Bringing Home the Twins

We decided we needed to expand our little family.

We've been enjoying our tandem kayak, but decided that one was just not enough. Storage has been an issue for RV travel. It's too long to mount on top of the roof of the truck with the fifth wheel behind us so we put out the slides and put the kayak inside for our trips. That gets old when you have to take it in and out for every stop whether you plan to kayak or not. I've also been enjoying the kayaking so much that I wanted the option of going out by myself on our little lake at home.  We've been looking for some new ones for about a month now, and decided on the Perception Prodigy 100 for two reasons. Length was a huge factor for us so we could mount it on the roof of the truck while pulling the fifth wheel (hopefully) so we wanted to go with a 10 foot kayak even though that means it won't "track" as well.  Our other deal breaker was the seat. I have problems with my tailbone (I have cushions with the little "cut-out" lying around everywhere!) and Wayne has a history of back pain from his disc surgery 10 years ago.  The seat on these won hands down over kayaks that cost up to $700, and we got our twins for only $425 each at Gander Mountain.

We picked them up yesterday morning but Wayne had to leave for work right away when we came back so I went out on the lake by myself for a test run.  It isn't as stable when you're getting in, but I tried to capsize myself and while it feels "wobbly" compared to the 14 foot kayak there isn't really any danger of flipping over unintentionally.  I quickly gained confidence and was thrilled with how quickly I could change direction. Easy peasy!  It doesn't track very well, but correcting course was a snap so it wasn't a big deal.  While out for my test run on Lake Elizabeth I encountered some wildlife in the shallow Illinois end of the lake. I had to work real hard to get across the plants, but I snuck up on a Mute Swan and then got to watch it fly away from me when I got a little too close for its liking.

After my encounter with the swan I headed out of the lily pad forest and over to a flock of what I think is American Coots. They didn't like me following them around and headed for the cover of the reeds.  After awhile I left them alone and headed back to shore, happy with my new kayak's maneuverability...and comfort without having to resort to using a special seat cushion!

This morning I hassled Wayne until he agreed to go out for a spin on the lake.  When he paddled up to me and grabbed my boat to pull it in next to his I discovered an unexpected bonus...not only can we now see each other while kayaking, kissing is possible! Awww!

 I took some video with the GoPro camera, but the fisheye effect with the 170 degree angle was insane so I had to change the settings and delete the video.  One of these days we'll get it right!