Not sailing but out on the water!

Well for the last week I have been kayaking down the Thames, from the source to the sea - at least from the first navigable bit anyway.

Saturday 17th with the kayaks in the back of a white van, we drove to Cricklade, just the other side of Swindon, and were dropped off in a little car park to begin the adventure. At that point the Thames really is just a small stream a few inches deep. Never having been in a kayak before the first thing that became very obvious was how unstable they are! It wasn't very long before the inevitable happened and Paula hit a tree and capsized, dropping the camera in the process and filling the kayak up with water. By now the water was about 4' deep and luckily we managed to find the camera, which is waterproof so that was fine - however one of the dry bags leaked and money and phone was now dripping wet. Mobile phones don't like the water so that was the end of that one...
We paddled on to a pub for a drink and some food, and to dry off and warm up. An hour or so later we continued on our way, only to bump into four guys in two inflatable canoes looking for somewhere to camp for the weekend. They offered us some wine and we joined them as they made a fire, which helped us warm up some more. Rather surprisingly, two of them knew the owner of one of the kayaks we had borrowed - what a small world we live in!

After about 11 miles paddling we arrived at Lechlade and camped for the night. Arms and shoulders not feeling too bad, but we knew we had to push on more if we were to make Teddington by the end of the week.

Sunday was the Fairford airshow and on the river we had front row seats, with Tornado's, Vulcan bomber and a B52 all flying low overhead - fantastic. By now the river was getting wider and with less weed so we could paddle easier, however we were surprised that there was virtually no flow to the river. We were expecting a knot or two to help us along, but if we stopped paddling then we really did stop. This meant that we would have to paddle harder and push on for the next 150 miles.

Lots of wildlife and hundreds of swans kept us company as we made our way along, taking in the sights from the river. Wild camping when we could, or asking locals if there was nowhere obvious to pitch a tent. One evening as we paddled through Abingdon, I got chatting to a chap in the local sailing club (Abey sailing club) and he kindly offered to let us camp on the lawn in front of the club house. He also let us use the facilities there and we had our first shower for 5 days.

Determined to paddle all the way along the river, we decided to go through the locks, all 42 of them, rather than carry the kayaks around them. Each lock had it's own appeal with the keepers tending their gardens with care. Fabulous houses with immaculate lawns reaching down to the river - one wonders who actually owns such properties (and if they would be interested in sponsoring the People's Boat!)

Finally we made it through Teddington lock and onto the tidal section of the Thames, which proved to be not as daunting as we suspected. Timing now was critical as we had to make Putney before the tide turned, which in the end was not too difficult.

150 miles paddled in 7 1/2 days, averaging 20 miles a day. A great experience if you ever need one. A good challenge, but I felt if was a little less challenging than the 200 mile coast to coast walk we did last year.

Back now on the campaign trail, off to Cowes next week racing a Figaro, and talking to lots more sponsors.

A