Falling in Love Again- The Dynamic Duo!

Falling in Love Again

I must admit I have fallen in love again. Remember back when you first started learning to kayak, when every trip out was filled with new excitement, new found wonder for moving water and a plain new love for the sport. I have been boating for many, many years now and as much as I love boating some of excitement has worn off. That’s not to say I don’t still want to get out as much as possible. Last year I pulled down my dust covered Dynamic Duo from the mounts on my ceiling in my garage to help a friend work through some of her boating issues and to give some very close one on one instruction. After that, my then 7-year-old, who is quite small for his age, decided to give the front cockpit a go, and suddenly it was a battle with anyone else that wanted to exercise the front position, unless it was going to be big water. On my end, being able to put anyone from 45lbs to 245lbs in the front and get down a river was a great challenge for me, honing my skills even further. I am loving the challenge of going old school with a boat that is 12 feet long just like the boat I started in years before, hitting my lines even if I have a non-kayaker in the front, and going big and killing the waves with a boater of any skill level.

Last week I did a Rogue River trip. It was to be a Family trip with limited space and rowers, so I was going to be confined to a raft. As we were pulling out of the driveway, Cedar said, “Dad, we have to bring the double!” Well, I was able to shirk my duties on the oars and paddle the Duo. This was one of the most fun trips I have ever had on the Rogue. Most of the trip down the river the front spot was split between Cedar (8yrs) and my Mother-in-law (68yrs). Yes, what a trooper! And running class IV drops with a 60 year age range in the front–WOW! Out of all my boats (and I have a garage full), my favorite hands-down is my Dynamic Duo. I just love this boat. I wish I had not let it collect so much dust; that’s not going to happen again.