Maryly Snow and I will be paddling a double kayak together on a camping expedition to the Gulf Islands near the south end of Vancouver Island next month. We borrowed a boat that is similar to the one we will be using to “try out our emergency procedures”. I once told a friend that this meant laughing and splashing and falling out of our boats on purpose like a couple of teenagers. She replied “Don’t you hate it when that happens”? Before we got to the laughing and splashing part, we had to build up our courage to get cold and wet.
We did this in the Emeryville Marina, paddling around to get used to the boat. This was a relatively calm place to try out a new boat on a very windy day. At one point we paddled out of the marina and into the full force of the wind. The wind had the width of the bay to fetch up waves and we turned to let them push us for a ways, then ducked back in behind the other end of a breakwater. It felt to me like we almost surfed the wind waves (long boats are supposed to be good for this). Back inside the marina we went looking for a place where the wind would not push us into any yachts in the harbor. We settled on the extreme western end of the marina where the water was shallow enough that my feet occasionally hit bottom.
We rolled the boat over upside down and found out that we could pop the spray skirts and get out from under the boat without drowning. With good hatches, large areas compartmented off by bulkheads, the boat rolled back upright without taking on very much water. We practiced getting back into the boat in different orders (me first or Maryly first) and from different sides. Once we got wet the water in the calm end of the marina did not feel very cold and we were happy to fall back in several times. This was the point where we could laugh and point the bilge pumps at each other and splash water like a couple of teenagers.
Don Fleming was along to watch over us and rescue us if necessary. He was in his brand new shiny red Coaster (a mighty fine looking boat). He practiced his Eskimo roll a few times and was successful. Then he rafted up to our boat and we tried exchanging riders. I straddled the double while Don slid out of his boat and into my cockpit then I slid into his boat. It was a tight fit but felt very comfortable. We paddled back to the boat ramp and I tried to do some Greenland style paddle tricks with a sport paddle in the Coaster. It didn’t work well and I was unable to roll back up, I think because my paddle hit the bottom and threw me off. I did a wet exit and came up next to the boat, ready to quit for the day. While Don and I carried the double back to the cars, Maryly tried out Don’s Coaster and agreed it was a mighty fine boat.