A slalom canoe does not like going in a straight line

not good at going fast in a straight line; that's why its called a slalom canoe....

To get in some extra practise, without taking out the large double, which requires a crew of 2, I borrowed a lighter, smaller, and infinitely more unstable slalom canoe.

A slalom canoe - Perception Reflex Club

It has a complete flat and smooth bottom (dont know what the correct canoe-speak is).

At 12kg and 3.5m it has the advantages of being able to be carried by one person, but it is one of those things where it does what it says on the tin "it is a slalom canoe". It does not like going fast in a straight line, but it can spin on a sixpence.

It has been a good getting in a number of sessions trying to get to grips with the steering and stability.

For example, the moment you stop peddling, it does a 180degree turn, so a constant forward pulling force is required.

The impact of all of this instability is that a lot of effort is spent correcting it, so the straight line speed is affected, and I did not manage to go any faster than 4-7mph with lots of stops and starts, compared with a smooth 5-8mph in the double. Have a look at the profile and details of the trip here.

Getting wet for the first time

But trying getting out of it is another story. On the first trip I went from Newtown harcourt to Saddington tunnel, which means negotiating a total of 6 locks each way. All but one time getting out of the canoe was fine. Just about had my legs out of the canoe, ready to get onto the wall, and lost my balance. Fortunately the water was not cold, but they could have scooped out the mud on the bottom of the canal. Very mushy indeed.

Only a few more weeks until we do the big trip. Tomorrow I will do another practise in the double on the Coventry canal.