Come paddle with us

Our little kayaks, Barca and Barco, have travelled a long way with us, been on many adventures and hopefully a lot more, so we thought we would tell you a little more about them.

We actually bought them before this years travels, but like most things in our lives back then, we could never really find the time to get out and use them. We had bought them as birthday presents to each other after we did a one day course near Southend on Sea. Yes that is right, we learned to Kayak in the Thames. It was actually more difficult than we thought, we had the waves to contend with and the tides, but also the wind kept pushing you in different directions. At the end, to graduate, we had to capsize the boat and swim to safety. Luckily it was summer, but even then the Thames isn’t exactly warm. I don’t know how Susana survived.

Well we liked it enough to buy the pair and all the associated stuff.

This was itself quite an arduous task. We did all the research before finding the ones we liked, but then we could only buy them online. They arrived at work, so I had to somehow drag them back home on my back. Although they are inflatable, they aren’t exactly light about 20kg each.

This was their first and only outing we managed before the trip. We spent the weekend in Cornwall and on the way back found a reservoir.

Cornwall May 2014

All the equipment was at that time new. The buoyancy aid needed a lot of adjustments, and as it is the UK a reasonably thick wetsuit.

Cornwall May 2014

But it has been on the trip where we have really got some value out of the kayaks.

This was down in Lulworth cove, where we had a lot of interest in them.

Lulworth cove, August 2014

Looking quite cool as always, in the Ray bans, but also a little nervous, how cold will that water be?

Lulworth cove, August 2014

At least my wetsuit colour co-ordinates with the boats, enough said.

Lulworth cove, August 2014

We have also taken them along rivers, a very sedentary journey, but I think we came to the conclusion that we seemed to much prefer the sea.

Wye Valley, August 2014

This was in Newquay, there is just more to look at, and all the activity of the waves is just a little more interesting.

Newquay September 2014, our anniversary.

It brings back a lot of memories seeing these again

Newquay September 2014, our anniversary.

And we have yet to combine the kayaking with the snorkelling, it has just been too cold, but hopefully soon.

Tintagel September 2014

Morgat, France, October 2014

Hondarriba, Spain October 2014

Hondarriba, Spain October 2014, where we tried fishing

So we have really enjoyed the kayaks and they seem to be made well, and so far, we have had no problems with them, so we thought we would tell you a little more about them.

They are an American brand- Advanced Elements and the model we have is the Sport.

We particularly liked these because of the robust construction. The inflatable bladders are inserted into a fabric outer, so far we have had no leaks, and they have been dragged across plenty of stones.

The main competitor to these is sold by Decathlon and is called Sevylor , we also found one with a really nice integrated back pack, but these didn’t look as robust.

They are really easy to inflate.

The main chamber takes less than two minutes to pump up. There are only three other chambers which take less than a minute each.

With the kayaks we bought the advanced element pump, which is really quick, it inflates on both the up stroke and the down stroke and you can flip it around to deflate them as well.

It comes with a pressure gauge to prevent you putting in too much air

There they are all ready for water. So each kayak takes less than ten minutes to put together.

They are light enough so that we can carry both of them, the paddles, buoyancy aids and other stuff we need between the two of us.

They do tend to get a little water sand and other debris in them that is quite difficult to remove.

You can also not attach a kayaking skirt to these. For that you need to get the non-sport version, a little bit bigger.

In the water they are really easy to paddle and steer, very stable, but not that quick, I would imagine.

The seat is adjustable and reasonably comfortable, but then we only tend to use them for two to three hours at a time

Storage behind the seat, but there are also areas where you can tie stuff on.

They actually take a little longer to deflate, and you have to allow drying and cleaning time. They deflate quickly and you can give them a helping hand with the pump.

 

       

We actually bought a lot of the residual stuff at decathlon; paddles and buoyancy aides. Wetsuits were second hand off of ebay, but gloves and boots also at decathlon.

The back pack kayak was the Sevylor Quikpak K5, quite difficult to get in the UK.

Happy paddling.

 

GDR and Susu