I have decided to put up some quick FAQ / Tips pages for Colorado owners so that they can skip some of the silly mistakes I did

Main index is here :  http://da.mned.co.uk/colorado-quick-start-howto/

Done:

• Inflating Tips 25/10/2008
• Deflating Tips 26/10/2008

To be added:

• Skegs
• Getting in/out easily
• Paddles
• Speed vs Hardshells
• Clothing
• Suppliers
• Handy sites

Yesterday I  went out for a trip on the Severn with Dave and Alan from SoTP.  Was good fun

Our put in point was at Hampton Lode, there used to be a ferry over the river there until last year when it was washed away in the same rains that did for the SVR :(    Our take out point was at Arley which is approx 4.7 miles down river.

The river was a little, erm,  frisky :)  It was estimated that it was about 8 feet higher than normal and there was a lot of debris in the river.   Dave estimated that last time he did this trip it took him about 3 hours ish.  Due to the strong current we flew down it in about 1.5 hours

Damn good fun :)  Landed at Arley for a cup of tea and a bacon sandwich in the tea rooms

One thing that puzzled me with the bacon sandwich was that for some reason it was served with a small stack (about 5) plain pringles.  This did baffle me somewhat but at least it was not grated carrot

Discovered in the kitchen, this is number two, number one got squished after it bit/stung.

It has two wings, they are translucent with a slight smoky band across them.

What am I?

Edit : Ok seriously impressed, posted it on : http://www.wildaboutbritain.co.uk/forums/insects/23791-wasp-ant-bug-help-please.html

Within 3 mins one of the members has possibly identified it as a spider hunting wasp, this was one of the possibilities for the one that got squished last night, googling for the specific variety suggested show pictures which look a bit like it, if it is one then I still suspect it is a juvenile and not fully grown, hence why it is walking everywhere and not flying around the glass

Right going to have another crack at putting stuff on here as I come across it.

TBH I only planned on this as just a dump for problems I come across that was indexed by search engines but I was busy with stuff and stopped putting stuff up.

Actually it was the fact that someone posted a comment on what I had thrown up last year had helped him has made me decide to try and get back into this

The lovely Severn Vally Railway is in a bit of a state due to a spot of inclement weather in the UK. Give give give, they do a fantastic job and bring lots of money to the Severn Valley and now they need your help.

I love the SVR it is run by people who really care about it and the shocking floods we have had over the last couple of weeks have caused an immense amount of damage with track being left in mid air with no ground supporting it.

Show them some love

For my bit (hic) I staffed the beer tent at this weeks gala/fundraiser, which was yesterday, (and bought my own beer) and nature was incredibly cruel and not only did it rain all day but the night before washed two trees onto the line cutting the Bewdley station off from Kidderminster where there were apparently 800 people who wanted to come on the train. Sadly it took a couple of hours to clear the track and I fear that we lost a lot of people because of the weather and the trains not running

The irony being that today it has been lovely, top down in the sunshine all the way back, argh one day out