Day 06

SUP worcester and on towards Bristol

The excitement of going through a lock on the paddleboard, we gave over our number and began descending, although only a few metres. It was a welcome change from the previous day’s rapids

Morning

After the marathon yesterday and 10 hours paddling, we were slow to get away; the morning frost had kept us tucked away in our sleeping bags till the sun had risen. The previous evening we had come to our first lock and had to take everything off and walk to the other side; we repeated the process in the morning only to find Paddleboards are allowed through.

We signed up for the Canal and rivers authority to ensure we didn’t have the time-consuming hassle of taking everything off our boards again.

Towards Worcester

Once again, we had another glorious day to paddle down the river. We picked at the plastic and rubbish on the trees, but there was only so much we could collect with the vast amount.

We stopped just before Worchester for lunch in a beautiful spot. Although the sun was shining, there was still a spring chill in the air.

Now we had the excitement of going through a lock on the paddleboard, we gave over our number and began descending, although only a few metres. It was a welcome change from the previous day’s rapids, and with the continuous locks, we knew the rapids were now behind us.

Worcester was awash with life, from swans, seagulls and ducks to the rowers outside the cathedral. We ducked between rowers and avoided the chaos of the animal feeding before continuing to the end of the city and onto another lock.

Evening

The continuous locks had slowed progress, but we knew we were close to Gloucester and the tidal part of the Severn.

We settled in for the night, watching the sun go down over a delicious supper. We knew tomorrow was going to be a long day, but as we retreated into our tents, would we make the sea by Wednesday and be able to see the Severn bore for the full moon?