Kayak!

So again I said I wanted to buy a boat. Not like the big complicated ones, just a little dinghy to mess about in, on Langstone harbour etc where it's nice and safe, giving me the chance to use the word 'Rowlocks' in polite conversation and maybe go fishing. Grandad says that sailing in this country is like having a cold shower while tearing up £50 notes, and he should know, he won oodles of sailing trophies back in the 17th century, but that was in Lagos and Abu Dhabi, where the weather is more clement.
So Bud booked me a session at Portsmouth Watersports Centre to do 3 hours kayaking, worth £12 of anyone's money. We cycled up there once Jof had left us again to look after Nanna. There was even time to visit Anchorage Park swingpark and return Bobert's Manchester United jumper. At the watersports place I made friends with a lightly freckled girl who is just a couple of months older than me and we got the safety lecture and the 5 of us were issued with one orange kayak each!
Right next to the centre is the Tudor Sailing Club and we stuck out our tongues at the hoity toities that could afford to tear up all those £50 notes and we kayaked round the dredger unloading marine aggregates to the gravel company and spent hours playing games and paddling up and down. I capsized twice, the others much more because they were being silly. We actually went swimming as well, lucky we were all wearing wetsuits.
My technique was rubbish to start with, of course, but I got better and it was great but I did have to get towed back to port in the end due to extreme tiredness in the arms.
My reward for all this hard work was a slap-up porgathon at the Harvester on the Eastern Road and I couldn't even finish my ice cream, I was dangerously full.
It's really tough cycling back up the mountains on the Eastern Road when your legs are about to fall off but your bottom is saying 'you really really need the toilet..' I totally deserved my sofa. Later I had another bath fizzer night with extra spangly-glittery bath salts to soothe my poor tired muscles. Hey. I'm worth it.