Welland River Kayaking

I finally made it out kayaking! I took a short 8km trip on the Welland River, not too far from home. The weather was beautiful with clear blue skies and nice warm temperatures. Not a soul was in sight where I launched at Wellandport. Along the way a heron graced me with it's presence as did a few pretty songbirds, swallows and some rather active carp in the river. I was either too early or too late to catch the carp spawning. Last year when I kayaked the Welland River, the carp were spawning and the water was boiling with them. A few thumped the bottom of my kayak as I was paddling along. I was so surprised how sore my shoulders and wrists were after the paddle. I tried my new kayak skirt for the first time, but I took it off even before the launch because I couldn't get it on comfortable with my lifejacket. Weird, I'll have to try again some other time. My newly repaired kayak worked better than it did after I first bought it! Anyway, it was a beautiful first paddle for 2011 and I'm looking forward to more this year. Here are some pics of the paddle: