Kayaking !
Yes ! kayaking. one of many things that I thought was kind of out reach for me came true last weekend. Couple of friends and me headed to Lake Union to get a taste of kayaking. This lake is right at the heart of U.W university district, quite an Urban setup for a lake. Summer is the time of the year that people on this part of the earth long for very badly. The moment they see the Sun out, the place is overwhelmed with activity. People get hold of their skate board, boats and other paraphernalias to pursue different outdoor activity. One of the many things that is done pretty regularly by folks out here is Kayaking.
So we reached this kayak rental place near Portage Bay, we got there early to avoid the holiday rush. The place I heard gets particular crowded after 10:00 am and attracts a lot of desi. So, there we were at Agua Verde Paddle Club and Cafe at about 9:30. as we entered the place saw couple of people already getting their acts to-gether. I was a little apprehensive because one, I had not tried kayaking before and the Kayak itself looked like a spiteful contrapment requiring some skill to handle. Another thing I was worried was the temperature of the water it was pretty low, 10 minutes in that water and there was very good chance to suffer hypothermia. There were also many options like a two, three or single seater. We were three and I didn't want to take the 2/3 seater option for that last thing I want to do is put others in danger and of course put mine in danger by letting some one screw. I also felt the 2/3 people rowing together required more co-ordination and it was definitely not the time for such experiments.
Quickly the owner I suppose, came to us and asked about the boat option and we all opted for 3 single seaters, that is one kayak each :-) . He also made us fill out few forms which basically said that they will not be responsible if we try to do something stupid and of course a lot things in fine print for which we had no time. After completing all the formatlities, the instructor led us to our kayaks and explained few things before getting into the kayak, he wanted us to empty our bladders before starting which made complete sense for once you are out there at the middle of the lake there is no way you can get out of the boat or get back to shore quickly. All of us obliged to his suggestion and came back, put on our life jacket and pinofore kind of thing that had a funny looking skirt fastened to a oval shaped ring. We all looked like the "Kathakali" dancers with the a life jacket on less the facial do and expressions.
So we reached this kayak rental place near Portage Bay, we got there early to avoid the holiday rush. The place I heard gets particular crowded after 10:00 am and attracts a lot of desi. So, there we were at Agua Verde Paddle Club and Cafe at about 9:30. as we entered the place saw couple of people already getting their acts to-gether. I was a little apprehensive because one, I had not tried kayaking before and the Kayak itself looked like a spiteful contrapment requiring some skill to handle. Another thing I was worried was the temperature of the water it was pretty low, 10 minutes in that water and there was very good chance to suffer hypothermia. There were also many options like a two, three or single seater. We were three and I didn't want to take the 2/3 seater option for that last thing I want to do is put others in danger and of course put mine in danger by letting some one screw. I also felt the 2/3 people rowing together required more co-ordination and it was definitely not the time for such experiments.
Quickly the owner I suppose, came to us and asked about the boat option and we all opted for 3 single seaters, that is one kayak each :-) . He also made us fill out few forms which basically said that they will not be responsible if we try to do something stupid and of course a lot things in fine print for which we had no time. After completing all the formatlities, the instructor led us to our kayaks and explained few things before getting into the kayak, he wanted us to empty our bladders before starting which made complete sense for once you are out there at the middle of the lake there is no way you can get out of the boat or get back to shore quickly. All of us obliged to his suggestion and came back, put on our life jacket and pinofore kind of thing that had a funny looking skirt fastened to a oval shaped ring. We all looked like the "Kathakali" dancers with the a life jacket on less the facial do and expressions.
The instructor patiently explained how to get into the kayak and get the steering controls right. Quickly he calibrated the steering, sealed the kayak with the oval ring from waist and below and we were off in no time. I was a little uncomfortable with the paddle and my rowing action was notoriously clumsy to begin with. Slowly I got the hang of it and could proceed at good speed. Speed was important because we had to get back in 1 hour. We started out from Portage bay and headed for Gas Works park. The distance is roughly 2 miles. The rowing part was extremely tiresome, I had to take breaks for every 5 minutes of paddling. The steering was also very sensitive so, for minor adjustments in direction we used our paddle and rowed on one side. The passage of big boats made it more thrilling for we got to ride those small ripples the boats left. We went under a big bridge and as we got near Gas Works park we were treated with a spectacular view of seattle down town dominated by the towering Space Needle. Earlier, I had decided not to take my digital camera with me fearing the event of dropping it into the lake but, thoroughly regereted the decision for I could not capture what I saw, a picture would have explained it better than my obscure descriptions.
On the shores of Gas Works park stood a huge liner, was blue in color and looked a little old, the height was equivalent to a two storey building, we set that ship as our target before we started back. All of us assembled near the front end of the ship, it was amazing to see such a thing made of solid iron floating on water. We started our journey back and like the US road rule we had to proceed on the right side, which meant crossing the lake twice, which by itself was a daunting task considering the boat traffic at time. We were compelety drained and managed to get back to Aqua Verde club on time, it was then time for some photographs as usuall we also managed to click a few snaps of the good looking female staff at Aqua verde :-)
The exercise was thoroughly refereshing after a horrible stint at work earlier in the week.
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