Kayaking!

Leisa swam through her first rapid today. We were on the Sandy River at Oxbow Park. It was small and fast. She kept her head when she flipped over. She counted to 15 before she pulled her spray skirt. The T rescue didn't arrive in time and she had some trouble pulling her spray skirt. Once she got out of the boat, she managed to hold on to her boat and paddle. After she managed to get her boat out of the river and collect herself, she had to hike back up to the eddy where the rest of the group was waiting. She was feeling pretty shook up, but she finished out the day. 

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The weather was fantastic! We got to the river by 9:30 and the sun was shining. I was practicing my high brace and probably 3 minutes after getting into the water I was sitting upside down, slapping the bottom of my boat, waiting for a T rescue. It came, I righted my boat and tried to warm up in the sun. The water was probably 35 degrees. . . Funny thing about kayaking is that when you watch people do it, people that know what they're doing, it looks fluid and effortless, but when you're on the river and paddling it's one way then the other then flipped. The effortless part seems to be the flipping and emptying your boat after it fills with spring run off.

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I had the opportunity to roll my boat in the current. I was trying to surf in a hole and managed to flip. I noticed that I wasn't really moving downstream and all the current seemed to be keeping me in place. Rather than wait for the T rescue, I tried to hip snap. First time didn't catch but I opened my eyes and got in position so that the second time I could try a sweep roll. It worked and I righted myself. It felt good to know that I have something in my toolbox for a situation like that. Overall, I'm feeling pretty jazzed about being on the water. I know that I need to spend some serious hours just paddling, but that seems like a positive experience for the near future.