Priceless!

Time spent staring at other people Kayaking/Boating - A couple of Years

Research on buying Kayak - 2 weeks

Inflatable Kayak from Costco- $200

Life jackets from BJ's - $80

Filling up Gas - $40

Experience of Tandem Kayaking - Priceless (Click for more pictures)

After years of staring at other people having fun in summer we finally took the leap and got ourselves an inflatable kayak. The credit goes to Nihar for the passion with which he has done the research in getting us a good deal.

The Kayak - Sea eagle 330 arrived on July 15th and we set up this 11 feet sleek white and blue beauty in our living room. It took us less than 30 minutes to get the whole thing ready and then the fear settled in. The kayak looks very sturdy on the living room floor but thinking about it on water gave us the shivers. Anyway we put it back in and decided to set out on our first kayaking adventure on early Saturday morning.

Saturday morning arrived and the first thing we did was get a decent breakfast and pack lots of water and trail mix and set out on our mission. We were yet to buy the life jackets but we were confident that we could pick those in the nearby Walmart. We also had my friend Nikki visiting us this weekend and without her our trip would not have been documented.

We reached Walmart and as luck would have it they did not have it in stock. It was very depressing and not wanting to give up we then started looking for any other boating stores that might stock life jackets. After about two hours of searching we finally got them from BJ's and we set out again to complete our mission.

We finally reached Round Valley State Park at 2 in the afternoon. This is a man-made reservoir, the second largest in NJ and about 180 feet deep. It took us about 30 minutes to set up the kayak and we then hauled our little boat into the water.

The first ride will be my most memorable ride ever, the excitement of a new adventure can overcome a number of difficulties with ease. The first challenge was to get on the kayak without it floating away. The next was to actually get off the shore area and into some deep waters. The next was to get the tandem motion right so that we are actually moving forward in a straight line and not hitting each other. The last one is to maintain your stamina for 30+ minutes and finally to get back safely to the shore.

When you watch videos and read blogs, people talk about smooth even motion. But no one mentions water current, wind and other factors that can be inflicted upon you. The first day was a truly exciting but with major disasters. We were driving the kayak in the wrong direction. Since the hull and the stern are of the same shape we had no idea that skegs provided at the bottom actually go in the rear and help in keeping a direction. The first ride was mostly taken in circles and not far from the shore as we were not able to control the kayak very well.We were lucky that Nikki documented our progress and was there cheering us and pushing for us to go on. She promised to call 911 if she thought there was even a small bit of trouble. After our first ride, Nikki tried it too and she had a marvelous time. We finally stopped at 5 as it got too windy. Tired and every limb hurting but truly satisfied with our adventure.

We went back on Sunday with a new confidence. We had learnt from our mistakes and this time we did kayaking like the experts. We reached the center of the lake and back in about an hour.

The experience is wonderful and I am glad I am sharing it with Nihar. The speed,the water and the thrill are not definable. I can't move a single muscle today and Nihar and me have become two burnt bricks but its absolutely worth every penny and effort!

Now I need to update my activities in orkut - Kayaking!