First paddle of the year

rancid badger

Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
I've not been out with my boat for about 5 months, so it was a real pleasure to finally get her back out yesterday.

I managed to get my elder brother to go along too, or it would have been virtually impossible for me to manhandle the boat on and off the car myself.

We parked at Glencoyne NT car park, a mile or two up from Glenridding on Ullswater, then crossed the road to put the boat in.
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it was looking a bit iffy, weather wise but un daunted, we were soon off and away, into the stiffening breeze.
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We stooged around the lake, getting back into the swing of things, ending up at Silver Bay on the eastern shore, where we stopped for a bite and a brew.
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Then I had a bit of a solo paddle for a few minutes.
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The weather began to pick up a bit and it actually got out quite nice for a while.
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I often bleat on about how good this boat is but as far as plastic (polythene) boats go, you simply will not get, a better boat, at any price.

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Put her on edge and she zips along, and handles like a feather on the water.
ONLY drawback? The same as any polythene boat: the weight! 38kg's + but as I say, if you can't afford a Royalex boat and don't want an Apache glass fibre one, this is the boat to buy.:cool:


We hung around for about an hour or so then set off again, just paddling gently and then drifting with the breeze or riding the wake from the ferries ( particularly good fun)

We eventually made our way back down and across the lake and were about half way back to the put in, when we spotted the first open boat, other than mine, that we had seen all day;
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It turned out to be a little Sevylor "canyon" inflatable which, given the breezy conditions, was making surprisingly easy headway;)

We caught them up and had a quick chat, about boats and how impressed we were with their progress etc.

Then we set off again, taking a few pictures of the wild(?) daffodils,:rolleyes:
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in this picture;
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our lad is wearing a shark sports, lightweight waterproof coverall, I had one too, as he had come across a few at a closing down sale, somewhere on his travels and had grabbed a few bargains!;)


They really are excellent pieces of kit, with neoprene collar and cuffs and totally wind and water (splash/rain) proof. They aren't a dry suit as such but offer great protection against the unavoidable splashes as you paddle and the water that tends to build up in the bottom of the boat.

All too soon, that was that, we unloaded the boat, packed the car, chucked the boat on the roof bars and off we went.

a brilliant way to blow the cobwebs away!

As a bit of a footnote; We were sitting having another bite to eat, after loading up, when two lads appeared, with a "sit on top" each. They appeared to be soaked through and very cold too and I couldn't help but wonder; "what on earth, is the attraction of these things??"
It took two of them to get the things on their roof rack, so it cant be the light weight that attracts people to these "craft".

Still..............:confused:

cheers

R.B.
 

coln18

Native
Aug 10, 2009
1,125
3
Loch Lomond, Scotland
Nice pics mate, looks like you had a great time. I have a Nova craft Bob Special in royalex and have been using it like you do, i think they call it Northwoods style and find it so much better controlling the canoe that way. Dont leave it so long in getting out with it, it takes you to some brilliant places.

Colin
 

rancid badger

Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
Nice pics mate, looks like you had a great time. I have a Nova craft Bob Special in royalex and have been using it like you do, i think they call it Northwoods style and find it so much better controlling the canoe that way. Dont leave it so long in getting out with it, it takes you to some brilliant places.

Colin

Well to be honest, I've lost a good 6 weeks extra, with trying to chop my thumb off a while back!:eek:

I want to get up to your neck o the woods but have no idea on where to park safely etc etc etc and there never seems to be anyone off work when I am either!:rolleyes:

cheers

R.B.
 

coln18

Native
Aug 10, 2009
1,125
3
Loch Lomond, Scotland
give me a shout mate when you want to come up for a paddle, im self employed so can usually move things around to fit in with any plans, there are some fantastic places to paddle up this way and most of the bushcraft meets in the South of Scotland meets section are usually round the Lochs and theres always a few canoes there.

