It's no secret that kayaking is a male dominated sport, and I have definitely had many guy friends ask me if I knew any single girls who paddled, or for tips on how to get their girlfriend interested in the sport. I think men and women tend to learn and experience kayaking in very different ways. Here are a few tips from a girl who spends a good amount of time paddling with my boyfriend, Zach (who happens to be way better than me) and has stuck with the sport for about six years now. Hope it helps! (Photo: Me, Johanna and Mallie and the Nolichucky, Credit: Phil Ellis)
1.
Make it Fun
Kayaking is a lot of things. Brown, gnar, epic, stout. But most importantly, kayaking should be fun. The more you manage to make it fun, the more likely she is
to enjoy it. Have a “date night”
where you take a picnic, some beer and a kayak to the lake just to paddle
around, get comfortable flipping/getting out of the boat, etc. Paddle something low stress with mutual
friends. Positive association has
long been a staple of advertising psychology. If you want to get a person interested in something, make it
a positive experience.
Me at the Kennebec my first year paddling in my Jackson Kayak Fun, with my signature look of sheer terror. Photo: Rapid Shooters Maine
2.
Take It Slow
The Upper Green isn’t that hard right? I mean you’ve run the gnarrows like 800
times and the upper only has like two easy rapids. She’ll be fine. But then she get’s recired at Wanda’s
hole, swims four times, and has to carry that stupid heavy boat forever to the
parking lot and ends up wondering why anyone even likes this stupid sport. I know a lot of women who tried
paddling and had traumatic experiences early on that turned them off to
paddling. On top of that, most of
us want to make the person we’re with happy, so that adds another level of
pressure. For any beginner
kayaker, the more comfortable you feel with basics, i.e. eddies, ferries,
rolling, strokes, the more confident you will feel navigating a river and
handling the inevitable difficult situations that are inherent to kayaking.
3.
Encourage Her to Have Other Paddling Friends
It’s raining and the Scary Fork of the Dark Prong is
running.
Zach is super
pumped.
He loves the Scary Fork of
the Dark Prong.
It’s his favorite
river!
I have about as much
interest in running the Scary Fork of the Dark Prong as I do in pulling out my
own teeth.
Luckily, I have my own
group of paddling friends, and we are all going to Fairy Boof Land.
Encourage your girlfriend to have her
own paddling friends.
Not only
will you get to go to the Scary Fork of the Dark
Prong, but having your own crew gets you paddling with people of all levels, which can be a nice change from always paddling with someone way better than you. (Photo: Hanging out at the Ocoee. Credit: Phil Ellis)
4.
Use Your Words
So your girlfriend just swam out of her kayak, she’s upset,
maybe even crying, and you have no idea what to do. So you decide to do what you would for any of your bros
(though they would definitely not be crying), keep your mouth shut and give her
some space. This is NOT a good
idea. Let me repeat: NOT a good
idea. Because while you are silently
giving her space, this is what she is thinking, “OMG why isn’t he saying
anything? He’s mad. I’d bet he’s mad. He probably doesn’t want to kayak with
me anymore. I hate this
sport. Why isn’t he saying
anything?” So let me save you some
drama. Go over, give her a hug,
tell her that everything is ok, and continue to say nice things while you help
her bail out her boat. For most
women, this shows caring and acceptance despite a “failure” of swimming, and
will help her move on and not dwell on it. This also goes the other way. Giving compliments. The other day Zach told me I looked really solid, and it
inspired me to go run Section 4 at 2.4’, the highest I’ve ever run it. A few positive words can go a
long way.
5. Listen and Communicate
So you think your girlfriend is totally ready to run the Big
Hole Slide Drop, but even though you told her like six times she’d be totally
fine she’s still going to walk it.
What gives?
And earlier,
she totally freaked out at you because you peeled out of an eddy and didn’t
wait for her.
Women.
They’re all drama.
The reality is that following someone
down a new run requires a huge amount of trust.
As with any boating partner (and probably any sort of
relationship period), it’s important to communicate what you need, listen to
the other person, and listen to each other.
If she doesn’t want to run something, don’t push her.
If she wants you to wait, wait.
When I run something new with Zach, I
tell him that I want to follow him pretty closely through the big rapids, if I
feel overwhelmed I signal to eddy out, and if I don’t want to run something I
don’t run it.
Talking about all of
this beforehand can take some of the stress out of the intimidating experience
of paddling, not to mention prevent a fight or two.
(Photo: Zach and I after a sunny day on the Horsepasture, Credit: Andy Perkel)
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