The 1st of July was the day that the OPIGlets went kayaking!

Brennan very kindly offered to guide a kayaking session from the Oxford University Canoeing and Kayaking Club (OUCKC). There was great uptake from the group, with 10 members joining for a paddle.

The first task was to find a kayak long enough for Jack’s legs. Once he managed to wedge himself in to the largest kayak available, we moved onto being pushed down the ramp one by one, hoping that this would not lead to an immediate capsize.

We were then shown how to paddle in a straight line. Although not something that most of us had anticipated to be a huge challenge, it turned out to be quite difficult and we spent a good ten minutes spinning around until we managed to make any progress in any particular direction.

Once we had figured this out and had a few near-misses with stationary boats under our belts, Brennan showed us down a side stream of the Thames towards the Oxford Canal. While this was quite narrow due to the substantial vegetation in the river, this did not stop us from spinning and bumping our way downstream (my very wiggly Strava GPS is shown below as evidence). After ducking our way through some low bridges, we ended up back on the main channel of the Thames.

From there we all made it back to the boat shed without capsizing or getting totally soaked, a great accomplishment! An excellent afternoon out for all who joined – thanks go to Brennan for organising and leading!