A sunny day of settled weather was forecast, I hadn't been on the water for a while, so I decided on a trip around the northern section of Windermere on the Nelo 520 surfski that I have on demo. I find this half of the lake the most interesting with many islands, waterside properties and superb views which change as you head up towards Ambleside. It was chilly, about 11C but it didn't feel cold in the sun. The water was calm to begin with but on the return leg there was a breeze from the south. I was testing a couple of things, firstly to see how the clothing worked on the ski, where one is more exposed than in a sea kayak and secondly how a trip of several hours would work, carrying some food and a little spare clothing in a drybag on the deck.

Launching from the National Trust area to the west of Belle Isle

Overheating; had to stop on the first island to change

Across the lake to a superb property

The Langdales come into view

Looking back

The Old Man of Coniston and Wetherlam

Crinkle crags and the Langdales

The fells beyond Ambleside

The pier for the big launches that cruise up and down the lake

Private beach for lunch

On the way back there's an island that you could miss unless you'd actually paddled through the 2 metre wide gap between it and the mainland. They've fenced each side of the gap and this is just after going through it. It should be easy to spot on the GPS track (link at top of blog).

I'm pretty sure this guy was waterskiing on a hydrofoil (at 10 knots) but at the moment of the picture the board was down to water level

Bowness

Many hundreds of boats on Windermere but 90%+ of them spend 90%+ of the time on moorings

Nice lakeside properties just to the south of the ferry crossing

The chain ferry (now a cable)

Sad to see the second wreck like this and there's a few forgotten yachts on their moorings

Almost back now, about 100m to go. First time doing a trip on the ski, a success.