This was my first paddle trip other than the instruction I took a couple months ago from Tom Henning. (trip report here) I enjoyed myself until a little after Stavis Bay and by that point I was really tired and pretty much done. I was having a really hard time keeping my boat going straight. I felt like I was fighting a losing battle and my kayak was winning easily. Damn thing kept drifting to the right and I was too proud to put my rudder down until about the last mile when Paul suggested that I try it. Wow, what a difference it made. I could actually concentrate on paddling both sides instead of fighting to compensate for the drift to the right. I didn't feel like I was leaning in my boat but maybe I was, who knows. Initially I thought the paddle to be too long for a beginner but after considering how much trouble I had with my kayak, I think I would have had an easier time if I had put my rudder down earlier.
It was really neat to get to paddle into Stavis Bay and to see all the cool waterfront homes along the way to Charlie's old homestead. A lot of the residents were out BBQing and shooting fireworks for the 4th. Must be nice to live on the water. I was also happy to see Guillemot from the water side. Guillemot is a fun little family hike that I take my son to occasionally.
Charlie's old property was neat to see and to learn about the work the dnr has put into restoring it to the wild. I think it will still be a while until it is truly wild again, but they sure have gotten it off to a good start.
As a side note.... Knowing that a kayaking trip was coming up, I set off to make a waterproof camera enclosure for an older camera I own. The enclosure consists of two food storage containers, highly modified (drilled, sawed, cut, etc.) that I used silicone (the clear stuff aquariums are made with) to hold together. The lens area is just a piece of Plexiglass. The main container has a gasget sealed lid and snaps to keep it in place. I cut several pieces of plexiglass and glued them in as shims to keep the camera in place. To turn camera on you have to open container. This model camera stays on for quite a while so I don't have to open it too often. To snap a picture, you simply squeeze the container right where the button is (there is a shim inside pressed against the button). Its not the best in the world but it took decent pictures and I wasn't worried about getting it wet or dropping it into the drink. I even took a few underwater pictures with it! If you have questions how to make you own, send me a private message or an email and I'll see how I can help.
