Thetis Lake Slow And Roll

During our Rum Island excursion the previous day with Sheila and Neil we talked about heading to Thetis Lake on Sunday to spend the afternoon exploring the network of little lakes. It would also give us the opportunity to play a bit and the end of the paddle. ;-)  Although Robyn and I have participated in a couple of rolling sessions recently at the lake we have never spent the day just meandering through all the nooks and crannies.

So we met up with "the kids" just after lunch and headed out for an extremely Sunday lazy day paddle which was quite a change for us. Typically we stick to the ocean adjusting our paddling agenda depending on what Mother Nature has in store for the day. Being on a lake for a paddle (our first was almost a year ago) the absence of currents and wind blown waves was quite refreshing as it allowed us just to take in the warm sun and unwind a bit. 

We searched the blown down trees and stumps and found a few turtles, herons and even a river otter who didn't seem to mind us as he crunched on something (maybe a frog) for lunch. For the most part it was just a Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah type of day.  :-)

Heading back to our put in location at the main beach it was time to play a little bit with our rolling techniques. Sheila made it look so easy as she effortlessly did them from her strong side, off side and re-entry rolls as well. She even tried everyone else's kayak along the way to reinforce that our Delta's would roll too. 

After a couple attempts in my Delta the seat back had a minor (fail) so I jumped into Sheila's Atlantis and went to work while Robyn worked with Sheila on some bracing skills. It was a pretty good afternoon of practice and I managed to complete several rolls (with paddle float assistance) and also had a number of "head" fails as well. For the non kayak readers out there, the "head" fail is when you let your head move past the centre of gravity before the rest of your body has come out of the water. The result is that you end up back in the water really quick and when you reach the surface again your hear "HEAD" from the peanut gallery.  LOL

Robyn did manage to capture one of my successful rolls on video as well as many of my "head" fails. Above is one of the good ones while I was in Sheila's Atlantis. Sheila also completes a re-entry roll in my Delta. It was good to leave the water on a positive note and in future I just gotta keep my head down and get 'er done!!