End of a good thing

Clyde and I wait for Tobias

Well, last evening was the last Thursday evening of practice at St. Philips. A group of us have been meeting Thursday evenings since early April to practice rescues and strokes or just for the social part of kayaking. The sun sets close to 6:30 these days and with most coming from work, the time on the water was getting shorter.

Like all good things, they have to come to an end at some point. I'm sure the core group of us will still get together impromptu on weekends when its not fit for day paddles. But for this year the scheduled program is done.

Tobias under a threatening sky

The practice last night was something unplanned. Yes, we decided to paddle upwind for a bit and then fly back with the wind behind us on a following sea. The unplanned part was that a good bit of the paddle back was in the dark.

Darkness with winds gusting at 30+ knots certainly added an element of challenge. It required me to be quicker in response to each time the boat moved; it felt like I had a blindfold on. Interesting with a twist.

So, all in all it was a good season of practice in St. Philips. I know I enjoyed the practice and the company and in the process maybe moved my skill level up even just one small notch.