bunn: (Skagos)
[personal profile] bunn



We'd been vaguely thinking of acquiring a canoe for years, and since Pp's Shop on the Borderlands has had a good few months, he decided that this was the moment.  He has named her Queen Emma (after the wife of King Canute.  (Because obviously a boat should be feminine, and a canoe is almost a Canute.... :-D )

 Yesterday evening we took her out for its first test on the river. We knew it was going to be a good trip when we saw a kingfisher almost straight away, although no photos of that because I wasn't keen to risk my camera on our first outing, and also because my camera is not fixed yet (although I have ordered the broken bit, so have fingers crossed I manage to fit it OK).  Here are a couple more phonesnaps:

Coming up to Calstock viaduct at almost high tide.

It was such a lovely evening that we ended up going upriver a bit further than intended.  There were huge clouds of swallows swirling over the river when we were past Calstock, just as the sun was going down.  We turned with the tide, at 8:40pm,  and so as we were about an hour upstream (it's not a very fast canoe, and we aren't all that practiced with it yet!) it was a bit dark by the time we got back to the quay.

Possibly, getting the canoe back on top of the car would have been easier in daylight, and  so would our first-ever landing!  But we managed it in the end without falling in, and with no obvious bits having got knocked off either car or canoe, so in the end it was all right.


Date: 2016-08-06 08:39 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] heartofoshun.livejournal.com
Breathtaking! So jealous of you. Here's a toast to many lovely hours in the canoe and lots of photos to share!

Date: 2016-08-07 03:49 pm (UTC)
ext_189645: (Default)
From: [identity profile] bunn.livejournal.com
Thank you! Quite excited about exploring all the rivers!

Date: 2016-08-06 09:15 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] diejacobsleiter.livejournal.com
Photo number 2 is a masterpiece.

Date: 2016-08-07 03:52 pm (UTC)
ext_189645: (Default)
From: [identity profile] bunn.livejournal.com
Thank you! The little phone camera does manage quite a nice job on landscapes with the right light. It seems to like canoeing!

Date: 2016-08-07 04:16 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] diejacobsleiter.livejournal.com
Who wouldn't? If I were a camera in a canoe, I would do a nice job too. Providing the right light, of course...

Date: 2016-08-06 09:18 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] apel.livejournal.com
Wonderful photos. The water looks so calm.

Date: 2016-08-07 03:53 pm (UTC)
ext_189645: (Default)
From: [identity profile] bunn.livejournal.com
Glad you liked them! It was nearly high tide (a long way inland too) and very still - lovely reflection weather!

Date: 2016-08-06 09:25 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] topum.livejournal.com
What a great way to spend the evening. Your photos are super atmospheric as usual.

Date: 2016-08-07 03:55 pm (UTC)
ext_189645: (Default)
From: [identity profile] bunn.livejournal.com
Thanks! My phone camera can be a bit hit-or-miss, but it seemed to like canoeing. Wait for the inevitable post when I manage to drop it into the drink though...

Date: 2016-08-06 10:17 pm (UTC)
chainmailmaiden: (Mail)
From: [personal profile] chainmailmaiden
That looks like brilliant fun! Very jealous!

Date: 2016-08-07 04:11 pm (UTC)
ext_189645: (Default)
From: [identity profile] bunn.livejournal.com
Well, you are very welcome to take her out for a paddle next time you are visiting! We went from Cotehele, we thought it would be quieter launching for the first time there than Calstock, but you can launch from the slip by the ice-cream shop in Calstock too, apparently. ;-)

Date: 2016-08-09 09:27 pm (UTC)
chainmailmaiden: (Mail)
From: [personal profile] chainmailmaiden
:-) Thank you, I'd really like that, especially if there are more opportunities for that yummy ice cream too!

Date: 2016-08-06 10:47 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] sayuri2023.livejournal.com
Beautiful photographs!!!!

Date: 2016-08-07 03:57 pm (UTC)
ext_189645: (Default)
From: [identity profile] bunn.livejournal.com
Thank you!

Date: 2016-08-07 04:50 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] timetiger.livejournal.com
I like both photos, but I particularly like the way the first one is kaleidoscopy and Rorschachy.

Date: 2016-08-07 04:00 pm (UTC)
ext_189645: (Default)
From: [identity profile] bunn.livejournal.com
None of these being deliberate, since we had not gone very far at that point so I was mostly concerned with 'how stable is this thing? Can I turn around...?' at that point :-D

Date: 2016-08-07 05:01 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] timetiger.livejournal.com
I like both photos, but I particularly like the way the first one is kaleidoscopy and Rorschachy.

Date: 2016-08-07 10:00 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] ladyofastolat.livejournal.com
Lovely photos! But I can't help but think that you're asking for trouble by using an icon depicting a roleplaying party that rolled 1s for almost every boat-related skill check they ever had to do.(Except the one involving diplomatic fish, of course, but that doesn't seem too relevant to your situation.)

Date: 2016-08-07 04:03 pm (UTC)
ext_189645: (Wonderous Radish)
From: [identity profile] bunn.livejournal.com
I did consider this matter, but decided in the end that it was probably safe since I was only reporting on something that had already happened. I don't think even the Dice of One-ness could reroll an already-happened event. But I may choose a different icon if I decide to post something along the lines of 'And we are going canoeing tomorrow'. Just in case...

Maybe this one, celebrating the fortuitous marvel of my home-grown radish :-D

Date: 2016-08-07 11:15 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] puddleshark.livejournal.com
Fabulous photos! What a perfect way to see Calstock...

Date: 2016-08-07 04:12 pm (UTC)
ext_189645: (Logres)
From: [identity profile] bunn.livejournal.com
It would have been more peaceful if Calstock had not been having a Biker Festival that evening, but it's surprising how the steep hills cut out the sound of the music, we could really only hear it when we were right next to it.

Date: 2016-08-08 10:23 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] the-marquis.livejournal.com
Great photos and good to see Pp has got his canoe.

Date: 2016-08-17 09:47 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] jane-somebody.livejournal.com
Please tell [livejournal.com profile] philmophlegm that I very much approve of the name! Puns aside, Emma of Normandy is an excellent namesake for a canoe, since she steered neatly against adverse tides, keeping herself and those who depended on her (her sons by Aethelred) safe when others in the same situation might well have foundered :-)

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