Thursday, April 09, 2009

Baptism of kayak...splendid fun in St Magnus Bay



The man from Northwards Transport was very sceptical. 'It looks' he said (unfortunately, to Susan, who didn't know about the kayak at all) 'like one of those things bairns play on in the swimming pool.' Not the carefully designed (from surf-longboards) hydrodynamic marvel I'd been led to believe, then...

Today was sunny and relatively calm, so I decided to at least put the kayak in the water. I have both wet and dry suits, but once it was actually floating, dressed as I was for work, I just thought...better have a wee seat in it and see if it sinks...and the next thing, I was 50 yards offshore, paddling with an enormous smile on my face. Damn, forgot the lifejacket...

And relatively dry, too. I've always fancied kayaking and done a bit of pool training, but hated the sense of being trapped from the waist down in a plastic tube. This is a BIC (same as the pens) Ouassou sit-on-top. So no sense of enclosure. Despite two large holes right through the hull ('self-draining scuppers')it stays amazingly dry and it's very stable. It is, in fact, a joy for messing about not too far from shore.

Half an hour later, regretfully, having been thoroughly investigated at close quarters by two seals, I hauled the wee yellow boat ashore. It works! It's great!

2 comments:

norrie said...

Ahoy!
Must say that does look fun - speaking as a landlubber.

Anonymous said...

Fantastic Tom.

Last year I bought a Stearns inflatable canoe (for ease of transportation) It is a two man job originally planned for taking the kids out in. However I often go out just with me and a guitar (and harmonica rack) and end up on one of the islands on Loch Lomond.

I give a concert to the ducks and they haven't complained yet