Stinky B-Day
I love birthdays. Especially those when celebrated by friends. So what better way for us to wish Bo-Bo her I'm-a-year-older Day than to go kayaking? After all it's a healthy group activity and fun for everyone. Well, if it's sweaty, stinky, achy, then I'm not so sure...
You see, even though we're a pretty active group of friends there were a number of factors working against us. First, there's the current in the bay to contend with. It's not strong but just sitting idle would draw your kayak far away from the dock. Second, the wind was relentless. Third, Bo-Bo's mom was there.
So we all got a quick lesson on how to paddle and control the rudder, then we were shoved off by an all-too-happy assistant. We spun around for a while near the dock just getting used to the controls and making forward progress. Easy, right? So we go out a little farther. We're zooming around and then we notice two things: the water gets much more turbulent away from the dock and the wind/current are stronger out there too. So, the bright idea of crossing the bay to the opposite end is nixed in short order. After all, our muscles were already starting to burn.
OK, crossing the bay is out. We had 4 hours to kill, so we decided to head north to a nearby beach. As Puchu and I pushed northward we turned to notice that the kayak with Bo-Bo's mom and sister was drifting oddly. Poor mom wasn't really able to contribute much to moving the boat and so the little sister (who does have some crew experience) was huffing and puffing to make any sort of forward progress. But they simply could not do it with the current and wind slapping them back... We finally suggested to them that they head back to the dock where it was safer and easier. So, they turned sideways and inched their way back to the dock...
What's up with this current?! Puchu and I dug in hard to try to catch up to the 3 kayaks that had already gone ahead to that beach. About halfway there we see this couple more drifting than paddling back in the opposite direction. It was Cupcake and her husband Chef. They had given up. Their poor kayak meandered back to join Bo-Bo's mom and sister back at the start. Puchu and I resumed our northward fight, muscles burning.
We did it though! We pulled our weary bodies and watercraft onto the shore next to the two remaining boats. Bo-Bo and her boyfriend Rocker were wading into the water. Tri-Girl was splashing about while her boyfriend, Pacer, just stood there shivering. We all told him the water was fine and warm (actually it was!) but the only response we got back was the ch-ch-chatter-r-r of h-his t-t-teeth. Of course, Tri-Girl wasn't about to stand for that so she dragged him into the water, him squeaking in resistance. :)
And there I was enjoying the oddly lukewarm water along with them. Gee, I've never been in warm-ish water in the vicinity of San Francisco. Bo-Bo was starting to really enjoy herself too. Then somehow the conversation got onto topics of how when Puchu was younger he used to stand underwaterfalls and go pee in the water. And the turned to look at Tri-Girl who had this funny look on her face as she talked about her peeing in the water. Then we suddenly realized why the water might have been so warm ... EW! After a collective knee-jerk reaction we all got out of the water and into our boats, the still-smiling Tri-Girl coming up to join us.
*sniff* *sniff* Oh, and did I mention that beachwater area started to smell like horse crap? Oh ... DOUBLE EW!
Well, Puchu and I hightailed it back to the dock. (At least this time we were paddling with the current.) So we got back in record time, leaving the warm "water" and the horsecrap smell far behind us.
We joined up with Cupcake and the mom who were already showered and dry, Bo-Bo and the rest following a few minutes later. Tired, salty, stinky, and aching we all got back into our cars for the long drive home...
You see, even though we're a pretty active group of friends there were a number of factors working against us. First, there's the current in the bay to contend with. It's not strong but just sitting idle would draw your kayak far away from the dock. Second, the wind was relentless. Third, Bo-Bo's mom was there.
So we all got a quick lesson on how to paddle and control the rudder, then we were shoved off by an all-too-happy assistant. We spun around for a while near the dock just getting used to the controls and making forward progress. Easy, right? So we go out a little farther. We're zooming around and then we notice two things: the water gets much more turbulent away from the dock and the wind/current are stronger out there too. So, the bright idea of crossing the bay to the opposite end is nixed in short order. After all, our muscles were already starting to burn.
OK, crossing the bay is out. We had 4 hours to kill, so we decided to head north to a nearby beach. As Puchu and I pushed northward we turned to notice that the kayak with Bo-Bo's mom and sister was drifting oddly. Poor mom wasn't really able to contribute much to moving the boat and so the little sister (who does have some crew experience) was huffing and puffing to make any sort of forward progress. But they simply could not do it with the current and wind slapping them back... We finally suggested to them that they head back to the dock where it was safer and easier. So, they turned sideways and inched their way back to the dock...
What's up with this current?! Puchu and I dug in hard to try to catch up to the 3 kayaks that had already gone ahead to that beach. About halfway there we see this couple more drifting than paddling back in the opposite direction. It was Cupcake and her husband Chef. They had given up. Their poor kayak meandered back to join Bo-Bo's mom and sister back at the start. Puchu and I resumed our northward fight, muscles burning.
We did it though! We pulled our weary bodies and watercraft onto the shore next to the two remaining boats. Bo-Bo and her boyfriend Rocker were wading into the water. Tri-Girl was splashing about while her boyfriend, Pacer, just stood there shivering. We all told him the water was fine and warm (actually it was!) but the only response we got back was the ch-ch-chatter-r-r of h-his t-t-teeth. Of course, Tri-Girl wasn't about to stand for that so she dragged him into the water, him squeaking in resistance. :)
And there I was enjoying the oddly lukewarm water along with them. Gee, I've never been in warm-ish water in the vicinity of San Francisco. Bo-Bo was starting to really enjoy herself too. Then somehow the conversation got onto topics of how when Puchu was younger he used to stand underwaterfalls and go pee in the water. And the turned to look at Tri-Girl who had this funny look on her face as she talked about her peeing in the water. Then we suddenly realized why the water might have been so warm ... EW! After a collective knee-jerk reaction we all got out of the water and into our boats, the still-smiling Tri-Girl coming up to join us.
*sniff* *sniff* Oh, and did I mention that beachwater area started to smell like horse crap? Oh ... DOUBLE EW!
Well, Puchu and I hightailed it back to the dock. (At least this time we were paddling with the current.) So we got back in record time, leaving the warm "water" and the horsecrap smell far behind us.
We joined up with Cupcake and the mom who were already showered and dry, Bo-Bo and the rest following a few minutes later. Tired, salty, stinky, and aching we all got back into our cars for the long drive home...
posted by Amster at
12:48 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home