Last Wednesday, Richard and I went to a Chesterfield County Parks & Rec "play day." This class is a follow up for those of us newbies who took the beginner whitewater kayaking class (which I did last summer). You go out on the James River between Z-dam and Pony Pasture and work on getting into and out of eddies, ferrying, and surfing for a couple hours in the evening. There happened to be a photographer there from the Richmond Times-Dispatch. Sure enough, this morning Richard told me as he was kissing me goodbye, "Honey, we made the paper." Besides the instructor and some guy who was learning to roll, there was a picture of Richard & I getting into our boats at Pony Pasture with the help of some of the instructors. The online version is a little different. You can read the story here. There is also a photo montage. (You will have to go look at it because I can't download the pics without paying.) The picture of us appears at 34 sec into it. There are several other pics of Richard in the montage. I am the only one in long sleeves and with sunglasses. Richard's boat is orange; mine is light blue.
I should be honest. This time was only my second kayaking this summer. (That whole wedding-honeymoon thing kinda took up some time.) It seems that in the time between last summer's adventures and now, I have lost any courage I had with regards to this sport. Actually, I'm not sure I ever had any. The thought of being upside down in a boat in water has the same effect on me as heights. Eventually I do stop shaking and can breathe calmly again, if I am far enough away from the stressor. I should add that being upside down in the water and not dying has not helped. Last summer I flipped lots of times (usually at Choo Choo), and never even had to get out of the boat thanks to wonderful, quick-rescuing instructors. (I wish I could take them with me on every paddling trip. They could just follow me around, give me advice, and T-rescue me.) But it still freaks me out.
So on Wednesday, Greg, the head kayaking guy for Chesterfield County, had to talk me through all the eddy-jumping while we paddled up river to the bottom of the dam. He's really awesome- so calm and knowledgeable. I think he's seen enough new paddlers to understand the panic aspect. Once we got up to the dam, I needed a break. Most everyone else was playing in the big wave. I stayed in the eddy and declined numerous invitations to go over to another, bigger eddy on the other side with everyone. Greg was the most persuasive. I was convinced however, that just because his boat would happily drift without any paddling over into the next eddy, that my boat would do something completely different. It is an unruly boat. It has nothing to do with the person in the boat, I'm sure.
On the way back, we ran Pony Pasture. The woman ahead of me flipped, so the instructor was busy rescuing her when I went through. (I was already in the current when she flipped.) It was fun. I didn't flip. We were supposed to be going for an eddy on the right. I ended up farther down river on the left. Oh well. You see how poorly my boat obeys?
On another note, we went sailing a couple weeks ago with Richard's friend Robert (who was a groomsman) and some other guys from Dahlgren. Like the last time we went sailing, there was almost no wind, so it was not terribly exciting. When we got back to the dock, things got more interesting. We couldn't get the sail down. Here's everyone contemplating the sail not coming down:
This necessitated someone going up the mast to get it down. I guess Richard did it last time, so it was Robert's turn. After we gathered tools and Robert worked up his courage, Richard cranked him up. Here he is almost at the top:
Below are Richard and another guy manning the crank and the rope. (Sorry, I forgot Robert's friends' names.) Notice the particularly helpful one lounging at the prow. I was, of course, helpfully taking pictures.
The sail was eventually lowered and folded, and the evening ended with a gorgeous sunset:
2 comments:
I think taking photos is one of the most important and useful of tasks.
very cool!
ps i remember sailing on that boat with no wind. it was still fun.
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