{"id":13700,"date":"2017-09-06T15:00:29","date_gmt":"2017-09-06T22:00:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/community.nrs.com\/?p=13700"},"modified":"2022-01-06T06:50:00","modified_gmt":"2022-01-06T14:50:00","slug":"five-things-totally-know-sea-kayaking","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/community.nrs.com\/duct-tape\/2017\/09\/06\/five-things-totally-know-sea-kayaking\/","title":{"rendered":"Five Things I Totally Know About Sea Kayaking"},"content":{"rendered":"

First things first, a little background on me: I’m a fairly new boater. I\u2019m a whitewater kayaker, but I didn\u2019t grow up paddling. I grew up in a landlocked state with prairie dogs, bison and a small range of granite-studded mountains. I had no idea paddling existed with such popularity in so many parts of the world.<\/p>\n

Until I moved to Idaho.<\/p>\n

I hadn\u2019t been before, but I packed my car full of skiing and climbing gear and moved into a room rented from\u2014you guessed it\u2014a boater. In the summer, he\u2019d leave for days at a time to strange sounding places like \u201cthe lower Salmon\u201d or \u201cHell\u2019s Canyon.\u201d After, he\u2019d lay his sopping gear all over the yard and let it bake in the August sun. I didn\u2019t really get it\u2014it sure seemed like a lot of stuff for four days. I once told him it looked like river RV-ing to me.<\/p>\n

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It didn\u2019t take long to learn that paddling is life to a lot of folks though, and soon after that I got sucked in myself. I started with a beginner whitewater kayaking class. I made new boating friends. Whitewater became a challenge and a goal and I started kayaking more and more. I improved. I learned to roll. I paddled harder, faster, pushier water. I ran little rapids, then bigger ones. Anyone not in a hard-shell was missing out\u2014I had discovered whitewater kayaking and it was the best.<\/p>\n