Anyway, the main excitement has been CANOEING!!!!! Andy has had to sell his glider, so we went straight to the canoe shop after waving the glider goodbye! Kent Canoes have been really fantastic - at the moment we're borrowing a Easky 15 kayak, and a Wenonah Argosy solo canadian canoe. This apparent unmatched pair has come about because Andy likes to paddle kayaks with a double ended paddle (below) and I love the slow pace of a single paddle and the open canadian (photos of that one soon!).
Andy's finding his water balance
It has been heaven to be paddling along the watery ways of the Medway. Your pace of life just calms right down. Today we saw a grey heron just 1.5m away, which took off as we drew level - my favourite bird.
The Easky paddles well, but needs a bit of ballast to stabilise it. You use your knees to help turn, but I couldn't get the hang of that at all. Still Andy's happy, so I think this one will be for him - in orange of course!
The Argosy paddles as smooth as coffee through the flat water, but it is quite tippy - and I can't help feeling on faster water I would end up out of the boat a bit too frequently! It's fine as long as you stay central and nothing happens too quickly - but I can't see that being the case beyond our sedate stretch of the Medway. Also, the ol' ankle wound is a bit uncomfy being knelt on (which is best for boat stability). Still it paddles like a dream and that's quite a strong temptation .... so watch this space for an update. Anyway, here's a quick pic of my attempts to paddle Andy's kayak, and one of the cat too (who may be coping better!) More pics soon. x A
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