Tuesday evening I tried out this double bladed paddle during a training session on Lady Bird Lake. It felt weird. Sheila Reiter photo
I’ve spent the past few weeks trying to get comfortable using a single-blade paddle, which is what I’ll be using most of the time during the Texas Water Safari in June.
But because the race is so long – 260 miles from San Marcos to Seadrift on the Texas coast – my teammates want to mix in a little double blading to break things up. Tuesday night, teammate Sheila Reiter delivered a little trial by fire in the form of a double bladed training session on Lady Bird Lake.
We hauled the tandem canoe down to the water and she handed me two funky looking spoon-billed paddles that snapped together to make a double bladed paddle. After some land demonstrations, I got in the boat and felt like I was back at square one – tippy and awkward and completely out of my element. Again. I might as well have tried to use a giant double-ended spoon to scratch the backs of an imaginary pair of dogs swimming alongside the canoe.
We paddled to Red Bud Isle, turned a few circles, paddled down to MoPac, made another turn (I got to put my cross bow draw stroke into play) and then cruised back to the dock.
Just when I think I’m making progress, I’ve got plenty more to learn.
About Pam
I’m Pam LeBlanc. Follow my blog to keep up with the best in outdoor travel and adventure. Thanks for visiting my site.
