Mr. Stinky's School of Kayaking
After much thought about getting into the sport I bought a kayak last weekend. I just happened to run into a smokin' deal on a used boat up at the Nanthahala, I got Mr. Stinky to check it out for me and he concurred that it was great buy and a great boat. So last Saturday I road tripped up to Nanny again made this baby mine. What follows is a bit of a journal of my experiences too date.
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Mr. Stinky put about sixers worth of hard work into it, and got it all tweaked out just right for me on Sunday afternoon. After a bit of begging, borrowing, and stealing we managed to get me completely outfitted (Thanks, KC) so there was only one thing left to do.
On Monday night we headed out from work and hit the river for Lesson #1 in Mr. Stinky's School of Kayaking. Pretty much this consisted of how to get in the boat, how to get out of the boat (VERY important), how to hold the paddle, and how to take a whiz without hitting your skirt (almost as important as how to get of the boat).
Evidently, I showed sufficient competency in all of those areas to progress to Lesson #2. So last night we took off to the river again for my second session in a kayak (ever), and just for kicks we brought along the disposable camera so now I have some pictures for your amusement.
The spot we went to this time had much bigger water than on Monday night.
I eased out into it to try a little surfing.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v3...ave/Dave01.jpg
And lookie there, I still remeber how to use the ejection seat in that thing. I managed to practice that particular move three times last night.
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Heading back upstream to the surf spot.
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I could be getting the hang of this.
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Oops, I got kicked out a bit.
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Doing allright here.
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After seeing this I'm amazed I was able to stay upright.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v3...ve/Lesson2.jpg
Enough of the student, here's the teacher. Sorry these aren't as close-up, I haven't mastered the zen of photography and kayaking so I had to shoot from the bank.
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So that's pretty much my experience at kayaking to date. Saturday we're heading up to the Nantahala for Lesson #3.
