My name is Anatoly, and I'm a paddler. It wasn't always this way...
Before I met Barbara, I didn't particularly like the water. Well, maybe that's not quite true, but in any case I was rarely in the water. I liked the outdoors, and I had been canoeing as a kid, went white water rafting once as an adult and I more-or-less knew how to sail, but that's the extent of it. I guess it just wasn't a priority for me. Barbara changed all that...
My recollection may be a bit different than Barbara's, but I remember us going tubing in Harper's Ferry, WV, down the Shenandoah River. I think it was in the spring or summer of 2000. That is when and where I floated over a rock, fell off my tube backwards and split my head open just a little. That's when I started wondering why the outfitter didn't give us helmets.
At some point after I got my 5 stiches removed, Barbara suggested that we try kayaking. I remember being quite hesitant, not knowing anything about kayaks. We signed up for a series of classes with Potomac Paddlesports, and the first one was Introduction to Whitewater. After practicing wet exits and strokes, we were taught the C-to-C roll. I we both completed at least one successful roll that day, and came back during their free Thursday night sessions to continue to practice.
We also took their sea kayaking classes, where we befriended Dave, our instructor. After that we felt confident enough to take a trip on our own, so along with Barbara's friend Kindra we rented some sea kayaks and set off for DelMarVa on Labor Day weekend, 2000. We had a nice paddle in each of three states: Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia, and Dave joined us on the second day. We were hooked.
Since then we have done week-long kayak camping trips up and down the east coast, including Maine and the Florida Keys. We've done whitewater trips down the Lower Yough in Pennsylvania and I even went back to the Shenandoah last year, the site of that fateful head splitting.
Over the years we've seen young kids and adults well into their senior years out on the water enjoying kayaking in various forms. For me, kayaking is one of the few times I can get my mind completely off work. It's relaxing and exciting at the same time, and is definitely one activity that I can see us doing for the rest of our lives.
