Kayaking 101

What better way to spend a hot summer holiday then on the water? This past Wednesday was Canada Day so we agreed it would be the perfect day to try some kayaking. This is a first for me and Joh although Faye got to do some kayaking over a year ago while in Vietnam (lucky little thing). We headed out to Rocky Point Kayak in Port Moody, BC where we were able to get 2 hours in a double kayak for $42. If you are able to find nice calm waters like we were then kayaking is a great first-timer activity because you can pretty much hit the ground running with very little prep. It took about two minutes of instructions before we were pushed out into the water and motoring along.

There’s really not a lot to learning how to kayaking in calm conditions. There’s setting up some foot straps which the person in the back position uses to steer the kayak. There was some minimal safety equipment including a bilge pump for emptying water and a rope in case you need a tow. The last thing is some basic instructions on pulling the rudder in and out of the water in case you end up in shallow water. For us, going to a place called “Rocky Point”, this one came in quiet useful as we ended up in a lot of areas where rocks jutted up unexpectedly so we paid a lot of caution with our rudder. Last thing anybody wants is to pay for a new rudder due to carelessness!

Kayaking is an absolute blast. You can either take it easy and just casually float around and enjoy the sunshine or you can really push it into a serious upper body workout. We did a combination of both, sometimes we were pushing it just to race the other boat or try to get some exercise out of it but there were also plenty of times when we were floating around checking out the seals sun-tanning on a bunch of logs or enjoying a mid-day floating picnic. The bilge pump also makes for an excellent water assault weapon to an unexpecting Joh. What can I say? Deep down I’m still that immature little boy! Needless to say she got absolutely soaked. The downside of this is she ended up trying to retaliate by splashing me with her paddle which ended up having part of it floating away. Took about a half hour search before we finally found it, good thing all the equipment floated.

So here’s a few kayaking tips for beginners:

• Safety first! Always have a life jacket and mandatory safety equipment
• Paddling: The key here is try to get comfortable in your seat and make most of the movement from your torso. Each paddle stroke is a pull with your downward stroke while your push the paddle away from you with your upward arm, this helps maximize the power of the stroke and distributes the stroke. Don’t lean too far as it will only put strain on your arms and neck. As you change sides the paddle shaft should comfortably rotate to line up your knuckles with the upward blade - sweeping the water to the end of the kayak. Once you get comfortable you’ll end up with a very natural rhythmic flow.
• Turning – this is primarily done with use of the rudder. Push the leg strap forward on the side of the kayak you wish to turn. To assist the turn, paddle on the side of the kayak opposite of the direction you wish to turn. You can also paddle backwards on the side of the kayak you wish to turn.
• Finally, always bring some water with you. Heat exhaustion and dehydration is a serious threat when out on the water for long hours in the sun. Sunscreen is also a very good idea.

Highly recommend kayaking if you’re looking for something new and easy and love the water as much as I do. It’s made me want to improve so I can eventually get out there and try some ocean kayaking!!