[Paddlewise] seal landings and launches

One of the many things I love about sea kayaking is that you can always have 
new experiences (and repeat old ones you love.)
Last night I took a couple of newbies out on the water to show them strokes, 
draws, rudders, rafting, etc. After about an hour, I felt I had thrown 
enough at them for one evening, so I suggested we use the remaining hour of 
their boat rental time for a fun paddle (with the proviso they apply their 
new skills during the trip.)
Earlier we had noticed large splashes about a hundred and fifty meters from 
where we were holding class, but they had stopped when we'd paddled towards 
them. Now as we reached the same area, they proved to be being made by a 
young seal, about two and a half feet long and roughly 40-50 pounds. In my 
dozen years of paddling, the standard seal reaction to paddlers has been to 
stare at you until you are a boat length or two away, then dive (they will 
often surface behind you, but dive again as soon as they realise you know 
they're there.)
This little guy's reaction was quite different; he swam right up to and 
around us. After several minutes of peering at us, he determined we were 
friendly, and tried to board the rear deck of my boat. Since my boat is 
small, it was too tippy, and kept decanting him, so I rafted up with one of 
my companions to steady it. He soon figured out that if he got a "running 
start" from beneath the surface, he could rocket high enough out of the 
water to get on the deck. The third boat of our party joined our raft, and 
for the next half hour, Simon (as we dubbed him) climbed onto each of our 
front and rear decks, sunned himself, and investigated the dietary potential 
of deck lines, pumps, and paddlefloats. I had to take my paddlefloat away 
from him since it's the inflatable kind and those teeth would have done it 
no good. At one point he got close enough to one of my charges that she felt 
nervous, so we tilted her boat to tip Simon back into the sea. He took no 
offence and simply reboarded on my back deck.
Of course I took the opportunity to point out to my pupils that Close 
Encounters of the Seal Kind was one of the reasons I had taught them rafting 
that evening, but I'm not sure they believed me-:)
As we reluctantly headed back, Simon, having got the knack of boarding 
ships, treated us being separated and under way as simply the next level of 
our grand game, and repeatedly boarded my rear deck as I paddled (I was glad 
he chose me; it gave me a chance to prove to my sceptical students that 
braces really work!)
I think there was a photo and story in Sea Kayaker a few months ago about a 
baby seal on the East Coast who hitched a lift on some paddler's rear deck, 
but this experience was new to me; anyone else on the list have a playful 
seal story?

Philip T.
N49°16' W123°08'


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