Hello Folks
Apologies for the long gap between blogs as I have been busy building more canoes!
Yesterday Al, Nick, Ian and I decided to go for a paddle on the Nene.
We arrived at the workshop around 9.30 and did the usual faffing whilst deciding on a route up or down river....
The forecast was for strong winds around 16mph mostly in a downriver direction so we opted to paddle against it to begin with and make use of a tailwind on our return. You can see we were well wrapped up against the cold and I got Nick to take this picture of me to illustrate.
The sky was clear with a few wispy clouds adding interest as we made our way under the railway bridge.
I turned back to see Nick against this fabulous backdrop!
and then we were treated to the site of a steam train from the N.V.R. crossing the bridge.
although it was cheating a little with the help of a diesel!
The sun bathed the boatyard in light as we paddled past. I wasn't feeling the cold in fact,
I would say at this point I was probably feeling the heat as I probably had more layers on than I needed b ut I prefer to be a little on the warm side than the cold side at this time of year.
The next stretch is long and straight with the wind coming straight down it towards us we didn't take many pictures until reaching Wansford bridge. We were a bit spread out at this point with Al and Ian in front and Nick and I at the rear.
A short while later we reached the lock and milled about a bit.
Here is Ian demonstrating milling about and the portage was made a little easier with the addition of some Mulled wine from Nick!
On the far side of the lock the light was fading a little but it wasn't as dark as it looks in this picture.
First I saw a duck!
Then Al said
Kite! As we were treated to the site of one of the numerous red kites on this part of the river.
At Yarwell lock we milled about again, Demonstrated by both Al and Nick in this picture.
and decided to have lunch here and then return as it is dark by 4pm at this time of year and it had taken a couple of hours to reach our current position.
Like me, I think Ian was happy it was lunch time.
We had lunch seated at rather handy bench near the lock and here Nick proffered some sloe Gin which also went down a treat.
With the wind mostly behind us we made rapid progress on the return journey.
on this stretch it was in fact against us! Proof that nothing goes as planned.
By the time we had passed Wansford lock again and paddled under the bridge things were decidedly calmer.
and as we made our way down the final straight the clouds were still enhancing the picture.
All in all a lovely sunny day in fabulous company with a cool breeze that wasn't an issue as long as you are well wrapped up.
Cheers
Alick.