Beginning Sea Kayaking
After a friend introduced me to the basics of paddling a kayak a couple of months ago, I unexpectedly enjoyed the hell out of the activity and wanted to do it more. So, I looked into a class at various shops in the area. Most of them don’t offer many courses this time of year. Last weekend, I was scheduled for a class called “Beginning Sea Kayak” at Pillar Point Harbor in Half Moon Bay. Unfortunately, my class was cancelled after the other two students backed out.
So, I asked to be placed in today’s class in the Oakland Estuary. At 8 this morning, I got a call informing me that the class wasn’t officially cancelled, but that reschedules and refunds would be offered to anyone who wanted to skip out. It rained quite torrentially yesterday and was forecast to rain all day. Still, I had spent a significant amount of money recently on wet weather gear for this very purpose. I opted to head to Oakland, knowing the weather would probably suck.
My friend, Oz, signed up and arrived about the same time. We went inside, got fitted for wet suits, spray skirts, and PFDs. We snagged a paddle, a paddle float, and a pump. I bought a couple of hats and a pair of gloves, having forgotten mine at home.
The instructor, Mark, was really informative, taught the five of us the correct strokes, safety information, and hints about rescues. We paddled over 2½ miles today, talking about forward strokes, sweeps, draws, braces, and backing strokes. The sun came out, despite a forecast of continuous rain showers. After lunch, Mark demonstrated an Eskimo roll and the two rescues we were learning—the T (or assisted) rescue and the paddle float rescue. Before long, it was time.
Water and I have not been friends for a long time. It’s been 16½ years since I was under water. Today was a time of working up the nerve to get over my longstanding apprehension around water. I was the last one to turn over. I gritted my teeth, prepared myself mentally for the wet exit and paddle float re-entry, and flipped over. It took me some time to realize that I didn’t have to swim and struggle with attempting to hang on to my paddle and the kayak. I was wearing a PFD. All I had to do was float and stop flailing around.
After I got back in my boat, it took me a little time to get all the water out of the cockpit with the crazy little pump. Getting a spray skirt back on with wet gloves is somewhat challenging. After my big plunge, we all headed back for a debriefing and more information about classes offered and a review of tides and currents. It was a great class. Sea kayaks are much more stable than most people think. I can’t wait to get out there again.
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