Kayak vs Canoe

On this weekend I decided it was time to take that inflatable kayak out of the box and give it a try. I had gotten it for free from an incentive program at work about a year or so earlier. When it had arrived at my house and I discovered that it was inflatable I threw a hissy fit and put it in the basement. I never even opened it. Justin had said he wouldn't mind trying it out and that's the only reason it stayed in the house. The description I had read had somehow neglected to mention that it was inflatable and not a 'normal' kayak. I was ticked off when I saw what came in the mail...and of course I immediately cursed my company for being too cheap to give out anything of real value.
I've since backed off from that feeling somewhat. I still think it's of little value and I'd never buy one but I've had a few laughs with it so far and it will do until I get a "real" kayak.

That day started out badly for me from the start. I couldn't get myself going as early in the morning as the kids wanted to leave so I told them to go on ahead and I'd follow in about a half hour. I was discouraged because I realized at the last minute that because they were taking my canoe with them, I wouldn't have anything to tie the kayak to the top of my car with so it was going to take some time to figure out what I was going to do. I hate it when a day that's supposed to be fun starts out with problems. Thankfully for me Justin had a strap to spare and he strapped the kayak to my car for me. Then I had the problem of getting the paddle all set. The kayak is inflatable so you can imagine how sturdy the paddle is. Well I got irritated with it right away because I couldn't get one paddle screwed on to the end. I left it for the kids to mess with and went back in the house to do other things. Jake got the paddle all set, they let me know I was good to go and they took off for the lake.

Another half hour it took me to get the dogs situated for the day before I could leave too. I wasn't very far down the road before I realized the front end of the kayak was bending in the wind from driving. Here I was going about 35 miles an hour with a kayak bent in half and sticking straight up in the air going down the road. I was getting some strange looks I can tell you that. So, that meant I had to pull over and improvise something to fix the situation. Luckily I had brought a goodly length of leftover clothesline rope with me just in case I needed it. It worked just fine to tie the front end of the kayak to the front bumper of my car. I was back on the road in less than 10 mins. determined to make it there and have a good time or die trying!

As it turned out I got there almost exactly a half hour behind the kids. The girls were still in the parking lot when I got there. Stacey helped me put my kayak on the edge of the water while I went back to the car for 'my stuff'. It was mid-week so there were no rangers around and it was early enough in the day so there were very few cars too. This was perfect! The girls took off through the woods to a meeting point where the boys were going to pick them up with the canoe. I took off on the water to take the long way around. Everything went wrong from the start and it ended up taking me forever to get to the agreed upon island.

I barely got more than a few yards from the shore when I realized it takes a little practice to get used to handling a kayak paddle. It's not exactly the same action as regular paddling in a canoe. It's supposed to be graceful and smooth and propel you forward at an even pace. My paddling was awkward and jerky; one side too deep the other too shallow; resulting in me barely getting out of my own way. I was laughing the whole time I was trying to complete my crash course in kayak paddling. This was just too ridiculous to take seriously! (thank God I was on a calm lake) Eventually I had some sort of rhythm going but then I realized that the wind was pushing me back no matter how I paddled. Ahhhhh the first drawback to having an inflatable craft! I started going in spinning circles from the wind. I'm sure the people on land were amused...but I had no time to look at them. I started paddling faster and faster, deeper and deeper, and my arms began to ache a bit. Then I was forced to employ counteractive moves with the paddle to stop the spin only to start to turn in the opposite direction. (You have GOT to be kidding me!!) At one point I was laughing so hard I could barely paddle at all. (just tell me where the camera is so I can smile pretty...I have got to be on candid camera, right?)

It started to dawn on me that this kayak had been made for two people. Could I be having all this trouble just because there wasn't two people in it? I brought enough stuff with me to fill up most of the open space. It probably didn't weigh as much as a person but shouldn't it help to balance me out somewhat? Why is this so much harder than paddling a canoe? And more importantly why is that guy with the motor boat coming so close to me??!! I don't think I can turn this thing (it had become 'a thing' to me at this point) to face the waves....is he going to swamp me??!! Now I'm frantically paddling both sides, getting everything wet in front of me (my butt was already soaked from the water that splashed inside the kayak earlier) and I just barely managed to turn the kayak in the right direction, WHEN the right side paddle fell off. It just fell off!! It didn't come apart in the middle, just the paddle fell off. And now I'm once again trying to turn the kayak (still in the wind) and get to the paddle before it floats away from me. I'm using my hands and my other paddle (while screaming in my head NO...Wait...come on!...wait til I get there!...damn you paddle!!). Well as you are probably expecting by now...I didn't get the paddle. The damn thing sunk! I was shocked. This is an inflatable kayak and they have paddles that sink??!! I looked at the paddle (now about 4 feet down, out of reach and still sinking fast) and said out loud "Are you kidding me??!!" Apparently it wasn't kidding. That paddle is now at the bottom of the lake somewhere and will remain there until the end of time I suppose.

I still had a very long way to go to get to the island and it certainly wasn't easy doing it. I now only had really half a paddle so I had to paddle both sides rapid fire (I was like a machine!) to fight the wind; the idiot in the motor boat (oblivious to my predicament) and the people that were swimming out farther than the usual areas...not to mention other kayakers who knew what they were doing and DIDN'T have an inflatable craft, but were just as oblivious about my lack of skills as the guy with the motor boat. Nobody is watching out for anybody out there. I was on my own. So, having no choice in the matter, I continued pressing on...paddling like a mad woman, spinning out; recovering from spins; avoiding spins; avoiding people; yelling warnings that I had no control over this thing; while trying to face oncoming waves from the motor boats. I rounded a bend to head to the island and saw the boys taking the girls over to the island. They saw me and waved. I couldn't wave I had to keep paddling. I looked like a retarded duck out there and they noticed I looked odd and starred at me for awhile (probably trying to figure out what the hell I was doing) before unloading their stuff to the island. When I got close enough to the island I started yelling an explanation as to why I look so odd and what was wrong with me. They were laughing the whole time I was coming in with my kayak but I got it there and got myself on dry land. I was now soaking wet (cold from the breeze and no sun) and exhausted but I was also proud that I made it there.

The rest of the day was lovely. The sun came out strong, the wind died down (because I wasn't in the kayak? hmmm...I wonder) and I even ventured out in the kayak again to try to get accustomed to using the half paddle. I found if you go very slow, have no wind, nobody around you in a motor boat, and the water is completely still....it's not half bad! :) Later Justin tied the kayak to the canoe and the girls towed him around the lake for awhile. (Why didn't I think of that?) We all spent the day swimming; skimming rocks; talking; laughing and eating all the food we brought. I can't remember having that much fun in a long time. It was a very satisfying day even with all the kayak drama. Everyone got some degree of sunburn but nobody was really bad.

The trip back to the main land was still an adventure for me. I borrowed the short canoe paddle to make it easier to switch sides. It worked but I had the same issues as before. This time the kids had piled everyone and all their gear in the one canoe (that's nuts!) so they would only have to make one trip back. I had the lead for awhile but only because I left before them. Even weighed down like they were they passed me and made it back to shore while I was still desperately trying not to spin in the middle of the lake. I was barely able to even land the kayak in the proper area instead of crashing into the rocks....but I made it, and it was worth it after all because I got some great pictures from that day and I ended up with a story to tell too.

However, I must confess that the next day when I woke up I was barely able to move. Every kayak muscle I used was screaming and a few that never did a thing to help were joining in too. But that won't stop me from going again!