WhatSUP with our Rivers?

As some of you may know, one of our very own team members carried out an impressive 10 day SUP trip in the summer of 2021.

Beckii got together with paddlers Harriet and Anneeka, and of course their dogs Ruby and Teifi, to take on the quest of a 160mile SUP trip starting from Bristol and travelling via rivers and canals, all the way to London.

Beckii has always loved the water and was originally a whitewater kayaker, taking this passion all over Europe and NZ before recently discovering the chilled side of SUPing. The dogs are the girls’ best friends so of course they had to join in on the challenge too. The idea of the trip first came from Anneeka who was looking for ways to promote the report on the State of Our Rivers, and what better way to do that than completing a paddling challenge that highlights the issues first hand.

The girls decided to take inflatable SUPs so they could deflate to wild camp through the nights when needed, and so they would be lighter to carry over the 106 locks along the way. (yep, you read that right. 106 locks.)

The Problem

The trip itself was supported by The Rivers Trust who really encourage getting your hands dirty to get the jobs done directly.

In the last Water Framework Directive target round before this trip, none of our rivers had achieved good water quality status. This could be down to the water quality, degraded habitat or in-stream barriers impacting fish passage. The project was a way to highlight the teams concern for the cleanliness of the rivers that they enjoy paddling or swimming in, as well as the impact it had on the wildlife in the waters. The trio believe it is important to engage and educate communities about the importance of the rivers because “why would you be interested in something you know nothing about?”

One thing The River’s Trust stands for is that people should be able to swim, paddle and play without worrying about the cleanliness of the water they are in. This is why they launched the ‘Together for Rivers’ campaign: a campaign hoping for assigned bathing waters to be introduced to certain rivers across the UK.

Combining the big adventure with The Rivers Trust’s Together for Rivers Campaign meant they were able to raise awareness whilst having fun along the way

Getting Results

Proteus Instruments joined the trip with a kayak equipped with a water quality probe underneath it. This was the latest high specification fluorometer measuring Biological Oxygen Demand (BOD – how much oxygen is needed to break down organic matter in the water which increases with water pollution.), as well as coliforms (indicators of sewage and agricultural pollution.) The probe provided GPS-stamped data for every 5 minutes for the trip, allowing for a more holistic reading of the pollution.

Throughout their journey, they would pick up on where the problem areas were through the readings rising, getting worse and worse.

Fun on the Water

The girls had to keep themselves entertained on their long journey so they came up with some creative ways of doing so; they would set challenges for themselves like getting a tow from a canal boat, going on a canal boat and getting a cup of tea from the boat (both of which they managed to do thanks to the kind locals!), and even just checking out at all the different boat names.

Thankfully, there was only a few mishaps. One involved losing a fin on a canal portage, causing one member to stand waist deep in the water in her pants feeling for the fin in the muddy water (which was recovered in the end!)

The dogs had waterproof beds on the boards to allow them for a comfortable and relaxed trip, and when they weren’t dozing off along the river, they would run along the tow paths beside them.

The girls were shown amounts of kindness from strangers all over. One couple offered them a bed for the night, another let them camp in their garden, and they even got given cups of tea when someone overheard what they were up to.

Some people even joined them on the first day of their trip, doing a litter pick along the way, before other friends joined them for some days in between. They had a brave woman named Julia join in for around 5 and a half days in her sea kayak – unfortunately for her it happened to be the part of the trip wit the most amount of locks to portage.

It surprised them to experience just how unfriendly locks were for SUPs, with many lock keepers allowing kayaks through but forcing SUPers to find their way out and around.

Friend, Ali, also joined the girls for part of the trip in his kayak too, helping them with some of the portages, which they were all hugely grateful for with being so tired.

However, their final day was spent as just the original 3 with no extra team members; a nice way for them to complete the challenge, they way they had planned it.

(The group caught in the act on google maps!)

An Important Message

It is important that you report anything suspicious you see in the water so that it can be recorded and investigated, helping to see the scale of the issues that the rivers are facing whilst helping to highlight to the EA/NRW/SEPA any ongoing problems.

But how else can you help? With 63 member Rivers Trusts in the UK and Ireland, covering a variety of counties, there are plenty of tasks that value volunteer help in. Rest assure you will end the day feeling tired but accomplished. Rivers Trust undertakes weir removals, tree planting, work with farmers to improve land management, in stream habitat improvements and so much more.  

You can find your local Rivers Trust here: https://www.theriverstrust.org/about-us/member-trusts

A Message from the Team

We would like to say a big thank you to everyone who supported us along the way, from our sponsors; The Rivers Trust, NRS, Escape Watersports, Proteus Equipment, to strangers who gave us words of encouragement and kind gestures along the way. Not forgetting the wonderful people who joined us for legs of the trip and provided us with fantastic company and entertainment - we couldn’t have done it without you all.