Ducking under bridges and navigating right of way rules – our first time paddleboarding on a river delivered plenty of fresh challenges…
This was our first time stand up paddleboarding on a river, and from the off, it made for a refreshing new adventure.
Usually we take any chance we get to head to the coast, and in fact we weren’t far from Dorset’s lovely Jurassic coastline which has some great spots for paddleboarding. On this particular day, however, our live weather apps confirmed the forecast of strong offshore winds – which would have made for dangerous conditions with a high likelihood of getting blown out to sea, not a risk we would ever take, especially not when paddleboarding with the kids when safety is always the priority.
Instead, we opted for a different type of adventure, and headed to the cutesy Saxon town of Wareham, nestled between two rivers: the Piddle to the north, and the Frome to the south.
On the northern bank of the Frome is Wareham Quay, which hosts a busy market on Saturday mornings. We spent an hour or so casually wandering around and sampling the local fayre, before crossing the bridge to the opposite riverbank, which is a popular spot for picnicking, watching the world go by – and where it is possible to launch paddleboards.
Launching paddleboards on the River Frome
Launching our paddleboards on the river at Wareham did take a bit of forethought. Parking in the town was super busy and it was a good few minutes’ walk from the only spot we could find; a pay and display car park off Howard’s Lane – while there’s a four hour limit on parking there, the upside is that there were also public loos there. Hubby and I alternated on ferrying kit from the car and keeping the kids out of mischief, and it wasn’t too long we were soon set up and ready to go – just one more run back to the car with the empty board bags and surplus kit. We kept everything else to the bare minimum – wipes, sun cream, water, snacks and spare kids clothes – stashed in a dry bag inside a small rucksack, which Hubby was happy to carry.
Getting into the water also proved a little tricky, as we had to clamber while lifting boards and Boy Afloat over a sort of rocky embankment to reach the river – providing much amusement to onlookers as we did. But we were far from the only ones paddleboarding on the river at Wareham, it’s a popular people watching spot, so we weren’t alone in our antics!
The River Frome is tidal at Wareham and the tide was falling throughout our trip, so the river current was flowing towards the sea the whole time; if you’re planning a similar trip, you can check which way the current will be flowing using online tide tables.
We began by paddling downriver, ultimately headed towards Poole Harbour but knowing it was unlikely we’d make it that far on this first foray. Instead, we decided to see how far we could get before turning around, keeping in mind that paddling back the other way was not only against the current but also the wind. We knew that this would make paddleboarding a lot more difficult, so were cautious not to go too far. Nonetheless we were set for adventure!
New experience
Paddleboarding on the river was a strange experience at first. We found that the current sweeping us along meant we were gliding downriver at a fairly quick pace but putting barely any effort into paddling. Flat water meant very little motion through the board, and it was only by looking up at the riverbank that we could truly mark our speed – and get a sense of the distance we had already covered. It was a very different sensation you get when you are used to paddleboarding on a lake or even the sea.
The riverbank environs also made a refreshing change from the open expanse of sea or lake. Within a few minutes we had left the small town of Wareham and its buildings behind and found ourselves in a section of river that’s bordered by tall reeds on either side.
Moored boats, some of which are linked by lines running under the water split the river into two distinct ‘lanes’; the kids were fascinated by the different shapes and sizes, and waved with excitement when we happened to pass a boat with an owner on board.
A path runs along the south bank of the river at this point, and on occasion we could just see the heads of walkers through the tops of the reeds. A handful of other craft passed us in either direction; including little motorboats, canoes and paddleboards on hire from the local boat hire shop in Wareham.
We passed Redclyffe Yacht Club, nestled in apparent isolation among the reeds. Then around the next corner, the river suddenly opened out a little, making it more exposed and we found ourselves suddenly buffeted about, the gusts and current combining.
Suddenly we had to paddle super hard to keep the boards on course.
With a few little wavelets around we dropped to our knees to paddle. Paddleboarding on your knees is a super stable position, that’s not only great for beginner paddleboarders wanting to know the best paddleboarding technique for beginners, but also used by more experienced paddleboarders in tricky situations.
Rules of the river
Conscious that we were paddleboarding with young children and wanting to avoid making our trip too much hard work, we decided to turn back at this point. We had to paddle hard against the wind to get back across to the inside bend where we knew the current would be slightly less and where it was slightly sheltered from the breeze.
Once back in the relative shelter of the reeds and sticking to the shallower sides of the river to avoid as much of the adverse current as possible, we relaxed a little, and even let the kids have a paddle and swap boards as we worked our way back towards the little town.
We passed quite a few other small craft at this point, many of which were on hire from the shop in Wareham. We had to remember the basic river rules – giving way to boats coming downstream and sticking to the righthand side of the river so we passed other craft port to port (or left-hand-side to left-hand-side), which to me always requires me to think twice as we’re so used to keeping to the left when driving; I have to remind myself it’s more like being on the Tube!
Naturally, paddling into the current and the wind it took a little longer than on the way out, but we soon had Wareham back in our sights.
We had to keep our wits about us as this was a particularly busy stretch of river, with larger motor cruisers mooring on the town quay and adding to the multitude of small craft on this stretch, plenty of comings and goings from the boat hire shop.
Keeping an eye out for what might be coming up behind as well as in front became ever more important, and there were a few times when we slowed down to let another craft pass when we weren’t quite sure what their intentions were; after all, we weren’t in any hurry and didn’t want to risk any collisions!
Wildlife spotting
Determined not to end our adventure too soon, we kept paddling past our original launch point and under Wareham Bridge, the kids relishing the chance to yell “echo” as we went through, and Hubby carefully making sure to pass through the middle of the arch where he didn’t have to duck to fit his 6ft 3in frame to fit!
We spent a little while longer exploring beyond the bridge, where the river narrowed and changed in character once again; shorter sections of reeds were now interspersed with weeping willows, and we spotted plenty of wildfowl and even a family of swans.
There was plenty to delight the kids as we meandered our way upstream, until wary of the impending time limit on the car park we decided it was time to head back.
Turning back downriver and downwind, we cruised back to the launch spot, the river once again sweeping us serenely with it, leaving us to enjoy the ride.
Navigating back under the bridge we paddled over to the spot where we first launched, hoisting first the kids, then the boards, back up the rocky embankment and onto the grassed area.
As I hastily packed up our kit, Hubby hot-footed it back to the car, just before the time limit was up, happily finding a spot much closer to the river to move to making loading the car a lot easily than unloading had been!
By now the wind was really strong and we were so glad we’d chosen to adventure inland rather than on the coast. Time for ice cream and a spot of people watching on the quayside – and a well-earned relax after our first time paddleboarding on the river.
In all, we’d paddled just over 2 miles, taking 1 hour 20 mins to do so, and it had certainly shown us a different side of paddleboarding!
