Adventure on the River
Today I went kayaking down the Sacramento River! I had Sa_briel drop me off at Keswick dam where I shouldered my kayak and clambered down the rocks to the river. A small day pack with a couple items for after the trip went into the bulkhead compartment, a skin shirt, my deli sandwich from Safeway and my bottle of Gatorade went into the two net side pouches in the cockpit, and my cell phone went in the "glove box" dry box. With my life vest zipped and snapped and my outdoors hat and sunglasses on, I put in and shoved off.
My first rapids approached soon after putting in and my heart quickened. I've rafted white water a number of times and I once used an inflatable kayak on the McKenzie River in Oregon, but this would be a first with a hard-shell, real-deal kayak. I cruised through the rapids, getting a little bit of splash and carving through the waves - no sweat!
It was a beautiful day. Clear sunny blue sky, typically light breeze with some minor gusting, perfect temperatures. I alternately drifted and paddled along, enjoying the sights and sounds, watching the many species of birds, contemplating the ripples, whorls and other water disturbances, immersing myself in the river environment.
As I continued, I passed through a few more rapids. I reached Caldwell Park and portaged around the fish ladder area. Back in again, I passed by Turtle Bay and floated on. The river is quite low at this time of year, what with the end of summer and not much rain yet, and at this point I had weathered several rapids, nothing really big, but my confidence was growing. As I came toward a bend in the river, another set of rapids approached. I avoided a fisherman and saw a larger wave section coming. Let's do it, I thought to myself! I lined up straight on it and moved in. My kayak cut through the waves like butter and they splashed and crashed around and over me... and into my kayak... and suddenly the kayak was wallowing. I was past the waves, but my ship was canting and listing and I couldn't control it - my attempt to counter balance failed and I was swimming! This was when I learned several things in a very short period of time. One, I need to purchase a water skirt before any more river kayaking so as to keep the water out of my kayak; Two, the reason more expensive kayaks have bulkhead compartments on both the ends are because; Three, the end of a kayak without a bulkhead will sink when filled with water, just like mine was doing; Four, I need to attach a cord between my dry box and the kayak so that it will not float away with the cell phone and other valuables it is keeping dry.
Initially, when I first was dumped, I righted the kayak and slithered back onto it as I have my canoeing merit badge and know these things, however the kayak had taken on too much water and it basically sunk from under me. Finding right back in the water again, my dry box trying to escape, and my kayak upending to some degree, I grabbed my dry box and passed it to the same hand holding the paddle, kept hold of the kayak with the other hand, and started kicking perpendicular to the current, heading for shore. Luckily, though I was in a somewhat swift and unsettled bend in the river, it was without any real rapids to speak of and it only took a minute or few to reach a rocky beach. I should probably be thankful the river is so low as it would likely have been much harder to find a place to pull out and empty the water from my kayak.
Having removed the kayak from the river, and more importantly the river from the kayak, I reorganized and put back in, making mental notes of all the lessons I had learned. The remainder of the trip was a return to the previous idyllic passage, watching the ducks and generally enjoying the gorgeous day. I finally pulled out in a little cove just above the Cypress bridge where it seems there may have been a boat ramp at one time. I discovered the remaining half of my sandwich was the only casualty from the earlier excitement, it having taken on its share of river water. I packed the day pack and reconfigured for walking, then hoofed it up to Beadman where I waited for my ride, having called on my cell.
It was a good day and a good adventure.
My first rapids approached soon after putting in and my heart quickened. I've rafted white water a number of times and I once used an inflatable kayak on the McKenzie River in Oregon, but this would be a first with a hard-shell, real-deal kayak. I cruised through the rapids, getting a little bit of splash and carving through the waves - no sweat!
It was a beautiful day. Clear sunny blue sky, typically light breeze with some minor gusting, perfect temperatures. I alternately drifted and paddled along, enjoying the sights and sounds, watching the many species of birds, contemplating the ripples, whorls and other water disturbances, immersing myself in the river environment.
As I continued, I passed through a few more rapids. I reached Caldwell Park and portaged around the fish ladder area. Back in again, I passed by Turtle Bay and floated on. The river is quite low at this time of year, what with the end of summer and not much rain yet, and at this point I had weathered several rapids, nothing really big, but my confidence was growing. As I came toward a bend in the river, another set of rapids approached. I avoided a fisherman and saw a larger wave section coming. Let's do it, I thought to myself! I lined up straight on it and moved in. My kayak cut through the waves like butter and they splashed and crashed around and over me... and into my kayak... and suddenly the kayak was wallowing. I was past the waves, but my ship was canting and listing and I couldn't control it - my attempt to counter balance failed and I was swimming! This was when I learned several things in a very short period of time. One, I need to purchase a water skirt before any more river kayaking so as to keep the water out of my kayak; Two, the reason more expensive kayaks have bulkhead compartments on both the ends are because; Three, the end of a kayak without a bulkhead will sink when filled with water, just like mine was doing; Four, I need to attach a cord between my dry box and the kayak so that it will not float away with the cell phone and other valuables it is keeping dry.
Initially, when I first was dumped, I righted the kayak and slithered back onto it as I have my canoeing merit badge and know these things, however the kayak had taken on too much water and it basically sunk from under me. Finding right back in the water again, my dry box trying to escape, and my kayak upending to some degree, I grabbed my dry box and passed it to the same hand holding the paddle, kept hold of the kayak with the other hand, and started kicking perpendicular to the current, heading for shore. Luckily, though I was in a somewhat swift and unsettled bend in the river, it was without any real rapids to speak of and it only took a minute or few to reach a rocky beach. I should probably be thankful the river is so low as it would likely have been much harder to find a place to pull out and empty the water from my kayak.
Having removed the kayak from the river, and more importantly the river from the kayak, I reorganized and put back in, making mental notes of all the lessons I had learned. The remainder of the trip was a return to the previous idyllic passage, watching the ducks and generally enjoying the gorgeous day. I finally pulled out in a little cove just above the Cypress bridge where it seems there may have been a boat ramp at one time. I discovered the remaining half of my sandwich was the only casualty from the earlier excitement, it having taken on its share of river water. I packed the day pack and reconfigured for walking, then hoofed it up to Beadman where I waited for my ride, having called on my cell.
It was a good day and a good adventure.