Watersport Weekend at the Cottage
This weekend I went to my Aunt Lorraine's cottage and spent time with my aunt and uncle as well as my cousin Donna and her husband Chris. It was great to see them again and a wonderful time was had by all.
On Saturday I tried kayaking for the first time in a beautiful wooden kayak that was made by my uncle. I was impressed with how my uncle taught me to use the kayak; basically I just got in and he pushed me off saying that I would figure it out. Chris gave me more detailed instruction from the other kayak. I was an excellent on the spot turner, but I felt very shaky when trying to ramp up to full speed and I didn't like how the waves would divert me in the wrong direction. Full speed on the kayak was noticeably faster than a canoe, as I was able to outdistance my aunt, uncle and Donna in their canoe easily. I would try kayaking again, though currently I prefer the company of another person and the stability of a canoe.
Then later in the afternoon I sat on a rock in the sun by the water with Donna and Chris and drank a nice apple cider beer (Ironcrest) from Niagara-on-the-Lake winery. My uncle was out puttering in my dad's sailboat. Though sailboat might evoke grand visions of huge boats with interior cabins, this sailboat was orange plastic and had room for 2 people sitting. Even so, it could go quite quickly and looked like a lot of fun. After a while my uncle came over and offered to teach me how to sail. After a demonstration, I got to handle the controls: one hand on a rope attached to the sail to pull it across the wind, and another one on the rudder for steering. I think I picked it up quite quickly. After going to one side of the lake and back my uncle hopped off and I solo-piloted my vessel. I really enjoyed it and would like to try again at some point.
In the evening, we showed each other pictures of different trips. I showed off my pictures from my European adventure. My uncle showed slides from their trip to Seattle about 20 years ago. At one point they had shots of the Seattle skyline and we did side-by-side comparisons of the then and now. Seattle has way more buildings and especially condos than in the 80s. They also showed me some pictures from hikes they went on in the Seattle area. Their pictures and stories renewed my excitement to be moving to Seattle.
Sunday morning (today) I woke up early to join my aunt and uncle on their morning walk. When we got back, Donna and Chris were stirring. We all had some lunch and then read out on the deck in the sun.
Later in the afternoon, we went on an excursion looking for sunbathing turtles. This time I was in a canoe with Chris, my aunt and uncle with in the other canoe and Donna was in a kayak. We didn't have much luck with turtles, I only saw one briefly before it jumped into the water.
Next on the "to experience" agenda, Donna and I waited around in the shallow water so that fish would nibble on our feet. Eventually they came and yes, nibbled. It mostly tickled, though at one point a fish really chomped down on me. Another highlight was a bigger fish leaned against my ankle for a bit hanging out in my shadow, and then sat on top of my foot before attacking another fish. (These fish were about the length of your finger, not too big)
We headed back to Ottawa after a delicious dinner. I was spoiled for food the entire weekend since my aunt Lorraine is such a good cook.
On Saturday I tried kayaking for the first time in a beautiful wooden kayak that was made by my uncle. I was impressed with how my uncle taught me to use the kayak; basically I just got in and he pushed me off saying that I would figure it out. Chris gave me more detailed instruction from the other kayak. I was an excellent on the spot turner, but I felt very shaky when trying to ramp up to full speed and I didn't like how the waves would divert me in the wrong direction. Full speed on the kayak was noticeably faster than a canoe, as I was able to outdistance my aunt, uncle and Donna in their canoe easily. I would try kayaking again, though currently I prefer the company of another person and the stability of a canoe.
Then later in the afternoon I sat on a rock in the sun by the water with Donna and Chris and drank a nice apple cider beer (Ironcrest) from Niagara-on-the-Lake winery. My uncle was out puttering in my dad's sailboat. Though sailboat might evoke grand visions of huge boats with interior cabins, this sailboat was orange plastic and had room for 2 people sitting. Even so, it could go quite quickly and looked like a lot of fun. After a while my uncle came over and offered to teach me how to sail. After a demonstration, I got to handle the controls: one hand on a rope attached to the sail to pull it across the wind, and another one on the rudder for steering. I think I picked it up quite quickly. After going to one side of the lake and back my uncle hopped off and I solo-piloted my vessel. I really enjoyed it and would like to try again at some point.
In the evening, we showed each other pictures of different trips. I showed off my pictures from my European adventure. My uncle showed slides from their trip to Seattle about 20 years ago. At one point they had shots of the Seattle skyline and we did side-by-side comparisons of the then and now. Seattle has way more buildings and especially condos than in the 80s. They also showed me some pictures from hikes they went on in the Seattle area. Their pictures and stories renewed my excitement to be moving to Seattle.
Sunday morning (today) I woke up early to join my aunt and uncle on their morning walk. When we got back, Donna and Chris were stirring. We all had some lunch and then read out on the deck in the sun.
Later in the afternoon, we went on an excursion looking for sunbathing turtles. This time I was in a canoe with Chris, my aunt and uncle with in the other canoe and Donna was in a kayak. We didn't have much luck with turtles, I only saw one briefly before it jumped into the water.
Next on the "to experience" agenda, Donna and I waited around in the shallow water so that fish would nibble on our feet. Eventually they came and yes, nibbled. It mostly tickled, though at one point a fish really chomped down on me. Another highlight was a bigger fish leaned against my ankle for a bit hanging out in my shadow, and then sat on top of my foot before attacking another fish. (These fish were about the length of your finger, not too big)
We headed back to Ottawa after a delicious dinner. I was spoiled for food the entire weekend since my aunt Lorraine is such a good cook.