kayak trip preparations

There is a stiff wind blowing here in Cork, and that's inland. Forecast is for a bit more, even a lot more, stiffness over the weekend. So i am going down to West Cork, confident that my kayak is still sitting/lying on the quay where left some nine months ago and ready to go. I can't recall where i left the paddles; i think - just think - in some bushes behind a tree in a nearby garden. They may still be there. That indeed may be where they actually are.

If all this comes together then it's into the water for a couple of days of seeing if i remember how to do this this kayaking lark. Nothing like a hard wind for testing reality on the water.

Before then i have to remember what kit actually needed for kayaking - it's been that long since i was out fooling around with paddles and such. The last arse on water experience was after dark on a cold and stormy November night in Stockholm harbour with a bunch of rather good Swedish seakayakers. Even they thought that the force 10 gusts when we hid from the worst of the force behind an island in pitch darkness were testing. I was in a double with a - happily - competent guy up forward, whilst i tried those asymetrical, crank-shafted paddles that are so counter-intuitive.

If all this makes it sound like i'm not the best bet for a round-anywhere trip let alone around Ireland, i hope to prove you and - more importantly, in many ways - me wrong.