Feel the fear and do it anyway

 

I got a text! from our kayaking instructor.

This week we are meeting at the sailing club for a paddle on the lake. The plan is to try to paddle to Church Island (weather dependent). It's about a 4 km paddle altogether....woohoo. Bring a change of clothes for afterwards as we will be doing our capsize drill after.

CAPSIZE! we are going to capsize on purpose!!!

That is everyone's fear when starting out. And of course it makes sense to actually do it, so that if it ever happens we know exactly what to do, and so that takes the fear away.

That didn't help the knots in my stomach as I approached Lough Owel, my change of clothes neatly tucked away on the back seat.

We were very lucky as it was a beautiful calm evening. We got into our safety jackets and helmets and looked out at Church Island in the distance.

It was beautiful out on the water, it was clear and glassy and you could see right to the bottom,,,,,which unlike the canal last week, wasn't strewn with bottles, cans and shopping trolleys!

We set off for the island. Once again I probably did twice the distance as I kept going off to the side.....even backwards sometimes. But I made it!

We landed on the island and went exploring. There were two very alarmed gentlemen who were camping there, minding their own business having a bbq when we nearly gatecrashed it! They didn't have enough food for 10 starving women who had just worked up an appetite!!

It felt a bit like the Blair Witch Project as we were going through the undergrowth. In fact it had the makings of a great horror film. A group of ......aged women land on an island, inhabited by two back packers. As they explore the old ruined church the kayaks mysteriously drift off and they are left stranded for the night.

Okay, so in all fairness we could swim for the shore if need be, but sure that wouldn't be a great film...............................unless there was a shark!!!

Anyway our kayaks were where we left them and we headed back for the shore.

And then came the capsize drill!

Bob said we could wait til next week but as we were psyched up for it we went for it!

Yes there was a moment of dread as I gripped the side of the kayak and Bob turned it over. I had an irrational fear that I would get stuck in the kayak and be left upside down, Are ya mad? I fell out of it, was totally disorientated for a split second and then righted myself.

Talk about feeling proud of myself as I squelched back to my car to get changed.

Sometimes you just have to feel the fear and do it anyway!

Photos are courtesy of a husband who was awaiting the safe return of his wife on the shore!