The latest installment of the inept adventurer, Huffyman...
The morning of Independence Day 2011 found me loading my kayak into the trunk of my little Honda Civic. No, really! A roof rack would be handier, but we do the best we can with what we have, right? It actually fit OK and after strapping the trunk down and loading a little equipment, I was off to First Dam, a small lake fed by the Logan River at the mouth of Logan Canyon. This was the first time I was able to use my kayak, a used Emotion Comet that I bought second-hand over the winter. It is fairly entry-level . In fact, the company says, “Beginners will love the confidence-inspiring initial stability that's built into the hull”. More about that later…
With the kayak in the water and loaded with the little equipment I brought, I donned my PFD and stepped carefully in. That was pretty easy! But I wasn’t moving. Unfortunately, I was a little too close to the shore and was solidly on the rock bottom. That explained the stability! By pushing with my hand and paddle AND some pretty cool boogie moves, I was free and floating. Woohoo! It felt cool to be floating and did, in fact, feel pretty stable. I paddled around the calm water for a while to get used to the action of the kayak. I was finally kayaking and it felt great!!
I was feeling pretty confident in my paddling and actually did a little fishing as well. But because of the wind and the current, I kept ending up where I didn’t want to be. And switching between fishing and paddling was awkward. I finally set the pole down so I could concentrate on paddling because the inlet into the little lake got my attention. The water is very high in all the mountain streams right now and the rapids coming into the lake looked mighty enticing for someone with my newfound natural kayaking talents. I paddled to where the rapids came under a bridge and pointed myself into the fun. Instead of the thrill of riding the rapids, the whole kayak immediately tilted steeply to the side. I assumed it would right itself like I would expect any good entry-level kayak to do… (This assumption later reminded me of a saying that is commonly used in relation to the word, ‘assume’ which I found to be a very true statement in this case) Much to my amazement and surprise, the kayak kept going sideways and I’m sure my eyes were huge with shock and fear as I realized I was going under water!! Under water, I frantically grabbed for the fishing pole and my water bottle and the paddle and popped up next to my upside-down former carrier. I tried to right the kayak with one hand but every time I got it partially upright, it would roll to the side again. My life vest worked great and kept me above the water, but all I could think about was that if I couldn’t get this thing to the side, we would go over the dam spillway 300 yards away! That’s enough to cause an extra kick in ones kick! About this time, the panic-powered extra kicking caused one of my water shoes to come off, which caused a little more panic and I proclaimed, “You are NOT getting away from me!!”, and desperately grabbed at it. Fortunately, I was able to catch it before it drifted away. Glad I had more luck with that than I had been having earlier with the fishing!! Once safely shoed again, I kicked for all I was worth. After frantically floating and kicking about 100 yards through the rapids, I felt gravel under my feet! Unbelieving, I tentatively stabbed my foot into it and it was solid. With GREAT relief, I dragged everything into a tiny cove and fell to the ground, grateful for the dry ground.
Next task was to get the water out of the kayak, which was filled about 2/3 of the way. I tried dumping it out, but I was too weak... errr, I mean there was too much water... This is where a cool drain came in handy and by inching the kayak up the shore, the water quickly drained to the point I was able to finally dump the boat on its side, emptying most of the rest of the water quickly. All I could do was laugh at this point – at my over-confidence and also that I seem to get into these predicaments more than the average person… J
The gauntlet had been set, so to speak, so I left the fishing pole and water bottle on the shore and headed back to the rapids to redeem myself! Or at least figure out what I did wrong. I didn’t have as much fear of going overboard since I had lived through it the first time, but the excitement at entering the rapids again had my full attention. With heart-racing and paddle flailing, I slipped into the rapids, more at an angle than the perpendicular approach unsuccessfully tried earlier. Holding my breath and trying to keep my eyes open, I found myself in the middle of the rapids! It was beautiful! I ran the current for a hundred yards and then turned around and did it 3 more times. In case you take this accomplishment lightly, I’d swear that some of the waves in the rapids were over 6” high!! Another kayaker joined me a short time after this and after I told her I had gone under, she got a funny look on her face as she looked at the roaring rapids and asked in an obviously admiring tone, “You went under in THAT?!” She told me she was working through an arm injury and proceeded to play in the rapids that had thrown me earlier. I told her I was there in case she needed help or advice.
What I learned today…
1. Kayaking is fun!!
2. I am a beginner and have a LOT to learn. And I should not love the confidence-inspiring hull to the point I forget lesson #2.
3. Adventure trumps intelligence every time!
4. My Summit Racing cap stayed on through the whole underwater life-threatening ordeal. Summit Racing rocks! This is my new lucky hat for kayaking.
5. I am no longer afraid to get dumped. Hmmm, maybe this will help me in the dating world as well…
6. Ineptitude will never hold Huffyman back!!
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