2013: Post 21 – Looking back in time

After yesterdays paddle Tony said he had things to do on Saturday, so no paddling.  We were planning to paddle on Sunday anyway...  But after I got home, put my gear away, and had some supper, the phone rang...  I didn't get to it in time and then checked the message on the answering machine… it was Tony… “call me when you get this….”  

Someone had seen a post from Tony about paddling in St. Philips on Saturday.  Trouble was it was a post from April but the guy thought it was current.  He was looking for some water time and was “ready to go…”  Tony didn't want to leave the guy hanging.  It must of took Tony about an hour on the phone, begging and pleading, but I mustered up the required intestinal fortitude and agreed to get on the water next day.  

We met Darryl this morning at St. Philips and we had a little chat on the slipway.  He had done a kayaking course last year (or was it the year before) but had not spent much time in his kayak… only half a dozen times last summer.  Today would be his first time in his kayak this year.  And so we paddled around a bit and then paddled directly into the wind for a little way.  He said he was cautious about turning around with the waves hitting him from the side… I remembered how intimidated I was when turning in waves back when I started my kayaking life… and how intimidating all aspects of kayaking were to me when I began.

Over the next couple hours we paddled around a bit or just floated and chatted.  By the time we were ready to head back in Darryl said he was feeling more comfortable.  That’s the thing of it… the more time you spend in your kayak the more comfortable you become, and the more skill you develop.  You start off knowing next to nothing about it,  and wonder what you've gotten yourself into the first time you’re in a kayak.  Those six-inch waves might look really big, but then they start to become smaller and are replaced by those big one-foot waves.  You learn how to brace and how to roll, and how to rescue somebody...  Later those one-foot waves are replaced by big two-foot waves...  After enough time four-foot waves do not feel big at all and you start to really enjoy the paddling.  Along the way you may not have even realized that you started to forget to think about things like torso rotation, or leaning your kayak into the waves as it approaches your beam.  You just started to do those things automatically, and then the wonderful world of kayaking really starts to open up before you…

Next thing you know you’re in a cove with a relative newcomer to the sport of kayaking.  They’re telling you about how intimidating the waves are when they are hitting the side of their kayak as they are trying to turn around.  It’s like looking back in time at yourself…

Here’s some pics from this morning…

Darryl and Tony having a chat

Darryl

Tony

Two thumbs up!

Some more chatting...

Rinsing off the salt water in the river

I don’t think you really ever forget about when you started kayaking, or the journey you've had from when you started to wherever it is you are now in your development as a kayaker.  But it’s interesting to be reminded now and then of what it was like in the beginning... and then to wonder about where this kayaking obsession just might take you…