Walks with Moss: Paddles with Plankton at Lake Isabella

My fourth Kayaking trip!

Lake Isabella is the closest Lake with a public boat launch to my house and does not require me to drive over 40mph to get to it.

I load my yak onto the top of my car with straps and foam blocks since I did not have a roof rack. I was too careless this time and scratched my car roof. Oh well it is an old beater car anyway, well sort of. It is a super well maintained Lincoln Town car, but it is so old!

I gave the newspaper a nice loud honk to show off my kayak as I drove past it, but they just looked confused. They don't recognize my Lincoln I guess. Oh well.

My Kayak is an Old Town Vapor 12. I knew I wanted a longer kayak after my first trip where I was in a shorter yak and struggled to keep up with the people I was with. They had 12 foot kayaks. Problem is, I'm only 5'5" and I'm not getting any younger, so I hope I don't throw out my back loading a 12 foot kayak onto the roof of my car all by myself!

I had no help at all this time, the last few times people came up and offered to help me load and unload the beast. It's okay though, I can do it myself, and I hope I get better at it.

The lake was a little rough so I was nervous. I am so new to this sport. How much roughness can my yak handle? Am I going to die or tip over. I was the only one on the lake and the peace and quiet was nice, but water is so dangerous that humans do have an instinctual fear of it. I actually don't mind sharing a lake the way I mind sharing a trail. But the lakes are nicer with out loud speed boats making wakes that might kill me.

I spend about two hours on the lake but did not go very far. I only went to the inlet end and then around to the side directly opposite the boat launch. I did this two times. I did not want to go down lake in the wind because I might die paddling up wind. Yes, I'm a bit nervous about my new sport, but still loving it.

I mostly just spent my time enjoying the lilly pads and the snails and the geese. I found that if I ram my kayak into the lilly pads it will stop moving in the wind and give me a chance to take some photos.

I've wanted a row boat for a long time but getting one would require a trailer and a trailer requires storage space and car tabs and even a row boat I think has to be registered. That was just too much. But the Kayak does not require a trailer and does not have to be registered.

So far I've only taken my waterproof camera out on my Kayak. I just don't want to dunk my other cameras. I think perhaps I should try to purposely tip my yak in shallow water just so I can learn what it takes to make it roll over? One review said that my particular Kayak sinks really fast!