Macclesfield Canal - 31st August 2014

One hour paddle on the canal, mainly to see how my elbow is behaving. Still hurts quite a it, so didn't push it. :(

Portland Harbour and the Fleet - 18th August 2014

Launched from Sandsfoot beach and paddled over towards Ferry Bridge and into the Fleet. The strong NW wind slowed me down somewhat, and I decided to have a look at the fishermen's huts on the Chesil side. I've seen these huts many times from the water, or from the coast path on the mainland, but never up close. They vary from ramshackle to plush...

Looking up the Fleet towards the bridging camp

Huts on Chesil

I got back in my boat and headed back towards Portland Harbour, this time with the wind and small waves on my back making progress easy. I turned right and headed over towards the Olympic centre and came across a kitesurfer in a spot of bother - his kite strings had broken, and so had his safety leash to his board. He was trying to swim back to the beach, but was making no real progress, so I towed him over to the breakwater by the Olympic centre. No sign of his board though... must have ended up over in the old naval base somewhere - hope he gets it back! After dropping him off I crossed the harbour into the wind and waves to return to Sandsfoot. On the water for about 90 minutes.

Portland Harbour - 17th August 2014

Half hour session with the boys in Portland harbour, short paddle around and I tried a few rolls. Right hand roll fine (see video), left hand roll needs some work! - all photo/video acknowledgements to Nancy.

Taking a breather

The boys and Roxy

Macclesfield Canal - 14th August 2014

The August round of the club Hare and Hounds - and I came in third again!... that's 6 third places in a row now. Managed another PB though, so my time is down to 38:10, which will not help the handicap at all!

Macclesfield Canal - 10th August 2014

Hour long session on the canal paddling the Tor, 8.6km paddled, average speed 9.2kph. Had to wait about 15-20 minutes in the boathouse waiting for a heavy storm to pass over... if I had set off 5 minutes earlier I would have been drenched!

Macclesfield Canal - 4th August 2014

Steady 8.6km in just over an hour leading a couple of Macclesfield club paddlers on the monday night session, then a more lively extra 3km with Graham.

Trentham Hasler Race - 3rd August 2014

A sunny, but slightly windy day made the Trentham marathon meeting a very pleasant day out. I entered the Div 7 race over 4 miles (although in theory I'm in Div 9). After a bit of a slow start managed to get into second place and on the last turn opened up a small gap to avoid the need for a sprint finish. Over a minute behind the winner though (I finished in 39:31, winner's time was 38:10), he was promoted to Div 6, I was promoted to Div 7 justifying the decision to put me in that division on the day, missing out on promotion to Div 6 by 21 seconds.

My trusty steed

Andrew Millest takes a wide turn

John Kavanagh gets an inside line

Trentham Lake