My Kayaking for July 2007...

Jac rhymes with Kack which is short for Kayak;) Taken on 31st July (yesterday)...just minutes before my last kack of the month.


Can you believe I didn't take a single photo of myself kayaking during the whole of July! May have had something to do with me being just ever so slightly preoccupied with a certain blood test result arriving! Plus it is just sooo much easier to carry a camera around with you on a bike than in a kayak...cameras don't really like water;) But I do have this photo which I took just yesterday of my good friend Jac...and just after this was taken I was in the Thames paddling in the wonderful sunshine. That's me in the reflection of Jac's glasses (well, the one on the right is anyway...the one on the left is my double;)...Jac will be mortified that I used this pic of her on my blog;)



Sunday 1st July 2007 @ 11am, Hurley weir on the Thames, Ian, 1hr 40mins paddling (See blog post of the same date for full details...it was interesting to say the least), warmish and windy, very choppy water in weir and fast flowing, temp 18, wind 18.

Wednesday 4th July 2007 @ 21:40pm, Twickenham to Teddington Lock Weir & back on my own, strong current going and fast coming back, dark but warm, breezy too, 53 mins paddling. Had my six month post Hep C treatment blood test today at the RFH...Oh yes...A beautiful swan cheered me up no end today:)

Thursday 5th July 2007 @ 21:00pm, Ealing Pool with Ian and loads of others, 1hr 30mins paddling, did (several) my first ever left handed rolls tonight.

Monday 9th July 2007 @ 15:20pm, Twickenham to Teddington Lock weir and back, 1hr 20mins paddling, warm & sunny then my God!! Thunder, lightning, wind, heavy rain mixed with hail!, I had to beach near Teddington Lock and hide under a tree that was stooping into the river...the thunder was so loud and close it was amazing! If you can imagine being about two or three miles away from Mt Everest and half of it's five mile high mass splits away and falls onto the ground right at its foot...that is what this thunder sounded like! Then the sun came back out and was Lovely again...for a bit;) Temp 21 (with a low of 16 during the storm), wind 9 (with a high of 23 during the storm)...I found two tennis balls after the storm on my way back to Twickenham.

Thursday 12th July 2007 @ 21:00pm, Ealing Pool, Lee, Ian & others..., I took my big yellow sea kayak tonight to see if I could roll it...and yes I can. First time too:) Lee tried also and did it first time, 1hr 30mins paddling.

Saturday 14th July 2007 @ 17:08pm, Twickenham to Teddington Lock Weir and back, 52 mins paddling, warm, sunny and quite breezy, As I was paddling past a massive dead fish by the Barmy Arms a fisherman shouted out what kind of fish it was...I almost shouted back that it was a dead fish;) But didn't...it was a Carp of some kind. Temp 22, wind 11...just the one ball today and it wasn't even a tennis ball! It was a bright red plastic ball like the type you find in children's ball pens. It was a nice colour though.

Monday 16th July 2007 @ 16:50pm, 1hr 10mins paddling, Twickenham high tide around Eel Pie Island a few times and up to the boats just past Radnor gardens, the river was filthy having picked up all the rubbish from the paths and roads etc...including no less that 7 balls! 6 tennis balls and another bright red child's play pen ball. What a result! Temp 23, wind 8.

Thursday 19th July 2007 @ 21:00pm, Ealing Pool, Lee, Ian & others, 1hr 30mins paddling, more larking around as usual, in a more than usually good mood due to the fact that I got my SVR test result that afternoon...No more Hep C for Mr T:), I also tested out my new kayaking helmet...an Andrew Ainsworth (of Star Wars fame) Skid Lid in carbon fibre effect black, very comfortable helmet.

Thursday 26th July 2007 @ 21:00pm, Ealing Pool, Lee and others, 1hr 30mins, Owen taught me how to do a different hand roll that I was used to, the pool was quite empty as it happens and we more or less had the whole pool to ourselves, Ian wasn't there as he had badly sprained his ankle playing football with his Son.

Tuesday 31st July 2007 @ 17:45pm, 53 mins paddling, Twickenham to Tedd Lock and back, fast flowing head current going!!, warm and sunny, light breeze, Temp 21, wind 7...absolutely no bastard tennis balls! I did see two lots of Canadian Geese fly right by me just inches from the rivers surface at high speed which was pretty cool!


See ya next month...and be sure to check out my cycling for July post directly below this one:)



Jason







(C) JPT 2007.........2318.47 miles.