It's Here.

 On Thursday March 9th. a large box was delivered to me from the Ukraine - a Neris Smart-1 single-seat kayak.  Despite all the terrible things that are happening in their country the Neris factory has managed to maintain some production of kayaks.  The Ukrainians are very determined people. 

My kayak was already well travelled by the time it reached me.  From the factory near Kyiv it travelled to Prague (CZ).  After visiting a couple of delivery company depots near Prague it went to a depot in the Netherlands, then to a depot near Barcelona, then to a depot in Almeria and finally to me.  It may even have flown one leg of its journey - tracking showed only a few hours between the depots in the Netherlands and Barcelona, and both were near airports.

For more details of this kayak see the My Kayaks and My Kayaks Photo Gallery pages of this blog site.

First trial paddle was on Sunday March 12th. at Punta Parda, where the sheltered bay was ideal for getting used to a new kayak.  After a few circuits of the bay I felt comfortable enough in this kayak to venture to open water.  

Punta Parda, as seen from this new kayak.  It's going to take some time to get used to having a lot more space around me than in the little Twist I normally bring here.

Time on the water for this trial paddle was 1½ hrs. and distance covered was 5 kilometres.

Second trial paddle was on Saturday March 18th. at the same place.  This time it was a totally different trip for me.  Until now I had only ever paddled on my own but this time I had James with me.  He was in The Twist while I paddled The Smart One - father and son kayaking together.

Nearly ready to go afloat.

James at sea in The Twist.

Because I've always kayaked on my own, and I don't 'do' selfies, I've never seen what I might look like in this kayak.  It was reassuring to see that an adult in this little kayak looked O.K. - and not ridiculous!

In fact The Twist looks bigger than it feels.  It suited James - as did the hat!

And I thought my new kayak suited me - as did my matching hat.

James was able to confirm that I had the seat in the right position for a level trim on the water.  Without him I couldn't be certain I had got it right first time.       

Another rare picture (because I don't 'do' selfies) of me in one of my kayaks.

So far this new kayak has exceeded expectations.  It weighs less than expected - so I can carry it quite a way without needing a trolley.  It assembles quickly and easily, it handles well and it has a nice comfortable seat.  I anticipate being able to paddle much longer distances on the sea than was possible with The Twist.

Should The Twist eventually become redundant I think I know someone who would like it!

Nothing very adventurous about this trip.   After a few circuits of the bay, for both of us to get comfortable with our kayaks, we headed out to open water and visited both the other bays, on opposite sides of thew headland.  Time on the water was about 1½ hours.