A Christmas Paddle

December had been a slow month, paddling-wise. There was the usual weather: wind, some snow... more wind, which provided us with a good excuse to stay in. Combined with doing some repairs to my usual boat, an Impex Diamante, this lapse in getting out got to be a habit. When I took my boat out to start the repairs, I put my Folbot Cooper together, but I haven't paddled it much, and taking an unfamiliar boat out into uncertain conditions... well, bla bla bla. Excuses.


Christmas day came along, and having no big plans this year, and having abandoned many of the other traditions associated with the holiday (those lights hung in the gallery window are "winter" lights) thought it would be nice to get out for a paddle. The weather cooperated, giving us some of the lighter winds we'd felt for a month.


The air temperature hovered around 30 degrees, while water temps are still up in the mid 40's- pretty decent paddling weather if you're dressed for it. The Folbot felt a bit strange, but it turned easily, and wasn't that much slower than Rebecca's Coho. It felt a little weird to have small waves pass beneath the membrane, like waves in a waterbed, but probably only because I'm unaccustomed to the skin on frame feel of these boats.

We paddled out around Steves and St. Helena Islands- not a big trek, but good just to get out there. And who knows, maybe we've started a new Christmas tradition.