Converts

June 2nd, 2010

I think we’ve made a few more converts to the joys of paddling. Joe and Mari visited over Memorial weekend and they requested we paddle Elkhorn again. As always, Elkhorn delivered on beauty and wildlife. Nice clear day, water rabbits, birds, seals, sea lions, jellies… So here are yet more pictures from another successful outing to the slough.

 

Joe and Mari in synch

They always seem to be in synch!

Another convert?

This time we asked Mike to join us. He was assigned to a different kind of kayak than usual, the one they assign to tall paddlers. Sadly it had no rudder, but he did just fine.

 Smiling

 Is it the joy of their teamwork or the sight of the raft of water rabbits?

Raft of water rabbits

Jelly

This jelly was our final wildlife sighting while the other returned to Kayak Connection, taking advantage of our waterproof camera.

We had a hearty lunch at Central Texan BBQ in Castroville. Mmm-mmm. We even took a doggie bag and made a very nice hash with the meat and onion later. Will definitely do that again; never knew what to do with that slice of raw onion they put on the plate, plus this way we’ll have incentive not to overeat at the bbq.

Mike asked a lot of questions about gear. He might even be crazy enough to get his own boat.

Cheaters

May 9th, 2010

We cheated on the purple kayak.

After I attended the Western Roundup  (joint meeting of SCA, NWA, CIMA, and SRMA), John and my parents joined me and we took a trip to British Columbia. Driving from Seattle in a rental car, we took the ferry from Tsawwassen to Vancouver Island where we based ourselves for a few days in Victoria. Then we ferried back and were based in Vancouver for a few days. During our time in Vancouver, we went to Deep Cove for a paddle. The rentals were yellow, red, and Kraft noodle colored. Sadly, we do not remember the color of the kayak with which we cheated on the purple kayak. I remember one boat being Kraft noodle colored, but I cannot remember if it was ours or my parents’ boat. I do remember that the boat was not as comfortable as our purple gem. I couldn’t get my footpegs spaced quite right and the seats were designed differently so I had a lot of problems with my legs going to sleep, particularly my right leg.

We paddled up the cove on largely glassy water. Once out of the marina area, the water got a little more choppy (plus a few wakes from motorized craft), but not too much. We paddled up the shore and checked out the variety of homes built along the water, saw or heard a couple of waterfalls, and bird highlights included a loon and an eagle.

We had some mishaps with the cameras for each boat; ours was misplaced and theirs took a little dip. So only one picture for this paddle and it was taken afterwards with a phone.

Deep Cove, BC