Confessions: I Was a Terrible Kayaker!

February-March 1998

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

By Fay Roth

I was a terrible kayaker! I got stuck on rocks, couldn't navigate in reverse, and worst of all, I wanted to paddle my kayak like it was a canoe. My guide tutored me, humored me, and nagged at me, but she still could not stop me from plunging my paddle deep into the water.

Fay's family vacation

"We are heading this way!"

I peered in the direction of our guide's outstretched arm. Tracy Morben of Majestic Ocean Kayaking, was pointing south toward a veil of white morning mist hanging over the grey-green waters of Barkley Sound. Beyond, was the clear blue sky and our destination, the Broken Group Islands, part of the Pacific Rim National Park system on the west coast of Vancouver Island.

We had chosen this spot for our first family kayaking vacation because the waterways inside the hundred or so islands are relatively calm and sheltered. Even though thousands of paddlers visit the area every summer, as a Park it remains undeveloped. The only buildings are the wonderful solar powered composting outhouses in the eight designated camp sites and a warden's floathouse on the south side of Nettle Island.

Before pushing off from Toquart Bay on our four day tour, our group of seven novices received extensive paddling and safety instructions from Tracy. While my husband Brock and our eleven year old daughter Jessie listened intently, I tuned it out. Being an avid sailor and having canoed a couple of times, I believed kayaking would be a snap. But after only moments on the water, I realized my smugness was misguided. It was a lot harder than I thought!

By the time we were through the Stopper Islands, my shoulders and biceps were burning from pulling the fully loaded double kayak through the choppy water and I still had to make the two kilometre sprint across Loudoun Channel.