New itch and urge...

New pics added here!

Over the years I've been having the itch and urge to try out Kayaking! I've rather enjoyed canoeing over the years, even got my official A, B, C's in canoeing (actual certification class). However as beautiful as a canoe is, there was something lacking. I just liked the idea of Kayaking and didn't know what it was.

Recently Veronica and I have been thoroughly enjoying spending time discovering what Ontario has to offer and what a beautiful province we live in. Though we don't have many free days to do such things, we've been doing small trips on long weekends.

Naturally, when it came time to think of what to do this Labour day, I thought to finally try Kayaking! Wow, what a Great sport!!!! We had a HOOT!

We went up to Tobermory, on the point of the peninsula that cuts between Lake Huron and Georgian Bay! We chose tobermory because of it's rugged coasts, sea like experience, ship wrecks etc.

We chose to rent a sea Kayak because the Bay experiences bigger waves. A recreational kayak would be suitable for calm river runs and a short stocky whitewater kayak would be suitable for well duh, whitewater of course!

THough a long narrow, wedge shapped hull Sea Kayak with a rudder to steer sounds like a lot less fun than whitewater (though it is and I can't compare) it was a blast. The winds were a good 2 feet high in the open and swells up to 4 feet high came when the Chi-Cheemaun went past! Though this doesn't sound like much, when your Kayaking its a bit of a rush, especially for 1st newbies like us!

In a Canoe, your entire body sits above the water level, and it is a whole lot more tippy than a kayak. In a kayak, your legs all the way to your waist sit flat. You sit in a chair... with a backrest!! From your waist down you are under the water level, so your eyes are only about 2 1/2 feet above the water! Very cool feeling. As the fellow at the rental office described, "in a kayak you have a level of intimacy with the water that you just can't get with a canoe." Cheesy, but very true and well put!

Ya, you just gotta try it! We already have a few couples interested in joining us next time we go. We rented a Tandem kayak, meaning, two people, one boat! We were warned that we may come back hating each other, in fact it did the opposite with us! Weird! The nice thing about a tandem kayak is if one person takes a break paddling, the boat keeps moving while the other one paddles, and hey, there's less arguing over direction... at least we found.

Wow, that's far too much blabbing about kayaking!

We 1st checked out a ship wreck at the end of Big Tub Harbour right in Tobermory! Very cool. See pictures for our shots of it! The wreck is just before the shallow section of the harbour, and is laying just below the surface, marked off by buoys. VERY COOL!!

We then headed out for the open water and toured around the various Islands! We headed in early afternoon as the winds tire you out quickly as well. We enjoyed walking around Tobermory, and then headed to the Grotto, a local section of 'sea caves' as they're called, right on the shoreline of Georgian Bay!

Also, on the pictures page is photos of Anson & Leah's new baby girl, Niobe Rashene Sikkema. Very cute little girl!

Enjoy the Photos!!