There’s a lull between the storms, and for the first time in days it’s calm enough to take out my stand-up paddleboard. It’s 7.30am, and on this sheltered tidal creek on the River Dart, the water is barely moving: a gentle pulse in the scum line along the beach is the last gasp of the tide’s energy.
When I join the main course of the Dart, the water state changes. Here the river is thick with leaves and smashed twigs, and it’s moving with purpose. A day’s worth of Dartmoor rain is flowing downstream, encouraged by the tide, which has just begun to ebb. I shorten my stroke, working hard to maintain momentum. My aim is to paddle a couple more masochistic kilometres upriver, then turn and enjoy an effortless glide downstream.
I push on, bent double, lifting my paddle higher in between strokes to avoid the fluted waves. I straighten up for a breather and look behind me. Then freeze: just a few metres away there is a grey seal. It’s following me with casual ease, watching me with its deep, round, black eyes. It’s common to see seals on this stretch of the Dart, where they follow grey mullet shoals as far upstream as Totnes. But I’ve never come as close to one as this.
The seal is now less than a paddle‑length away. I want to retrieve the phone from my waistpack for a photo, but I can feel the tug of the current beneath my feet and decide not to risk it. So I try to mentally record the moment, noticing how the bristles of the animal’s whiskers make the smoothness of its back all the smoother, how its nostrils flare with each breath, how its back is patterned like the moon’s surface.
And just like that, the seal vanishes, in a movement so supple it seems almost not to have happened. It occurs to me that the seal could now be directly beneath me, puzzling up at my board through the soupy water. But I have more immediate concerns. The bow of the paddleboard is starting to swing round, the river is pushing me towards the sea. I dig the paddle in and press on upriver.
• Under the Changing Skies: The Best of the Guardian’s Country Diary, 2018-2024 is published by Guardian Faber; order at guardianbookshop.com and get a 15% discount
