26 Kayaking
Portland Harbour, Dorset
Enjoyment - 45%
Success - 80%
Will try again - Yes
First timer’s recommendation – wear swim shorts and flip flops if you don't want to wear full waterproof gear, and take a motor in case you need to rescue anyone
We had a weekend in a caravan booked for the end of June, staying in the same Haven holiday park as I had stayed at with the family back in 1994. It hadn’t changed much. Nearby is Portland Harbour, venue for the sailing and windsurfing events at the 2012 Olympics, and it was easy to see why. The harbour is an enclosed bay where motorised boats are rare and it offers the perfect conditions for beginners as well as experts in a whole range of watersports including the Olympic events as well as stand up paddleboarding and kayaking. On the advice of my physio, I wanted to keep away from any impact sports which could set my ankle recovery back any further (see weeks 23 and 24). Kayaking seemed the straightforward choice, or so I thought.
I hired a kayak from Weymouth Watersports, with no fuss at all, and set off. After paddling along the shore for about 10 minutes, I noticed someone swimming in the harbour, clutching a board and what looked like a windsurf sail. He waved at me so I paddled over. It turned out his sail had split and couldn’t be fixed, so he was trying to swim to shore, against the wind whilst dragging his sail, and wasn’t going anywhere. I said I would help so he fixed the sail to the back of the kayak and proceeded to swim to shore on his board, with me following. If you have ever seen amercian footballers do their resistance training where they run with a kite behind them, that was what the next ten minutes was like, only with the tide to contend with as well. It felt like an hour of paddling directly to shore, whilst dragging a huge broken sail behind me, which as we got closer started to drag aloong the bottom of the harbour. I eventually made it and was pretty exhausted, so spent the next half an hour paddling round the boats in the harbour, including a catamaran that looked like the one Kevin Costner sails in Waterworld.
I would say that kayaking would be more enjoyable if doing it as part of an expedition, maybe down a river in a group, taking your stuff with you. I think this would be more rewarding than just going round a harbour, although my trip ended up being more eventful than planned. I would definitely go back to try off stando-up paddle boarding and windsurfing as it is an ideal location, with reasonably-priced activities and Weymouth itself has a lot to offer. It hasn’t got the faded glory of other seaside towns such as Blackpool, Margate or Weston Super Mare, but it hasn’t been taken over by shops selling ‘to the beach’ plaques and VW campervan mugs either.