It had been a while since Ian and I had ventured out in the canoe together, family commitments and the bustle of daily life had seen to that. So once we had finally secured a date in our diaries to ‘go out to play’ we wanted to make this one count. We had two nights and two days to push the boat out – well sail actually, and no plans to waste any of it.

We fancied the idea of going ‘down channel’ again but this time further down, to Brean Down, by Weston Super Mare and up the river Axe to Uphill. I’d been searching around using Google Earth for somewhere new to explore and stumbled across Uphill Boat Centre, tucked away up a small creek off the tidal river Axe. It had floating pontoons, hot showers and a small café, all nestling in a nature reserve alongside a salt water lake. Added to that it’s also only a short walk to two local pubs – perfect!

To get to Uphill in one day would mean having to use the tide of the Severn to it’s full advantage. From our point of departure to our destination we would have to cover 40 Miles before the tide turned. An all up round trip of 80 miles, of which 74 miles would be on the exposed Severn estuary and Bristol channel. In an open sailing canoe less that 16 feet in length, we would need the weather on our side and a back up plan in case it wasn’t.

Friday 23rd September

We drove to Purton on Friday afternoon. A convenient wooden landing stage on the canal side enabled us to load the boat whilst it was on the water. Bathed in sunshine I leisurely lashed on the outriggers and attached all the sailing gear whilst Ian loaded up the stores. Ian’s part of the bargain was that he’d supply us with food for the trip – a week long trip judging by the amount he brought, some of which we couldn’t fit into the canoe! It pained us both to leave some of our goodies in the van! – We needn’t have worried though as we still had plenty for the trip.

After leaving Purton we happily pottered along the canal in the last of the afternoon sun to Sharpness Dock where I’d booked a lock-out into the Severn. Unfortunately, when I booked I left it too late to contact the pier head for a Friday evening lock-out. That meant we had to start our trip later than planned and we wouldn’t be on the estuary until 6 am Saturday morning. Worse still, the harbour master wanted us into the lock at 3.30am so we’d be in ahead of a cargo ship, which was bound for Liverpool.

By about 6pm ‘Green Bean’ was moored up alongside the harbour master’s office. We then set off on foot the 2 miles to the nearest pub for a meal and a beer. What else could we do?

On our return to the Dock we strung up the boat tent over a rope, alongside a timber stack to make a sort of bivi. This way the boat’s contents wouldn’t have to re-arranged for sleeping and we could be ready to move when summoned at 3.30am! Both of us managed some sleep but woefully too little for what we were about to do in a few hours time.

Saturday 24th September

We awoke at 3 am and prepared to go into the lock. 3.30 sharp we were paddling our way and were instructed to tie up to the floating pontoon. This worked out very well in the end as we had a perfect platform on which to cook ourselves some breakfast and watch the goings on with the cargo ship ‘Kossau’. This ship was carrying a cargo of scrap metal and about to depart for Liverpool. I’m not sure what the crew must have thought as they waited there in the dark for their entry into the Severn estuary, looking down on two bleary eyed canoe sailors in a vessel that may as well be made of match sticks. I was really glad we were safely out of their way!

5.30am, half an hour before high tide ‘Kossau’ crept forward and lit up light in the dark like some huge floating building she carefully avoided the piers either side of the lock and slipped quietly out into the estuary and disappeared from our site.

Still in the empty lock waiting for high tide Ian and I packed away the various pieces of cooking equipment and prepared for our 6am departure. The wind was coming directly from the south so under sail we would have to cover more miles than just the 40 between our destination and us. We both agreed that with so many miles to cover before the tide would once again turn, we ought to start off under power, at least until we had passed Portishead. An assessment of progress at this point would determine whether or not we would continue with the outboard or under sail. With a plan made we left the lights of the dock behind and headed out into the Severn under the first hint of a grey sky as the dark slowly lost it’s hold over us. It turned out however that we would need to motor all the way, but at least I’d get to finish running in the engine.

The outboard, a newly acquired 4 stroke Suzuki 2.5 hp pushed us along effortlessly. I was very impressed at how quiet this little engine is. With the throttle set to no more than a quarter ‘Green Bean’ made good progress and conversation was easy with non of the noise problem associated with a 2 stroke engine. I had recently managed to make a wooden bracket to mount the outboard and this was secured to the canoe with lashings. It takes bit longer to attach than a bolt on bracket but I didn’t need to modify the canoe in any way and there was no risk of anything vibrating undone. Later in the trip we were able to calculate that as long as the canoe isn’t pushed too hard the outboard gives us a range of well over 50 miles on a gallon of fuel. That’s plenty to get out of trouble if the wind were ever to fail when out in the channel.

