VIDEO: Black Water Sticking.

When introducing prospective future paddlers to sea kayaking their very first impression is often the most memorable one. If the experience is positive there is a good chance that they might consider pursuing the sport.
With that in mind I wanted to make my friend's first time in a sea kayak the best possible ever, after all they were bringing a "cake" to help me celebrate my birthday.
And since they have not paddled any real distance before and were not too familiar with the equipment I opted to loan them my spare traditional paddles.
Noticeably there were no embarrassing moments where a novice can hold a Euro style paddle back to front or upside down; traditional paddles are much easier to use, even for beginners.


But what really surprised me was that my friends kept a very respectable pace for the sustained duration (20Km) of the trip.
Their stroke appeared to be relatively natural (given it was their first time) and there was not stumbling or fumbling to cause an accidental mishap.
It was mainly smiles all the way.

I celebrated my birthday in style: for me there is nothing better than camping with trusted friends in a location where there are no man made noises, no neighbours and no walls.
I defaulted on my duties though: I didn’t do my birthday rolls on the day but redeemed myself the following Sunday pulling off my first clumsy roll with a Norsaq (actually a rolling stick, gift from Stika)