our new craftiness

ahhh, yorktown virginia! a lovely place to stop. tonight, just before writing this blog this evening the drum and fife corps played a long, wonderful set of greatest hits from the 1770’s! the music was wafted over the water from the nearby treed hills as pam, lila and i had a quiet paddle in our kayaks around cricket in the mellow orange glow of the evening sunset. there were more thrilling kayak paddles earlier today, but this evening on the water is of storybook proportions.

this morning i boarded a bobbing, jumping kayak in order to add a line to our mooring, which we thought could use a little more security in the wild wind and waves. we love how the kayaks bob like corks, and respond to our slightest finesse with the paddle to maneuver around. it’s not necessarily a dry ride, but at least it’s a fun ride without drowning. and the little water craft glide through the wind and waves without all that much effort on account of the low profile and less wind resistance. we were a little worried about getting in and out of them from cricket’s deck, but i think our vast past experience with canoes helps us with the balancing act required.

today, as mentioned, we used the kayak to add a line to our mooring ball. we also kayaked to the dockmaster’s office to pay for that mooring ball. it was somewhat of a frenzied ride, but lila came with us in pam’s kayak and did a fantastic job riding in it! last year owen hated riding in the dinghy even though he liked the shore leave at the end of the rides, but lila seems to absolutely enjoy riding with us on the water! as a matter of fact, when we reached the docks and put her ashore, she tried to jump back into the kayak! pam pulled back on her leash so she made it only halfway and soaked her stern most parts, but she was unperturbed. and you can imagine all the looks she got from the passers by on their way to their sailing tourboat ride!

our paddle back to the boat a couple hours later was much more tame. as a matter of fact, lila decided it was tame enough to ride on the small, curved deck on the bow of the kayak! more looks, comments and smiles from the shore. she hasn’t fallen in the water yet, but her day is coming. we want to help her respect the wetness and drownedability of the water in a controlled setting, so soon we’ll give her a little shove, and then a little rescue.

we tested lila this evening with our evening paddle, leaving her behind on cricket to see what she would do. she followed us around with her eyes, and walked to the part of cricket that was nearest us. she never seemed like she was about to dive in after us, but i think she was quietly meowing to us. when i returned to the boat she walked around to my kayak and jumped on it to join me for a nice last paddle of the day. we both enjoyed the ride greatly!