I'm afraid this is an old one we have had in draft for a while:
It had to be done - we had to leave the safety of the Old Town Discovery and actually get in Fifty (our ultra tipsy proper racing canoe purchased on ebay for £210 - bargain). Tuesday was as good as any day as there was no ice on the basin.
Needless to say that we had managed to paddle all of 5m away from the pontoon before we were swimming towards the pontoon with the boat on the end of a bit of string.
The second attempt was much more successful and we got 13.5 times round the basin when we managed to take a turn for the worse and once again found ourselves swimming - at the furthest possible point from where we got in.
Sarah Likes swimming - she did a relay swim of the channel in September and still seems to be cold water acclimatised. Esther seemed less keen. After hanging onto a ladder, dragging the boat in, getting tangled in fishing line and emptying Fifty we got back in and made it without further incident back to the hot showers.
We're quite impressed by our efforts as it was clear from the shape of the hull that she was going to be a little sharp. A day on my stomach muscles feel as though they have been put through their paces (they are in there somewhere) and there is more wet kit about but we are feeling positive. We know that the Clipper Jensen we have hired for the race has a flatter hull and a higher freeboard so if we can cope with Fifty we can cope with anything.
Fifty does now seem to be a more appropriate name that it did before - we're not quite sure if she gives us more pleasure than pain - as she's a smooth runner but dumping you in the drink isn't favourable. She has been slightly abused in the past although some of these were improvements but we are trying to keep this family friendly so that's as far as I'm going!
We have now been out again together and Sarah also persuaded Luke from the canoe club to take several spins round the basin on a Tuesday night. We are now MUCH more comfortable in her and know that she is a lot more unstable than the Clipper Jensen we'll be using in the race. We can now even wobble a bit without fear.
This week we did 24 laps in fifty but Esther isn't allowed to turn around to talk to the people we pass .
Wow! Wet this time of year. brave souls indeed. You can't get us in one of those marathon canoes., hats off to you.
ReplyDeleteYou are correct, the Jenson will be like a raft compared, so you will be ready. We only race the Jenson White Water II, slow compared to your Fifty, but very fast in the "stock" class of boats.
You will be relieved to hear that the sane Esther really didn't want to get into one of those marathon boats either. Fortunately for me open boating has got rather popular at the club (clearly we are inspiring the masses) and she has no choice on Tuesdays. We are extremely impressed that we now don't fall out as the first swim at the start of February was a bit chilly.
ReplyDeleteI only like the fact that it's fast!!!
ReplyDeleteEsther likes the fact that she can use it to tip me in the drink on a cold March night - Esther will be doing the write up of this weeks paddle as penance
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