New toy :)

Desparation is a terrible thing! I picked up my new Diesel 70 on Friday, and despite it being one of the coldest weeks all year I just had to get it out on the water over the weekend. Unfortunately there wasn't much water anywhere, mostly just snow and ice. Brr!

Having settled on the Castleconnel section of the Shannon as one of few places with water, and persuaded some other poor misfortunates to come with me, we then had to spend a while taking ice off our gear. I'd left my booties in the car overnight, and they were crunchy when I took them out - nice! For once I was glad of my gloves too.

First impressions of the Diesel 70 are good. It feels bigger than my old Diesel 65, the nose especially, but I'm sure that'll just take a bit of getting used to.

As you can see from the photos, water levels weren't huge. I was still able to give the new toy a spin though, catching eddies, ferry gliding, surfing small waves all no problem. It also rolls easily, though I only tried that one once - once was enough!

Can't wait to get it out on a bigger river now, hopefully all this ice turns into water soon! :)