Only a few minutes after leaving Sharpness my faithful crew fell sound asleep, leaving me to worry about navigating us safely down river. It was at this point I realised what was missing from our kit – we had no thermos flask!. Thoughts of lighting up the gas stove rapidly started to spring to mind. One of the biggest pleasures when afloat on the Severn is keeping warm with a mug of steaming hot tea and on this dark grey cold morning I really needed one. Ian soon awoke (I reckon he heard my grumbling) and we discussed the feasibility of a brew on the move. We soon put the idea out of our minds as the river started to throw up quite a chop and therefore a high risk of spilling the boiling water.

Just before ‘Slime Road’ I took us ashore so we could put on more layers of clothing. We’d been covered in spray on the way down river and although still dry underneath we had started to get uncomfortably cool. Once layered up we headed down ‘Slime Road’ and for about a mile got caught up in some really rough water. A series of confused looking standing waves, many of which were breaking stood in our way. Ian commented that he was “bloody glad we’ve got he outriggers on” as the bow of the canoe became completely airborne. Time after time ‘Green Bean’ lifted to the waves and the crashed down again but never faltered for a moment. It was exciting stuff but we were both quite relieved once things had calmed down.

From the old Severn bridge onwards the journey was easier, maybe due to a hearty breakfast of samosas, flapjacks, Cheddar cheese and grapes. Eating always makes any boating trip more pleasurable and although we can not claim to be expert sailors the same cannot be said when it comes to eating – If it’s onboard, we’ll eat it (apart from Ian’s socks!).

Following a stop to refuel at Portishead slipway the journey to Brean Down was really interesting. First came Clevedon with it’s pier and it’s grand colourful houses looking out to the channel and then further on Langford Grounds where wrecked ships can be seen at low water. After Langford Grounds we rounded St. Thomas’s Head and Sand Point, staying well off shore as we made our way past Sand Bay.

When passing Sand Bay the water started to boil up in places. It was a really strange site to see little white horses suddenly appear from nowhere and then just as quick as they appeared they would vanish right in front of us. Again and again the water boiled up to a white foam, often whipped up further in the wind and the immediately died down again. As we ventured through this it became evident that the sandbanks were the cause of this display and for one brief moment the outboard threw up a cloud of sand in the water. Yes – it was definitely quite shallow.

Birnbeck Island is a funny looking site, jutting out from Anchor Head on the approach to Weston. Its a large outcrop of rock covered with a collection of derelict buildings and joined to the main land by a pier. We passed nearby by to get a closer look but had to exercise a little caution as the surface of the water showed tell tale signs of shallows and the risk of barely covered rock.

Finally we crossed Weston bay and made for shelter in the lee of Brean Down where we anchored to wait for the tide to turn. Once anchored tea was soon brewed, but as the two of us sat there sipping hot tea a small regular swell started rolling in and we bobbed up and down getting more and more sea sick. Not liking the motion at all we raised anchor and made our way towards the mouth of the river Axe for some calmer water.

A line of withies guided us into the Axe whilst port and starboard buoys kept us in the channel. The Axe is a quirky little river, it’s banks and bed made of deep estuarial mud and sculptured little inlets are home to a variety of birds. Boats of all types are kept here, some high up on the banks whilst others are moored afloat or sat cock eyed half up the bank and half in the water. All of them stained with mud from the Bristol Channel. We pushed on up the river with the incoming tide and took a left fork into a little creek that would take us to Uphill Boat Centre. It was a while until we got there because the water was still too low so we sat there gradually bumping our way along the muddy banks as the rising tide lifted us up and up and we drifted along the creek sipping more hot tea.

Finally arriving at Uphill we found a suitable pontoon and tied up alongside. We put up the boat tent and made everything ready for sleeping before a hot shower and a walk to a local pub. A couple of beers each and a hot meal left us both weary but happy, ready for some well earned sleep and another day afloat.

Sunday 25th September

At 5.50 am the alarm woke me. I’d not had a good nights sleep and I’d woken up many times during the night. Partly because one of the nearby cruisers contained some drink fuelled folk who chatted away loudly until 3am. It’s amazing how water carries sound so effectively in the dead of night. Ian, who had had a better night than me was soon up and out of the boat, packing away kit and brewing the tea for us.

Keeping a careful eye on the water level in the creek so that we didn’t get stranded where we were, both of us finished the final packing up and untied from the pontoon. The berth that we had chosen had dried out and the canoe had to be slid across the deep mud and back into the water. That done, wellies were washed off and ‘Green Bean’ drifted back down the creek and out into the Axe. The tide was still up and the Axe looked very different this morning, full of water and less mud to look at, but the sky was quite grey still and everything had the look of an old photograph.

Breakfast was the first priority and finding somewhere for a cook up wasn’t going to be easy. Having to leave Uphill on the falling tide, all around us the water was rapidly receding leaving exposed mud and rock with no obvious places to put ashore without being left stranded. We motored against the tide to clear Birnbeck Island and looked for a landing spot but there was nothing. Stuffing handfuls of cheese and grapes into our mouths we cut the engine and unfurled the sail, powering forward with the wind against the outgoing tide. It was a good wind on our stern making sailing a joy so a decision was made to keep going and survive on our snacks until we could find as suitable place to go ashore.

