Sunday Safari run by Phil Crist
Attended by John Lloyd and Jemma Springle
Starting at Port Meadow Car Park – OX2 8PG or or what-3-words ///ranges.hardly.adding
A very picturesque starting point with free parking, but arrive early as it gets packed – we jumped on the Wolvercote Mill Stream at 8am where the anglers were also out early but plenty of stream width avoids any conflict.
It can be quite shallow so watch your fin, and there was a bit of avoiding the weeds but nothing drastic.
We did a sharp right onto the Thames and poodled up the river at quite a leisurely pace – a very relaxing country paddle – not too much to see with respect to boats, boat houses or wildlife, but certainly a nice leisurely paddle. Two simple portages at Godstow Lock and Kings Lock.
We decided to try out each others boards being that we had a 10’8 round nose, a 12ft bluefin, and a 14ft Starboard tourer. So we had a bit of fun jumping between the boards on the river. The 14ft’er obviously won!
On the return we took a left detour clockwise around the other end of Wolvercote Mill Stream – this changed the scene a bit – ducking branches, squeezing through the reeds, and carrying the boards over some very shallow areas, and eventually back to Port Meadow on the other side to the bridge where by this time a few hours later the car park was full, the picnics were out and the kids, paddle boards and kayaks were filling the stream .
A grand day out, with plenty of chat – luckily the blazing sun came out just as we finished – partly because i’d forgotten my sunglasses!
