In late July 2022, Terry Rich with the Twin Rivers Paddle Club lead a kayak trip around the Oriental, NC, harbor and up one of the feed-in rivers. We put in at the NC Wildlife boat launch on the harbor shore. When we got upriver we explored a couple of small side creeks. The large group of about 15 paddlers was mostly familiar with each other and convivial. Many of the more experienced paddlers came up beside me and asked me about myself. There were lots of across-water conversations. The pace was nice and mostly casual but not lollygagging.
Our leader appeared to be the only paddler who had a spray skirt. He did a few Eskimo rolls for practice. I was immediately jealous. About 40 years before I had borrowed a friend's whitewater kayak and tried to learn to roll. I may have made it over once or twice. But I failed dozens of times. On my last try sprained my back so badly that it took me about 9 months to fully recuperate. I never tried again. Now, I am paranoid of turning over in the middle of a big waterway and having a devil of a time getting back in my boat, even with my paddle float; or having to swim a half mile to shore while towing a swamped boat. Since then I have signed up to take a roll class with the trip leader at the YMCA pool this winter.
This trip was my last one with my old roto-molded plastic kayak. It was inexpensive, not very good quality, did not fit my frame well, and was not sleek enough to go fast or to roll. The seat back brace was short and uncomfortable. Any paddle over 15 minutes gave me a backache. Fortunately, down here around New Bern, kayaking is the main sport, so there were lots of options for upgrading. I met a nice guy in the paddle club, Bill Webb, who buys used kayaks and professionally renovates them. The one we settled on is world-class quality, slender, long, and sleek: a 2013 Nigel Dennis Kayak Romany Excel. The hull and deck layup is proprietary fiberglass. It cost new about three times more than my old boat. To my relief, Bill was able to sell it to me used at a wonderful discount. And, I sold some other outdoor gear, including my old kayak, to help pay for it.
Before and after the trip we had breakfast and lunch in a cute little coffee and pastry shop called The Bean, right on the waterfront. A good time was had by all.
