Canoe Trail 2018

During Easter break of 2018, RYC took an adventure camp in the form of an overnight canoeing and camping trip in Bedfordshire.  Seven RYC members and leaders braved the flooded Great River Ouse.  Our theme for the event was "I Can!" based on Philippians 4:13, which says, "I can do all things through him who gives me strength." 

We'd been having heavy rains for a number of weeks, which made the normally gentle flowing Ouse truly live up to its name.  In fact, day 2 of this trip is normally spent paddling back up river to where you started, but in the rigorous floodwaters, that was impossible!

The pictures above shows how badly flooded the area was.  This is normally dry ground.  The planks were laid down as a makeshift bridge so we could carry our camping kit to our campsite.

After the first day of canoeing, we were given the immensely difficult task of lighting the camp fire, which would serve as our cooking stove, as well as keeping us warm.  First step: find some dry wood!  Luckily our campsite was high enough that we found dry patches to pitch our tents.  And if you knew where to look, you could find dry wood for the fire.  To make the challenge even more difficult, Canoe Trail director Rich supplied us with only crude materials for lighting the fire.  No matches or lighters.  We were given dry bits of tinder to whittle down, steel & flint, and a little bit of hand sanitiser as an accelerant.  It took about an hour, but we finally got the fire going!

Did these two take a wrong turn?

Our camp photographer had to get at least one shot of himself, right?

"My favourite part was on the first day.  We had a race in joined canoes against the other team.  We tried to race upstream to a bridge we had just paddled past.  Neither of the teams made it, but it was a fun team-bonding exercise that brought us all together and built a strong foundation for the rest of the trip!"

--Will

All in all, it was a great trip.  Around the campfire, we reflected on our theme verse.  Asking God for help, using teamwork, keeping a positive attitude--these were all helpful in meeting the challenges of the weekend.

RYC does events like this and others from time to time.  Get in touch if you want to know more!

Special thanks to Rosie for helping with transportation and catering, to Chris for the photography, and to Reece and Jon for coming along as leaders.