Last Saturday was another Kent Island Practice Paddle. Last year I did most of the series of practice paddles around Kent Island and then did the final circumnavigation with Susan Williams. This year Marshall is leading the same series of challenge paddles around Kent Island with mostly new paddlers. I don't know if I'll do the circumnavigation again but the practice paddles are good workouts. On Saturday we put-in at Matapeake Park and paddled around Kent Point past Parson's Island to the take-out at Kent Narrows. Total distance was 22 miles.



Above is the group photo which consisted of Pat, Bob, Peter, Yvonne, Jay, me (Susanita), Frank, Marshall, Eric, Debbie, and Mark. None of my photos from the day turned out well so all the photos in the blog were compliments of Peter. Thanks Peter! To view his complete album on flickr .. click here. He also created that photo collage at the top of the post. It makes it look like a surreal paddle.

Some of my trip reports from last year's Kent Island paddles were pretty long. This one will be short. Mostly because I'm sort of time. After the Kent Island paddle I've been focusing on perfecting my roll. And outfitting the Isabella better. The 22 mile paddle was a great learning experience for me and it showed me some my weaknesses.

It was a pretty calm day on the water but there were some sections with waves and wind. The Isabella slices through waves and I barely notice them when I'm alert and hydrated. But towards the end of the day ... when I was tired and probably a little dehydrated ... I felt every ripple. And without a good kayak roll I was timid in my paddling ... preferring to brace in waves when I should have paddled straight through. So after the paddle on Saturday I went out with David Shames again at Black HIlls Lake and worked on a modified C to C roll. Because I use a wing paddle in the SOF the sweep roll doesn't always work well for me. The modified C to C involves setting up like in a traditional C to C but finishing with a layback on the back deck. I had a pretty bomb-proof C to C roll from whitewater kayaking ... so this is just a modification of that roll.

The other issue that came up on the Kent Island paddle was the need to be properly hydrated throughout the paddle. I brought a lot of water in one of those hydration systems but Dave Isbell hadn't put in the hydration hole on the back deck so I could store the water in the kayak instead of on top of the kayak. Because there was so much water it would have caused the tippy Isabella to be even more tippier if stored on the back deck so I gave the water bladder to Bob to store in his kayak and carried a bottle of water on my front deck. The problem was that I was less likely to drink the water from the bottle than from a hydration system because it generally means stopping. It was such a long paddle that we didn't stop much. So I got dehydrated on the longest portion of the paddle ... the 8 mile open water paddle from Kent Point to Parson's Island. Several others in the group complained of feeling dehydrated as well.

Marshall came to the rescue with ice cold water and a wet bandana. While I rested in the shade of a tree he poured water over my head and back. At Parson's Island I would say there was a stark contrast between those of us who were in the early stages of heat exhaustion and those that weren't. Because I'm still hoping to do the Blackburn Challenge in a week this was a crucial learning experience for me. Drink fluids!

After Parson's Island we had about a 6 mile paddle to the take-out. Fortunately the current was in our favor and we got a favorable push through Kent Narrows. A small group of us gathered at a local restaurant after the paddle for soup and beer. This weekend is my final weekend for preparation for the Blackburn. Dave is installing the electric bilge pump and the hydration system hole on the back deck ... yes! I've been carving out the foam seat I got from Huki to make it more comfortable. The perma-rest pads I was using for a seat just didn't work well. They're too slippery and when I'm tired I feel like I'm balancing on a beach ball. I also added a strip of foam to the front deck where my thigh hits the wood beam. The foam will provide more friction for rolling. This weekend I hope to do some more paddling on the bay to work out the feel in the waves and swells and practice more rolls. The last thing I want to do is wet exit this kayak.

-Susanita