Against the wind...

It's a stormy day. At the coast wind is blowing up to 9 Bft WSW, and here in the inland it's also quit windy with 6-7 Bft. Fortunately the region around Woerden offers a lot of sheltered paddling possibilities. I had a appointment with Guus for a relaxed Sunday morning paddle. With this wind the route Woerden-Oudewater-Montfoort-Woerden is an attractive one: the Lange Linschoten and the Montfoortse Wetering are sheltered, paddling with the wind in the back on the Hollandse IJssel. Oudewater and Montfoort are cute little Dutch towns with a historic centre. A part of this kayak route is an official kayak route presented by the ANWB as a touristic day-trip, for locals it's a nice Sunday-morning exercise.
The surprise of the morning was that the passage of the Hollandse IJssel in Oudewater turned out to be blocked - due to Restoration work on the old lift-bridge.
As we didn't like to carry the kayaks a long way, we decided to change route and to paddle westwards on the Hollandse IJssel, to return to Woerden along the Dubbele Wiericke and the Oude Rijn. This meant a paddle full against the wind on the Hollandse IJssel and a fight against strong side-winds on the Wiericke. A perfect Sunday morning workout!

The Sunday-evening wasn't to bad either: coaching at the pool-session of Kayakclub Natsec in the pool in Maassluis. Perfect organisation by Patrick! Pictures of the pool session: click here.