Back in a Kayak

We spent the last four days attending a BCU (British Canoe Union – North American site at http://www.bcuna.com/) Level 1 Paddlesport Coaching course put on by through Aqua Adventures (http://www.aqua-adventures.com/). Jen Kleck and Phil Hadley (http://www.philhadley.co.uk/) were our course instructors. Woo Hoo! We passed and are now Level 1 Paddlesport Coaches with a 2 Star rating. More importantly – we are paddlers again.

It’s been a while and I was definitely out of my element. Having spent the last six months on dirt or snow, getting into the kayak was daunting. Last week we traveled to San Diego to go through a skills check with Jen and Jake. They were kind enough to ensure we weren’t going to hurt ourselves and we were smart enough not to hurt ourselves. Sitting in the cockpit I was so frustrated. My left didn’t want to cooperate with my right; I couldn’t think quick enough to turn myself in the correct direction. As a result I ran into a few boats and a couple of docks. I kept shaking my head and thinking “It’s okay, I can ski.” At the end of the day, we were safe and had the right credentials to participate in the BCU Level 1 course.

Then came Thursday: I was nervous from the get-go. It wasn’t the coaching. It wasn’t standing in front of our group and pretending to coach a specific technique. It wasn’t developing a lesson with an appropriate progression. It was the fact that I could be on the water and potentially in the water, upside down, stranded in the cockpit of my boat – looking like an idiot at best and drowning at worst. I barely slept.

We met our group first thing – eleven paddlers of varying skill, all ages and interesting experiences. Our leader – Phil – laid out the schedule. This eased my nerves a bit and from there we delved into coaching theory and by afternoon had taught our first session. The day ended with homework around the picnic table over a few beers with fellow paddlers. This was our schedule for the four days culminating in a written exam and coaching real, live paddlers.

I remember the first time I kayaked. It was a rented sit-on-top in Marina Del Rey. My friend Susan and I had been invited on a 12-day water exploration of Alaska’s Prince William Sound west out of Whittier. I had canoed as a kid but never kayaked. We rented kayaks three mornings a week and paddled around the marina. I became proficient enough to have an amazing first kayak-based adventure. On that trip I met and fell in love with Scott and I broke my seven-year stint as a vegetarian. Bacon is super hard to resist when you are miles from any sign of civilization.

The following year I kayaked the Colorado River, spent 10 days in Alaska once again and co-planned and executed a five-week kayak exploration of Central Russia’s Lake Baikal. (We think we were the first Americans to kayak the remote north east shoreline – between Aya Bay and the village of Davsha.) That was in 2002.

Fast forward to 2008: Still interested in kayaking, we splurged and invested in two Seda Ikuma 17’s. Beautfiul boats, above my skill set but a boat I am getting used to. And, after this weekend, I am so motivated to put together an expedition – like Mongolia, Bolivia or back to Russia – and spend time paddling around Big Bear Lake developing my skills. There is nothing like taking time away from the norm to create some challenge in life!