I thought I'd posted this here already, I obviously hadn't!
Anyway;
20th of May, a Thursday morning, saw me and my mate, all packed up and off to the Lake District for the day.
In the past, we would have been headed for the hills, usually the bigger the better, and intent on covering as much ground as possible.
Today however; we were set on doing some paddling on Ullswater in my new SP3
I'd packed most of the kit the night before, so it was just a case of strapping the boat to the car and getting away.
I'd already decided not to faff about, looking for a free parking place along the NW shore and had made enquiries at Park Foot campsite, about parking and launching.
They charge £4.50 a day for reasonably secure(ish) parking and easy water access, a snip really.
We were on the water for about 9.40, under grey skies but with a hint of blue from time to time and the temperature 'just nice'.
The lake itself, looked quite serene, barely a ripple in places and pretty much flat otherwise, except for the wake from the ferries.( of which, a little more later!)
We set off and as my shipmate is not a regular paddler, we wandered about a bit till we were "comfy".
A better "sotp" picture than I've managed before
We paddled across, then began making our way down the way, about 30-40m out. Cars and assorted other traffic, passing on the road nearby.
We soon tired of the road noise and made our way further out.
The scenery was something else and the conditions almost ideal
There were hardly any other craft on the water, apart from these;
Which provided some interesting up and down moments throughout the day
The paddling was easy and at times; quite fast too, reaching 9.2km/hr ( for about 5 mins) according to the garmin.
There was a fair bit to look at, with some curious garden furniture in places;
We passed the Outward Bound centre, my mate recalling having stood on the jetty, many moons ago, for a school group photo
We decided to carry on down to Silver Bay, collecting a couple of handfuls of dead twigs on the way, to fuel the Kelly when we got there.
It was a little odd at times, to be talking to people walking above us on the lakeside path.
Silver Bay beckoned and the wind picked up a touch but as we got closer, the bay itself was flat calm and the temperature seemed to rise significantly.
Then we were there, a couple in an inflatable, were having a picnic, so we pulled in on the left end of the bay and I got the Kelly going;
One fill was enough to do two, dehydrated, pasta siscilliana's ( 30p each at "Barry's Bargains", Consett) and two cups of coffee.
We rested and chatted for an hour and a half or so, then decided it was time to get moving.
Silver Bay was incredibly tranquil, apart from when the couple set off in their little inflatable.
We went down to the second island after Silver Bay, then, deciding enough was enough, we turned tail. I was about to try my home made sail ( not the one Blutack made me, I've not got a pole yet) when the wind dropped off! It was so calm, we were actually easily gaining on a yacht, that had set sail as we turned earlier but was now, more or less, becalmed
We had a bit more fun with the ferries wakes on the way back, as well as passing numerous groups of kids out in canoes, (presumably as an afternoon activity to knacker them out for the evening) We were both quite tired by half way back but we had been regularly changing sides as we paddled, so at least were equally battered on both sides
By the time we stumbled out onto dry land again, we had covered 22.4km with an average speed of 5.5kmh. ( according to the gizmo) we'd been out about 7 hours or so and were both ready for home.
I expected to be stiff and sore the next day but I was fine.
A really good trip; very relaxing and a very good workout too.
thanks for looking
atb
R.B.
Anyway;
20th of May, a Thursday morning, saw me and my mate, all packed up and off to the Lake District for the day.
In the past, we would have been headed for the hills, usually the bigger the better, and intent on covering as much ground as possible.
Today however; we were set on doing some paddling on Ullswater in my new SP3
I'd packed most of the kit the night before, so it was just a case of strapping the boat to the car and getting away.
I'd already decided not to faff about, looking for a free parking place along the NW shore and had made enquiries at Park Foot campsite, about parking and launching.
They charge £4.50 a day for reasonably secure(ish) parking and easy water access, a snip really.
We were on the water for about 9.40, under grey skies but with a hint of blue from time to time and the temperature 'just nice'.
The lake itself, looked quite serene, barely a ripple in places and pretty much flat otherwise, except for the wake from the ferries.( of which, a little more later!)
We set off and as my shipmate is not a regular paddler, we wandered about a bit till we were "comfy".
A better "sotp" picture than I've managed before
We paddled across, then began making our way down the way, about 30-40m out. Cars and assorted other traffic, passing on the road nearby.
We soon tired of the road noise and made our way further out.
The scenery was something else and the conditions almost ideal
There were hardly any other craft on the water, apart from these;
Which provided some interesting up and down moments throughout the day
The paddling was easy and at times; quite fast too, reaching 9.2km/hr ( for about 5 mins) according to the garmin.
There was a fair bit to look at, with some curious garden furniture in places;
We passed the Outward Bound centre, my mate recalling having stood on the jetty, many moons ago, for a school group photo
We decided to carry on down to Silver Bay, collecting a couple of handfuls of dead twigs on the way, to fuel the Kelly when we got there.
It was a little odd at times, to be talking to people walking above us on the lakeside path.
Silver Bay beckoned and the wind picked up a touch but as we got closer, the bay itself was flat calm and the temperature seemed to rise significantly.
Then we were there, a couple in an inflatable, were having a picnic, so we pulled in on the left end of the bay and I got the Kelly going;
One fill was enough to do two, dehydrated, pasta siscilliana's ( 30p each at "Barry's Bargains", Consett) and two cups of coffee.
We rested and chatted for an hour and a half or so, then decided it was time to get moving.
Silver Bay was incredibly tranquil, apart from when the couple set off in their little inflatable.
We went down to the second island after Silver Bay, then, deciding enough was enough, we turned tail. I was about to try my home made sail ( not the one Blutack made me, I've not got a pole yet) when the wind dropped off! It was so calm, we were actually easily gaining on a yacht, that had set sail as we turned earlier but was now, more or less, becalmed
We had a bit more fun with the ferries wakes on the way back, as well as passing numerous groups of kids out in canoes, (presumably as an afternoon activity to knacker them out for the evening) We were both quite tired by half way back but we had been regularly changing sides as we paddled, so at least were equally battered on both sides
By the time we stumbled out onto dry land again, we had covered 22.4km with an average speed of 5.5kmh. ( according to the gizmo) we'd been out about 7 hours or so and were both ready for home.
I expected to be stiff and sore the next day but I was fine.
A really good trip; very relaxing and a very good workout too.
thanks for looking
atb
R.B.
