For the love of Kayaking

little man · 07-03-2011, 12:16 PM

i've been paddling on town lake here in austin. it's one in a series of lakes on the colorado river. there is almost no motorized boat traffic allowed, so you don't have to fight the wakes from the drunk guys in power boats. last week, i went out with a couple of friends for an evening paddle. it was sweet. even fewer folks on the lake than in the morning and it got cooler as we paddled. a welcome break from the 100+ temps we've been having. we paddled to the congress street bridge to see the bats come out. not only was the sunset behind the bridge beautiful, it was a better view of the bats than what i'd seen from the shore. i don't have any waterproof camera gear yet, so it's a bit of a pain to take the stuff out of the dry bag and put it back in after a couple of shots...but the pics i did get were worth the effort. i've been lazy about editing my pics, but will do a couple and post them in the gallery, if anyone is interested.

i'm interested in trying out the single sculls as well. it's a total body workout (which i could use) and i figure it'll improve my range of motion in the bad knee i've got. i can certainly use some work on the abs and legs as well. getting older is hell, i tell ya. but, i'm thinking it'll be good exercise and a good way to improve my mobility for the kayak.

i want to get into some mild whitewater this fall. i got a good deal on a 10' pelican fishing yak. the cockpit is a little larger than i'd like, so am wondering if kneeling to paddle might be an option for me. i think this yak was built for someone a bit taller than i am. i've had to make some modifications to be able to even reach the footpegs. i'd like to get myself into a 9' fusion at some point. right now, they're going for about $700, so out of my range for the time being.

anyway...all this rambling. i spent june paddling on town lake. now, i'm looking to spend july paddling on smaller water with some current. trying to work my way up to quicker moving water so i can get some smaller rapids this fall.

YB, i'd be interested to know more about the knee paddling. anything you're willing to share would be helpful, i'm sure.

blaze, are you maybe thinking about a trip down this way sometime? it'd be cool to hook up and go for a paddle. i know a couple other folks from the site down here who would likely be interested in a kayak outing.

Sachita · 07-03-2011, 01:13 PM

I have both my kayaks in the van and we've been stealing as much time as we have to go out on the lakes. I wish they weren't 40 min away because it limits the amount time we could be spending on the water. But it's peaceful and we can float and just listen to nature. During the week there are few boats on the water. Last time we scouted some shore beaches to swim - more private over the public beach with a million screaming kids.

I love fishing off my kayak and next week I'll get my license.

Dominique · 07-03-2011, 04:12 PM

Sachita, Littleman, Greco, nice to see you all posting in this wonderful thread.

Littleman privately reached out to me for a source of info. Water people are like that. Good people, and also fun.

This morning as I was reading about Kayak tours I started reading about Arkansas and I thought, wow, why can't the kayakers all meet up at the reunion place and plan a kayak expedition. Then, as you saw, I just got carried away (no pun intended)

Here, where I live, there is a non profit organization that rents kayaks. Thats who I do the tours and instructional courses for. I do not get paid.
It's all for the love of the sport, and the idea is to introduce people to the outdoors and get them outside (and of course get them moving). They use flat bottomed perception kayaks with roomy cockpits and upgraded seats. Ideal for rentals. Then we have the rowing clubs, not non profit, but they keep it so the sport (and all it encompasses) can be affordable.

A tremendous amount of commerce comes through Pittsburgh on the Ohio and Allegheny rivers. I've seen the Mississippi (before I was a kayaker) in Both Baton Rouge and in New Orleans. Comparing that Mississippi to our three rivers, well, the Mississippi was scarey.

My personal kayak is an advanced element (advancedframe) (www.advancedelements.com) inflateable hybrid kayak. 10.5 long, 32 inches wide. **Littleman, the biggest reason I am able to paddle on my knees is my seat collapses into the space behind the seat giving me room for my legs. If you have room for your legs, you'll love this. I was surprised how comfortable this actually was.

Check it out!

YB

little man · 07-03-2011, 08:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Yellow band

Sachita, Littleman, Greco, nice to see you all posting in this wonderful thread.

Littleman privately reached out to me for a source of info. Water people are like that. Good people, and also fun.

This morning as I was reading about Kayak tours I started reading about Arkansas and I thought, wow, why can't the kayakers all meet up at the reunion place and plan a kayak expedition. Then, as you saw, I just got carried away (no pun intended)

Here, where I live, there is a non profit organization that rents kayaks. Thats who I do the tours and instructional courses for. I do not get paid.
It's all for the love of the sport, and the idea is to introduce people to the outdoors and get them outside (and of course get them moving). They use flat bottomed perception kayaks with roomy cockpits and upgraded seats. Ideal for rentals. Then we have the rowing clubs, not non profit, but they keep it so the sport (and all it encompasses) can be affordable.

