10 days to go – kit testing

Over the last few months I have joined a group of paddlers on regular morning paddles at Portobello. Today, however, none of the others were available. An opportunity for me to get out on my own and check that some the kit I’ll be using is working as expected.

I haven’t used my greenland paddle for a while, but I like to take it on a trip as it provides an alternative if I’m getting any aches and pains from using my standard paddle. I gave it some love last week – sanded, oiled, and sanded again – so I was keen to see if it felt good on a short paddle.

Although I’ve been using my new trolley regularly to get the kayak to the water, I have always left it on top of the groyne to pick up when I get back from the morning paddle. Today I strapped it to the back of my kayak. I also attached my deck bag to the front deck. With the extra clobber aboard there was the possibility that it would be harder to maintain a straight course in a crosswind. However, I completed a short 10km loop round Inchmickery from Granton without being deviated by a steady F3 north easterly.