Kayaking with Two Friends

My day today was spent in the kayak kid’s class learning and perfecting skills. There are two kids in my group and they are siblings.  The older girl is named Lillian and her brother, who is my age, is named James.

In the morning, we started our kid’s class at the pool, where we started learning the roll.  During the session, our instructor, Matt, helped each one of us with the exact movement we need to complete to flip our boats back upright if we capsize.  After practicing our technique for awhile, Matt drove us back to the camp to get changed and eat before going to the lake to practice more useful skills.

When I arrived back at the van, my parents were at their rescue course, but they left me a sandwich and a note giving me free access to the camper fridge.  I had a delicious lunch before changing and getting ready to go to the lake.  We jumped back in the car and were off again.

At the lake, we played in our boats to get comfortable, practiced paddle strokes, and edging.  We later found a river flowing out of the lake in which to practice eddy catching and ferrying.  We attempted standing up in our boats which took practice, but we eventually succeeded.  After playing around for about an hour and a half, we headed back to the car.

On the way back, Matt stopped at a lookout to a class three rapid.  Class three means big waves, technical, and some consequence.  Matt showed us the lines that we would take if we were to attempt the rapid,  even though there is no way the three of us (James, Lillian, and I) would try it.  We soon drove into the kayak school grounds to have a good rest for the river that we will attempt tomorrow.

I enjoyed the first day of the kid’s camp and cannot wait for tomorrow.  I am excited that I met two kids that make it possible to have minimal time with my parents.

Thank you for reading Rohan Geographic!