A couple of weeks ago, I was a meant to provide some paddling fun on The Mere in Ellesmere for a birthday party. When it came to it, the wind was far too strong to enable anyone to have an enjoyable experience, so we were forced to postpone it.
So it was with a certain amount of frustration that I loaded all the boats on the trailer in torrential rain this morning. However, the weather forecast suggested that we might get a bit of a break, so we opted to go ahead anyway. As I arrived at The Mere a good hour before the boys were due to turn up, the rain was still hammering down and all the dog walkers seemed to be sheltering under the trees. However, before too long things were starting to brighten up and, by the time we were actually due to start, the sun was even out!
I actually did a canoeing party for Dylan last year, and this year he wanted to mix thing up a bit by having both canoes and kayaks so that they could jump between craft. So, after a few warm up antics on the wet grass bank, we got on the water in our various craft with some members of the group looking rather nervous and unstable. As normal, the kayakers took a little while to work out how to go forward rather than just spinning on the spot, but they got there in the end.
With the basics out of the way, it was time to start the games. It’s always interesting to see how the games go when you’ve got a mixture of boat types on the water, but the boys were great in accepting each others strengths and weaknesses and just enjoying themselves. We had a go at Instructor Ball, in which they scored points for hitting me – with maximum points for hitting me on the head. I was a bit concerned at just how much they seemed to enjoy this game! There was certainly a determination to hit the target.
Today was the first time that I tried out my Canoe See-Saw creation. Basically, it consists of a 12 foot plank secured across a canoe and uses the canoe itself as the fulcrum. As with all new ideas, you never quite know how much fun it’s going to be until you give it a go, but it went down a storm. Standing on the plank in the middle of the boat was the first challenge, followed by co-ordinating both people’s movement out towards then end on the plank. Once your there, it’s simply about trying to generate the rocking effect of a see-saw before you fall off!
From my point of view, it was a great afternoon in all respects. Thanks Dylan for inviting me along – Happy birthday!
