I woke the laddie at 5.45 yesterday morning, sorted out the boat and strapped it to the car. It was pretty cold, windy and a bit miserable and I was trusting the sooth sayers from the Met Office's word that all would be dandy in the west!
Away by 6.45, we made good time for once, not getting stuck behind any lorries or tractors etc. stopping for fuel on the way, we arrived by 8.45.
I had decided to give the southern end of the lake a go this time, as last time out, me and my mate Davy, had paddled all the way from the top to the bottom and then back again, with little or no time for exploration.
I checked out the Stybarrow layby but decided to stump up the £5.40 for the NT car park up the road instead.
I was amazed at how quiet it was. There was only one other car parked and the weather was rapidly picking up nicely.
It's a fairly straight forward put in, although you need to watch for t:togo:t heads in 4x4 Volvo's, doing well over the odds, as you cross the road with your boat:yikes:
It really was building into a lovely day.
We paddled across toward Silver Bay, with a stiff breeze chopping the water and presenting us with some interesting twists and turns.
It might not look it but the wind really was chopping the lake at times. The camera was put safely away in a dry bag, so I didn't get any pictures of the small group of open boaters who appeared from the south, as we came back across.
We greeted a few of them and actually tagged along for a mile or so up the lake, till they headed for the beach and we carried on, a few hundred yards further up, then decided to brew up.
Anyway, I got the Kelly going and Tom wandered off to take a few photo's of his own, for an art project. After a good cup of coffee and a couple of sandwiches, I decided to have a little bit of solo practice and Tom took a few pictures with my camera.
I keep going on about how pleased I am with the SP3 but It doesn't just look right, it paddles right as well.
You really can do stuff with this boat, that I wouldn't dream of trying in the Disco 158.
For example:
The idea of standing up is( I believe) to allow you to assess water features more easily without having to pull the boat out of the water, particularly on rivers, but you have to start somewhere
I got the hang of the stand up thing quite nicely, I think a longer paddle would be good for this Malarkey though ( Blxxdy kids and cameras!)
[video=youtube;jTx9Yjh4fTg]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jTx9Yjh4fTg[/video]
The music is just stock fodder from youtube, the alternative is wind noise and lens cover clattering
Tom seemed quite happy in the knowledge that if I tipped in, He would be due a cut of the "YBF" £250!
Anyway,we repacked the boat after 30 mins or so, of pottering about in the bay and set off up the lake once more. Again it got a bit rough and we decided to turn south. We got down towards Glenridding then turned back again. The wind was well up now and it was actually quite rough.
The boat rode it well enough but we were both knackered by the time we got back up to the put in.
We unpacked the boat, and loaded the surplus kit into the car then had a bit more tootle about for an hour or so, then got the boat onto the car.
As we were getting ready to leave, I spotted this;
One of those canvas on alloy tube, frame jobbies. It seemed to paddle quite well, though the "Dreadnought" looks, left a bit to be desired to be honest
The lake was alive with open boats today, at least compared to last time, great to see
Then it was time to return home and look forward to the next episode
thanks for looking and if you're after a poly boat; get the SP3
cheers
R.B.
Away by 6.45, we made good time for once, not getting stuck behind any lorries or tractors etc. stopping for fuel on the way, we arrived by 8.45.
I had decided to give the southern end of the lake a go this time, as last time out, me and my mate Davy, had paddled all the way from the top to the bottom and then back again, with little or no time for exploration.
I checked out the Stybarrow layby but decided to stump up the £5.40 for the NT car park up the road instead.
I was amazed at how quiet it was. There was only one other car parked and the weather was rapidly picking up nicely.
It's a fairly straight forward put in, although you need to watch for t:togo:t heads in 4x4 Volvo's, doing well over the odds, as you cross the road with your boat:yikes:
It really was building into a lovely day.
We paddled across toward Silver Bay, with a stiff breeze chopping the water and presenting us with some interesting twists and turns.
It might not look it but the wind really was chopping the lake at times. The camera was put safely away in a dry bag, so I didn't get any pictures of the small group of open boaters who appeared from the south, as we came back across.
We greeted a few of them and actually tagged along for a mile or so up the lake, till they headed for the beach and we carried on, a few hundred yards further up, then decided to brew up.
Anyway, I got the Kelly going and Tom wandered off to take a few photo's of his own, for an art project. After a good cup of coffee and a couple of sandwiches, I decided to have a little bit of solo practice and Tom took a few pictures with my camera.
I keep going on about how pleased I am with the SP3 but It doesn't just look right, it paddles right as well.
You really can do stuff with this boat, that I wouldn't dream of trying in the Disco 158.
For example:
The idea of standing up is( I believe) to allow you to assess water features more easily without having to pull the boat out of the water, particularly on rivers, but you have to start somewhere
I got the hang of the stand up thing quite nicely, I think a longer paddle would be good for this Malarkey though ( Blxxdy kids and cameras!)
[video=youtube;jTx9Yjh4fTg]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jTx9Yjh4fTg[/video]
The music is just stock fodder from youtube, the alternative is wind noise and lens cover clattering
Tom seemed quite happy in the knowledge that if I tipped in, He would be due a cut of the "YBF" £250!
Anyway,we repacked the boat after 30 mins or so, of pottering about in the bay and set off up the lake once more. Again it got a bit rough and we decided to turn south. We got down towards Glenridding then turned back again. The wind was well up now and it was actually quite rough.
The boat rode it well enough but we were both knackered by the time we got back up to the put in.
We unpacked the boat, and loaded the surplus kit into the car then had a bit more tootle about for an hour or so, then got the boat onto the car.
As we were getting ready to leave, I spotted this;
One of those canvas on alloy tube, frame jobbies. It seemed to paddle quite well, though the "Dreadnought" looks, left a bit to be desired to be honest
The lake was alive with open boats today, at least compared to last time, great to see
Then it was time to return home and look forward to the next episode
thanks for looking and if you're after a poly boat; get the SP3
cheers
R.B.
