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A Paddler's Journal 26 A
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A Paddler's Journal Cumulative Joy
By Marsha Hensen Certifi ed Instructor: Kayak, SUP, Canoe and Yoga
People come into my shop, Sea Kayak Georgia, or call and ask, “When is the best time to go out kayaking?”
Wow! What a wonderful question! It took a long while to come up with an answer that allows each person to determine their own course of action rather than just taking my word for it.
The best time to go is when you have the time to go. Step one: look at the tides. Step two: look at the weather. Step Three: look at a chart.
Add all three answers together and based on your skill level you’ll also be able to plot where to go. Tides plus weather plus chart equals destination. As your experiences on the water accumulate your abilities will grow and your adventures will expand. I call this cumulative joy.
We used to have a t-shirt in the shop with the message, “The journey is the destination.” What better motto for cumulative joy? Paddlesports have a daily appeal to get out and see what’s going on out there – and the process adds up. It’s always diff erent; two daily high and low tides, constant breezes, and the passage of time, all give a slightly diff erent experience with each visit.
The water has reached that magic temperature of 68 degrees and nature has awakened. Fish are active, terns and pelicans are diving, dolphin are fi shing, and diamondback terrapins are showing their adorable little heads. Recently I’ve seen fi ve sea turtles come up for air, eagles stealing fi sh from osprey, egrets lined up along the marsh banks, oystercatchers letting me know their eggs are on the beach, dolphins with babies, and the green grass of the marsh is extra tall due to our mild winter.
The warm water has increased nature’s activity and ours, too. We have been leading tours, instructing surf and rough water lessons, and selling boats for other folks to go adventuring. All
of which adds up to experiencing the cumulative joy of spring’s arrival.
As my confi dence in my own water abilities and skill have increased, it has allowed me to have diff erent experiences with my students. Over the years more and more women have started kayaking on their own and in groups. I love working with men and women, though when I was fi rst starting out there were very few women, but now more have accumulated! To celebrate this fact I’ve started a women’s series called Sea Swans. In time, I hope to add a number of courses to off er to all levels of women paddlers, to help them grow their skills.
One begins the journey with getting out there and and giving it a try. How far can I take my skill level? What do I want to get from my experience? Peace, serenity, exercise, escape, connection with the natural world, knowledge of how boat and paddle work when powered with my body, how to tap into the forces of nature to become more effi cient, navigation principles, short paddles, paddling with my dog, fast paddles for racing, rolling, strokes, safety? The reasons are nearly endless.
I went out the other day in Chimney Creek and the sea oxeye daisies are just beginning to bloom. This is one of the sights that, for me, evokes pure joy. I saw a part of the plant that looked very similar to rose hips and I’ve just learned there’s a midge and a wasp that lay eggs in the plant tissue in the fall and as spring emerges the tissue becomes a gall or enlarged bulb of plant tissue for the larvae to feed on as they grow! Are you kidding me? I have been in love with these plants for years and yet I was able to see a new side of them – and the depth of what was going on was mind blowing! Nature and her ways of beautiful, complex, simplicity and harmony!
On any given paddle you might be able to watch loggerheads, see distant lightning go on for hours, see bald eagles returning to Little Tybee to nest, or catch glimpses of great horned owl nests, otters, mink, dolphin … I could go on and on. From watching and getting out there and letting the place and knowledge of it accumulate in the senses, one can feel and see and smell and hear at a deeper level than if you had not gone.
The best time to go is when you can. Your experiences will add up to a wonderful tapestry of memories of the water. Have a safe and wonderful summer. Hope to see you out there!
Top Right: Ospray and eagle battling it out in mid-fl ight. Right: It doesn't get any more awesome than yoga in the marsh! Below: Wide angle view of kayaks on a beach. Photos provided by Sea Kayak Georgia
