What's The Worst That Could Happen?

Here’s a question for you:  What is the worst thing that can happen to you when you’re in a boat? 

Mark ordered our kayaks from Kerrville Kayak and Canoe.  The owner, Corey, is very nice and helpful.  The kayaks arrived a couple of weeks later.  Can you tell which one is mine?  Orange of course!

The Guadalupe River runs through Kerrville.  There are several put-in spots along the river.  We chose an area where we have birded many times.  Flat Rock Park is only about 30 minutes from our house.  I had physical therapy in the morning so we weren’t able to get to the river until noon.  Being a Monday, we had the whole river to ourselves.

This is a beautiful area.  In some areas the river is clear and shallow enough to see the bottom.  

 

Mark brought out one of his older cameras and got some nice bird pictures.

 

Double-crested and Neotropic Cormorants

There were plenty of turtles sunning themselves.

Right next to where we launched there is a bridge with a feeder stream that looked like a nice, cool area.  So, after about an hour in the river we headed that direction. 

 

We had no idea how far in we could go but it turned out to be a really nice place to spend some time. 

Mark led us in.

We get all three kingfishers here (Belted, Ringed, and Green).  Kingfishers excavate burrows in sandy riverbanks. The burrow consists of a horizontal tunnel with a nesting chamber at the end and are usually about a meter long.

We had been seeing both Belted and Ringed Kingfishers flying back and forth in front of us.  We came around a bend in the stream and found the textbook example of an area they would be nesting. 

We didn’t see the Kingfishers go into any of the holes but a couple of the holes looked freshly cleaned out.

There were plenty of turtles in this area too!

We came to the end of the stream and headed back under the bridge to take out. 

I led us out.

Our 2.5 mile paddle

We got back to the boat ramp and loaded my kayak first.  We started loading Mark’s kayak and were quite surprised by how heavy it was. 

Our kayaks are sit-on-top kayaks.  They are easier to get in and out of when you’re in the water and the inside stays dryer.  I stayed completely dry during our 2-hour trip.  Mark commented that he had more water in the bottom of his boat than he was expecting.

So, did you know the answer to the question “What is the worst thing that can happen to you when you’re in a boat?

Answer: It leaks.

Yep, the reason Mark was getting wet and his kayak weighed so much was because the hull had taken on 3-4 gallons of water during the two hours we were in the water.

Even though Kerrville Kayak and Canoe is closed on Mondays, he immediately called Corey.  Corey answered the phone and said that definitely shouldn’t happen and to bring it back on Tuesday for a replacement.

We dropped the kayak off with Corey.  He’ll file a claim with Wilderness Systems, and Mark will have a new kayak soon.

Even with the leaky kayak, we had a blast.  These kayaks are much more comfortable than any we have ever rented. 

We're looking forward to our next outing.