Today was more of the same. Class at the Y from 8:30 to noon and on the water from 1-5pm. Here's the first page of our training schedule. No day off until next Wednesday!
We graded our navigation homework and I got almost all the bearing measurements correct. Whew! We also spent time going over the state exam and how we'll have about 5 minutes to look at a chart and "plan a trip"for guests using information given to us. Using our charts, we had to plan the route, distance, timing, etc. Our instructors, Mike and Ty, played the role of the examiners and picked apart the planned trip, throwing in obstacles etc to make us second guess our computations, route, timing etc. Yikes.
We also went over our pre-trip briefing that we will give guests at the shop, and again at the water's edge before launching...safety, spray skirts, paddling, getting in and out, route, capsizing, getting separated and more. SO much information to remember and rather dry.
After lunch, we met at the shop at 1pm and hauled our gear the 6 blocks to the sand bar. Another guinea pig from our class was chosen to give the pre-launch talk, as if we were actual guests on a tour and he was the guide. He did pretty well. We launched about 1:45 and shortly after we did, we saw harbor porpoises (different from dolphins) in front of us...finally. Cool! I'm eager to see the playful harbor seals that everyone talks about.
Not long after, Mike intentionally tipped himself over, yelled "capsize" and the nearest person had to paddle over to "rescue" him from the 50 degree water, righting his kayak, dumping the water out of it and instructing him how to get back in. Luckily I dodged that bullet as I'm not sure I'm up to an actual cold water rescue yet. Mike had on a dry suit. Our guests will not, so time is of the essence. The goal is to get people back into their boats in under 2 minutes!
We also reviewed paddle strokes, crossed two channels, and went ashore on a rocky beach on Burnt Porcupine Island for about 15 minutes. Here the rocks were covered with hundreds of periwinkle snails, sunning themselves before the tide came back in. There is also a LOT of seaweed under the water in Frenchman Bay, and I read that with the lobster business so competitive and hard to break into, some locals have gotten permits to farm and sell seaweed!
We headed back, paddling for a solid hour into a 12+ mph head wind and heavy chop. ot exactly fun. Always seems to be the case on the way home. We arrived at 5pm. It was a lovely day in Bar Harbor and this was the sand bar as we disembarked...
Tonight's homework is 25 multiple choice questions relating to navigational charts. I'm so damn tired that I ate my leftover lobster bisque, iced my knee, showered and hit the sack. My housemate offered me some arnica ointment to put on my knee. Google says it's good for aches and pains.
