May 11, 2003

Kayak Demo Day

About 6:45 I pulled in to the gas station where I was to meet Karl. We unstrapped the Gannet and carried it to his van. His daughter, 8, was just starting in kayaking the way my daughter was at her age, and the Gannet was for her.

By 7:00 am I was back on the road and headed for Sandy Point park. There is a kayak demo scheduled for today and I had volunteered to be a safety boater. After entering the park I drove around to the sail board launch and waited. Joan had my kayak and I was pretty early so I reclined in the car and tried to catch up on a few of the missing Z's I had missed the night before.

Almost simultaneously Mike and Alan drove up to let me know that we would be launching from the other sand beach. A van loaded with surf skis and a sit on top said they would launch here and paddle around to the other side. I don't recall seeing them again so maybe after testing the cold water they decided to stay off of it.

At the other beach Joan showed up and we carried boats down near the big tent. It was a long carry from the cars, and from there I moved my Sirocco down close to the water. After loading up my car and getting in the water I spent maybe 5 minutes before I heard the radio crackle "Did you see that lightning strike?" A few moments later the thunder rolled through and the call was made to get off the water.

We stood around under the big tent and chatted. Several more lightning strikes pass and in a half hour or so after the last one we get the ok from the park to get back on the water.

As people tried different boats it was beginning to get boring. With the crowd down because of the weather, it was over an hour before someone fell over for the first time. A woman in a sit on top that had been sitting on the seat back, raising her center of gravity. Mike and I worked to get her back on and in the seat the proper way.

Again a long pause in the action and someone else went over. He could touch bottom and after Mike emptied the water from his boat he chose to walk in to shore.

There were only a few other capsizes the rest of the time I was there, and I didn't get to participate in any of them. It was good to see and visit with some of the folks I had met when I started kayaking 5 years ago. It had been a year and a half or more since I had seen most of them.

2:00 pm came too soon and I loaded my Sirocco on my car beside the ww boat and headed for the pool to teach a little rolling. My chest cold getting worse as the day wore on, a little Nyquil in the evening and I would be out for the rest of the night and dreaming of the good things from the day.

Woody