[Paddlewise] Lake Calhoun

On Wednesday, the eve of my 54th birthday, I persuaded Linda
to go kayaking with me on Lake Calhoun. She was very reluctant.
She didn't feel like hassling with gear, she had other things she
wanted to do, and she wanted to get to bed early for a change.
She even threatened to take the car and leave me and the kayaks
if I stayed out on the lake too late. But by the time we we were
ordering bagel sandwiches to go at Bruegher's, she was already
looking eager to be on the water.

We thoroughly enjoyed the evening. It was a warm evening in the
low eighties, with puffy clouds that turned amber, rose, and purple
as the sun sank low  in the west. The light breeze that riffled the
water provided good sailing for the weekly Laser class race in the
middle of the lake. The water felt slightly cool to bare skin at first,
but by the end felt warm as bath water. We practiced our rolls and
braces, drifted across the lake while chatting with fellow
Paddlewiser Dana Dickson, then practiced some more.

Dana practiced his rolls, also, but had trouble keeping his blade
near the surface. Once, after missing his first two attempts, he
made one last desperate attempt with his paddle nearly vertical in
the water, a setup that looked certain to fail -- but he rolled up!

Way to go, Dana! That was very impressive. Now if you can just
apply that technique to the easy setups....

Chuck Holst

***************************************************************************
PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List
Submissions:     paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net
Subscriptions:   paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net
Website:         http://www.gasp-seakayak.net/paddlewise/
***************************************************************************