"How" to Kayak: Part I

"How" to Kayak: Part I

Kayaking for the first time can feel intimidating — and even for people used to shorter, wider recreational kayaks, seeing a long narrow touring sea kayak can make the prospect of accidentally going swimming with the perch feel more likely than it actually is. Understanding a little bit about how kayaking actually works, though, can go a long way toward having a fun — and dry — paddling experience.

Let's start with the rules.

Rule #1: Don't freak out.

Rule #2: Don't freak out.

Rule #3: Have fun.

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Rule #1 is about your body. The more tense you are when seated in a kayak, the more likely you are to end up in an unplanned swim with the perch — which, while perfectly survivable in a PFD, is still not the plan. If your entire body is frozen like a marble statue, the weight of your torso and head will behave like a pendulum — rocking the boat side to side as it moves with the water. The antidote is loose hips.

Think Elvis in Jailhouse Rock or Shakira's Hips Don't Lie. Flexible hips allow your lower body to move with whatever the boat is experiencing — a wave, a wake, a ripple — independently of your upper body. That independence is the whole thing. Your lower body goes with the boat. Your upper body stays centered and upright, perpendicular to the water's surface. The boat may still feel a little wobbly, but that loose hip movement breaks the pendulum and dramatically reduces the chance of flipping. As I like to tell people: loose hips don't sink ships. 

One more thing: resist the urge to lean your torso and head way out over the side of the kayak. The average human head weighs about 11 pounds — that's a bowling ball worth of weight, and sticking it out over the edge can push even a stable boat past its tipping point. Keep your head centered over your hips, stay relaxed, let your lower body do the work of moving with the water, and in your best Elvis voice: thank you very much.

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Rule #2 acknowledges that there are a lot of new things to get used to when you're in a kayak for the first time, and it can be genuinely hard to stay calm and paddle on. When conditions get interesting — choppy water, a headwind, a wake from a passing boat — the natural human response is to clench everything. White-knuckle grip on the paddle, full-body tension, the general sensation of hanging off the side of a very tall building.

Take a deep breath. Let go and loosen that grip. A clenched fist will exhaust your hands and forearms long before you've covered any real distance. Relax the rest of your body too — go back to Rule #1, let your hips move with the water, and breathe. With a relaxed body, loose hips, and a consistent paddle stroke, the boat moves forward and the likelihood of meeting that muskie up close stays low. Distract yourself from any nerves by looking around at what's actually out there, talking to the people you're paddling with, noticing things. Before long you'll have covered more distance than you expected — and you'll have done it. Which leads directly to Rule #3.

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Rule #3: Have fun.

Kayaking is a whole-body activity that gets you off your phone and into the present moment. The water is doing something interesting. So is the shoreline. So, probably, are the people in your group. Let all of that in.Part II coming — we'll get into the forward stroke and why most people are doing it in a way that makes everything harder than it needs to be.