TonyR:I can't apologise for the wind, but I can acknowledge in retrospect the mistake of casting the AM team as the
fast team and the PM as
slower. I was pre-occupied by the need to get the AM team to run ON-TIME. In the event, we were actually an hour early ! So a lesson learned for next time is to balance the teams more evenly.
Or don't go so far: Paddling 40K in 6 hours is anyway a little ambitious (averaging 9 mins/km) so Gravesend and back is probably the upper limit of what can be done in a day, using this method. The F3/4 winds we had were probably also close to the point where we should cancel. This is supposed to be fun, after all !
Good points Tony. Wind and tide - clearly there are times when the wind can overcome any tide advantage - and wind versus tide creates challenging conditions - so the answer may be to be able to swap fast and medium fast teams at short notice depending on the wind. Is the ebb tide faster than the flood tide - given additional force by going downhill slightly?
I'm up for a Richmond trip, but maybe another Gravesend trip too, taking into account what we have learned from this one - minimum 6 paddlers required. Thanks again!
O London, see
Swelling with naval pride, the pride of thee!
Wide, deep, unsullied Thames, meandering glides,
and bears thy wealth on mild majestic tides.