Ripple Effect is a camp for kids and adults on Cow Island in
Casco Bay. The campers are taught
boating safety, the names of the different parts of a kayak, how to make sure
their life preservers fit them correctly, how to wear a spray skirt, to enter a
kayak, and exit one, and how to paddle – among other things.
On day 4 of a week-long day camp, parents were invited to go
kayaking with their kids at the camp to see what they had learned. I was
invited by our grandson to attend.
It was a gorgeous day, with little wind, and white puffy
clouds. The kids and counselors had the kayaks on the beach, ready for the
paddle after four other parents and I arrived. The kids taught the adults what
they had learned, and then we got into the boats, and headed out into the bay,
staying clear of the barnacle-covered rocks.
Erik had us try to turn the kayaks around 360 degrees in
fifteen strokes – not easy, especially in a large, tandem kayak like the one we
were in. We all worked hard. After awhile I discovered that kids in kayaks tend
to bump into each other -- frequently. Erik said it well, “The kayaks all
seemed to have magnets on them.”
We paddled around the island and stopped at the far end on a
rocky beach to have lunch. We ventured
out into the bay again, this time to play some games – Frisbee, then peanut
butter and jelly – a game where one team of paddlers individually had to touch
the bow of their boats to the stern of the other team. The games were designed
to improve paddling skills. It was chaotic, pure mayhem, and great fun!
We paddled back to the place we started, talked about the day,
and headed back to the mainland, tired and happy to have been in kayaks on a
warm summer day in Maine.
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