The boat took to the water for the first time on Monday. Mrs D and I loaded it on the car top and early morning drove down to my favourite watering hole on the Wey at NewHaw lock. With some little difficulty we managed between us to get it up the short embankment to the lock entrance and launched it without further ado.
I took it for a short spin upstream solo just to get the feeling for it. I have to say that it handled rather well. It was light and responsive compared to the larger and heavier plastic tubs that I'm used to. But the paddling position is critical as paddled solo from the back seat without any weight up front, brings the bow out of the water and it becomes very susceptible to being blown off line by even the gentlest of winds. The best option in yesterday's conditions was definitely kneeling at the centre thwart.
After that short trip Mrs D also made her maiden voyage. She took up the forward position and that was enough to get the boat's nose down and settle the whole thing into the water which damped out a lot of the skittishness. It was quite a pleasure to operate two-up and we were soon coaxing it into travelling in straight lines instead of the zig-zag progress that I'm more familiar with. We covered well over two miles up to the Byfleet boat house and back without mishap, although I think the handling would benefit from lowering the seats another couple of inches as there is a definite feeling of being perched on top of, rather than in the body of.
It is a bit of a palaver roping it down and getting it off the car again on each trip, Yso after Monday's jaunt I left it clamped to the car overnight and took it into the club's Tuesday morning gathering. Once again I went solo and had a couple of hours on the local canal getting acquainted with its little foibles. It was rather more windy today and when paddled solo it can start to drift across the water's surface quite easily. Its handling is more predictable when its carrying a bit of a load.
Oh... and no leaks!
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