Yesterday I took a kayaking class to learn the basics on strokes and most importantly, wet exits. I was a little nervous about the thought of dumping into the Atlantic while it was only 54 degrees. Thankfully, we were provided dry suits and the weather gods gave us a warm, sunny (although windy) day.

Right off the bat, I learned how wrong my forward stroke was. I was basically just using my forearms, which would explain the fatigue. I do seem to be good at that style, because when we did our Barcalounger dinosaur race (feet off the pedals and hands close together), I flew ahead of everyone and they swore I was cheating.

When we first learned the sweeps, I wasn't getting much turn, but by the end of the day, I was easily spinning my boat in a small circle. My form improved greatly and after 6 hours of paddling, my arms were barely sore. Amazing what proper form does!

But the big attraction of the day were the wet exits. While we were learning low braces someone tipped over and gave us an early demonstration. I scared the instructor because I was tipping so much she thought I would go over. Apparently beginners usually don't like to test themselves quite so much. Yeah, they don't know who they're dealing with.

No matter how well I knew the steps, it was hard to make myself tip the boat over. It's a very strange feeling being upside down and still seated, and panic kicked in. I raced through the steps and got out as fast as I could! Above water, I was able to hold my breath for a good minute. Below, I felt as though I only had seconds. I'm sure with practice that will improve. We did it three times, first just dumping, then dumping and doing an assisted rescue, and finally doing a self-rescue. Doing the assisted rescues we had to be the rescuer and rescuee, which gave good insight on what to do from either situation. The self-rescues were tricky and I'd imagine difficult in choppy water, but good to know nonetheless.

I really had a lot of fun and was so happy I took the class. I have a lot more confidence in the boat now and am less nervous about going out alone. I'd love to take the more advanced classes and learn how to do rolls and deal with the waves more. My teachers laughed at how well my little 13 foot boat was keeping up with their fancy sea kayaks. It wasn't the boat, it was the operator!