Moonlight Kayak Adventure

Last night, BF and I went on a 4-hour, full moon, river-kayaking adventure. Sounds lovely and romantic, doesn’t it?

BF wasn’t too keen on the idea at first, so I really had to sell him on the idea…”Oh! Kayaking is easy! It’s for beginners! Anyone can do it! You won’t get wet. It will be so beautiful. I’ve done it lots of times. It can’t be as difficult as ocean kayaking and that was easy.” He had never been kayaking before but kindly agreed to go.

I signed us up for the trip.

Last time I was kayaking was about 9 years ago in the ocean in Hawaii. I was 9 years younger, 70 lbs. lighter and in far better shape then. I just rented the boat and went out paddling around on my own. Prior to that I had only been kayaking in lakes in California…and again, those times, I simply rented a boat and took a leisurely little paddle. I assumed river kayaking at night couldn’t be very different…otherwise, they wouldn’t take beginners do it…right?

Ha ha ha!

BF gets to say “I told you so” as long as it takes him for him to tire of it! After last night, that might be a while. Although we’re both too damned tired to do much else.

The reality of what we were doing set in moments before we put out boats in the water. It was about 9:30 pm. The moon hadn’t risen yet and it was very dark. The river looked black and ominous and the safety briefing and signing of waivers left me feeling kind of queasy.

I wasn’t on the river more than 20 minutes before I ended up in the water! It was a very gentle spill. I paddled into the shallows, hit bottom and just fell out. One minute I was in the boat, the next minute, I was kneeling in about a foot and a half of warm river water, yelling, “CAPSIZED!” The wretched and utter shame welled up inside me. I was sure BF was somewhere ahead of me laughing his ass off…but I was WRONG! He had fallen in too!

We both had to paddle the rest of way in heavy, cold, wet, street clothes. The thermos of hot coffee I brought was somewhere at the bottom of the river. It was a little uncomfortable, but not a freezing as I thought it would be. Having to paddle as hard as we did to keep up with the group kept us warm…or at least kept our minds off the cold.

There were moments that were absolutely magical and many others that were just …well, moments.

Our lead guide (and tour owner) was really wonderful – very calm and confident. I followed him through one particularly treacherous part of water and made it through just fine. He called out commands to me. I did EXACTLTY what he said and amazingly it worked! His junior assistants were all very strong kayakers and could rescue you if you fell in, but lacked his coaching ability and great, reassuring boat-side manner. They ALL earned their money last night.

At the very end of the trip, I was shocked by the final stretch of water we passed through. If I knew water like that existed on that river, I would have never gone. At the very end of our safety briefing, we were told about a small waterfall, strong current and rapids…but by then my head was swimming and in some way it just didn’t register with me.

“WATERFALL!”…HELLO!

By the time we approached the final stretch, the lights on many (including BF and my) boats had burned out. Commands were yelled “Single File!” We were all supposed to follow one by one through a narrow ribbon of water, surrounded by rapids to the left...and the big dip to the right.

The currents were strong.

Second to last in line, I watch as BF fell out of his boat and went under, then popped up. I started yelling, “BF is Capsized!” and then realized I was being pulled into a strong eddy! I began paddling wildly, when the guide yelled back for me to “Just go with it, Barbora!” I did. I got a wild ride and my kayak was turned around completely, but I didn’t fall out! I got pulled into a beautiful area of dead water behind one of the supports for the bridge and just sat there enjoying the stunning view while the team pulled BF back to shore, drained the water from his boat and got him back on the river.

It was 1:30 am when we got back to the car and 3 am by the time we had a snack, warmed out bones and showered. We slept really well last night.

BF and I are EXTREMELY sore today. We both took aspirin before bed last night and again with our coffee this morning.

What was I thinking? I guess I wasn’t thinking…critically at least. Sometimes I still get myself an enthusiasm and just go with it. Perhaps this is a good thing?

For anyone who might be wondering or considering such an excursion themselves, river-kayaking is NOT the same as kayaking on a lake or even the ocean! It is very different. It is even more different when you’re over 40 and overweight.

Would I do it again? Maybe, provided I was in better shape (a little) and knew the river I was traveling on by daylight first….once the pain has dissipated, that is.

The tour owner phoned us today to see if we were…”alright?”
Ha ha ha! He REALLY earned his money last night!