Canoe with a View : : Canadian Open Canoe forum

Hi all

After all the useful advice here about polishing my newly acquired, free, old Granta
http://www.canoewithaview.co.uk/forum/sh...p?tid=1413
I thought that paddling it might be more fun so I stuck it on the car and headed for the Chelmer.

I found the put in that UKB mentioned, just downstream of Papermill lock next to the bridge.

I should mention here that the last time I kayaked was in the early 80s...

So I put the Granta in the water, laid the paddle across the back of the cockpit with the other end on the bank, gripping the paddle and cockpit I placed one foot in the kayak and gingerly lowered my back side onto the back of the cockpit ready to slide in, but the kayak made a strange creaking, cracking sound... it seems that it was not actually floating but was sitting on mud.

I clambered back onto the bank, pushed the kayak a bit further out and tried again.... this time the creaking came from my knees, sadly at 50+ I am no longer supple and getting in was a chore.

But, hooray I'm in.

Blimey!!!!! I don't remember kayaks being this wobbly, fear of falling out meant that I sat and floated for a while getting used to the tippy sensation... some time later I bravely moved out to four feet from the bank... where I sat again for a while... wobbling.

Eventually shame made me risk actually paddling and amazingly I stayed upright and moved along in a straight line, about a mile later I eventually arrived at Rushes lock feeling a bit more confident. I had planned to get out and stretch my legs here, but the high bank made me rethink, I was not sure that I would be able to get back in again.

This raised the question of turning around, from somewhere deep in my memory bank a sweep stroke appeared and around I went. In fact I liked it so much I did a full 360 and then around until I was pointing the right way, only to spot the half dozen dog walkers watching me.

Paddling Back it occured to me that I had bitten off more than I could chew... my arms were really aching.

On the way back I found that a straight line was difficult to paddle and I managed to convince myself that the boat was broken, maybe about to sink. Of course then I also noticed that there were no places to actually get out of the water, high banks.

Common sense won out and I stopped for a rest.............. ......................................................

When I restarted I actually started to enjoy myself, some sort of technique was reappearing and I was quickly back to papermill lock.
I was having fun now and played in the weir pool, spinning on the spot, paddling backwards, spinning on the spot again.

It was only exhaustion that eventually drove me to give up and get out.

I had a great time but it set me thinking...

I still want a canoe!!!!

I enjoyed the kayak, but I got very wet (no spray deck), I felt more comfortable moving so I did not stop to take in the view or relax much, getting in and out at my age is no fun. I found it difficult to change position so I got a numb bum and my feet went to sleep.

Mark

Pure dead brilliant Mark, thoroughly enjoyable and Funny TT. LMAO!

(12-06-09 09:22 PM)baggy Wrote: [ -> ]Hi all

After all the useful advice here about polishing my newly acquired, free, old Granta
http://www.canoewithaview.co.uk/forum/sh...p?tid=1413
I thought that paddling it might be more fun so I stuck it on the car and headed for the Chelmer.

I found the put in that UKB mentioned, just downstream of Papermill lock next to the bridge.

I should mention here that the last time I kayaked was in the early 80s...

So I put the Granta in the water, laid the paddle across the back of the cockpit with the other end on the bank, gripping the paddle and cockpit I placed one foot in the kayak and gingerly lowered my back side onto the back of the cockpit ready to slide in, but the kayak made a strange creaking, cracking sound... it seems that it was not actually floating but was sitting on mud.

I clambered back onto the bank, pushed the kayak a bit further out and tried again.... this time the creaking came from my knees, sadly at 50+ I am no longer supple and getting in was a chore.

But, hooray I'm in.

Blimey!!!!! I don't remember kayaks being this wobbly, fear of falling out meant that I sat and floated for a while getting used to the tippy sensation... some time later I bravely moved out to four feet from the bank... where I sat again for a while... wobbling.

Eventually shame made me risk actually paddling and amazingly I stayed upright and moved along in a straight line, about a mile later I eventually arrived at Rushes lock feeling a bit more confident. I had planned to get out and stretch my legs here, but the high bank made me rethink, I was not sure that I would be able to get back in again.

This raised the question of turning around, from somewhere deep in my memory bank a sweep stroke appeared and around I went. In fact I liked it so much I did a full 360 and then around until I was pointing the right way, only to spot the half dozen dog walkers watching me.

Paddling Back it occured to me that I had bitten off more than I could chew... my arms were really aching.

On the way back I found that a straight line was difficult to paddle and I managed to convince myself that the boat was broken, maybe about to sink. Of course then I also noticed that there were no places to actually get out of the water, high banks.

