Nice paddle with Emer and Petrina today. Nothing dramatic to report about the trip itself. We saw a seal or two. We stopped at Naylor’s Cove for about half an hour; it was nice to sit and chat.While we were paddling along the head a group of children were above us on a walk. They started shouting and waving, so we waved back, which seemed to delight a few of them! The wind was a bit strong on the way back, so we paddled in by the shore after Cable Rock.
The biggest thing for me on this trip was putting the new information about forward strokes into practice. I don’t want to make a full pronouncement on it until I see how my speed compares with others on a full club trip, but after today I can definitely say it feels like a huge improvement in terms of effort, comfort and efficiency. If my speed is not comparable on Saturday’s trip, I’m pretty sure it will just be a case of refining the technique. I’m not going to post more about this here, as I plan on doing a separate post (or posts) on the subject.
First Time in a Composite
When we got back to the harbour I had a spin in Petrina’s Pilgrim. It’s a tight fit and probably too small for me, but I was able to get in and out with my normal technique. I almost didn’t need footrests because my feet were resting against the forward bulkhead! After a few strokes of the paddle I realised I would need them for any normal paddling as I could feel the strain to sit upright in my hips.
The Pilgrim felt good – not hugely different in such a short amount of time (about 5 minutes). It had some ballast in it, so it was closer in weight to my own boat, so not really a useful comparison. It felt comfortable and nippy, but the effort to sit up was a bit distracting.
