The De Anza Outdoor Club goes for a kayak lesson and practice paddling (beginners or experienced) at Baylands Park in Palo Alto each October and May. The main trip page, with when we will go again is at Baylands kayaking
Kayaks were unloaded from the trailer
People picked out life jackets (there are many sizes and styles):
People found partners and stood in front of each other (as if they were seated forward (bow) and back (stern) in a tandem – two person kayak) and practiced using their paddles, then switched places.
Once people had paddled around enough to get the basic idea, they formed a group for a photo (which included much bumping of kayaks and giggling).
Races were had
below, lining up at the far side of the small bay we paddle in, to do a race:
here, the start of one of the races:
you are more likely to win a kayak race if you can keep your boat going straight (the boat on the right hand side of the picture has turned a bit sideways):
(notice the big wake behind the front kayak in this race that the two ladies made):
After some paddling, some people came back to the dock and traded positions in their tandem kayak or tried paddling with a new partner:
Finally, all the gear is returned to the trailer and packed up:
Everyone who participated in this lesson demonstrated, by the end of the day, more than enough kayaking skill to go on the between-summer-and-fall-quarter trip to Grand Teton National park in Wyoming and paddle on each lake or river we usually do.
These same kayaks are also used on our trip to Grand Teton National park,
Grand Tetons kayaking
The two women in the center of three photo above, and some people in the top photo of a paddle at sunrise on the Oxbow Bend of the Snake River are using waterproof binoculars provided for Teton trip members.
(Notice the clip-on flotation device made from recycled pool lane lines in the photo below – the club advisor made these just-in-case a pair of binoculars falls overboard.)
Below, a mid-day paddle, that we sometimes do more than once, on String Lake to Leigh Lake, where we have found a beaver dam and seen elk along the shoreline :
Going kayaking at sunrise on the Grand Teton National Park trip requires getting up while it is still dark to hook up the kayak trailer for towing:
