Itiwit Inflatable Kayak on Buttermere, English Lake District & Wild Swimming Life Jacket Test

A cracking day spent in and around epic Buttermere in the Lake District, England. We got the Itiwit 100 2/3 places inflatable touring kayak all blown up and on Buttermere lake early. This area can be pretty busy and we fancied some quiet paddling. We parked up for free near Buttermere church, St James, at the crossroads (CA13 9UZ) but this fills up quick. There is tons of paid parking in the village. You will need to buy a day boating permit from the National Trust carpark if you wish to paddle (no engines allowed), it is 5 pounds and you can only use coins.
Ah, it was awesome, the beautiful clear water reflected the surrounding mountains, we could not have been happier. We paddled about for hours, pulling over a few times to get used to the landing routine, also we wanted tea😀
On the journey back we were against the wind, which was a good learning experience, a lot more work is needed and the boat moves very differently in the water, not overtly difficult, just different.
We loved viewing the mountains from the water, what a wonderful and almost dream-like sight. I would deeply recommend it to anyone who is able to get a boat on the water, wherever that may be, the world looks so different and it is refreshing.
After lots of messing about in Viking hats, we disembarked, took the kit back to the car and set off for the highest waterfall in the Lake District, Scale Force. The waterfall was very impressive, even during this particularly dry spell and is only a short (ish) distance from Buttermere. Really worth the effort.
We then headed back to the lake to test our life jackets. A wild swim with a life jacket on isn't very easy! Our life jackets, or buoyance aids, are Itiwit 50+ N, they gave sufficient buoyancy to keep our heads above water without movement. Floating/swimming on our backs seemed a lot easy than on our fronts but swimming with them on in general is a slightly awkward task, it needs practice. But we were impressed and felt much happier knowing they are fit for purpose and would help us considerably if we were to get into trouble.
An absolutely lush day!
We are not affiliated with Itiwit, we've bought everything ourselves, with our own money, for our pleasure
Thank you for being here, all the best, Ceri & Kat!
/ teainvalhalla
/ teainvalhalla