Kayaking is a favorite sport here in Kodiak. So, every Spring volunteers give free classes on Kayak safety. They teach: 1)how to extricate yourself form a capsized kayak, 2)how to right the kayak and 3)how to re-board it form the water (without flipping it over again) with either another kayaker to assist you or doing it by yourself. There were only 2 students per teacher, so we felt pretty comfortable flipping those thing over on purpose.
The class is at the Coast Guard pool they use to train their rescue swimmers.
Do you remember the 2006 movie The Guardian with Kevin Costner? It was about those rescue swimmers. What is interesting is that they were supposed to film the rescue events here in Kodiak. But the weather was too rough for the "stars", so they went to protected waters near Juno for the filming.
You don't have that luxury if you are in the water when the weather turns bad. So they take much interest in teaching the locals about safety. That, in turn, lets us get out to enjoy our wonderful water resources.
And kayaking is a favorite here. In the Summer you might find 4 or 5 cars in any parking lot, all with a kayak on the top. It is alot of fun to be close to wildlife, traveling on your own power, without the noise of a motor. See, hear, and even smell the wildlife next to you. Come join us! It is fun!
1 comment:
Juneau is the correct spelling for our capital. But when typing late at night "Juno" just seems more natural.
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