Wrangler Dani

…and it’s easy to see why.Our friends Stephen and Hilary have also recently been bitten by the kayaking bug. Specifically, Stephen has been bitten by the “hey Adam you should really buy a new kayak and sell me your old one” bug and Hilary has been bitten by the “oh gosh I can paddle with my feet and talk with my hands?! Hallelujah” bug. As shown in the above photo, I’m just excited. They are too, they just wear their excitement on the inside. I think.

Look at that guy, what a natural.

We launched out of Huntington Harbor because it was one of the few rental places that had the kayak that Adam is interested in buying. Upon arriving, we remembered why Huntington Beach has a reputation for being filled with Bros and Hos – mostly because it is filled with Bros and Hos. We lucked out and got one of the four parking spots by the launch area, only to fight with roughly a bajillion (probably inebriated) people to get out into the harbor.

Once we’d launched, Hilary and I were gabbing away and taking our time (we’re girls), only to realize that we should have kept our studly bodygaurd husbands close – there were a lot of frat boys in the water who wanted to hitch rides on our kayaks. Awkward!

Luckily, we made it to more open water where we could chat without being molested. It was much nicer.

Also, Hilary had to rent a Hobie pedal kayak (like mine, only a couple of feet shorter) and she might have fallen in love. I’m so excited to have friends who want to kayak too!

Adam really enjoyed the Hobie Outback he rented – it has plenty of trays for the keeping of lures, cameras, snacks, GPS and other manly gadgets, and also four places to keep fishing poles. The only bummer was that the kayak he rented wasn’t in very good shape (clearly they don’t take very good care of their equipment at OEX Sunset Beach) and it stank like dead fish – I think there was something nasty rotting in the hull.

But, he seems happy with the model and excited for more fishing/kayaking adventures, so Stephen might get his wish pretty soon!

Speaking of Huntington Harbor, though – if you are looking at renting/buying kayaks, please don’t patronize Sunset Beach OEX. While they aren’t responsible for the behavior of their customers or the culture of the town where they do business, they are responsible for their part – and I was not impressed. They don’t take care of their kayaks and if you are looking at buying it’s a bit discouraging to see two grand worth of boat being thrown around and thrashed. Also, Hilary and I were confused about the rental rate and asked a question of the manager, only to be told that we were being “cheap about it” and asked huffily if he should charge us for using his hose. If we paid you 50 cents for the use of your hose would you be nicer?

The launch area was crowded, there’s very little parking, the employees are rude and the kayaks are not well-cared-for.  We learned our lesson and every other place we’ve rented or bought kayaks from has been a great experience, so there’s no reason to go back to Stankville, USA.

But we still had a great time – you just can’t beat warm sun, cool water and a long paddle with great friends.

I haven’t been documenting very many of our outdoorsy adventures here on the blog, but I’m kindof enjoying writing about it, assuming you like reading it. What say you? Is it the equivalent of being shown a four-hour slideshow of Aunt Mabel’s trip to Philadelphia? Or slightly more interesting?