Happy Valentine's Day!

Cory and I joined a local kayaking club, and this weekend was our requisite introductory course. Because it fell on Valentine’s Day, we called it our gift to each other…really, how much more romantic can you get than a near-death experience?

The two-day course was focused on teaching safety and technique. There were six others in the group and our instructor, Robbie. Robbie has been kayaking for about 20 years, and she has recently done some very long solo kayak trips. You felt like you were probably in good hands with her expertise.

The first half of Saturday was spent in a local indoor pool working on safe exits from capsized kayaks and re-entries from the water. We unloaded kayaks; dug out buoyancy vests, spray skirts, and paddles; and got instruction on all of the above. A spray skirt, for those of you who stick with canoeing, is pretty much what it sounds like. It looks a little like a misshapen skirt with suspenders attached. The waist cinches in, and the edges of the skirt stretch to fit the edge of the kayak’s cockpit, thus allowing you a fairly dry ride. The trick that we were going to start with was getting your spray skirt off and you out of the kayak should you flip over.

If you’ve canoed, you know that rocking yourself back and forth in the boat isn’t exactly a good idea, but that it is pretty difficult to force yourself to tip over doing just this. Well, in a kayak, you can pretty much give yourself a little rock and a little lean and end up helm up-head down pretty quickly. So to acclimatize ourselves to this, we hopped in the water with a kayak and a partner. The plan was to have one person in the kayak and the other in the pool. The partner in the pool would flip the kayak over; the person in the kayak would plunge underwater, then give a signal. The pool partner would flip their partner back up, safe and sound.

Cory hopped in the kayak first, as I got into the pool. He was the demonstrator, as our instructor showed us how this was to work. Then it was our turn. On the count of three, I flipped Cory over. He gave the signal, and I popped him back up. Most of the way, that is. Actually, I popped him back up so that he was sideways, barely out of the water, and then sort of dropped him back in. I couldn’t get him up! I honestly can’t remember if he got himself out of the spray skirt, or the instructor was right there and flipped him back up. Cory was fine, maybe only a teensy bit mad, but I was totally shook up. Imagine drowning your own husband – and on Valentine’s Day!

Luckily he survived and no further incidents occurred. We progressed through the rest of our training with success. Exiting the kayak after a roll by popping your spray skirt off and coming up next to the side of the boat was a breeze. Even the water re-entries, where you have to pop yourself back onto the boat and shimmy into your cockpit went okay. In fact, we won the entry/exit relay race. I did sort of feel I needed to redeem myself after the near drowning incident.

And that was just the morning. After a lunch and kayaking gear talk, we headed out to the Tauranga Harbor. We were to learn the basic paddle strokes and get a little experience with current and wind. There is actually a proper way to get into a kayak from the shore, and this was demonstrated for us. It is sort of an ungainly method where you use your paddle as a prop. You sit on the paddle and sort of scoot yourself into the kayak’s cockpit, making sure not to lean away from the paddle. That part about not leaning away from the paddle is pretty important. Again, I displayed my athletic prowess by falling off the kayak, leaning away from that damn paddle, into about one foot of water! Seriously, I haven’t even got the kayak into the water yet, and I’ve capsized. Unbelievable.

Cory and the instructor were kind enough to suggest that it was because the helm of my kayak was shaped differently than the others’ – that the v-shape made it prone to such incidents. And the other group members pretended not to have seen, which was kind, I suppose. Normally, in the event of such an embarrassing occurrence, I prefer everyone at least have a good laugh with me. Oh well, perhaps they saved their laughter for later…

The paddling techniques were a success though, and I could move about the water with relative success. We learned paddle strokes for moving forward, backward, turning in place, turning while moving, and moving sideways.

Paddling in the sea was pretty different than in a lake or river. We were in a small area of the harbor, all trying to avoid each other and the large boats that are moored there. I was occasionally disoriented as we drifted past large, anchored boats. I was convinced they were moving towards us, when, in fact we were floating in the current past them. I felt like the narrarator in Poe’s “The Tell-Tale Heart” for a few moments.

The rest of the day passed without further incident, and we shored our kayaks and loaded them up. I was tired, but not sore. I thought steering a kayak, even without using the rudder, as we had that afternoon, was easier than steering a canoe. I have no idea how to J-stroke, even though it has been explained to me numerous times. So even after a few fiascos, I felt like I’d done okay. Both Cory and I were alive, no thanks to me, so that was also considered a success…

The next morning, we were headed out for a day trip. We had a brief lecture on safety and trip planning, then loaded up and headed to Sulphur Point marina. Getting a group of kayaks, along with all the gear, loaded and unloaded is no quick task. After getting kayaks on and off the truck, we had to distribute buoyancy vests, spray skirts, paddles, visibility flags, food, and water.

Our trip involved crossing the main boating channel, cruising along Matakana Island, and stopping for lunch. After we adjusted foot pedals and checked rudders, we were finally ready to go. We launched off the shore, no one fell in, and we were off! The wind was blowing at about 10 knots (which I learned is about 20 kph or 12 mph), and between wind, current, and boats, there were little waves to cut through.

Another student dutifully took over my role as class disaster, which I much appreciated. (She had no idea how to use her rudder apparently, and was drifting away from the group.) We crossed the channel and then cruised along the shore of the island. It was a pretty easy paddle, and we chatted with one another as we enjoyed the views and the weather. We stopped for a quick snack, and then paddled further along before stopping for lunch. We had a leisurely meal, with a few people enjoying a swim, before packing up and heading back.

It was a really enjoyable weekend, with only a few sore muscles on Sunday night. And when Cory’s mom and dad come this week, we even have a little kayak trip planned for them!