Wind off the Water

We’ve had almost a week of wind, some gusting as high as eighty kilometres an hour in the past few days. This mighty force has kept me off the water. I don’t mind riding waves, but when I can’t turn my kayak around, I know I shouldn’t be out there. So what do you do when the season has started and you’re not on the water?

I put time into cleaning up and checking my equipment. I just vacuumed the accumulated sand out of my kayak, and cleaned the hatches in preparation for loading them. My next overnight camp is some weeks away, but I do like to carry spare parts. You never know when a tarp, rope or bungee cords will come in handy.

I also like to use a de-oxidiser to polish it up after a good wash. I’m fortunate in that I can store my kayaks inside, so I don’t have to worry about excessive weathering; but sun damage is a given after long days on the water.

Another thing I check is the smooth running of my skeg. Often pebbles and sand build up in the track, when I haul it onto a beach. If you don’t have it cleared before you’re on the water, you’re stuck with two choices, do without, or return to land and clean it out.

In an ideal world, all this clean-up would have taken place in the fall, but I have long since stopped berating myself for things that don’t get done for good reasons. It’s enough to know I’m ready now.

With everything tightened, cleaned and set to go, it’s just a matter of waiting. The wind will blow itself out. The whitecaps will lose their sharp edges, softening into ripples, and I’ll be on the water again.

My kayaks below. Top to bottom: Joy, Bubba, Balance, Serenity.