It’s time for me to introduce myself as the newest member of the P&H paddlers family. I’m Kate and I’m the proud owner of a lovely, shiny, red Cetus LV. Here’s a short account of its first time on the water.

Having unwrapped layer after layer of plastic and cardboard and revealed my new boat in all its red and white beauty, I didn’t feel I could consign it to the shed straight away, so she spent a fortnight in my living room. It made getting to the kitchen a bit of an obstacle course, but it did mean I could admire the unmarked shining gelcoat.

Finally, work was done for the week and I could go paddling. The first launch was at Trearddur Bay on Anglesey. The weather was too rough for real paddling so we had to make do with a bit of surfing.

The Cetus LV is lovely and light, an easy one person carry.

Here’s the moment I had been waiting for.

And finally afloat.

A few wobbly moments later and I was getting used to a lovely lively boat.

photo by Jim Krawiecki

All in all I think it’s a grand boat. It’s fast, and narrow just where the paddle goes. It’s incredibly manouvrable, and whilst it’s happy sitting up on an edge, it doesn’t really need a lot of edge to turn. I think I’m going to really enjoy paddling it. Just need some decent weather to give it a good run out.