Week Three - White Water Rafting

As a toddler, my mum would have to bath me in the sink as I was too scared of water to be allowed into a big tub of it. This arrangement was fine for the both of us as mum would sometimes do the dishes at the same time and a saucepan made a great bath time toy for me!  With this in mind, imagine the fear in my mother’s voice when I rang her up to tell her my next talent try out.

White water rafting.

Now I only managed to get to level 4 in swimming at school, so it’s fair to say I was apprehensive about trying this one out, but with the right amount of peer pressure and a drunken agreement, I found myself at Nottingham’s water sport centre. Luckily, I had a group of my best friends with me, each of us with about as much experience of WWR as a group of monkeys. 

After a briefing that consisted of what to expect on the course (falling out a lot) and what to do when you fell out the raft (hold your breath), I was strapped up in more padding than the whole of the 90s.

With my tightly secured helmet giving me more chins than I deserved and my not so waterproof mascara applied, I was ready to go. There were 6 of us in our boat accompanied by a banter-full young instructor, as well as 5 or so other boats, all full of lads apparently on a stag do.

The first run or the 'dry run' as the pros called it, was quite a pleasant albeit damp experience. No special tricks or moves, just the rafting equivalent of a stroll in the park. 

The second run, however, was quite a different experience. My first overboard fall came after the dunking of my best friend (video at the bottom) and as much as I denied it, unfortunately there is video evidence of me dragging her out the raft with me. Oops. The current of the water meant that you often got sucked under the raft after falling, luckily this sounds scarier than it actually was.

By the third and final run, I basically gave up to staying in the raft. 

I'd say the most humiliating part was the bit were I had to be roped and dragged out of the water in front of boats full of guys, who weren't even trying to contain their laughter. 

Even though this course was man-made (I probably would have died doing a natural course) I didn't have high hopes for myself being any good at this. I did however make an excellent effort at looking like a twat and got royally caravanned later that night. 

Talent Rating – 3/10 Completely terrifying, but one of the best things I've ever done!

Top Tip: If you ever wonder where the attractive men in Nottingham go, apparently it's at the water sports centre.