kit - the pitfalls of same

It's probably time to head off and start paddling. I find myself thinking too much about the coming trip and coming up with unlikely (and some likely) scenarios which i then start preparing for. Most of these - capsizing on a particularly cold day, dehydration, storm bound on an offshore island - seem to require me to buy more kit as a safety net. Perhaps i do need a long-john wetsuit. And a drinking pipe and bite-down valve for a water bottle, and a lot more food carrying potential and some paperback books. But perhaps i don't.

Today i bought stuff which i probably do need: towline and quick release belt, Imray chart from Old Head of Kinsale to Waterford Harbour, and a bailing pump. I didn't get the paddle i need, nor a new spray deck.