Now we're proper canoeists (well almost)

Andrew thought it would be a good idea if we went on a course. All those scary stories about big fishing boats creating big waves that could throw you into the water as they passed had made us slightly nervous. So one sunny Sunday morning we all lined up in front of our new instructor Leigh to begin a one day course in basic canoeing. We knew at some point this would involve leaving a perfectly 'upright' canoe and taking a 'swim' in the murky waters of Allerthorpe lake...
Leigh put us through our paces with words of wisdom and a thoroughly enjoyable day was had by all. More photos and videos at the bottom of this blog.

Ames demonstrates the technique for trying to paddle with one foot whilst Smith tries to free his paddle from sinking mud.

Bristowe demonstrates how to use a full size canadian canoe as a sail.

What the instructor affectionately referred to as the 'all in'. We wouldn't have thought it possible to recover from a situation like this however Leigh's confidence in us and his expert tuition worked as we managed to right all the boats and paddle them back to shore. Thanks Leigh!