As you might have gathered went down from Putney to central London and back taking advantage of the tides in both directions. I hadn't planned to go so far but there was a certain amount of this-is-fun-I'll-keep-going to the trip.
Alas my planning hadn't included sun cream, so slightly red today - should have read up on Bonnie or Tillerman's lists.
It felt a very stable craft just about right sized for one person. It wasn't terribly fast and there was noticeably more windage than low lying kayaks and I did think that it would be a right struggle to paddle up against a strong current and wind.
It has the advantage that its easy to store and can be ready to go at a moments notice - pumping up takes only a minute or so. Having said that it isn't as light as you might think and hauling it up a ladder four or five metres did leave me thinking about tricks to reduce the load (pulleys came into it).
Apartment dwellers short of space wanting the flexibility to go out solo should certainly consider one: I'm already looking forward to the next trip.
2 comments:
A friend brought his li lo - sorry inflatable canoe down to the Hamble at Easter, it was just about as much as we could do to paddle 3 miles against a neap tide - great for down stream white water rapids but....
Yup, can imagine that.
I think I'll only try going up river on a calm day.
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