Wet! Cold! Alive!

So I have survived the weekend kayak adventure and have a few more river skills than before. This thing sure is tippy compared to anything else I've been in. I can't believe there was ever a TippyCanoe before there was a TippyKayak. But having said that I did not tip over unintentionally once the entire weekend. I flipped over intentionally a number of times and on day 1 it was kind of fun. The temperature was warm and we were in flat water and just learning.

Day 2 brought a different sensation. The air temperature was in the low 60s and at the end of the day it was raining. The water was actually warmer than the air and sometimes I had to put my hands in the water just to warm them up. Per usual I was the only one not to wear the optional windbreaker/paddling jacket and that may have been part of my problem but everyone else was cold too. Anyway, the take off point onto the James River in Richmond looked like this:

This looked calm enough to start but it took only moments for me to be turned around and be headed in the wrong direction even in a very quiet current. This was the first of many times that reminded me of the respect that the river deserves. We ferried across the river at this point and stopped at a small beach to rest.


We soon came to our first rapids and slid right through. From above the rapids were somewhat ripply but not overly scary. The rush coming through them told me why I was doing this in the first place.

We continued on throughout the day and went through a number of rapids until we got to Choo Choo rapids which was under the train bridge(wonder how this rapids got its name?). This was our class 2 rapids for the day and it was fun. Part of the skill of it is getting through with balance but I'm at least partially convinced that the biggest trick is to just paddle and paddle and paddle like crazy. We were lucky enough to get through this one and then have lunch and drag the boats up above it again for the second run through!

When we ate lunch at the beach I bout nearly froze and could not wait to get back in the boat because this at least kept my legs warm. The rest of the day went successfully and at the end I got a quick lesson in rolling the kayak but was unable to complete the roll. This will have to be another lesson and skill for another day(hopefully another WARMER day!)

I really enjoyed the river portion of the day but when we got off the river it began to rain. This would not have been a problem for most, but for those of us that were strapping a kayak to the roll bars of a jeep, the rain coming into the vehicle at 65MPH on a 62degree day was just invigorating. When I got home all I could think about was taking a long hot shower and even though I hadn't noticed the river smell, one of my friends sure did as I walked in.

He finally unglued his tongue from his nose after my shower. Sorry Fenway!

P.S. Mark and Suzanne, our guides at Chesterfield County Parks and Rec were great and their love of the river was infectious. I can not thank them enough for the introduction to and safety on the river but also for doing things with excitement and energy so we all could enjoy the water. Hope to see them on the river this summer.