A beautiful day

Guus in Stipyaks Kajett, testing the Brasca I wing paddle, Oude Rijn, Nieuwerbrug.

Saturday, February 3.:
Spring is in the air! Blue sky, sunshine, moderate temperature, no wind. This morning Janine went running and I took my racebike for a 60 km-ride. It was the first occasion to use the new sports-sunglasses I bought some weeks ago (a very special pair of glasses -> I will write a post about that later).
Biking in the "Groene Hart" between Woerden, Alphen aan den Rijn and Gouda, is biking along water: de Oude Rijn, de Gouwe, de Meije, de Nieuwkoopse Plassen, de ReeuwijksePlassen. Biking is perfect for rambling your mind. And so I wondered: "where are the paddlers?" It was crowded with bikers, hikers, skaters(skeelers), rowers, everybody was outdoor-sporting, but the only paddler I met was Guus (testing my Brasca wing paddle -> I will write a post about testing paddles later...).
The difference between the boat houses of the rowers and the paddlers around here: always a lively and busy atmosphere at the rowing clubs, closed gates and fences and no one present at of the kayak-clubs. Why?
Perhaps because the kayakers load their boats early in the morning on the trailers to go out at sea? I hope so, but I am afraid that's only a very small minority... I suppose the real reason is the average paddler doesn't look upon paddling as a sport. Unlike the rowers the kayakers don't feel the urge to go out training. Most people look upon kayaking as a leisure activity for warm summer-days... They are so wrong... Why wasn't I kayaking myself?

This beautiful day had also a dark side;
1. My beloved Sony DSC U 60 underwater-camera stopped working! The CCD only produces dark pictures and films....
2. The Video player has eaten "This Is The Sea (TITS) I". Exactly the piece of tape with the shot where I pass by Justine's camera got strangled around the internal-mechanics of the player. The video-player is getting personal ;-(

The end of TITS 1 tape is a pity, but will be forgotten soon when the DVD with TITS 3 arrives (although there is no Hans in TITS 3, but you won't have noticed me in the first part anyhow!). The end of the Sony is more dramatic, there still isn't any new waterproof digicam that comes near to my little Sony!