Video Review: Twilight Paddling

September-October 1994

This is an article from WaveLength Magazine, available in print in North America and globally on the web.

by Lynn Pedley

We received a call from Lynn this summer asking if we would advertise her kayak for sale. In the course of the conversation she mentioned she is dying, and wants to pass her beloved boat on to someone who will appreciate it. Lynn's attitude was so up-beat and her enthusiasm about kayaking so evident, we asked her if she cared to put down a few words about her experiences on the water. A short time later the following article appeared. Accompanying it was a brief note: "I expect to die before your publication, and my ashes will be scattered in Discovery Passage. Where else is so beautiful? Fortunately I have no pain, no medication, no chemotherapy, and have had a wonderful life!" She adds that this is her 71st year and besides kayaking, she has learned to use Word Perfect on a computer this year. "It has been a great year!" she says.

You're going to do what?" asks my husband in disbelief.

"I'm going to learn to kayak."

Silence while he thinks about this. Then he says, "You can't learn to kayak!"

"And why not?"

"You can't even paddle or row."

"But no one ever bothered to teach me how to use a paddle or an oar." I say.

"You're too old."

"I'm only 70, and I am going to learn to kayak!"

"You can't", my husband insists.

"Would you make a bet?"

He only bets when he is absolutely certain he will win. It takes awhile, but finally he says, "Yes, I will bet you can't learn to kayak."

"Ten dollars?" I ask. "And this time when I win you have to pay me!"

"Oh, all right, ten dollars that you can't learn to kayak."

I borrow his camper which I have never driven before, just as I have never rowed a boat and never paddled a canoe. But I did teach myself to swim long years ago.

I drive the camper to the park, find a campsite, back into it, then read the rest of the day. Early next morning I drive to Strathcona Lodge to join the kayaking class.

First, standing in a circle on dry land, we learn how to hold the paddle properly and how to dip one end then the other. Next, we learn how to put on the life jacket, now called a "personal flotation device" or PFD.

With someone lifting at each end of the kayaks we get the boats into the water close to the sandy shore. We learn how get into the kayak. Then, using our hands, we push ourselves out from shore, and try our paddle.

In deeper water, the first thing we each have to do is turn the kayak over and while still in the boat thump the bottom with our hands. This is to alert kayaking partners that we have overturned. They then come to the rescue. Great, except that I plan to kayak alone. I fall out of the kayak and surface without panic, but forgetting to thump on the boat first.

We then swim to shore, holding onto the over-turned kayak and paddle, where we have help to turn it over and dump out the water. We get into it again, then with paddle in hand we try our own wings.

The instructor is a young native boy who must have been born with a paddle in his hands. He is good. He soon has the group playing tag with kayaks and paddles. He is the last one tagged, by another instructor. It's a good demonstration of what can be done with a kayak. He also does the Eskimo roll with ease. We students of all ages are having a great time.

From the moment I am seated in the kayak, I know this is what I have wanted to do all my life. I love it! Soon, the log-encircled teaching area becomes too confining and we are permitted to paddle in a group outside, led by the teacher, paddling into the light wind and waves that have arrived. Later we turn back, the wind pushing us to the protected schooling area. End of lesson.

I hire a private teacher the next day, learn more about using my shoulders as I paddle, how to use my body to balance as on a bicycle, and get in some more paddle practice.

Then I am on my own. I rent my favourite kayak, put on my PFD, select my paddle, get into the boat, and am helped in pushing out from shore. I leave the lesson area, but stay near the shore and paddle into the rising wind about a mile to a point where I land, eat lunch, then paddle back. I am so elated, I think I have learned it all. I know I'll never do an Eskimo roll, and forget all about that one.

At the end of the week, I drive back home with a certificate that states I have passed the course for kayaking. I collect my $10 from my husband, who still has doubts in spite of the certificate.

From then on he insists he must go along to help me get the kayak off the car top and into the water. Then a friend suggests I learn how to self-rescue. It is now October. The warm water of August is gone, but I am still dressed in a T-shirt and shorts. For more than an hour I am in and out of the kayak, with my teacher nearby. I learn the hard way not to swim under the kayak while wearing the PFD. Best to swim around the boat keeping a hand on it and the paddle.

At the end of the lesson I know I can over-turn and get myself back into the kayak without any help. I am entirely confident, but cold. It takes the rest of the day to warm up. But it's good to know I can get back into my over-turned kayak without any help.

The following year I try the big lakes but they are not very interesting and there is always strong afternoon wind to paddle against. So I try small lakes which are mirror-calm. These are far more interesting to me. Paddling is not necessary. A light touch with the paddle and I skim along almost like a dragonfly.

A loon mother with half-grown chick calls. A dragonfly rests just in front of the cockpit, bright yellow water lilies are in flower all around me. I am the only person on the water. I feel as exalted as those who have climbed Mt. Everest. I am on top of the world!

After circling that lake I try another small lake. Same conditions. No wind, water mirroring the shoreline, water plants in blossom all around me, and I am the only person on the water.

Kayaking is the greatest pastime for any age and interest. The teenagers like the challenges of river kayaking, the older ones do best with a sea kayak and rudder.

I love kayaking! I love my kayak!

Lynn's Note: I believe it is essential that everyone who learns to kayak should also learn self-rescue. This means you do not depend upon anyone else to help you if you over-turn accidentally. You don't need to. You can get yourself back into your kayak, pump out the water, and continue your journey. You just need to know how, and carry with you the simple equipment for self-rescue [a paddlefloat or rescue sponsons].