The PolyBlog

I was having trouble deciding what to write for “K”. Kayak is an obvious one, although I’ll come back to that in a moment. I considered going whimsical with kicking back or being kooky. Some sort of cute title that suggests that I shouldn’t take myself so seriously and instead try to find some silly things to do where I don’t have a stick up my butt. I’m not sure you can be spontaneously kooky if you’re “planning” it in advance.

Anyway, back to kayaks.

The short version of a long story is that I like being around water. I grew up in Peterborough but spent most weekends at Chemong Lake. I like calm bays, bullrushes (although we called them bowrushes), croaking frogs at night, campfires, no mosquitoes, the sound of nothing at times but perhaps some lapping waves maybe. Or being on a calm lake first thing in the morning, early in the evening. Maybe lying on a dock and staring up at the sky.

While Andrea’s family have a shared cottage, we don’t get up there often enough for me to declench and really just relax. I don’t quite relax as much just being near water if there are parking lots, boats, beaches, and people around. Walking around the parks or being next to the parkway doesn’t really do it for me. Sitting up at our friend’s place near Manotick is pretty good most of the time.

If I was sitting by a quiet lake, even camping in a trailer and sleeping nearby, that would likely do it. But visiting a busy lake or river isn’t enough. I need to be out on the water if it isn’t already quiet on shore.

The problem? I don’t really know how I want to get out there. It’s definitely not a canoe, as I’ve never really enjoyed canoeing. I have enjoyed kayaking however, so that is my go to option. Stand-up paddeboating could be fun if I could actually stand-up for long periods — or at all, really — but I can’t, so kayaking is probably the next best thing. My brother always loved those small sailboats, and I get the attraction. I might be okay with some sort of rowing scull if I knew more about it. I don’t know how good that would be on a lake or river with any waves though.

Anyway, I digress. It’s likely a kayak. That I have figured out. I think.

The next challenge is I have no idea which kind to get. Or rather, which variables I should weight to choose. Basically, I know from previous kayaking that my core is not very strong nor are my leg muscles good for sitting flat for long periods of time. It will get better, yes, but to start, I’m not doing flat options. I’m going to need some back support, and likely a bit more sitting “down in” than the simple ride-on-top versions.

Yet I’m also considering doing a long-haul travel option in a camper of some sort. Which might not have much room. Which argues heavily for one of the ones that come apart or even inflate. Do I get that immediately? Start with a basic one and then transition to a second one designed for travelling if my first doesn’t work well with my travel plans? I’ve got some good feedback from the kayaking groups. And from Trailhead at Fairlawn from their paddle shack about 18 months ago.

Except, whatever I did with the information Trailhead gave me, it’s gone from my memory and my tracking system. I am positive I wrote about it somewhere — my blog, Reddit, maybe in my OneNote or email. Gone. Can’t find it anywhere. And I was reasonably certain the brand was Pungo with a specific number of design like 120 or 150, but Trailhead doesn’t seem to carry those. Or at least they don’t now. I am pretty sure it was a recreational kayak with a wide base so that I wouldn’t flip given my weight (the wide base also ups the weight limit). I’m sure I had one that was rated to 350 or 375 lbs. Can’t find it now. Which isn’t a big deal, I’m not buying today. I’ll figure it out later this year.

I suspect I’ll buy one for the summer and try to go here in Ottawa at least once a week to get “going” so to speak. Fingers crossed anyway. I’m encouraged that my back is not screaming at me like it was last year, and that I’ll be in better shape too by summer.

So I guess K is indeed for kayak. Just no idea which one.