I attended the monthly meeting of the local paddling group. I was relieved to find that they were mostly my age and older. At the beginning of the meeting, they asked me to introduce myself. I confessed that I have a small kayak and a simple wetsuit and, even though I kayaked quite a bit in my younger days, I consider myself a beginner at this point. I was so glad that I was honest. There was another gal there who is basically a beginner and she invited me to go with her on Saturday at the same place I had been thinking of launching.
The group has different skill levels and it seems that they cluster together. The medium-level goes out 7-8 miles, which is too much for me at this point. However, I started water aerobics at the Y today so I am building my strength now. I am so excited to be meeting other kayakers, which is so much safer around here.
Drysuits are pricey!
It turns out that in the winter here people wear drysuits instead of wetsuits. With the combined cold air and water, wetsuits can be less effective than normal. However, in the calm bays where I will go, I should be okay for now. I won’t be able to venture out into more open water until I have a dry suit ($1000 new).
The speaker tonight does underwater videos. During his talk, he showed us his videos taken around this area, along the coastline. I saw some awesome creatures out there. I also made some notes about local kayak destinations.
So, things have progressed well here! Today’s weather was a 2.5 on a scale of 1-5. My weather rating system is based on my neighbor’s rating system. I may add more .5 increments (right now I only have 2.5). I have not yet experienced the extremes (1.0, 4.0, 5.0).
1.0 Long periods of rain, cold.
2.0 Yucky, gray, overcast most of the day. Maybe some drizzle. Chilly.
2.5 Over the course of the day, half sunny, half overcast. Chilly. A bit of rain here and there, a weak front moving through.
3.0 Over the course of the day, more sun than clouds. No rain. Temps 40s and into the 50s. Nice to be outside during the warmest part of the day.
4.0 Sunny most of the time. No rain Temps 50s and above.
5.0 Sunny, dry, temps above 60.
