Kei te Lightning's Maiden Voyage

We took Kei Te Lighning ("I am Lightning") out for her first voyage. Doesn't our car look SO much better with a kayak on it? It's all in the accessories. :-)











We took her down to Blackpool, which is very shallow, very calm, and very clear. The only waves we get are from the wake of the occasional ferry, and for a nervous novice sea kayaker like me, this is an ideal maiden voyage.

We ended up taking two solo trips, because unfortunately there is a health warning advising us to keep children and dogs (at least the ones we care about) out of the water for the time being. Apparently, some dogs have gotten sick and died of puffer fish poison. I'm not sure how puffer fish poison works, but I'm reasonably confident that if our kids don't eat puffer fish or sea slugs, then they will probably be all right. Still, we're reluctant to ignore the warning and find out later that we really didn't understand that much about puffer fish poison after all. So no kiddos in the ocean. Dave and I were willing to risk it though, and we each took Kei te Lightning out for a spin. Neither of us saw any fish, but we could see plenty of starfish and sand dollars. Dave also saw a rookery on his turn out.














Here's a sample of the starfish and sand dollars you find at Blackpool. They're plentiful, and hide just below the sand. The starfish are pretty flexible too, and if you hold it upside down, it will start twisting and turning, trying to right itself.


All in all, it was a great day.