Piragua 18
It
floats.
I strapped her right to the top of my Chevy S-10
with no roof rack whatsoever (couldn't wait that long) and grabbed
a young lady neighbor of mine in route, offering a "boat
ride" in exchange for taking some snapshots.
I loaded and unloaded the boat singlehanded.
Manageable, but a reminder that I have to lose about 40 lbs
and get in better shape. The young lady weighed about 150. I
weigh 265.
It was a really windy day. First with the neighbor
forward, I
paddled about a half mile up the creek against the wind and
tide. My first time using a kayak paddle. Gonna take some getting
used to. I imagined us quietly slipping upstream, seeing the
sites. Instead, I struggled against the wind, and my ineptitude
with the paddle trying to stay in the channel. My passenger
kept shifting her balance unexpectedly, stating her desire not
to "swim today."
Egrets
and Herons, well accustomed to casually getting out of the way
of outboard motors, hastily vacated with worried expressions
as I windmilled, churned, slapped, and splashed upstream. After
becoming quickly winded, I returned with much better technique
traveling mostly with the wind and tide. At one point, backing
out of a narrow inlet we decided to explore, I actually wacked
the poor girl on the head with the other end of the paddle-instilling
a valueable lesson regarding accepting rides in experimental,
amateur piloted craft.
After
letting her off at the dock, I then scooted to the middle of
the boat and paddled about solo. MUCH EASIER. I was still blown
a little, but it responded much more quickly to my compensating
paddle strokes. It really moved, and I began to feel much more
comfortable and competent. The neighbor snapped about 8 shots
of me as I passed to and fro, none of which came out worth a
damn. Here are the least worse three of the eight. You get the
general idea, but you cant see much detail of the BOAT. I will
have to try again this weekend (gosh darn it :). Maybe less
wind and more pleasure. In any case, it was a fine hour of life.
Rav
