On kayaks.
In the summer of 2004 I decided to try the sport of sea kayaking. I made a good choice. Now, I enjoy the freedom that paddling the open sea grants. No other craft allows the same contact with the water. A bare inch and a half above the water the kayak advances swiftly, rising and falling with the swells. The bow cuts through the crests of the waves while the boat moves forward. Often, seagulls and cormorants glide a few yards above the cockpits. You are by yourself, stripped down to the bare essentials and yet never more confident.
Not a day has passed since I first sat in a kayak that I do not wake up in the mornings looking at the sea, checking how the wind moves the branches of the palm trees and giving attention to the sound of the surf even before I get close to the door. Seconds after sleep, I already look after paddling again.
While originally sea kayaks were used for hunting and fishing in the Arctic; today they allow to experience and enjoy the adventure and freedom of travelling through the sea. Sometimes along coasts not accessible from land or to larger crafts and to which only a kayak can take us, allowing to discover landscapes from a different point of view. This boat that moves quietly only driven by the paddler, does not disturb the calm and natural atmosphere of the places visited. While wind and sea continuously pose obstacles that defy the navigator, when arriving, pride and satisfaction are at the end of passage.
Although the origins of the kayak are thousands of years ago, little has changed. Every time the paddler snaps the spray deck in place and pushes off from shore, he is in a potentially dangerous environment. Wind, tidal currents, reflecting waves, and water that is cold enough to kill by hypothermia are factors of the sea.
Paddlers might now sport personal flotation devices, use handheld submersible vhf radios, navigate with Gps, sit in composite boats or use ergonomic paddles but the sea is still the sea and wind, tides and currents are yet formidable enemies. And the paddler still sits all by himself in a 21 inches wide boat.
