Itiwit 100 2/3 Places Inflatable Touring Kayak, First Impressions: Derwent Water, Lake District

We have no affiliation with Decathlon/Itiwit, the kayak and all its' accessories were bought by us for our pleasure The kayak and all accessories were purchased online from Decathlon, please check website for current prices. KAYAK: Itiwit 100 2/3 Places Inflatable Touring Kayak (comes with bag, seats and fins) ACCESSORIES; Itiwit double-action hand pump for kayaks 2x2.6l (comes with psi gauge), Itiwit 2-part adjustable symmetrical kayak paddles, Itiwit BA 50N+ Buoyancy Aids (life jackets), Subea aquashoes. We decided we wanted to try kayaking, no better place than the Lake District to make our maiden voyage. The stunning Derwent Water was our first choice, it is relatively safe, and there are lots of other water users around, which feels reassuring. You do not require a boating license but you can only launch from certain spots. I downloaded a map of Derwent Water with all the relevant information from the Lake District National Park website. The kayak is relatively quick and easy to inflate, taking less that 7/8 minutes, this will no doubt become quicker the more we do it. The pump was excellent, very easy to use and the already fitted pressure gauge worked as expected. We attached the fins, which comes with the kayak, to the bottom, they easily attach via a slider and pin mechanism. These help with the stability of the vessel and work great. We will not lie, it was a bit of an unusual feeling when we first set off, we are people who need to build up trust in animate objects 😁 but we soon started to get used to it. The raft is surprisingly stable and relatively easy to move along. We also found it was able to moved just as well with one person as it did with two. The paddles were great, because we had chosen the adjustable type we were able to alter them to suit us. The life jackets are a little bulky and not really made to fit women properly but we believe they are essential and we are sure we will get used to them. When we got back to the accommodation we unpacked the kayak, rinsed it, towel dried and left it outside with the bottom bladder separated, it took about 12/18 hours to dry completely. Oh, and we found out that we may have lost some pressure in the floor bladder because of the low temperature of the water. As totally novices we can recommend this kayak, easy to use and we honestly had heaps of fun, we were paddling about for hours and hours and looked forward to many more watery adventures. Thank you for being here, all the best, Ceri & Kat!   / teainvalhalla     / teainvalhalla