A Long (Dog) Weekend Kayak

This past weekend was a long one for us, and what could be better than spending it with my bro, Oakley. After all, there’s never a dull moment when Oakley is around.

The first activity on our list was river kayaking, and as in many other areas, this is an activity I excel at.

I’m not sure if you remember from my previous post on my Trip to Maine, but I had mentioned back then that whenever I am in a maritime setting, I am to be referred to as Cap’n Crusoe. So please be sure to do so.

Oakley on the other hand, needs to learn the chain of command. I told him specifically not to pee in the river because I would be swimming in it later (and so would he). But of course, first thing he does when he goes down to the water is trudge out just deep enough that his little tinkler is submerged – and then relieves himself.

How do I know he is peeing you may ask? Well, there’s the look on his face, but you can also tell whenever a dachshund is peeing by when the tail points out straight.

Oh well.

I started off in Dad’s kayak. This turned out not to be a great choice, because he had one of the slower kayaks, and I kept egging him to go faster. As the Cap’n of the group, it was crucial that I stay at the forefront of the expedition.

Oakley, being my younger brother, wanted to follow my example. So he went out to the tip of his kayak as well in the intrepid explorer stance. However, unfortunately his sea legs weren’t quite as developed as mine, and it was only a few minutes into our trip that he fell into the water. I laughed, but also complimented him for trying.

Here’s when he fell.

No doubt Oakley kept at it. Yet, he stayed wet for most of the trip.

I, on the other hand, have fully developed sea legs. After all, I am a fisherman. However, I’ll be frank with you. There was one instance where I fell in myself – which I am saying is all Dad’s fault for unsteady control of the kayak.

I also asked my photographer to capture some of my more brave and chivalrous moments as expedition leader. I expect to receive a call shortly after publishing this post from Outward Hound, asking me to use this photo in their marketing material. However, I of course charge a handsome celebrity endorsement fee. Not sure if they can afford me yet..

I’m not selfish though. I was sure to include Oakley in some of those photos as my right-hand man.

Here’s the two of us on a log giving our ‘quizzical looks’.

Midway through our day of kayaking, we took a little break on the sandy shores of the river.

Oakley seemed to really like the abrasive properties of sand, because he kept rolling in it to scratch his back.

I guess when you don’t have your own personal masseuse, you just have to make do yourself.

Oakley also thought it would be fun to play some beach jousting. I guess all the commotion around the Olympics was getting to him. Anyway, his version of jousting was to run really fast with his big stick right past the humans so as to smack them in the ankles. Good one!

So after a long day of kayaking and swimming, it was nice to kick back and relax on the boat.

Everyone seems to think this ‘surfing behind a boat’ is pretty impressive. But unless it’s something I can’t do myself, it’s a bit of yawn to be honest.

Actually, I think the yawn was more just because I was so tired. After a few minutes I found myself conked out under a towel with Oakley snoring on top of me (as usual).

I am many things to Oakley, including his mentor, role-model, babe consultant, and of course, his pillow. Oh well, I guess that’s what big brothers are for.

Keep swimmin’,

~ Crusoe