Paddling and Water Safety Day-Ellis and Phyllis

The weatherman promised a day of sunshine, low wind and temperatures in the high 90s for our paddle and water safety day at the Narrows. What could be better for a day to play in the water?! The Tuesday Group showed up in force with 10 kayaks and 1 canoe. We even had some folks come just to get in some beach time and join the group for lunch! We put in at the Narrows and headed for Linkhorn Bay. The sun was already hot and high in the sky but there was a refreshing cool breeze. The water temperature was perfect and there were lots of jellyfish to be seen. We paddled into the Bay observing ospreys (the bird kind) and Ospreys (the Marine airplane kind) flying above. We also saw Navy jets and Great Blue Herons. We passed by lots of beautiful homes with manicured lawns and wondered what it would be like to be surrounded by such luxury! We explored some of the creeks along the way soon reaching our turn around point at the Laskin Road overpass. We headed back to the Narrows where we rejoined the rest of the group under some shade trees on the beach. We ate our lunches, told stories and enjoyed the day. After lunch, we launched our kayaks for our water safety session where we practiced rescues-wet exits and re-entries. Charlie was very helpful demonstrating the different techniques. We practiced solo and assisted heel/hook re-entry, roll and re-enter and other variations with and without paddle-floats, stirrups, etc. It was a lot of fun (despite the jellyfish) and we learned a lot. We'll need to take advantage of quiet water on future paddles so we can continue to practice these rescues! After class, we headed to Tinis for frozen yogurt. Another terrific day for the Tuesday Group!!!

Phyllis

Check out Bill's photos: https://picasaweb.google.com/117475145040031402609/TuesFirstLandingKayakSafety7MiEllisJune232015June242015?authkey=Gv1sRgCPuDi9bB94-VaQ&feat=email