7-4-10

HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY!!!!!!!!! I took my step father out today for the first time on the kayaks. A little background....He can't swim...He's never been in a kayak....Ok, no worries..ha....I decide on a nice calm section of stream to bring him down...A little small action for the big day out....We fish and fish....Slow action, no problem...I teach him how to get in and out of the yak....how to stear, balance....the whole nine...We make it down some rough sections with rocks and faster water...takes it like a champ...We each caught a few fish...Nothing huge, but fish hands never the less...The bald eagle was perched on his tree as always....Now on the way back...A majority of the water I fish is 1-3 ft deep....There is one calm pool that reaches about nine feet....I'm about 20 feet in front of him, I hear GAAAABOOOOOOOSH....Splash....Oh shit.....I flip my boat around to see his kayak flipper in the water and no him....Then his head comes popping up.....He found a boulder that just got his head out of the water...I paddle over, he grabs the back of my boat and I paddle him to shore....I went back out to get all of his floating items flowing downstream....I paddle my boat while trying to push the other kayak in full of water...We get it to shore flip it, drain it....The only loss was his new ultra lightweight rod...A small price to pay for not drowning....Scary...But all was well, so lots of laughs were had in the end....How did he flip in calm water do you ask?...Well, there was a little current, his boat was drifting a bit, so instead of paddling he used the paddle like a rudder on the side of the boat...The current was strong enough to puch the paddle head under the boat causing hin to roll and catapult out of the craft....All in all, it turned out ot be a good day and believe it or not he's looking forward to the next trip...There is a bit of a learning curve with kayaks...So be careful out there and paddle with some one that is experienced....