A cold paddle on the Kennet and Avon canal.

We decided to hit the Kennet and Avon canal on the weekend for a bit of training, as once again the rivers are high! We parked up in Bathampton, and in heavy rain and a building wind, we headed out on to the canal.
I was the first to suffer from the cold as the rain was slowly but surely getting in to my wetsuit, and with the wind chill was making things decidedly colder. Definitely something to think about for the trip as although the weather will be warmer, if we get wet, things could cool off pretty quickly. So we are looking in to all sorts of options, including a drysuit!

Another problem we need to resolve is the footwear. Although again it will be warmer, your feet don't move much when paddling, so if they get wet or are in water at all, the temperature in your boots can drop quickly. So footwear is a tricky one. Drysuit would be a great option once again,  but april can be a funny month, we could be melting in them! So Sealskinz socks and a good pair of coasteering boots may be the final option?!

This short trip also gave us a chance to test out the GPS unit we would be using to track our journey. We need to have this working perfectly and work out the logistics, battery wise! So far so good, but we will keep testing this. You can see this trip here:

View ranger

Although we were left with many things to think about regarding what we are going to wear, the paddling side of things is coming on leaps and bounds. Confident we can cover the milage, and with improving paddle strokes, we could really enjoy the stunning backdrop of the Kennet and Avon canal.

I'm looking forward to getting on this canal in the spring and summer months!
Tristan Bawn