This weekend the girls continued to gain interest and enthusiasm for their kayaks.
I started them off by having them learn how to do a cowboy re-entry. I find this a useful technique when in calm water, doing rolling practice and needing to recover from the occasional wet exit. Both Emma and Katelyn found it no problem as long as they started far aft and sank the hull. They quickly learned to keep their bodies low on the deck as they pulled forward on the cockpit coaming. They both will no doubt have bruises and scraps. I always seem to get a few from the deck fittings.
After successfully mastering the cowboy, they both worked on standing up. After much hilarity, head first dives and splashing, they both managed to stand up and maintain their balance. Of course neither of them would listen to me telling them that it is easiest to pull up by holding onto the front of the cockpit. They found out the hard way I was correct. I generally need to use my paddle for support to stand up. Once upright I can take the blade out of the water and spin it around my head like a windmill. The girls needed nothing; they just stood up.
The real purpose of the practice was to get them both performing the static brace in their own kayaks. I did not want them to think they could only perform rolls etc in my Tahe.
They both managed numerous times to get into the position and recover with ease. At first they performed it without spray-skirts, then we put them on. A few practice wet exits and they were able to perform the static brace with spray skirts as well.
Just for fun at the end we tried some seal launches off the dock. I was expecting some mishaps. Surprisingly it all worked well. More practice was requested by them both for next weekend. I could not have asked for more. I need to get Greenland paddles that are the correct size for them as the paddle width is too great for them to scull properly. Also, both the loom length and overall paddle length is way too huge for them. I guess 82 inch would be about right. Maybe I should try my hand at carving them.
