Toting the kayak on the Hobie cat trailer, was successful but a tad bulky and cumbersome. But it works for now.
Launching compared to sailing dinghies, was a treat. The fun started as I tried to get in it!
Sitting on the rear cockpit coaming, lift one foot of the (slippery sloping) boat ramp and things got very wobbly, very quickly. Its worth stopping to reflect on the wobble; because I was totally out of control, it was quite upsetting. I had wobbled before on bikes and surfboards, these are more of a predictable loss of balance that are easily corrected if you are alert and capable. When a kayak wobbles, its titally unfair, unpredictable and deeply unsettling. It comes upon you as you are exercising great caution and is so rapid, that its hard to determine what action you shoukd take. You realise very quickly, that this could go pear-shaped and drop you in the water in an instant. It's a feeling that I'm not familiar or comfortable with, and could potentially derail any plans to paddle at all. I mean, if you risk a broken arm or cracked skull each time you enter or leave your kayak, the activity trends to lose its attractiveness. I managed to slip my legs in and get my bum down of the coming without injury, just afew scrapes on the pale blades. I quickly felt joy and relief to be on the water, but this matter needed attention,
I quickly found that this was a quality craft, skinny and long, she sped along the water like a flying fish. Despite the lack of wind, we were setting a cracking pace. Amazing. It was a treat to sneak up quickly and quietly on ducks and lizards, that stealthily slipped into the water or sky.
In preparation for this first paddle, I'd studied various training videos on U-Tube. Fortunately, learning that power should come from the torso, not the arms. Following this advice made it easier to cover the mile of so distance from the ramp to the nearest village. In fact, I was channelling an image I had stored from seeing Ironman Grant Kenny paddling the Brisbane River many years ago. I was in the middle of a singlehanded cruise along the east coast, pottering about in the cockpit early one morning land there he was, all bronzed and svelte, shoulders rotating as he sped along in his kayak. That's the technique for long tireless paddles obviously.
I went ashore halfway through, to respond to a rash of phone messages (nothing important), and was able to work out how the daggerboard and rudder operated. I used both on the return trip, to good effect.
The second most difficult moment came again at the ramp again; my legs largely unused (I thought) for the past hour and a bit, has transformed to heavy jelly filed appendages that were no longer taking instructions from the control tower. Dismounting was made more difficult by the slippery sloping launch. At that point this all seemed beyond me. It's this hard or am i just really lacking fitness and coordination? A large spoonful of self-doubt was swallowed against my will. But the sheer necessity over took me, I just had to get out wet or dry. My repeat error made at launching was to get my bum of the seat first. The kayak wobbled and scrapped on the ramp, the pale scratched for traction and once I planned a foot on the earth again, things steadied appreciably. Second foot down, phew. WTF and OMG! At this point I'm just blindly expecting this whole in and out of kayak thing to get easier with experience.
As the adrenaline, maximum chuff-ness abd stoked feelings subsided, I carried out a promise I made on my last outing under sail, thst is to collect plastic waste each time i go on the water.
Reflecting on the day's events, I actually found the experience to be slightly spiritual, it brought great peace to my mind as would a period of meditation as well as providing a gentle physical workout and unique communion with nature.
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