I have a Cold.

I was feeling pretty rough with some kind of head cold this week, and with the weather being a bit Novemberly it combined to make for a fairly uninspiring kayaking session on Saturday.

I had intended to tighten my rudder cable before my next session in the kayak, so while my other half was out I brought the boat into the house so I could tinker in the dry (it was raining). I thought I knew how to do it having spied a couple of locking nuts attached to the cable behind the footplate I had formulated a plan which involved screwdrivers and really long arms. Quite quickly I managed to remove one of the nuts, I attempted and failed to pull the cable tight and then spent another hour trying to put the nut back to its original position. This morning I have had a look on the internet and I think I should have been looking at the rudder end of the boat to tighten the cable, I will have another go before the next trip.

My DW partner and I headed for Chichester canal again (once my boat was put back together) with a plan to do a couple of circuits to extend the distance we have so far been covering. It was cold, and drizzling and just a bit grotty and after paddling for just under 2 kilometres I fell in. I think I was avoiding a fisherman’s line but to be honest I wasn’t feeling great (with my cold) and almost certainly just lost a bit of concentration. I saddled up though and carried on down to the basin and was able to maintain a nice steady pace.

While turning in the basin, at the furthest point from the bank I thought to myself that it would be a rubbish place to capsize, as if to prove it to myself I accidently caught my paddle edge and promptly capsized. The water was deep and cold and it was very much a rubbish place to fall in. Getting the boat back to the jetty took an age, and by the time I had fished myself out I was very cold. Boat emptied we headed back the way we came, but I was feeling a bit miserable with a cold (germs) and cold (temperature) so we didn’t go for another lap, instead packed up and heading home.

I felt much quicker (when I was not swimming) this week. I had put some markers on my paddle so I was always holding the paddle correctly, and despite the fact that I fell in a couple of times I did feel more stable than ever so was able to focus more on technique. Whenever I wanted to I was able to put the power down and cruise past my friend in her more stable but slower Hobby2. Average speed this week was again 7.9km/h despite falling in twice, and I hit a slightly higher top speed of 11.2km/h. I need to sort out my rudder though as it is becoming tiresome to steer with something so vague.