I’ll be starting my journey on May 5th, a Monday bank holiday. As today is also a bank holiday it seemed like a good day to test out the portage from my home to the canal – a distance of about 1 mile through the normally busy West End of Edinburgh.
I had prepared the kayak last night and it was sitting on the trolley in the garage ready to go, so I didn’t need to get up too early. I headed off at 6am with the trolley making a little more noise on the cobbles than I would have liked. Once round the first corner on to the pavement it quietened down and the rest of the walk to the canal went without incident. The few early runners and dog walkers around at that time didn’t bat an eyelid at the sight of a kayak being pulled through town.
The kayak was only lighted loaded with the few things I needed for a three hour paddle, but I’m fairly confident the route I’ve chosen will still be manageable with a fully loaded kayak.
I was hoping to be on the water by 7am so was pleasantly surprised to be fifteen minutes early when I took the first paddle stroke.
With no wind or rain I decided to forgo a cag and it felt good to be paddling along unrestricted in just a t-shirt and buoyancy aid. I’ve paddled on the Union Canal a few times but this is my first outing on this section through Edinburgh. It’s all familiar territory though as I’ve cycled it often and ran the tow path regularly when training for my one and only marathon in 2017.
The three hour paddle went without incident until I approached Broxburn. I’d encountered a few swans throughout the morning and they’d mostly ignored me or got a little upset before turning as I got alongside them. The one in Broxburn had a different attitude. It took a very aggressive posture as I came up behind it but then appeared to accept the fact that I was going faster and slowed down as I went past. However, once I was twenty yards ahead I heard its wings beating and as I glanced behind it was heading straight towards me. I pointed the end of my paddle at it and it sunk down on the water just a metre away. I paddled on but the swan decided I was still infringing on its territory and it chased me a second time. This continued for a good few hundred metres before it finally felt it had chased me far enough away. I just hope it’s in a better mood in two weeks’ time… or will all the swans be grumpy by then!?
I finished the paddle in the rain and was thankful to see Wendy with the car at the prearranged meeting point.
One Man And His Boat 