How the indians travelled to and fro over rivers and seas is beyond me. The second day in Croatia I tried sea-kayaking for the first time and boy was it a work out!
After a leisurely morning of breakfast, sleep and skyping, I set off to yet another water sport adventure in Croatia. I like to kayak at home behind my house and recently had an amazing time on the Roanoke River paddling down mini rapids and learning to fish, but this excursion seemed to use a totally different set of muscles. With sea-kayaking, the general motions seem to be the same to paddle in a straight line, however with the extra rolling of the waves (especially when a boat would pass by) stabilizing the kayak to not flip over was a feat in itself. Nonetheless, Hope and I set out in a two person kayak to conquer the Mediterranean Sea.
Following a guide we paddled along the coast to the city walls, passing by a cave and kids cliff diving. The city walls seemed excruciatingly far when looking from above, and even worse from below at sea level, but with the help of the current we clipped along at a fairly steady pace. Hope and I were actually extremely successful, almost always in the lead. Andrew and Alejandro on the other hand were having a bit more trouble...
Two UVA boys, (one who considers himself a gentleman and a scholar) should be able to pick up kayaking very swiftly. Neither had kayaked before that I knew of, so the rocky start of figuring out how to paddle in sync and in a straight line was completely understandable. But a half an hour in and they were far behind the group, without knowing which way was up or down. It was quite a sight to watch the two try to move in a straight line, only to zig zag back and fourth. The two sat so low in the water of their kayak I thought for sure they would flip. They claimed their lack of success was due to a misaligned rudder... though last I checked kayaks did not have any rudders at all.
We toured the city walls from the sea, admiring their immense structural designs- I can't imagine trying to break in there. From the coast we cut across the open water to a nearby island called Lokram. No one currently inhabits the island, but it is known for nice swimming holes and a break for the exploratory sea-kayaker. We stayed on the island for an hour and had cheese, salami and chocolate that we had brought from the market to fuel our tired bodies before heading back to mainland.
I loved the adventure, but I probably will stick to freshwater kayaking adventures in the future, for I woke up fairly sore. But with all the coquettes, pasta, bread, and pizza I have been eating, it was probably for the best.
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