Last June, on my way to my camping weekend in north Devon, I bought an inflatable kayak from the the magical middle aisle at Lidl. I didn’t try it out in Devon; I have enough sense to recognise that water wild and fierce enough for surfing isn’t going to be good for inflatable kayaking and … More Stay At Home Storytelling: how to set out to sea in an inflatable kayak
In 2019, I did a virtual swimming challenge every month. 2.5km or 100 lengths of a standard pool every month and double that in June and October. December was going ok. I’d done 40 lengths before I went to York and I wanted to do another chunk while I was there because I like to … More When a 50m pool isn’t a 50m pool
This isn’t going to become a blog about fitness and exercise. But there is a bit of a crossover between travel and adventure and exercise – see the existence of Outdoor Fitness magazine.Swimming isn’t technically outdoors, not how I do it, but in light of watersports, I think it’s in the spirit. Couch to 5K … More Swimming, adventure and fitness
It’s a warm Sunday morning in late July. The river is quiet. The only sounds are the paddling of two swans and their fluffy half-grown cygnet, a lot of ducks quacking, a weeping willow swishing very softly in the breeze and the splash of oars as a rowing boat comes upstream. And then:- “*#$%!^*%!&! trees! … More Messing about on the river: Juliet vs the reeds
Last year I did my first ever virtual race. You sign up and even get a downloadable bib (has anyone ever printed and worn this?) but you do the race by yourself at your own pace at your own place. You don’t even have to run. I walked it but cycling is also an option. … More Virtual running and swimming
If you’ve read my posts about my previous kayaking adventures, you may have noticed I have something of a love-hate relationship with the sport. I liiiike it… but I’m not very good at it and I don’t like the sea. Why not use rivers and lakes for your early kayaking experiments instead of leaping straight … More I went sea kayaking and I didn’t capsize
Sundhöllin is Reykjavik’s oldest public pool. Designed by Guðjón Samúelsson, who also designed Hallgrímskirkja, Reykjavik’s Catholic cathedral and the big church in Akureyri, it’s a Art Deco style building and was opened in 1937. Unusually for an Icelandic pool, it’s freezing. I visited a couple of years ago. It’s right in the centre of downtown … More I visited the new Sundhöllin extension
Growing up with reasonably good access to Poole Harbour (the second biggest natural harbour in the world, you know, albeit with an average depth of just 48cm), it took until I was at university to realise what a waste it was never to have used it, and then the best part of another decade to … More Sailing in a storm
I will start this post by pointing out that sea kayaking today involves a lot of things that frighten me and as I wrote this, I felt more and more like one of these people who’s scared of too many things to ever leave the house. Things I was scared of today, in no particular … More The problem with sea kayaking is the sea
In October, I did my Level 1 sailing certificate. When the winter was over and the centre was open again (ie last weekend), I did my Level 2 sailing certificate. Five and a half months with no practice wasn’t very helpful but my biggest obstacle of the weekend was that the dinghy, a 16’ Wayfarer, … More Level 2 sailing weekend
I Am A Polar Bear 