Our small band of four plus my dog, with Graham paddling an open solo, myself, Terry and Kayto in another and Jon in his faithful  Pyranha, set off from Sudbury early Saturday morning with the sun on our faces.

The first stretch of the river was very pretty and well maintained.  After stopping for lunch at Bures , we set off for Wissington where we intended to stay the night. The campsite was lovely and there were lots of other boaters eager to swap notes.

A nice early start on Sunday led to another beautiful day.  The river was less navigable along this stretch, with some very narrow bits between reed beds and shallow stretches where we had to jump out and pull the boat across the gravel, all adding to the fun!

After a lunch stop at a very nice pub, we took on the final stretch of our trip passing through real Constable country. Dedham proved to be a huge test for our navigational skills, where we were confronted by a large herd of hired rowing boats!  After six hours paddling we arrived at our destination, shattered but happy, with a great sense of achievement when we touched that sea wall.

I would definitely do it again. But not sure I’d want to do it with another 300+ boats!  Thanks Jon for taking the lead and thanks to his wife Jane for shuttling us to our cars.

Chris