Wednesday, July 21, 2010

Return to the Heads of Ayr!


Last Sunday was a bit of a milestone, it was the first time I had been back to Ayr since my knee operation four months ago! It was planned with some precision; either side of high tide to avoid a walk, parked on the double yellow lines (which are obscured by sand) at the top of the Seafield slipway. There was a bit of wind so it was an ideal time to resume testing the Flat Earth Kayak Sails, especially as I was not very fit!


The wind was gusting to the top of a 4 and I enjoyed several excellent downwind blasts, averaging 10km/hr and hitting 14.4km/hr.


As I enjoyed paddling and sailing this truly excellent kayak sail, the others got on with some rescue practice...


...till we decided to warm up by paddling to Bracken Bay just beyond...


...the Heads of Ayr.

My goodness it was good to be back to our regular stomping ground after such a painful lay off.

PS You will need to excuse the quality of the photos. I am a bit rusty so did not want to risk dropping the Canon 5D MkII over the side. I made do with the trusty 2mp Sony U60 camera.

5 comments:

  1. Hi Douglas,

    Great to see you back in a boat!

    all the best

    Ian

    ReplyDelete
  2. Great to see that you're back on the water again.

    Fiona

    ReplyDelete
  3. Way to go Douglas! Would I be right in assuming you are kayaking before you can walk?

    Andy :-)

    ReplyDelete
  4. CHRIS WALKER24/07/2010, 17:06

    Douglas. Great to see you back. I need to pick your brain and supreme knowledge of the waters of the solway.
    Is it possible to Kayak from Dumfries to Portpatrick taking in several overnight stops but in principle would it be possible? I am thinking of a charity fundraiser next year.
    Can I communicate with you independent of the blog? Couldn't find a direct e mail link.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Ian, Fiona, Andy and Chris thank you for your good wishes, this was only a test paddle for the real first outing.... a trip to the Corryvreckan!

    Andy, I would in no way like to incriminate myself, let's just leave it that I can kayak about 200 times further than I can walk!

    Chris the Solway trip is very possible! dew1natclinmeddotgladotacdotuk

    :o)

    ReplyDelete