Common sense won out and I stopped for a rest.............. ......................................................

When I restarted I actually started to enjoy myself, some sort of technique was reappearing and I was quickly back to papermill lock.
I was having fun now and played in the weir pool, spinning on the spot, paddling backwards, spinning on the spot again.

It was only exhaustion that eventually drove me to give up and get out.

I had a great time but it set me thinking...

I still want a canoe!!!!

I enjoyed the kayak, but I got very wet (no spray deck), I felt more comfortable moving so I did not stop to take in the view or relax much, getting in and out at my age is no fun. I found it difficult to change position so I got a numb bum and my feet went to sleep.

Mark

Good tt mark , the first time out in a kayak or a open canoe can be the worst time but you can only gain in confidences from the experience .

UKB

Good read Mark, and I echo what UKB said but by the sounds of it when you found your "kayak legs" so to speak you enjoyed it
Getting in and out of any canoe onto the bank can be a chore. I always think twice when paddling my little narrow solo boat and sometimes pass onto a better spot.

Brilliant and very funny too, a very entertaining read. Well done you for getting back on the water

Mark I not only sympathize with you but I have hope to offer as well. I am in my mid thirties. I have canoed all my life but on my Broughton Archipelago trip, I brought along a kayak for my partner so I could paddle gear and child for a three week trip.

During the end of our second week, we had to make one last 6km crossing to reach Broughton Island itself, the swells were upwards of 9 feet, but there were no breaking waves. It was a rolling ride to the half way point, my canoe would peek at the top of a swell, giving me what felt at the time like a birds eye view, then sink into the trough of a swell, where all I could see was water around me.

Just as we were about 1km from the mid way point, Monica (her first experience ever in a kayak) told me the water was too much handle and she wanted to turn around. I was very surprised because, my 800lbs of canoe and gear in the water, felt solid as a rock despite the big swells.

I certainly wasn't about to argue with her turned around immediately, we got back to the shore we started from and wasted some time exploring. As the evening set in the seas calmed and we made the crossing and found a tent site in a calm but 3km deep lagoon.

The next morning, and just for fun, I got in her kayak to go for a paddle. I did not put on the spray skirt because the water in the lagoon was dead calm. The moment I got in, I was stunned by how tippy the damn thing was for an ocean kayak, and I didn't like it or feel comfortable at all.

After I got out, I thought about the night before and how I had put Monica in this thing for a serious ocean trip and on her very first experience in a kayak. I suddenly understood why she asked to turn around the day before, and then I kissed the hull of my canoe for choosing me to paddle her

(14-06-09 08:38 AM)Monster Wrote: [ -> ]The next morning, and just for fun, I got in her kayak to go for a paddle. I did not put on the spray skirt because the water in the lagoon was dead calm. The moment I got in, I was stunned by how tippy the damn thing was for an ocean kayak, and I didn't like it or feel comfortable at all.

Strange thing that Sea kayaks are designed to operate in the harshest of paddling conditions I naturally thought they were more stable than they looked shows the paddling talent Monica must have just to jump in one and set off on an ocean journey.
If I am in my skinny Solo We-no-nah I often get a bit nervous in a large following swell going into the waves its fine.

Hiya

(13-06-09 08:07 AM)ukbushman Wrote: [ -> ]Good tt mark , the first time out in a kayak or a open canoe can be the worst time but you can only gain in confidences from the experience .

For sure, I am hoping to be out tomorrow hay fever allowing.

Hiya

(13-06-09 09:18 AM)Retro Wrote: [ -> ]but by the sounds of it when you found your "kayak legs" so to speak you enjoyed it
Getting in and out of any canoe onto the bank can be a chore. I always think twice when paddling my little narrow solo boat and sometimes pass onto a better spot.

Yes I did almost get to the overconfident phase at one point :-)

It sounds like I need a selection oc canoes to suit different moods and conditions.... maybe you could explain the to SWMBO for me...


Mark

Hiya

(14-06-09 08:38 AM)Monster Wrote: [ -> ]Mark I not only sympathize with you but I have hope to offer as well.

Interesting read TVM.

It does seem that in a Kayak the paddler need to be alert and also keep moving, where as the relaxed cruising approach of is more my thing.

I think that all things considered I am at a stage of my like where "Gentleman canoeing" is more my thing. If only finances would allow me to actually own a canoe.

Oh, I do hope that your partner has recovered from her sea trip.

Mark

Oh yes, and as a matter of fact she never complained once about the instability of the kayak I put her in, which is why it came as such a surprise to me when I finally got in and found out for myself.

What can I say, for an ivy league professor of paper cuts, she was cut out of wood