Have Kayak... Will Paddle On A Lake

I'll be honest ... I'm not a fan of paddling on lakes due to the slimy algae that starts to grow around this time of year. It also could be that we are spoiled with our selection of ocean venues around Victoria so why would I want to paddle on a lake? Sometimes it's just to do something different or paddle with another gear head like me which is exactly what I did on Thursday evening with Gary Jacek.

I received a message from Gary earlier in the day asking if I wanted to paddle on Elk Lake and at first I thought 'LAKE??' but once I talked to him I found out that he wanted to test out his Feathercraft with the rolling rib so it made sense to me. Besides ... no need to fully wash down the gear after so there is actually a good side of lake paddling. :-)

Looks like kayak, plays like kayak. Feathercraft .... Nice!

Although Robyn and I have seen Feathercraft doubles on our paddling adventures before I realized that this was the first time that I have ever seen a single in action. My immediate first thought was that it actually looks like a composite or plastic kayak and not like a rubber dinghy which for some reason I had stuck in my mind.

After Gary did some sculling braces to test out the installed rolling rib we headed out to paddle the shoreline of the lake(s) keeping an eye out for turtles and other wildlife that inhabit the area. Every once and a while I noticed something big moving beneath my kayak in the slimy green algae. I was amazed to see what I suspected were some of the bass type fish that inhabit the lake. I never knew that they existed in the lake system.

Who's watching who?

We came across a Great Blue Heron that was fishing and we waited patiently for it to show us how it was done but it seemed that it had no luck while we waited. Paddling back towards our put in location in the warm sunshine I kinda wished that I didn't have my dry suit on as I was starting to overheat a bit. Solution ... just roll your kayak which felt amazing!

Thanks Gary for the paddle and showing me that your Feathercraft is really a kayak!

2014 Paddle #14  Elk Lake
Distance: No idea ... I forgot the GPS at home
YTD: 70.43 nm (131.36 km)