A tremendous amount of commerce comes through Pittsburgh on the Ohio and Allegheny rivers. I've seen the Mississippi (before I was a kayaker) in Both Baton Rouge and in New Orleans. Comparing that Mississippi to our three rivers, well, the Mississippi was scarey.

My personal kayak is an advanced element (advancedframe) (www.advancedelements.com) inflateable hybrid kayak. 10.5 long, 32 inches wide. **Littleman, the biggest reason I am able to paddle on my knees is my seat collapses into the space behind the seat giving me room for my legs. If you have room for your legs, you'll love this. I was surprised how comfortable this actually was.

Check it out!

YB

i'm on the short side and the cockpit is on the long side...thinking maybe i can manage kneeling. i'm planning on hitting town lake early tomorrow morning, so i'll take my knee pads and see how it works out. my only real concern is whether or not the stability will be affected by shifting my weight forward a bit. we'll see how it works out.

btw...posted a couple pics in the gallery from last weekend's evening excursion.

Dominique · 07-04-2011, 05:39 AM

I'm dragon boat racing this morning at the regatta.

It's so frigging humid, I had gatorade for breakfast. I'm fine inside my IGLOO house.....

Hey littleman, regualr knee pads, when they get wet, slide around. These peel and stick that they sell, are two small rubber mats, and extremely soft rubber knee pads, and they work sort of like suction cups on the mat

If the lake is calm, try it, you've got nothing to loose, but lots to gain. My legs are only 29 inches, so this is very easy for me to do. Be prepared to go fast! (and have a blast!!!)

OK, gotta pack my bicycle bag. After dragon boat racing, the Pirates are back in town!

Happy July 4th to all Americans, Belated happy Cananda day neighbors.....and to all, a great day.

StillettoDoll · 07-04-2011, 09:52 AM

Blaze wanted me to post this pic of his Kayak

Finally got 2 weekends in with the Prism Aquaterra that was worked on all winter.
Not bad, this bad boy caught me 2 Reds, 5 Flounder, 2 Sheepheads, and 4 Pompano at Galveston State Park trail #2. That doesn't include the 3 stingrays that I let go, lol.

Blaze

afixer · 07-26-2011, 09:50 AM

spent most of the day Sunday out on the lake paddling my friends kids around, fun times.

07-03-2011, 12:16 PM	#1
little man Member How Do You Identify?: mister Preferred Pronoun?: he Relationship Status: hard to hold Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: where the road goes on forever and the party never ends Posts: 1,003 My Photo Gallery Thanks: 169 Thanked 1,535 Times in 437 Posts Rep Power: 13709165	and another thing... i've been paddling on town lake here in austin. it's one in a series of lakes on the colorado river. there is almost no motorized boat traffic allowed, so you don't have to fight the wakes from the drunk guys in power boats. last week, i went out with a couple of friends for an evening paddle. it was sweet. even fewer folks on the lake than in the morning and it got cooler as we paddled. a welcome break from the 100+ temps we've been having. we paddled to the congress street bridge to see the bats come out. not only was the sunset behind the bridge beautiful, it was a better view of the bats than what i'd seen from the shore. i don't have any waterproof camera gear yet, so it's a bit of a pain to take the stuff out of the dry bag and put it back in after a couple of shots...but the pics i did get were worth the effort. i've been lazy about editing my pics, but will do a couple and post them in the gallery, if anyone is interested. i'm interested in trying out the single sculls as well. it's a total body workout (which i could use) and i figure it'll improve my range of motion in the bad knee i've got. i can certainly use some work on the abs and legs as well. getting older is hell, i tell ya. but, i'm thinking it'll be good exercise and a good way to improve my mobility for the kayak. i want to get into some mild whitewater this fall. i got a good deal on a 10' pelican fishing yak. the cockpit is a little larger than i'd like, so am wondering if kneeling to paddle might be an option for me. i think this yak was built for someone a bit taller than i am. i've had to make some modifications to be able to even reach the footpegs. i'd like to get myself into a 9' fusion at some point. right now, they're going for about $700, so out of my range for the time being. anyway...all this rambling. i spent june paddling on town lake. now, i'm looking to spend july paddling on smaller water with some current. trying to work my way up to quicker moving water so i can get some smaller rapids this fall. YB, i'd be interested to know more about the knee paddling. anything you're willing to share would be helpful, i'm sure. blaze, are you maybe thinking about a trip down this way sometime? it'd be cool to hook up and go for a paddle. i know a couple other folks from the site down here who would likely be interested in a kayak outing. __________________ i gots pitchers here i'm a rambling man i ain't ever gonna change i got a gypsy soul to blame and i was born for leaving --zac brown band (colder weather)

