Interlude: The white cliffs of Dover

I recently came across this quote from the famous novel The Wind in the Willows: Believe me, my young friend, there is nothing – absolutely nothing – half so much worth doing as simply messing about in boats.

I could not agree more, and that’s why my Favourite Son and I booked ourselves into a few days of boating last weekend: We started off with two days of kayaking in Devon, and finished with a day of zodiac boat driving in the Netherlands. It was pretty much a road trip as much as a sea adventure, as it took us 14 hours of driving to get ourselves to Devon, and another 15 hours of driving to get from there to the Netherlands. But as far as messing about in boats is concerned, it’s worth every mile of driving.

I hadn’t been to the UK in years and had quite forgotten how beautiful a country it is. Also, how good fish’n chips are. We were starving when we got off the ferry, and our first destination was a local „chippy“ by the dock in Folkestone. We sat outside in the October sun, on a bench overlooking a small dock, and took in the scenery while thoroughly enjoying the delicious food.

From there, we travelled all the way to the Southeast of England, for our two-day private paddling course with Sea Kayak Devon . After two days in kayaks, paddling against strong winds and rain, we set off towards the Dutch coast for a day of zodiac boat training with Katinka from RIB School Scheveningen in much better weather, before heading back home.

A couple of days on the water cleared our minds and refreshed our souls. We soaked in the salty air, the October sun, the sight of rain thrashing into the water and the sound of waves crashing onto rocky beaches. There’s actually only one problem with these kinds of experiences: They’re addictive. So here we are, back at home, far from the next ocean, the next sandy beach and the next fish’n chips place, contemplating ways of getting ourselves back to the seaside, back into a boat or kayak, and back to a decent chippy as quickly as possible.