The Baidarka

The Aleut Natives derived a method of travel and hunting that has since been unmatched by man's efforts. In a land devoid of all common building materials, the ingenious Aleut people used Bearded Seal skin stretched over an elaborate frame of bone and driftwood sewn together with sinews and grass to fashion the Baidarka which we now call Kayaks. With these vessels the Aleut people traveled as far as South America and Japan taking slaves and making trades. They were also used in the hunt of seals where hunters would paddle stealthily closer to seals before letting loose a javelin to kill their prey.
Now as intriguing as Kayak history may be, the sport itself is awesome. I just returned from a 6-day paddle around the North half of Quadra Island. The currents in the area make it very similar to paddling on a river with obstacles like whirlpools (huge ones), eddies, deafening rapids, boils and freezing Pacific water. I got first hand instruction and experience paddling in currents and learning all about them and how they work.
There are some awesome things about Kayaking besides the sport itself. One of these is that you can bring anything you wanted! We ate soft tacos, hamburgers (we brought a little hibachi bbq!), teriyaki stir-fry and rice, chili, and tortellini with parmesan cheese to boot! It was nothing short of a feast. You can also bring all the dry clothes you could ever need and thanks to watertight hatches, they stay dry until you need them.
Kayaking also allows you to have great conversation with fellow paddlers. For example I was able to share Jesus with my buddy Pat and have some great discussion surrounding him. By the end of the trip everyone knew that Stewart was a follower of Jesus Christ and I can just feel that it makes them curious and interested and cautious about me. And boy oh boy if I'm not filled with The Spirit when those questions come knocking it'll be sticky. And if I'm not constantly in the word of God, I will have a great amount of difficulty speaking the truth and modeling Christ's love.
Sea Kayaking also opens your eyes to the vast world of marine biology and just how living that blue area on the atlas really is. Porpoises porpoising in the ocean behind your instructor's head while he's teaching might not be the best for your attention span but I think that sometimes allowances can be made. Seeing a bright orange star fish with 20 legs is a rather awe inspiring sight. And salmon in droves, jumping all around the pod of kayaks, and seals playing and hunting in the currents all the while screaming their Creator's name with their splashing. Kayaking was a world of fog laden mornings where the sun's rays made everything hauntingly beautiful and surreal, to thunderstorms that shook the earth and lit the darkened sky to humble a mere man, ending with jaw-dropping sunsets that painted the sky, water and mountains with such a pallet of colour that optical addiction was immediate.
It was fantastic.