As to your car being safe, i would be surprised if anything happened to it, been camping for 20 years now and have left work vans etc on the side of roads full of my tools and never had an incident.

Col
 

Lithril

Administrator
Admin
Jan 23, 2004
2,590
55
Southampton, UK
Nice one. I got out on Thursday evening for a night paddle after a horrendous week at work, only a short paddle but was really nice coming back down the Hamble, nobody else on the river, clear night, stars and moon were fantastic. Felt much better after that.

Matt
 

al21

Nomad
Aug 11, 2006
320
0
In a boat somewhere
Looks like a great time RB. Interesting oversuits, do they suffer from 'boil in the bag' tendencies at all?

We managed a family picnic on the Pock Canal last weekend, very nice! Have you ever paddled down this way?

Al
 

liquidusblue

Member
Mar 29, 2011
20
0
Herts
Great stuff RB, I don't really get SOTs either. Though, I do a bit of river and sea kayaking, some piccies below, bit tame but it's still a bit cold to fall in too much though:

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Really must try to get more involved with canoes, all i've done is a short stint during my 1* where i got very achey knees as they didn't have a mat around.
Maybe i'll try get on a few crash courses. The scenery in your piccies is ace, can't imagine a better way to spend a day.
 

rancid badger

Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
Looks like a great time RB. Interesting oversuits, do they suffer from 'boil in the bag' tendencies at all?

We managed a family picnic on the Pock Canal last weekend, very nice! Have you ever paddled down this way?

Al

Funnily enough, they don't seem to suffer from boily bag syndrome at all. I was pleasantly surprised at just how comfortable and effective they were.
That said; I've done a search for them on the web and come up blank. I found the "Shark Group" website but they appear, to only make pretty serious survival gear and there was no sign of the light weight versions we were using.

Paddling wise, I've never been down your way Al, it's been the Tyne from Prudhoe, up over, Woodhorn coutry park ( good for beginners) Talkin Tarn in Cumbria and the Lake district; Windermere,Derwentwater and Ullswater, so far.

I want to get up to Scotland but have no idea where to go to be honest.

cheers

R.B.
 

al21

Nomad
Aug 11, 2006
320
0
In a boat somewhere
Funnily enough, they don't seem to suffer from boily bag syndrome at all. I was pleasantly surprised at just how comfortable and effective they were.
That said; I've done a search for them on the web and come up blank. I found the "Shark Group" website but they appear, to only make pretty serious survival gear and there was no sign of the light weight versions we were using.

That sounds good. It's so hard to find suitable wet weather gear to work with strenuous activities. I ended up with Mardale kit, similar to Buffalo clothing, but it doesn't exactly pack small and it's hopeless around a fire.

Paddling wise, I've never been down your way Al, it's been the Tyne from Prudhoe, up over, Woodhorn coutry park ( good for beginners) Talkin Tarn in Cumbria and the Lake district; Windermere,Derwentwater and Ullswater, so far.

I want to get up to Scotland but have no idea where to go to be honest.

You'll have to come and visit, the Pocklington Canal is very nice, as is the River Derwent though there are certain access problems in places. We've quite a few nice little rivers available, and I plan to try and get a few quiet paddles together this summer. I'll let you know if they look like happening.

The lakes can be gorgeous, but you have to keep going to balance out the trips which end up with the clouds at head height and the stunning ones. :) Curiously, Ullswater is my least favourite lake. Derwentwater, Coniston and Buttermere have good memories for us. Wastwater is nice in an eerie kind of way.


We've always driven straight past Loch Lomond, but I really should give it a go, to see the wallabies if nothing else. We've mostly been to the west, with Lochs Long, Etive and Eck being favourites there. Of course, Newtonmore to Spey Bay is to be recommended and makes a lovely week, though I believe it's become a bit busier than when we did it.

I'd say that Shewie's your man for the info on Scotland though. I'm about ten years out of date now. Soon to return though!

Al
 

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