Jason Smith's The Ed

Lakeland Reflections

Just got back from a great long weekend in the Lake District. Headed up on Friday via a quick visit to the Guys at Pyranha/Venture kayaks who had kindly offered to lend us an Orca 16 and Easky 15 for the trip. The bulk of the journey up was through thick mist and driving rain, but by the time we arrived at the Caravan and Camping Club campsite in Keswick the skies had cleared. Up went the tent and on went the paddling gear. After all those hours in the CKUK wagon we were desperate to paddle. It's a doddle to launch from the site as it sits right on the shores of Derwent Water with the imposing skyline of Skidaw overlooking. We only meant to go for a short cruise, but after a quick break for a cold beer, we were joined by Pete and went out for another hour or so in absolutely perfect conditions. Mirror flat water, not a hint of wind and a bright blue sky and golden sun overhead. It was very special. Saturday was walking day and the mission of choice was Helvelyn via Striding Edge. Now anyone who knows me will tell you heights are not my cup of Rosie. I'm happy enough clambering around on the lip of a waterfall, but anything that involves clambering about on ladders, or indeed, rocky ridges gets me in a cold sweat. With the wind blowing and the cloud swirling about us we slowly picked our way across, before making the final scramble up to the path to the summit. My knees were knocking, but the 360 views and the stunning vista of Ullswater below made it worth it. The next day it was back in the boats for a trip on Winderemere. Conditions were beginning to deteriorate by now though and we finished the trip in wind and rain. As we strolled up to Ambleside for a cuppa it seemed that every other car had a roof-rack full of whitewater boats, the weather forecast had certainly got the WW jungle drums beating. By the time we got back to Keswick it was hammering down and it continued through the night and all through our drive home the following day. We finally pulled in to the drive after an epic drive, where in sections I seriously considered taking the boats off the roof and paddling home! More Info: Caravan and Camping Club: www.campingandcaravanningclub.co.uk http://www.siteseeker.co.uk/siteseeker/aspx/details.aspx?id=7150 Venture Kayaks: www.venturekayaks.com

Posted by Jay

Flat Out

With the sun firmly shining and a bright blue sky Friday evening seemed the perfect opportunity for an 'open water' practice paddle on Rutland Water with Faye's Dad, Pete. In preparation for a forthcoming kayak-camping trip to the Lake District, in a week or two. Despite one of the windsurfing instructors warning us of imminent death by thunder storm and advising us that we'd best come back another night, we decided that, due to the fact that there was absolutely no wind, no clouds and bright sun, that we'd take our chances and paddle anyway. We signed in at the water-sports centre, got changed, dodged the goose guam and hit the water. It was mirror flat and it felt good to glide across the surface. The evening time is great on Rutland, as it can get a bit busy during the summer time. Pete finally got to christen his new pride and joy - The Blue Peter, a Dagger Blackwater. After a brief warm up to blow away the paddling cobwebs we hit our stride and headed off for a few circuits of the Whitwell Bay area. Pete was looking like a natural and is keen for our planned circumnavigation of Derwent Water in a few weeks time. Rutland Water is famous for its birdlife and although, on this occasion, we didn't see any of the famous ospreys we did see a cormorant dive and catch a pretty sizeable fish! Great weather, great paddle. After all that training the only thing left to do was to nip to the local, for a well earned apré-paddle pint - Nice More info: www.anglianwaterleisure.co.uk

Posted by Jay

Chocks Away

Seems like blogging on non-paddling adventures is getting to be a habit, but then I do spend all working week writing about boat based shenanigans. After a trip to the waterside in Lincoln, where I watched some cool marathon paddlers training and some fully geared-up kayak tourers enjoying the sunshine on the Brayford. It was off to visit the sun-kissed Lincolnshire Wolds and, more importantly, to an old RAF airfield, so my good lady, Faye could follow up the recent excitement of a descent down the Soca River in the front of a Topo-Duo with a tandem micro-light flight in what can only be described as a whacky racer with wings! Just watching the thing rocket in to the sky had my vertigo wobbling, but apparently it was top fun, much better than paddling a duckie and she was most disappointed that it wasn't possible to loop the loop! Something tells me that the soon to begin kayak rolling lessons are going to be a walk in the park! ; ) For more info visit: www.fly365.co.uk

Posted by Jay