get this river done as the water level was dropping. We again had Paul Boag with us. We had some good lessons here. We did some throw bag work and pull swimmers and also face down rescues using a fellow paddler attached to the throw line. A full team exercise of rescuing a paddler face down and equipment was then carried out. All the things that are good to carry out in a controlled environment ready for that uncontrolled environment when the skills count.

The day was long and we still had a 2 hour drive back to the lodge. We changed and ended up back in the Schiff for a good feed but not such a large tip for the waitress.

Wednesday saw a trip back into Austria for the river Inn. The Inn is a large volume fast flowing river popular with rafting companies and kayakers. It has some major stoppers and features that would test all our skills. It also has some long swims if your not careful.

We had another trip over which was quite a drive but we stopped for a group photo to mark the occasion.

The scenery and the drive were great. Breakfast and provisions were bought from the same supermarket as before. Lots of energy drinks and chocolate were consumed before we moved off into the valleys and through the tunnels to get to the get in point. Usual car shuffling was carried out that seemed to take forever as we went through a tunnel we weren’t meant to. We were soon back at the get in. All the rafts had set off so not much chance of being run over by a big red bus for a while.

We started with a ferry glide into the large volume. All the lessons learnt from the previous rivers were to be put into action here. The first hole was quite big but not as big as what was to come. The wave trains on this river were approx 3-4 ft in the dips meaning you lost sight of the guy in front of you. They were also long and bouncy and for the shorter boats it was a problem. This was the biggest volume the majority of us had ever experienced.

We had two swimmers on the first really big wave train. One was from one of the most experienced paddlers who had a Bliss Stick Scud. The boat although proved its worth on many rivers was too short for the waves vertical faces and he ended up going upside down but front over back.

We did end up with Soggy hitching a ride from the rafters going down the river. I didn’t expect them to stop and pluck him up out of the water but it did save the rescue attempts that were possibly needed. We all composed ourselves and carried on down the wave trains and through the river to various joins from other smaller rivers and some good holes. The pour overs were well hidden but we had a good river leader who guided us over. We had lunch and had some interesting rides over wave trains and through some holes and then we came to Meminham. The biggest stopper any of us had seen before.

As you can see from the pictures even the rafters look quite small in this beast. The majority of the team ran Meminham and some of the team wanting to stop and try play in it. We were how ever short on time so needed to push along.

One of the most bizarre events of the trips was an inflatable with 2 Austrians enjoying the river. Crazy but true. These Austrians are a breed to themselves. Its crazy but they made it down the river with a half inflated blow up lilo from Aldi. Who says you need expensive kit to enjoy the rivers.

We had another few miles to get down stream and more wave trains with some interesting whirl pools which took two people and extracted them from there boats. It’s the most volatile flat water we had seen on the trip. Made it interesting though. All the work we had done on safety boats and team work went well.

The get out was a sandy bank with steps wide enough to get rafts up so no climbing through bushes here.

The last day was a toss up between a grade 4+ to finish the week off and a gentle trip down the lower Iller. The Iller was the winning as many were getting paddle fatigue. The trip would start at the get out point we had earlier in the week. The waters were dropping as there had been no rain for a few weeks. We were lucky to have caught the rivers when we did. We stayed at one point on the river which had narrowed to cause a major rush of water and we were trying to hit an impossible eddy. No One got to it but it was fun trying to pick your way through fast turbulent water to try hit it. We did some rolling in fast water to get the guys used to it. All did goods rolls and some to the left and some to the right.

The final hole of the trip was small but feisty. Small as it was everyone had a crack at getting in it and trying to hold there position. You could really tell the difference from the first day on the river on the Sunday. No one was hesitating and everyone was pushing them selves that bit harder.

The rest of the river was a gentle scrape to the get out point where even in Germany were were frowned upon by a fisherman. Weird Bunch.

We finished the day off with a trip to the lake to do some Star tests and general prat around. The boats were packed and on the cars and all kit stowed ready for the trip back to blighty.

We had a dinner date at a traditional Bavarian Restaurant recommended by Paul Boag of K4U. Paul had provided some excellent guidance and coaching throughout the week. We also hired a trailer from Paul for when we were out there to ease the transportation of the boats. It proved invaluable as it was easy to load and unload. We could also unhitch and have the use of the cars if needed. Paul is available in the Summer months for coaching and as a river guide. He know the area well as he has lived there for 20 years. He can speak the lingo and negotiate his way into any sort of trouble you could ask for. Pauls website is http://www.k4u-bavaria.com/ .

The dinner was a fantastic way to finish the trip with plenty of beer and some great food. Well for most of us. BOTs dinner was returned as it was still breathing when it arrived at the table and BOT likes his food dead and cremated. The Deck Hand bought the local band some drinks and we couldn’t shake them off for the rest of the night. Many German folk songs were forced upon us but you have to smile as it was an enjoyable evening.

Then the rains came. It ahs to be one of the biggest storms any of us had seen in a long time. Thunder and lightening in the Alps is something to be seen. The rains made up for all the missing rain from previous weeks. The rivers rose and the roads were flooded in places.

On the journey back we went over a bridge on the Iller and it was a good metre higher than the day before. We were tempted……. But the ferry waits for no one.

The trip back was uneventful to say the least. We were all on a high from the rivers, the company and the memories will stay with us for a long time to come.