07-03-2011, 04:12 PM	#3
Dominique Member How Do You Identify?: Female/Lesbian/half the athlete I used to be Preferred Pronoun?: she/her Relationship Status: Dates Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: So proud to be a Pittsburgher Posts: 1,484 My Photo Gallery Thanks: 2,645 Thanked 3,730 Times in 1,166 Posts Rep Power: 21474854	Sachita, Littleman, Greco, nice to see you all posting in this wonderful thread. Littleman privately reached out to me for a source of info. Water people are like that. Good people, and also fun. This morning as I was reading about Kayak tours I started reading about Arkansas and I thought, wow, why can't the kayakers all meet up at the reunion place and plan a kayak expedition. Then, as you saw, I just got carried away (no pun intended) Here, where I live, there is a non profit organization that rents kayaks. Thats who I do the tours and instructional courses for. I do not get paid. It's all for the love of the sport, and the idea is to introduce people to the outdoors and get them outside (and of course get them moving). They use flat bottomed perception kayaks with roomy cockpits and upgraded seats. Ideal for rentals. Then we have the rowing clubs, not non profit, but they keep it so the sport (and all it encompasses) can be affordable. A tremendous amount of commerce comes through Pittsburgh on the Ohio and Allegheny rivers. I've seen the Mississippi (before I was a kayaker) in Both Baton Rouge and in New Orleans. Comparing that Mississippi to our three rivers, well, the Mississippi was scarey. My personal kayak is an advanced element (advancedframe) (www.advancedelements.com) inflateable hybrid kayak. 10.5 long, 32 inches wide. **Littleman, the biggest reason I am able to paddle on my knees is my seat collapses into the space behind the seat giving me room for my legs. If you have room for your legs, you'll love this. I was surprised how comfortable this actually was. Check it out! YB __________________ As long as there was coffee in the world, how bad could things be??

07-04-2011, 05:39 AM	#5
Dominique Member How Do You Identify?: Female/Lesbian/half the athlete I used to be Preferred Pronoun?: she/her Relationship Status: Dates Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: So proud to be a Pittsburgher Posts: 1,484 My Photo Gallery Thanks: 2,645 Thanked 3,730 Times in 1,166 Posts Rep Power: 21474854	I'm dragon boat racing this morning at the regatta. It's so frigging humid, I had gatorade for breakfast. I'm fine inside my IGLOO house..... Hey littleman, regualr knee pads, when they get wet, slide around. These peel and stick that they sell, are two small rubber mats, and extremely soft rubber knee pads, and they work sort of like suction cups on the mat If the lake is calm, try it, you've got nothing to loose, but lots to gain. My legs are only 29 inches, so this is very easy for me to do. Be prepared to go fast! (and have a blast!!!) OK, gotta pack my bicycle bag. After dragon boat racing, the Pirates are back in town! Happy July 4th to all Americans, Belated happy Cananda day neighbors.....and to all, a great day. __________________ As long as there was coffee in the world, how bad could things be??

07-04-2011, 09:52 AM	#6
StillettoDoll Senior Member How Do You Identify?: Femme Preferred Pronoun?: Lady Relationship Status: single Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: Texas Posts: 2,824 My Photo Gallery Thanks: 2,779 Thanked 3,847 Times in 1,469 Posts Rep Power: 21474855	Blaze wanted me to post this pic of his Kayak Finally got 2 weekends in with the Prism Aquaterra that was worked on all winter. Not bad, this bad boy caught me 2 Reds, 5 Flounder, 2 Sheepheads, and 4 Pompano at Galveston State Park trail #2. That doesn't include the 3 stingrays that I let go, lol. Blaze __________________

07-03-2011, 01:13 PM	#2
Sachita Senior Member How Do You Identify?: Alpha Femme Preferred Pronoun?: Goddess Relationship Status: Completely in love Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: Southern Virginia Posts: 3,225 My Photo Gallery Thanks: 2,564 Thanked 8,992 Times in 2,247 Posts Rep Power: 21474856	I have both my kayaks in the van and we've been stealing as much time as we have to go out on the lakes. I wish they weren't 40 min away because it limits the amount time we could be spending on the water. But it's peaceful and we can float and just listen to nature. During the week there are few boats on the water. Last time we scouted some shore beaches to swim - more private over the public beach with a million screaming kids. I love fishing off my kayak and next week I'll get my license. __________________ You either like me or you don't. It took me Twenty-something years to learn how to love myself, I don't have that kinda time to convince somebody else. ~ Daniel Franzese

07-26-2011, 09:50 AM	#7
afixer Member How Do You Identify?: human Preferred Pronoun?: ma'am Relationship Status: adrift in my head Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: in and out of the woods Posts: 989 My Photo Gallery Thanks: 491 Thanked 1,507 Times in 659 Posts Rep Power: 8660555	spent most of the day Sunday out on the lake paddling my friends kids around, fun times.