Nancy Jack leaned forward, thrusting the end of her paddle deep into the water near the bow of her kayak – a little too deep.
| Silver Lake Parent and Child Paddle: 1 to 3 p.m. July 7, and 4 to 6 p.m. Aug. 18: Children must be at least 7 years old, and children 12 and under must be accompanied by an adult. Class costs $20 for adults and $15 for children participating with an adult.
More dessert and brunch kayak classes are planned for the fall. |
Water sprayed as Jack toppled from the sit-on-top kayak headlong into Silver Lake.
She bobbed to the surface, silver hair mussed and clothes sopping, as an instructor paddled over and pulled the Monroe woman to shore.
It was Jack’s first experience on this type of kayak, a craft that combines qualities of a traditional sit-inside kayak and a surfboard.
Despite the unexpected swim, she was ready for more.
Jack climbed aboard and paddled out on the lake again.
“I went too deep with the paddle,” she later explained. “It wasn’t too cold.”
The Everett Parks and Recreation Dept. recently purchased 11 of the kayaks for classes, day campers and the department’s youth instructional boating program, Water Skippers. The boats will be available for the public to rent at Everett’s Silver Lake the summer of 2006.
While the department is offering a few introductory classes like this one to acclimate newcomers to the sport, these boats are designed to be easy to use without much instruction.
The class Jack participated in cost $20 and was advertised as “women only” and included a Dutch oven cooking lesson. Hot Fudge pudding cake was on the menu.
After starting the dessert to cook on shore, instructors Jane Lewis and Cheryl Willis lead about a dozen women through the basics of sit-on-tops including safety and basic paddling strokes.
“These are low-end, play in the lake boats,” Lewis told the class. “These shouldn’t be at all scary for anyone to use.”
The department already partners with Cascade Crags and North Sound Sea Kayaking Association for sea kayaking classes and trips. The sit-on-tops were purchased as a supplement to that program, said Lewis, who is the program supervisor for the department.
Parks and Recreation Dept. offers a variety of women-only trips and classes like this one. Both instructors said they’ve noticed a different dynamic in women’s only classes; the environment is often more relaxed. A few of the women participating in this kayaking class were familiar to Lewis.
“We have a strong core of adventurous mature women who take my classes,” Lewis said.
Lewis is experimenting with a variety of classes aimed at drawing different folks to the sport. A brunch and kayak class open to both sexes was offered recently as well.
Within a few minutes on the water during the kayak and dessert class, all the women mastered basic stroke techniques, easily propelling their kayaks in circles, forward and backward.
As the name denotes, sit-on-tops have a closed hull. Paddlers sit on a seat and brace their feet on molded foot rests.
Sit-on-tops drain water quickly through drain holes called scuppers. This feature makes sit-on-tops a popular choice for divers and surfers.
The boats are designed to be stable and stay up right. If you do end up in the water, sit-on-tops are easier to get back on than a kayak with an enclosed cockpit.
Nearly anyone without physical limitations can handle the boats. On this trip, women of all abilities and ages participated. One woman walked with a cane.
“You need to be able to get up and down so you can get in and out of the boat,” Lewis said. “You need a certain amount of body strength to get in. You’re not going to know if you have enough until you give it a try.”
More classes are planned for the summer. Parent and child classes will be offered July 7 and Aug. 18 and an open class for those 14 and older will be July 11.
More dessert and brunch kayaking classes will be offered in the fall.
After a leisurely tour of the lake, the women met on shore to sample the Dutch oven dessert that had baked into a gooey chocolate confection like half-baked cake mix.
“I’m going to take many more classes,” Jack said. “It was wonderful.”
Reporter Debra Smith: 425-339-3197 or dsmith@heraldnet.com.
A recent Everett Parks and Recreation class combined a sit-on-top kayak lesson with this yummy dessert, baked in a Dutch oven.
Hot fudge pudding cake
21/2cups sugar, divided
2cups all purpose flour
14tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder divided
4teaspoons baking powder
1/2teaspoon salt
1cup milk
2/3cup butter or margarine, melted
3teaspoons vanilla extract
1cup packed light brown sugar
21/2cups hot water
18-22 charcoal briquettes
Light briquettes in a barbecue or fire pit. Preheat Dutch oven until warm but not hot.
In mixing bowl, combine 1 1/2 cups sugar, flour, 6 tablespoons cocoa, baking powder and salt. Blend in milk, melted butter and vanilla; beat until smooth. Set aside.
In another bowl, combine remaining 1 cup sugar, brown sugar and remaining 1/2 cup cocoa.
Pour batter into Dutch oven. Sprinkle dry mixture evenly over batter. Pour hot water over the top; do not stir. Cover and place 8 to 10 of the briquettes on the bottom and 10 to 12 on the top.
Bake 40 minutes or until center is almost set.
Let stand 15 minutes: spoon into dishes, spooning sauce from bottom of pan over top.
Recipe from “Northwest Dutch Oven Cooking Experience.”
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