[Paddlewise] Cretins and Sad Mutations...

Hi all,
I'm new to Kayaking, and was delighted to come upon this lively and
articulate group.  Allow me to introduce myself and ask a typical beginner's
question.

I'm presently residing in the majestic wastelands outside of Houston Texas.
Now, Houston is a tough town to love, especially during these long helltime
months, um, sorry, "summertime" months.  I grew up in New England and the
Northwest, so Houston takes some adjustment.  Hot, flat, boring, hot, flat,
boring...  Did I mention hot?

As for water, the Gulf of Mexico reminds me of nothing other than thousands
of miles of dirty dishwater in every direction.  The rivers here are mostly
murky mucky ditches, seething with nameless biomass of dubious distinction.
(Hey, let's all go swimming! (When I used to windsurf in the Gulf I
frequently got ear and skin infections)).  The nearest publicly accessible
lake is almost 60 miles from where I live.  (Note that I intend no offense
to loyal Texans, who are a great bunch of folks, I'm just a transplanted
yankee whiner.)

Anyway, in a pathetic effort to relieve my annual Houston summertime blues I
picked up a used Dagger "Seeker" touring kayak a couple of weeks ago.  (last
year at this time I rode my motorcycle from Houston to Inuvik (north of the
Arctic circle) and back, ...sigh...).

Last weekend I went up to one of the few lakes within a couple hours drive
(only an $8 admision fee, ...sigh...) and paddled around in the hot turgid
water for a few hours, admiring the view of the triple smokestack powerplant
on the far shore.  The water was very clear for around here, with visibility
almost 2 feet.  I didn't even mind touching it too much.  I had a great time
exploring the coves and crannies of this little man-made lake.  I saw great
birds (all sorts of cranes and buzzards) and some deer along the shore of
the spooky flooded forests.

Here's my question:  What is the best way to get back into a flooded kayak
after capsizing?  (no skirt).

On this, (my second kayak trip actually), while swatting at a large
(stinging?) insect that had landed on the back of my neck (big mistake!) I
suddenly found myself upside down in the tepid water.  Whoops.  I didn't
have my splash skirt on, or my PFD (too hot, strong swimmer, too hot, please
don't lecture me).  I was only about twenty feet from "shore" when this
happened, but "shore" consisted only of huge reeds, with no way to water
shallower than about waist/chest deep.  The bottom consisted of gooey deep
black mud with thick scratchy green weeds floating over it.  Yuck and Ouch.

I spent a long time trying to get back into the boat.  (I wish I had a movie
of my zany escapades for one of those funniest home video shows).  I finally
settled for just sitting on the back of the boat, straddling it with my legs
like an old log, and carefully paddling a half a mile along the shore until
I came across a place where the water was knee deep with a firm bottom and I
could get back in the cockpit properly.

I know there's got to be a better way.  Any advice?

Thanks!
Tom Meagher
Katy TX (deep in the heart of Texas (parenthetically and pedantically
speaking (so sorry!)))




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