Passing On Our Passion

Today we had the opportunity to paddle with a couple of fresh kayaking newbies that we met through our yoga studio. The great thing about helping new kayakers is hearing how much they enjoyed themselves after a relaxing safe day on the water. The bonus is when they say "any time you want to go paddling we would love to come too". It wasn't long ago ( October 2011) that we were fresh newbies but after eight months, forty or so paddles we still remember or first time out in unfamiliar waters.

Lynn Shaw and her husband Dave Holland just picked up their used kayak gear and dove right into the world of kayaking by taking a Paddle Canada Level 1 course last weekend at Active Sea Kayaking. So including the course their total days on the water was a grand total of ......... 2!

Dave has had some experience in a canoe and watching his paddling techniques it was obvious that he could handle a paddle pretty well. For Lynn, being on the water in a kayak is a totally new experience but as she explained to me there were lots of rescue opportunities last weekend in the course. I thought she handled herself quiet well on our paddle into Tod Inlet and to Willis Point to look down Finlayson Arm.

Dave, Lynn and Robyn raft up for a picture in Tod Inlet

Launching out of the beach next to the ferry dock we paddled through the Brentwood Bay harbour following the shoreline towards Tod Inlet so that Dave and Lynn could focus on increasing their confidence without worrying about the water conditions too much. As the time on the water went by they experimented with the skills that they were taught last week and it was fun to watch them "feel" out their rides.

Dave "sweeping" his way past Robyn

Lynn and myself catching up with Robyn and Dave

Heading back out of Tod Inlet we decided to make our way up to Willis Point and "peek" down Finlayson Arm. There was a little bit of a chop from some of the pleasure craft coming into Brentwood Bay and once again our new kayakers did a fantastic job managing the conditions. Crossing back to our put in location we meandered through the shallows of the marina, ducking under the gang planks heading down to the docks and landed on the beach that we left 3 hours earlier. Robyn and I were proud of our newest paddling buddies!