The sea off of Sand Point proved quite entertaining as a tidal race had developed. This wasn’t here the day before when we passed but today a series of powerful waves were before us. Despite the strong wind on the stern we didn’t know if we had enough power to make it through and I imagined us being washed out backwards at any moment. But to the amazement of both of us ‘Green Bean’ slowly but steadily moved forwards, riding the waves and keeping us safe. Ian did a great job at the helm and we sailed out the other side picking up a useful swell that seemed to come from nowhere.

The wind soon started to reduce in strength and for a short while almost disappeared and paddles were used to help make progress. Gradually as the wind came back again the rain began to fall and with myself back at the helm I sailed us ashore for a proper breakfast. What looked like a small sandy beach was in fact a small muddy beach, but both of us were hungry and we waded shin deep through the mud to get to the rocks behind. Shelter was made by placing a fishing umbrella against a wall of rock and warmth came from the gas stove as breakfast was made. It’s possible to endure the elements with a much more positive attitude when one has hot food and drink. Despite to rain, now that I had eaten properly I had to fight hard the urge to fall asleep.

Several times during the morning we had listened to a weather warning on the VHF radio. Further out in the Bristol Channel gale force 8 was imminent and in other parts of the Bristol Channel winds of up to force 7 were to be expected. So far on this trip we had not experienced any more than a force 4 but we were acutely aware that this may at anytime catch us up and we’d spent much of our time watching out for tell tail signs behind us. Luckily though, we hadn’t seen any sign of a gale yet. We hoped that if we kept up a good progress we might make it most of the way home before it got too exciting for comfort. As it happened, we were to experience a drop in wind as the trip progressed and at times it was to become a gentle force 3.

Later on another stop was made, this time on sand! Another brew up and some food set us up again and we set off once more, this time to take a close look at Denny Island. A lump of rock surrounded by sandbanks, Denny Island rises up out the estuary, resisting the forces of nature and the ceaseless hammering it gets from the second largest tidal range in the world. If the water had been lower allowing us to see the extent of the rock I would have run aground on the sands to explore the little island. But the rock met the water line and I wasn’t going to risk a hole in the canoe out here. We’ll go back in due course at a suitable water level.

Ian had to navigate us across the shallows. The water boiled up with the usual tell tale signs of shallows and sand banks and I raised the rudder and leeboard as we sailed in only a about a foot of water. It’s a strange experience to be in sight of the second Severn crossing, only a short distance from the main shipping lane and in less than knee deep of water. One small area of the shipping lane is never less than 30 metres deep which is a massive contrast to where we were sailing across the edge of Bedwin Sands. It’s no wonder that all commercial ships heading to Sharpness have to have a river pilot on board.

Today the ‘Shoots’ were kind to us with nothing to be concerned about. But even so the eddies just up river of the second Severn Crossing were present in their usual force. These eddies are very strong and on more than one occasion we have been spun around on the spot through 180 degrees even with the sail full of wind. There’s nothing inviting about this area of the river and it always looks very forbidding. But once past the mouth of the river Wye, the Severn regains its usual flow and once more we are speeding towards the old Severn Bridge.

The sail back towards Sharpness was relaxing and uneventful and we followed the right hand shore passing by Littleton Warth, Oldbury Pill and the tidal reservoir at Oldbury Power Station. Before arriving at Sharpness we sailed to Lydney Yacht Club, shooting past the end of Lydney Pier into the slack water behind. Here, on the slip the sail was furled, the boom tied to the outrigger poles and I radioed the Pier Head at Sharpness to request permission to enter the lock.

The tide was still in full flow as we motored across the river to Sharpness and the flow across the end of the piers was incredible. Ferrygliding across controlling the canoe with the throttle we made a neat entry directly behind the right hand pier and proceeded into the shelter of the lock.

After locking into the canal a brief stop was made for some hot soup before we headed back the last couple of miles to Purton where we had set out from.

Arriving at Purton in the fading evening light, at the end of an interesting couple of days both of us looked forward to some fish and chips and a proper night’s sleep.

Looking back on it we realised that we had taken a bit too much kit with us and we could slim this down quite a bit next time we go. We also discovered that the outboard motor need not detract from the sailing or paddling at all and is in fact is a helpful piece of kit on a trip like this offering a bit more scope to a really versatile little canoe. Most of all though we enjoyed our little exploration of the river Axe and Uphill Boat Centre and sailing all the way home again with the wind on the stern.

But next time – we’re going to land on Denny Island and maybe, if the weather is kind, who knows, we might visit Flat Holm too!