Feature-Women in Paddling: I Love to Paddle!

June-July 2000

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

by Sheila Haggerstone

It's early spring as I sit here at my desk looking out over the waters of Howe Sound and Georgia Strait. This is the time of year my mind starts to wander. I find myself sitting in my kayak along some windblown shoreline, clear blue water below me, the rich colours of the seaweed glowing in the early morning light. Suddenly the dog barks or a child calls and I'm transported back to my home and family. But I feel my kayak calling to me from its winter home in the carport. It's time to start dreaming up and organizing trips, time to study the BC coast chart on our wall and think of the possibilities, time to be on the water.

This year the yearning to be on the water is stronger than ever and my husband has given me, as a Christmas gift, a chance to fulfill a dream. I'm taking two to three weeks of time away from our family to join a friend to paddle from Prince Rupert on the British Columbia north coast, down to Klemtu or Bella Bella on the central coast, during August. Already the trip has affected our living space-gone are the paintings, replaced by charts on the stairwell and living room. My 'to do/to get' list includes such things as a deck compass, new PFD along side the regular household items.

Born and raised on the BC coast, as a child I spent most of my summers on the water. Seawater seems to run in my veins. My father started building toy boats as a child and grew to designing, building and selling them as an adult. Our family spent many weeks every summer exploring the BC coast by boat. And I grew to love the coastal landscape

For years now I have dreamed, with my fond memories of those days, of exploring the whole BC coast by kayak. I love reading and hearing accounts of expeditions, wilderness trips and explorations. The waters and shorelines north of Vancouver Island are especially intriguing to me. Since slipping over the edge and becoming a kayak addict, the thought of exploring the northern BC coast has never been far from my mind. Paddling from Prince Rupert back home to Bowen Island is one of my longterm dreams.

Since starting to paddle seven years ago I have slowly and steadily been improving my skills: first aid, navigation, paddling, rescue and VHF radio courses, training as a volunteer instructor with the Sea Kayak Association of BC, instructing at Thetis Island Symposiums. The last two years I have worked with Bowen Island Sea Kayaking as a guide/instructor. And of course I have paddled-from the lazy afternoon shoreline paddles, to trips with family and friends in inside waters, and longer trips on Vancouver Island's west coast.

Working in the industry has allowed me to really test and improve my kayaking skills and knowledge. Having the opportunity to share with and teach others about kayaking and many of the associated skills of being in the outdoors has been a real opportunity for me to grow and learn. Among the many things I have learned are that I enjoy teaching adults more than children, and prefer the more casual learning environment of a guided tour to that of a lesson.

One of the joys of teaching adults to paddle is they are keen to learn, full of questions and always have something to offer themselves. I have had many wonderful experiences-singing folk songs with one participant at the back of a group during a slow relaxed paddle, coaxing frightened tired paddlers through rough seas and that incredible look of accomplishment after the first successful wet exit.

On the negative side, there are wet, cold and rainy days when I have to teach and demonstrate wet exits and rescues. On these days I remember saying, many years ago as a swimming instructor, that I would never again work at a job where I ended up wet and cold at the end of the day. Ha!!

The boats are heavy and awkward, but that helps me stay strong and fit. My wardrobe is simple and comfortable and I usually work with wonderful people, many of them men. The gender mix is interesting: more men seem to work in the industry but it seems that at least half of all recreational paddlers I meet are women. A favorite photograph is of six men and myself in our kayaks at the end of a three-day trip-the only other woman on the trip was taking the photograph.

Several times I have had the opportunity to teach a women's class or go away with women for a few days of paddling. I have found my times with women have been special because we enjoy and appreciate our feminine characteristics as only women can.

Sea kayaking is a sport where skills, knowledge and experience can easily match physical strength. My boat often weighs as much as the men's on our trips, but with my paddling technique I easily keep up to the 'guys' without tiring. At the end of the day, whether it's a mixed or all women's group, I'm happy to say everyone chips in and helps carry boats and gear, and all the necessary jobs get done.

I love to paddle! I love the intimacy my kayak creates with the liquid environment of the ocean and I love the freedom that it creates in my life-to be able to go down to the seashore and push off, entering an environment where my skills, knowledge and experience open many doors and exciting opportunities.

Sheila lives on Bowen Island with her husband and three children.
She works as a guide and instructor for Bowen Island Sea Kayaking: 1-800-605-2925. ©