Learning to Kayak

Today, I learned to kayak. It's amazing how much easier it is when you're in reasonably good shape and you aren't trying to steer it like a canoe. I took the course on my own and Mr. Trim came along to take photos. The guide who was teaching the class remarked that it was like having our very own paparazzi. Mr. Guide, welcome to my life.

Here are some of the highlights of the day :)

Learning to paddle on dry land. Air paddling is harder than it looks. That is, until the guide notices you're holding the paddle upside down. After that, things make a lot more sense.



Out in the water at last. I did not fall in. My boat was called the Solander.



It started to sprinkle while we were out. Such is West Coast weather. I'd also like to mention I'm wearing a size small lifejacket. Tee!



The water was surprisingly warm and a lovely deep green. I'm doing a canoe maneuver here. Note: it's not the way to turn your boat around as I soon learned.



Out in the bay. There were two seals that kept popping up around us. I also saw two ravens as well as a rabbit on the shoreline. The rabbit kept running around a bush like crazy while I was trying to listen to the instructor. Nature is fun.



Speaking of which, there were scads of jellyfish in the water. I kept trying not to hit them with my paddle. Mr. Trim amused himself by taking photos of them while I was out of camera range. Random fact: he took 178 pictures of jellyfish alone. At the very least, he's easy to keep amused!



Coming back to shore. Look! I didn't lose my paddle!



I'm backing up to get into a better position to dock. You can't tell, but I'm imagining my kayak is beeping while going in reverse.




All in all, a great day out. If I had the money and a place to store it, I'd buy a kayak today.