Women on Water Festival 2018 – Part 1

This year I attended the Women on Water Festival that is hosted by Wild Women Expeditions and the Ontario Sea Kayak Center.  This event sells out every year, so when I got the news that I was able to solidify a last minute cancellation I was elated.  I have heard lots about this festival recently from my friend Christina, and I knew that I would enjoy it.  With only a few days to pack and gather my items, I was one busy lady.  The festival runs from Friday evening into Sunday afternoon.  That means I had to leave right after work to make my 4+ hour drive to Parry Sound. I didn’t care because I was so excited.

This festival is now in its fifth year running, and there were close to 200 women attending.  These women would take workshops in kayaking, canoeing, SUP, orienteering, Greenland Paddling, SUP yoga and many more.  For the full day on Saturday, I was signed up for Basic Kayaking skills (as I have only been in a kayak a few times and wanted to learn more).  On Sunday, I had two sessions, the first being kayak play, balance and self rescue, and then in the afternoon I would do a SUP tour. 

Friday

After my 4+ hours of driving, I arrived at the front gate to Camp Tapawingo, my home for the weekend.  This is a girls camp just outside Parry Sound.  Within minutes of arriving, I was registered, in my bunk house for the weekend, and found my friend, Christina.  It’s nice to see a familiar face since I actually didn’t know anyone else attending this event. There were other social media people attending, but I had not yet met them before.

The evening was set aside for welcoming remarks, presentations, and and evening campfire sing along.  I had an awesome night as myself and Christina hung out by the fire.

Saturday

This weekend included all meals, provided by the women that run Camp Tapawingo, which meals we were all fed like queens for every meal.  After a very hearty breakfast, I got myself ready for my sessions that day. I was taking the basic kayaking instruction, as I have never really been taught much about kayaking, even though I have been in a kayak a few times.

Our instructors had us pick out a kayak, sit in it to see if it fits, and adjust the foot pegs.  Being tall, I thought I wasn’t going to get the pegs in the correct place, but after checking out the system I was good to go.  I had to learn all these new pieces of the kayak.  I must say, I was very comfortable in the one I picked, a Delta, and I wasn’t even on the water yet.

Once we had our basic instruction about the kayak, the paddle, some safety conversations, we headed on the water.  First we actually had to get into the kayak, while trying to stay graceful! I think a few of us ended up in the water (luckily not me) just a few feet from shore.  This is common, as a lot of people tend to tip when trying to enter their boats.  Even after the entire weekend, I was not graceful.  There must be some technique to this, and I guess with practice I will get better.

We headed out and practised many different strokes.  From turning in a circle using a sweep, to pivoting using a combination of sweep and back strokes.  Some of us even attempted some side movement (knowing how to paddle a canoe helped a little), however, the instructors were keen to pick out canoe paddlers as we tended to dig the paddle deep in the water and not just cover the blade. A learning curve for sure here!

This brought us to lunch, again we were well fed (I can’t compliment these ladies enough about the food).  We were told to change into gear we didn’t mind getting wet, as this afternoon was time to practice some wet exits.  With the instructors giving us a demonstration, we practiced our wet exits.  This is when you have to show that if you tip in your kayak and end up underwater, you can signal that you tipped, and successfully get your skirt off and get yourself out of the kayak.  If you checked out my Instagram page, I posted a video of my second wet exit. Once everyone competed this process, we headed out in the water again to practice our strokes and to see some assisted rescues.  I was lucky that on the way back to the beach the instructor asked me if I wanted to try the assisted rescue. I was all over this! I was hot and I knew that I was planning on going swimming once on the beach.  It was very much like a canoe rescue, where you hang on to the bow of the rescuers boat, but getting in the kayak was way different. I was successful though.

Once we hit the beach, the SUP instructor Holly had brought a bunch of mermaid tails for these lovely women to try.  This was an opportunity I wasn’t going to pass on.  She quickly found me a tail, which matched my swimsuit perfectly, and I got help squeezing my feet into the hard section that formed the bottom of the tail. I went for a few laps in the water and had fun posing for some pictures.

Being a mermaid was hard work! so I got cleaned up before supper, ate like a queen again, and then it was time for evening activities.  The instructors and some of the guests had lined up a lip sync battle.  There were some really impressive women!  Kudos to the two that came from the states and sang a Shania Twain song in blue and red sparkle dresses and the lady who sang the Bruno Mars song!  After there was a dance party as well as hanging by the fire.  This evening was wonderful as I got to chat with a lot of the women I had met that day and to share our experiences of our sessions. 

After this first full day, I felt tired and exhausted, but still full of energy.  Having all these women together learning new skills, seeing instructors with so much passion, I was elated for my sessions on Sunday.

Check back next week to read part 2 where I practice more kayaking skills and go on a SUP tour.