paddling a kayak makes your arms hurt

toby in a canoe, originally uploaded by ebbandflo_pomomama.

... especially when you're the only one paddling in a double!

The Wee Guy went out for a paddle yesterday evening. It was a beautiful night, not too choppy to sit comfortably in the front cockpit of a double while Mum paddles womanfully at the back. He's a great passenger, spotting seals and seabirds or trailing his hands in the water as we glide along.

Despite allowing him his own paddle there were no capsizes, just some interesting steering. The tide was almost fully in so we explored the whole inlet, gliding in up the mud flats to spy on the ducks. In turn we were heavily observed by the seals.

PS: pics later as they're still in the waterproof camera (shock! a film to develop!). This one shows happy times with our Toby who was a sea dog at heart. One of his favourite trips by kayak was along False Creek in Vancouver, sitting in the central hatch of a double kayak. As an old guy he was invariably asleep but somehow managed to wake up in time to bark as we passed the house boats!