Safe to say… Not in it to win it

Yes like Lawler and Brown, Murr and Yeomans are not in it to win it. Unlike Lawler and Brown we are not attempting to break the record. This is very much on the basis that some things are best left well alone, and why break it anyway. We would however very much like to finish […]

It

is tough being a racing machine. The early morning outings. The early nights. The abstinence from all things pleasurable. Beaujolais is beginning to feel the pressure. An average of 14 km plus paddled over the last 3 days in varying conditions. Of the my fellow paddle in arms.. paddlers, only Pike has managed to make […]

Win

After an enjoyable evening with that long forgotten Buccaneer “Tenacious D” in the sublime “Royal Bar” on the waterfront at Helensburgh, Beaujolais woke this morning at 04:30. The plan was to paddle with “Bubbles” who paddles a Perception Fusion. However 1) due to the Rear of the DW K2 (Antony) advice reference over training, 2)the […]

To

The mother of all hang overs this morning- all part of my adversity training for the dark hours on the Thames in what is now a very few weekends time. Was supposed to swim this morning with Pike, but through a devious escape and evasion plan managed to avoid it like the plague. Instead lay […]

It

Woken up again at an un Godly hour by Private Pike. 05:30 on a Saturday morning when you only returned home 4 hours before is not good for Beaujolais’s health. By 06:30 found myself on the canal Bowling, once again in the C Max- actually regretting the previous TFI Friday grog session. Even worse Cortisone […]

In

Good to read Antony is training hard down in Shropshire. As the Pilot in the front of the boat, I tend to think of the rear of the boat as the engine room. As the wonderful Puffer Skipper, Para Handy (another mariner not adverse to alcoholic beverages, would say to his hapless engine room….. “Mair […]

Not

Another paddle from Bowling this morning in the C Max K1. Bowling to Dalmuir and back twice. A total of 16km, 4 portages, 4 very low bridges, 16 reed beds (across the canal to be negotiated),a few angry swans, and not least a number of charming old dears who wished to discuss the meaning of […]

Andy takes the plunge

A beautiful day in Scotland on Monday. Paddled the canal at Bowling that morning. Becoming a little more comfortable in the C Max (yes the greater Scratched C Max Antony- I sense a rebuke from the back of the boat). Even at those places at which fallen trees and reeds blocked the canal and at […]

Sharpening the Pencil

With less than 30 real training days left to go before this years DW, Beaujolais has decided he had better get his finger out and do some paddling. So far this week I have managed 2 outings of 75 minutes each. Having left my usual paddle at Antony’s ( I very much hope the borrowers […]