Okanagan Lake - July 14, 2010

A nice evening for a paddle.

A few members of the Hoodoo Adventure Club were out tonight to enjoy the summer evening. We paddled from the Soorimpt boat launch (between Penticton and Summerland) north around Trout Creek to The Local restaurant and pub on the Summerland waterfront.

It was an uneventful and enjoyable evening for most of us. Lyndie and Mackenzie had a little bit of adventure in Lyndie started off trying to tow Mackenzie in a small whitewater boat. This did not work out too well as the small boat would not track and just skidded back and forth on the water turning nearly sideways at times. Too tough to paddle very far like this.

Marcel and Lyndie then teamed up for a twin tow which worked a little better and shared the workload.
Mackenzie tried to steer as best she could, however eventually she got caught with the paddle too close to the boat on a side slip and the effect of the water pushing on the paddle dumped her in the lake. Mackenzie then made the balance of the trip laying on the back deck of Lyndies boat. Marcel towed the empty boat and I am sure he got a good workout tonight.

We came across a duck and a huge flock of ducklings out enjoying an evening paddle also. I am guessing that these are Merganser ducks. If anyone can confirm, please leave a comment. Here is a photo. check out all these babies born to paddle.

Hey there is a new saying for kayak enthusiasts. Born to Paddle. I can just about see the T shirts now.

On a personal note, tonight before leaving the shore I shortened up my kayak foot rests a notch which had the desired effect of forcing my thighs up under the thigh rests giving me a more solid contact with the kayak. A little easier now to become one with the boat, assisting edging and balance maneuvers.

Here are a few photos.

Thanks for visiting, leave a comment if you wish and keep paddling.

Okanagan Lake - July 4, 2010

July 4, 2010.

Out for a paddle today by myself. I launched halfway between the Summerland boat launch and Crescent Beach to the north.

A nice quiet little sandy beach and a very good launch site.

I travelled south along the lake shore, past the parks and through the marina.
A slight wind in the face heading south.

Heading south towards Trout Creek.

Another shot with the camera held down by the water. Just for fun. Must have more fun. Fun and more fun, I like that.

I went a little past Illahie RV park and then turned around and headed back. It was fairly calm for a while.

And another photo of the Summerland hill from my turn around point.

After about half way back north, the wind started to pick up and from the three quarter mark I was really facing some strong swirling gusts. Had to stop paddling a couple of times to hold my hat on. At the Summerland Marina they have a bird platform and I caught this one taking flight. I'm guessing it is an osprey.

Got back safely with no problem and loaded up and headed home. Here is my kayak just before lifting to my shoulder to carry to the car. I set it on a couple of chunks of pool noodle to keep the sand off the boat bottom.

It is interesting how the camera records the boat color when in the bright sunshine, turning the orange to yellow while leaving the orange color in the shade.

The GPS tells me I had travelled 8.9 km. paddling, and I was out there 2 hours. 

Thanks for visiting, leave a comment and keep paddling.