Morning

The following day we were up early with last nights frost still laying bare on the grass, the morning sun shone through the trees on the bank, and we set off to try and make up ground from the past few days. We put in the miles before lunch through the stunning Shropshire countryside.

Again with the low water level, we were getting stuck, and our pace was again slow.

It is incredible that the second you underestimate the water, it has a habitat of teaching you a lesson. In Ironbridge, just after passing under the bridge, we came across some rapids.

Past experience in Shrewsbury said this was nothing, so I didn’t bother attaching a few items to the board as I felt we would sail through but going through the boards bounced left to right and just when I thought I was done, checking that everything was still in the order I hit a rock head-on and was thrown from my board.

The board wedged itself began to tip, fearful of some of the contents coming away from my board; while I lost a few items just before it tipped over, I managed to release the board and drift downriver with it before making my way to the bank.