Paddled but not Spanked on My Birthday
Yesterday was my Heinz birthday, and I celebrated by hauling myself out of bed and hooking up with a couple other kayakers for a 13-mile paddle around Mercer Island in Lake Washington. It took a little bit of self-persuasion, as I had spent the previous two days working in eastern Washington, and just wanted to drink long draughts of sleep on Saturday morning. It looked like pretty nice weather outside, though, and I knew I’d kick myself later for not carpe-in the diem.
The paddle got off to a rocky start, for me, anyway, when the trip leader, and experienced paddler whose knowledge of all things sea-kayaking I respect, determined that my paddling technique, the one I’d used over hundreds of miles of blissful sailing, was crap and needed revision. So, I spent most of the ride just concentrating on repositioning my hands on my paddle and on its motion through the water. As a result, I didn’t take many photos, nor did I pay as much attention to my surroundings as I usually do. I think ultimately that it helped - I think it’s cured an annoying tendency of any boat I’ve paddled to bear leftwards, which is counterintuitive since I should be stronger on the right side. Anyway, boring boring - Here are a few photos from the paddle - 2 of me and one of my accomplices with Mount Rainier and the Boeing Renton plant in the background:
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I returned home to a freshly-baked birthday cake with a wisely-discounted candle-count (5.7, a 1:10 scale). And, it wouldn’t be a Heinz birthday without a little sauce:
