If I could figure out how to get a 16ft boat through the house ……

Ta dah! …..

Folding Kayaks and Stuff

that sounds damn cool Sue! How did you get into that?! you missed a great ride with MBNW today around Conwy Mountain and Tal-Y-Fan.

Ooh no not for me, I get sea-sick on the Woolwich Ferry. 😳

I like the pic with the lass with the wet dog on’t boat.

slugwash – I think I would prefer a threepeice sectional number to be honest.

Hi Kev! Was on ‘staycation’ last week (if you want to use such a **** term – aka having a holiday based at home). Lucky enough that my friend is one of the uk’s top female sea kayak (she does some very scary stuff!), who kitted me out and took me off sea kayaking. Has to be one of the most amazing things I’ve ever done. Spend the rest of the week mountain biking and hiking / scrambling. Can’t believe the weather we’ve had – I seem to even have a bit of a tan (unheard of for north Wales in march!)

Were you up on Conwy mtn / tal y fan today? I love it up there – has to be my favourite place for biking in snowdonia. We went biking up there last week, great fun and really fast cos it’s so dry. Hope you had a good time up there today.

Elfin – you wouldn’t get sea sick sea kayaking – once it gets rough you’re too busy trying to stay upright and not drown to worry about anything else 🙂

That sounds fantastic Sue! Had a choice to go up Snowdon with some mates or a forum ride. about 25 riders up there today, quite a ride, surpisingly dry and fast, and I didn’t fall off (much)! It was good to link up all the bits that I know, to other bits I hadn’t been on, into a really good 15-20 mile ride. Fair play to the forum guys, they did a good one.

Sue, I tell you; I once canooed on the Thames from Battersea to Shadwell Basin. I wasn’t experienced or strong enough (I was only young), and only got picked for the trip cos I was quite proficient on the Basin.

Anyone who thinks ‘pah, easy’, well come and have ago, with the currents, wash around the bridges, boats, etc. I was petrified. Ended up running out of energy, had to be towed back by one of the instructors.

Nah, not for me. Although I have done a bit of white water stuff in Wales. Enjoyed that, but large open expanses of water scare me.

I’ll be coming up to Wales in the Summer though, you’ll be pleased to hear. Bikey fun!

A very good friend of mine has the World Record for crossing the English Channel, on a Surf Ski in just under three hours I think it was. Great scene surf ski racing series of events around the UK/World

Kev – saw some of the pic’s on mbnw – looked like a top ride 🙂 I managed to stay upright when we went biking up there last week but was riding like a numpty a few days later at penmachno – started off by a direct chest plant onto a tree stump (sooo glad girls have some natural padding in that area) and then poked some nice holes in my legs after my bike attacked me when I went over the bars and off the side of the trail.

Elfin – maybe see you if you’re up this way in the summer.

my bike attacked me

Bastard. D’you want me to ‘ave a word with it? Make sure it don’t happen again?

You will see me this Summer, Sue. Try not to get too excited though. 😀

I know for a fact that Kev can’t wait…

How feasible is it for long distances and hard seas? Could one cross the Channel in a sea kayak, for instance?

Depending on how good you are and what kit you have you can do almost anything. I’d consider having a go at the English Channel apart from all the issues with logistics (needing a pilot boat etc.), and seriously considering some tougher things like crossing to IoM. The Tasman Sea has been done!

Most people think of sea-kayaking as calm, serene and the ocean equivalent of rambling…. but there’s lots of excitement too if you do it right

I mostly paddle one of these:

not really much point in going out on that if it’s flat!

well you gotta tell me if you’re going to Penmachno, I’d go there a lot, but don’t like going on my own. Elfin will attest to the holes/scars in my calves where my bike attacked me on Kew bridge. Bikes, Can’t trust ’em!

He wasn’t actually moving at the time. Just standing still. That point needs to be understood. 😐

If it weren’t for that woman with her Germolene, you’d’ve bled to death….

Sorry to resurrect an old thread, but if I wanted something kayak-ie for pottering up and down rivers around near me that could hold enough kit for a weekend away, maybe for trips out to Wales and Scotland too, would going for a conventional touring kayak be overkill?

I only ask because the sit-on-top style seem to have more storage and high weight limits, but just feel/look wrong to me somehow.

If anyone has any suggestions on what sort of thing to go for bearing in mind I am 6′ 5″ and weight 92 kilos, please let me know. It’s a water-laden minefield out there.

You can get something like this thats good for inland waters but also seaworthy for short tours…

Necky Kayaks

But at 6′ 5″ you probably want to get to a kayak dealer demo day to see what you can shoehorn yourself into. A SOT may be the answer though.

Try asking a tall person here about large capacity kayak cockpits….

ukriversguidebook

tah dah…
I’m shameless sorry 🙂

I would do, but I only need it for one person. with that I’d spend too much time trying to decide whether to sit in the front or the back, and by the end of it, it would be too late to go anywhere. I might also feel obliged to pick up a hitchhiker or something.

Slugwash. They look good. I saw something similar from Liquid Logic, their XP10 (http://www.liquidlogickayaks.com/remix_xp10.cfm) but no one seems to have anything second hand in them.