The bigger the boat, the less time the owner is likely to spend afloat; a combination of financing, maintenance and launch preparations conspire to keep a sailor on dry land. I prefer canoes, but countless hours spent building a Canadian canoe has left me nervous on the water, I worry constantly about scratching the paintwork. The same scratches wouldn't look out of place on my other canoe, a plastic kayak. Its been a while since I took the kayak out and it was only when out on the water that I remembered why. It had a small hole in the bottom; seawater slowly seeped in as I paddled along the coast, freezing my legs and making the craft sluggish. Kayak's are surprisingly seaworthy and easy to repair, a small strip of tape was all I needed to keep dry on the journey home. Brian Wilson circumnavigated Ireland in a kayak spurred on by an endless excuse to camp on remote beaches and light big driftwood fires. His book Dances with Waves records the adventure. Paddling normally demands exertion and often induces deep thoughts, things appear clearer at water level. Returning with the tide I had a brainwave, in comparison to other wild places our waterways are empty, crowds may form on the top of Sl Donard but rarely do I meet another canoeist, nor have I never come across anyone fishing from a canoe. Why hadn't I or anyone else thought of it before, instead of using a huge rod to cast out over the surf a simple line could be dropped over the side or trawled along behind. There's nothing new under the sun, back home research revealed that in addition to the Eskimo's, canoeists fish all over the world and there is a range of specialist equipment to service their needs. Take a course before launching a canoe there is a lot of advice out there, often good, sometimes bad and occasionally irrelevant, including 'love many, trust few but always paddle your own canoe'