Sue was suffering with her sprained ankle, a spectacular colour of red and purple from the bruising and reaction to freezer gel. Hardly able to walk when we arrived at Ambleside we decided to go for a paddle. The proprietor at Ambleside YHA seemed to label us as novice divots and was reluctant to let us out in a canoe without stabilisers. He sent us on our way in a sit on “bomb proof” twin kayak for a 2 hour hire. This allowed us to explore the 2 rivers that feed into the top of Windermere and a few of the bays at the north of the lake.
The paddling was fun. Sue in the front took the lead in steering. My job was to keep in synch with the paddles and apply some of the grunt to keep us moving.
It was good fun, we both enjoyed it but the seating was a stress on the back muscles. It did the ankle good – cold and wet with no stress.
Tags: Kayak, Windermere
