I didn't actually scream, but that's exactly what I was thinking for roughly six hours last Saturday, when I took a whitewater kayaking lesson on the Boise River. That's me in the red kayak with the blue helmet and white shirt.
The event was for women only, taught by Anna Levesque, a world champion in freestyle kayaking and professional whitewater guide. She was VERY mellow and wonderfully patient with everyone.
This is me in the water with Anna.
This was a one-day, introductory course, so I thought I'd be safe and never have to face my fear of flipping over while skirted into a kayak. Intro -- you know, we tool around and practice a couple of strokes, break for lunch, get a sales pitch for classes and go home.
But NOOOO. We started the day by gearing up and heading to the pond to practice wet exits.
For anyone who hasn't kayaked, this is where you purposefully flip your kayak upside down, calm yourself from shear panic, pull the skirt and somersault out of the boat while under water. I whimpered and had to have Anna flip my boat for me on the first try. I just couldn't flip the boat myself. Every inch of my body was saying NO! You must stay upright! Do whatever you have to do NOT to flip this boat! I did manage to flip it by myself on my second practice exit.
After that, we practiced five strokes and skimmed around the pond for a while before lunch. I was so jacked up with fear I couldn't really eat. After lunch, we scouted the river and picked our paths through the whitewater. I chickened out when I saw the whitewater and wasn't going to go. But then I watched the first group go through and mustered the courage to do it.
I made it down the river and never flipped the kayak. YAY! I overshot the landing for our exit and got stuck near some trees, but I didn't flip the kayak.
Afterward, all the ladies were congratulating me for facing my fears and they asked, "Now wasn't that great?!" My answer? "No. It was terrifying."
I am proud of myself for doing it, but I am obviously NOT an adrenaline junky. I just felt sick, not euphoric. I hope to stick with inflatable kayaks and/or still water from now on.
5 comments:
Wow! I'm very impressed! I am proud of you for doing it - even if you were afraid!!
msjoanie - way to go kiddo. You always could do anything you decided to do. I'm proud of you.
Not something I will ever do again. I got all claustrophobic with my legs sardined into the kayak. Noooooo thank you. A sea kayak might be more to my liking; the kind you can just swim away from if you flip.
When I asked her if she wanted to rent inflatibles this weekend I got a resounding NO!!
I'm with you. Don't want to flip or be in the water if I don't have to. Ken & I went whitewater rafting a few years ago and he was of the opinion that he should have jumped from the raft (just to see what it was like) while we were in the rapids. Boys are weird...
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