In Search of My Own Boat (Part I: The Beginning of the Search)

After renting a canoe and a kayak through the summer and fall season (including "borrowing" one once), I was on the edge to buy one for myself. I probably spent almost a hundred dollars on renting excluding ones in Canada.

The reasons:
- I don't want to keep paddling at the same lakes over and over. There are other lakes I want to explore but the rental is not available.
- I want to paddle anytime I feel like.

Preference:
- At the moment I prefer a canoe than a kayak because there is more room and I feel more comfortable on it. Maybe because I have put a lot more hours on canoeing. I still feel like a puppet when I paddle a kayak.

The Obstacles:
- I am quite small. No way I can lift any regular boat up above my roof w/out assistance or a loading gear. Maybe I should get a small ladder.
- According to my car manual, it suggests that a kayak should be less than 8 foot long. Darn it.
- My car has a tail right on the center of the roof. (It's an antenna.) I used to think it's cute. Now I keep glaring at it. (It's Volkswagen Golf if you must know.)
- Whether it's a kayak or a canoe it is quite expensive. If it is $400, I need paddle at least 50 hours during Spring, Summer and Fall to break even...compared to the rental rate of $8 per hour. Oh man.

Possible Options:
- An inflatable kayak (I don't do whitewater...well at least not yet.)
- A really light and short kayak or canoe.

Why don't they build something light like Sairy Gamp canoe these days ?

Well, I keep you posted what I decide to do.

My Solo Canoe: Burke Lake Park, Virginia

Back to the lake for the second time. (My first time was during the summer. I posted the photos when I had a chance.) My main goals today were to take photos of fall foliage and to practice my cross-forward stroke.

I got there around 1:30 but the staff suggested me to wait until 2 pm to get a half-day rate. Thank you! (Ah oh, did I just spill out the secret to the world ?) And I was lucky enough that the only canoe at Burke Lake was available right at the moment I arrived. They better get more soon. So I was never far from that canoe during that half hour.

Today's Lessons:
- I found it helped a lot to pull my torso and hips toward the front while I was pulling my forward stroke.
- There was no point to fight the wind. Just let the boat spin.
- After being told that I should sit at the end of the tandem canoe by a staff at the lake, I checked with my instructor afterward and he told me that it was totally to sit in the middle when I paddled solo on the tandem canoe otherwise the front of the boat would lift up from the water which made it harder to control the boat.

- Don't forget to bring a lot of drinking water and snack with you on the boat.

Visit Burke Lake Park:
www.fairfaxcounty.gov/parks/burkelake

Today's Babbling:

I felt a bit more comfortable paddling around the lake since I was exploring it for 4 hours last time.

The lake was in gorgeous golden color instead of rich deep green in summer. The view from the middle of the lake was totally different from the shore. You will love it.

It's a bit windy on my way back to the launch area. I had to let the canoe spin 3 times since my correctional strokes didn't work well. I was trying to use sweep strokes to push the boat back but it's just too much work. It's easier to let it go.

The rental here closed at the end of October. So until next year!

This kid was learning how to fish.

Along the shoreline.

Just like a painting.

A gorgeous dead tree.

Since it's windy there was no mirror reflection but it's still pretty anyway.

The wave that got me.

You just have to be there.

NP

Actual Post Date: November 22, 2011

What I will be babbling about

My sister and I grew up being told to stay away from any water trip even though we both had weekly swimming lessons for over a year when we were in elementary school.

Decades passed by.

Early this year, June 2011, my sister had a business trip in Calgary, Canada. So we planned to meet up and spend a week vacation together in Banff and Jasper. Since I was the trip planner I had found that canoeing is quite famous there and the lakes are absolutely gorgeous. It would be our lost not to be on the water.

So here I am...during the period of 5 months I took a private canoeing lesson a week for my big trip, paddled on two lakes in Canada (I wish I could do more but it was raining while we're there.), paddled solo at the lakes (where I can find a boat rental) in my neighborhood and dragged my friend to take a kayak lesson with me (Thank goodness she enjoyed it though she's not into it as much as I am...yet.) This winter I will be taking a swimming lesson again to strengthen my swimming skill and to feel more comfortable in the water, so hopefully I'll be ready for more paddling next Spring.

I was asked why I was into this in all the sudden. I don't know. I was just hooked by it. Maybe it's the skill I need to have (I like technical stuff), the work against or along all the fluctuations caused by the water and the wind, the experience to be on the water or simply the views I had never seen from a shore.

Currently I only concentrate on the flatwater paddling since I am a newbie and no risk taker. It probably sounds less interesting to some of you already but I hope my experience will inspire ones who still hesitate to join this activity. Don't let any fear stop you. Start small.

I'll start posting a real blog next month since I have a professional license exam coming up at the end of this month which is no fun at all compared to paddling. But we have to prioritize things, don't we ? This is not an instructional blog. I simply want to share my experience as a newbie paddler on what I learn from lessons and from my practice, where I paddle, where I want to paddle, my anxiety (ha ha), photos (photography is my other hobby.) and any useful paddling information I find.

You're so welcome to share your paddling experience here.

Until then,
NP working on my cross forward stoke