Why We Love Mendocino...

Great Friends...

Beautiful Scenery...

Wildlife...

Sea Life...

 Arches...

Caves...

Tunnels...

Blow holes...

Pourovers...

 and Secret Beaches.

What's not to love about it?

My Parents are Certifiable

Well, only if you consider an extreme obsession to kayaking a mental illness. 

Over the past year and a half my parents have taught us everything that we know about kayaking.  They taught us how to wet exit and how to self and t-rescue.  We moved on to bracing, edging, and forward stroke.  They taught me how to roll.  Then once we got the basics down they took us on trips where they taught us about eddy lines, currents, wind, waves, and being prepared. 

This time last year we were preparing for our second trip to the ocean (on the first trip,  three months earlier, we only got on the ocean once and in very mild conditions).  We were not yet members of the Sacramento Sea Kayakers but had begun going to meetings and joining them on trips, and this trip was their annual Mendocino Campout. 

The group consists of three types of paddlers. Those that stick to the calm flat rivers, those who explore the oceans tunnels and caves, and those who love to explore the rock gardens.  My parents fall in the later two.

Being so green to kayaking, the group expected us to stick to the rivers, but that wasn't what we did.  Every morning we got up early and joined my parents on trips thru caves and tunnels, we were introduced to the washing machine, rode eight foot swells, played in small waves, enjoyed lunch on beautiful secret beaches and even tried a teeny tiny pourover. 

The club was so impressed that at the Christmas Dinner awards ceremony we were awarded with this...

Best Novice Couple Award

Now my parents have gone and got themselves certified!  I can't imagine two better kayak instructors and I am very proud of them for all that they have accomplished.  They have given up many fun and exciting exploration paddles this year in favor of long boring practice sessions on the local lake, and all of their hard work and determination has finally paid off for them.  I just hope they don't start charging us for lessons now...

This is How a Sea Kayaker Takes a Shower

Welcome!

Welcome to our 2 Krazy Kayakers blog! 

My boyfriend and I have only been kayaking for about two years now, but in that time we have become obsessed with it.  We started out borrowing my parents sit on tops to take out on Lake Natoma where the water is flat and smooth.  At that time we would also have to borrow their car as we had no rack to transport kayaks on ours.  We would spend many weekends at the lake while my parents were off on more adventurous journeys of their own.  It didn't take long for us to grow bored and begin to aspire to more.   

Last year for the Fourth of July weekend, we tagged along with my parents and a few others from their kayaking club on a trip to Mendocino to try some ocean kayaking.  We took our borrowed sit on tops and thanks to an early birthday present from mom and dad we were able to transport them ourselves with our shiny new kayak rack!  We were beginning to look like real kayakers!

We spent a day going out of Van Damme, exploring the sea caves and rock gardens.  We trudged through the kelp and admired the tiny jelly fish, there were hundreds of them out there!  It was awesome and we were hooked!  The next day the group went on a more advanced trip and being new to kayaking we were left behind.  Although we did have a great day exploring the Albion river and the floating houses, we didn't like the feeling of being enept and vowed not to be left behind again. 

After we returned home we got on the water as much as possible, spending one sometimes two days of each weekend kayaking.  My parents were going to sell some of their lesser used boats to make room for new ones and we were told to choose the ones we wanted to use so that they wouldn't be sold.  We would spend the next couple of weekends demoing kayaks from my parents inventory.  My boyfriend chose a 14ft Nifty 430 and I eventually chose a 16ft Necky Elaho.  I was terrified of using a kayak with a sprayskirt and am still surprised that it was my boyfriend who was the one to convince me to try it.

This picture was taken later that same July at a kayak club picnic, the same club that we would eventually become members of.  Believe it or not, we are heading off to practice rescues (assisted t-rescue, paddle float self rescue, and the cowboy self rescue).  In less than a month we had graduated from sit on tops to sit insides and being able to perform rescues!  We were starting to become real kayakers!

Tomorrow we are headed back to Mendocino for our third time and hope that our advancements continue.  I am really hoping to learn to surf off the mouth of Big River and am excited to give it a try!

~Krazy Kayaker 1
(We couldn't decide who would be Krazy Kayaker 1 & 2.  Age before beauty? Ladies first? So since I was the first one to post I will take #1.  Ha Ha!)