We're now well into summer and while the weather has mostly taken a turn for the worse, every so often we get a nice sunny day to fit the season.

With hot weather and sunshine becoming somewhat a rarity this summer, it's made it all the more important to take advantage when blue skies make an appearance.

Whether it's a trip to the beach or a nice picnic in a park, there's plenty to do in Essex on a hot day.

Read more: Clacton 150 Anniversary Flights: When you can watch the Red Arrows fly over the Essex town this summer

So on a day recently when the sun blazed over the county, I headed out to enjoy it in Dedham, near Colchester.

Dedham, a quaint village right on the Essex - Suffolk border, is flocked to every summer because of its prime location on the River Stour.

And the rowing boats available to hire at Dedham Boathouse make for a picturesque scene when the weather is right.

I remember visiting with my family when I was a child and loving it, but I was too small to row then, so I was eager to have a go now I'd grown up.

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I'd seen a lot of people on social media having a go on the boats and I must admit I was quite jealous.

When I arrived it was just like I remembered, with the small boats, river and surrounding trees making for Wind In The Willows style scenery.

The price wasn't too bad either, with it costing £20 for an hour for a maximum of four adults (five people if children are going).

I'd been looking forward to having a trip to Dedham for weeks, but as I stood in the queue I started to worry: was I to be underwhelmed, or worse - embarrassed?

The anticipation

The queue itself was quite long, as I'd arrived at midday and schools had broken up for the summer.

In fact I ended up waiting for around 50 minutes, but I didn't mind that as I wasn't in any rush.

This meant I had a while to assess the river and how other people were getting on, which I don't think was that helpful.

Standing and watching others collide with the buoys or other boats made me start to feel nervous.

Suddenly my head began to race: what if I was rubbish and made a fool of myself? Would the people in the queue laugh?

The boats are available to hire for £20 per hour

You see - these were all completely rationale thoughts and not my brain overthinking things from waiting around for too long.

An apt comparison would be when a footballer is made to wait to take a penalty in front of a booming crowd for minutes while the referee checks VAR; it never does the taker any favours.

I know, I know, my situation wasn't quite so pressured, but you get the gist.

Finally, after almost an hour I stepped down to the dock and got in my boat.

Locking the oars into their holders and placing myself in a prime position to get started, I was ready...

And we're off

A staff member then untied the boat from the dock and gave it a big push into the centre of the river.

This was probably the bit I was most worried about as I'd seen other people go spinning and end up colliding with the buoys.

I wanted to get off to a good start and, thankfully, I did.

Quickly getting my oars moving, soon I was away from the dock and the onlooking queue - without any difficulties.

But it wasn't all to be plain sailing. As I'd seen from social media, a common stumbling block for rowers at Dedham was to get stuck by the edge of the river, getting whacked in the face by the overhanging branches.

I soon found out it was harder than it looked to avoid such mistakes.

That's because not only do you have to focus on your oars moving in sync and with decent force, but you've constantly got to be checking over your shoulder that you're heading in the right direction.

I was no Steve Redgrave, as I ended up steering straight for disaster on multiple occasions.

Along the River Stour I was greeted by ducks, swans, and a few pesky tree branches

Be it a duck, another boat or the river bank, nothing was safe while I was getting used to rowing at Dedham.

But in the end I got a handle on it and was able to take in my scenery.

I was surrounded by tranquillity. At places I'd had similar river experiences before (like Cambridge and Venice) it was much busier, so I wasn't left feeling relaxed, however, Dedham was peaceful.

The river twisted and turned, but the scenery remained the same: green river banks, calm water, and a bright blue sky above.

I wasn't yet aware how challenging the row back would be...

The aching begins

If the first half of my journey could be described as leisurely, the second half was exhausting.

You see, on the way down the river my rowing had been massively helped by the flow of the water.

I was naïve; not recognising that when I turned around I would have to row with double or triple times the effort.

It was like rowing through treacle. Every time I pulled my oars, the river was fighting back.

Now don't get me wrong- this wasn't like an angry ocean, I was still getting somewhere, but it was gruelling.

I'll be the first to admit I'm not the most muscular or fittest. Let's just say that my experience in Dedham has made me reconsider joining a gym...

Part of the challenge was avoiding other boats - I wasn't always successful

I was sweating terribly and was just desperate to turn the final corner.

All I wanted was a glimpse of the finishing line - 20 tiring minutes later I would steer towards the dock, bring my boat to a halt and get out.

I was pretty relieved to be back on solid ground. It'd been quite a mixed experience.

From an anxious wait in the queue, to a both leisurely and intense row, I'd really done it all.

But I had fun and it was something new. On a mild sunny day, it was the perfect way to enjoy myself.

I'd thoroughly recommend hiring a boat at Dedham for anyone looking for a good summer day out.

For more information, visit the boat hire website.
