Rubber Ducky's Maiden Voyage

August 7 – I really was not in a hurry to get up, but Bill said we’d finally take the kayak out today. We had smoothies for breakfast and then we went out to do our camp duties. Bill tried to line up a mower to cut our grass but one was in use and one had a flat tire and the guy who takes care of that was working on the sprinkler systems. That’s pretty much a daily occurrence. They get driven over and out of whack. I was weeding and Bill ended up coming and helping me after he cleaned our 2 sites. We are about half way around the park in the weeding, so that’s good.

Rubber Ducky ready to hit the water

Before lunch we got the kayak out and read the instructions and got her blown up and assembled. She has officially been dubbed “Rubber Ducky”. It will go pretty quick now that we know what to do. There are 5 valves to fill in the boat and 2 in each of the seats. It came with a foot pump that works well and pretty quick.

After lunch we changed to our water shoes and Bill put on his swim trunks and I put on shorts and a t-shirt and we loaded the boat on the truck along with the new paddles. We had discussed whether to put in at the marina or down at Mooring Cove where there is a dock so we went to Mooring Cove so there wouldn’t be any boats for us to worry about. Well, we unloaded and put our life vests in the boat and a bag with some water and my camera and started carrying the boat down the LONG walkway. We stopped, re-thought the situation and decided the walk back UP would be a lot worse that dealing with any boats at the marina, so we walked the short walk back and loaded up and drove to the marina.

Safely back

There wasn’t anyone there when we backed in so we unloaded and I waited with Rubber Ducky. I am going to have to get a different life vest as it won’t fit down inside the kayak. I think the short ones the skiers wear would be better. Bill had to drive the truck back up and park and walk down and then we headed out. We were only out about 45 minutes for our first run. It was super hot out but we did fine. The wakes are a challenge and we need to get used to how strong to paddle to get it to turn. We don’t like the seats in it so will probably order the “deluxe” ones instead. Bill went to get the truck while I waited and we loaded up and took it home. We hosed it off and I put little ropes on each end and we tied it to the poles on our shelter and have it on top of the picnic table.

We were both pooped and thirsty when we got back. After resting and reading, Bill went out to clean a site, but actually went up to Rosa to see Marion and the power went off and the wind started blowing and it was getting rather nasty looking out. When I got up to see about he seats in the kayak he was back and we secured anything that might fly away. Then the skies opened up and it poured. Not super long but it was windy. The power wasn’t off long so it didn’t hamper anything.

I gave Bill a choice of pizza or spaghetti for dinner. What he didn’t choose moved to tomorrow night. He went with pizza. I made it all with Italian sausage and sun dried tomatoes but on his half I put diced baby sweet pepper and mushrooms on mine. I made salads to top it off. He ate his half but I still have a piece for tomorrow. It was pretty good. I went light on the cheese to save some calories and fat.

We decided to hurry and take Xena for her walk as it was looking like more rain and the little bugger walked in the mud and was a mess. We washed her feet with the outdoor shower and the towel was still a mess. We learned not to let her walk on her own! Then we settled in and watched re-runs and some of the Olympics.