According to the membership list, my boat is a GP14 and sailing in Cardigan Bay — No. 3258 — built about 1952.

However, I also have two canoes, or a canoe and a sea kayak to be exact. I spend quite a lot of time in these and hoped that no one would find out that I spend more time at some periods of the year in the canoes on the estuaries than in the dinghy — the reason for my being a member of the Dinghy Cruising Association!

So I was very pleased to read in the new membership list — “No. 1116 Appleby D — Canoes — Cardigan Bay”!! And also “No. 410 Kirk TWL — 17’ cruiser and canoe”!

I suppose that this is what membership is all about really, not only that we shall find out about each other’s dinghy habits and habitats, but also about those other cravings.

Obviously I shall be contacting both these people, and hope to meet up particularly with Appleby D as he uses the same water.

I have begun planning a sea kayak trip from Aberystwyth to Cardigan via Aberaeron and Llangranog as stopping-off places; having a day’s rest in Cardigan, and then returning, taking a leisurely week for the project — May or June. I was hoping to do this and not meet any member en route and feel a cheat.

I know that canoeing cannot take the place of sailing — in fact one of my friends who knows my love for taking a canoe into the very small creeks and rivers of Cardigan Bay said, “If you don’t get under those sheets again you’ll be suffering from withdrawal symptoms!”

Quite seriously, I sometimes find it useful to take a kayak and explore the possibilities of taking the GP, and doing a reconnaissance to see the lie of the ground, etc.

So now that I’ve owned-up to my double life, I might as well say a few things that might be of interest at this time of the year (January) before we all get back to the water.

About 12 years ago my son persuaded me to help him build a stitched plywood canoe. This was done satisfactorily, and he had great fun in the waves off Tywyn and Aberdovey — ‘Waverider’ it was called in the plans, so he being a stickler for detail, that’s what it had to be. Soon afterwards his friend, who had an old canvas-covered two-seater, was moving away and just gave us the thing — a PBK 15’ open cockpit job. So I took it out on the river here (Severn, 20 miles from its source) and got the bug. I re-covered it with reinforced PVC fabric and put on a deck of 1000 gauge polythene! That’s the nearest material available locally. So I ventured further and eventually found myself doing a project of canoeing the seven main river estuaries of Wales and writing a book about them. I have just the Conwy and the Camarthen left to do. I had a wonderful time last July for 5 days in the Milford Haven and its tributaries.

On holiday the previous year I did Southampton Water and Poole Harbour. However, in waves 4’ high it felt like being in the front end of a flail as we bashed our way to Brownsea Island.

Then I met a friend who was a sea kayakist. I did not know it at the time of meeting — he was interested in mountaineering and called into my office at Machynlleth (10 miles inland from Aberdovey) and asked if I was interested, to which I replied, “No, I’d rather take a leisurely paddle across Tal-y-llyn Lake and look up at you!” That started it. “Paddle?”, “Yes,” etc, etc. Now I have the right boat — an Icefloe, a 17’, fast, deep sea expedition kayak. The wave-bashing has changed to smooth, satisfying slicing into six footers.

I suppose one reason for holding on to my canoes is that they are a very convenient (in two senses) excuse to take to the water at short notice, and in not so convenient places. In fact, when we were recently talking of going to Israel for a holiday next October I said, quite innocently of course, “How much personal luggage are we allowed?” — up went the cry, “You can’t canoe in the Red Sea!”

I’d better not go on or else there’ll be nothing left for my book, although having had three refusals from publishers, I may have to make it into a serial for the DCA Newsletter.