Launching your kayak from the beach to go fishing (often referred to as BTB or beyond the breakers) is not a simple task. Everyone thinks about the waves trying to flip you over
, all that equipment sticking out weighing you down and threatening to become a beachside yard sale but one huge but often overlooked challenge is just getting to the waters edge.
Yesterday I set out on a scouting mission to see if I could find a little beach park with relatively easy access for a kayak. I also though I might do some fishing along the beach while I was at it. While at the first spot I noticed some kayak fisherman down the beach a half a mile or so. Perhaps there was good access there or at least good fishing. Off I went to the next spot.
It was a fairly large and organized parking lot but the strange thing was most of the cars were tiny subcompacts
, not the usual pickup trucks that kayakers favor. I trudged up the soft sandy path over the dune – so much for the easy access. As I crested the dune I saw there were pretty many people there which made sense with all the cars in the parking lot. I strained to see over/past the tents and umbrellas to find my fellow plastic boat anglers. I saw none. Hmmm. I noticed a couple of people looking at me. The people noises I heard had a foreign sound. Most of the beach goers were older and my guess was that they were from Europe. Still
, not a single kayak or even fisherman for that matter. But wait . . . . is that a . . . . a boob? Why
, yes, yes I am pretty sure it is. First thought – hmmm, perhaps she is getting changed . . .
I looked over at one of those people who were watching me, she was in her 65 year old birthday suit. Turns out, I was the oddball. Remember when I said I was fishing? When I go fishing I wear a giant straw hat
, sunglasses, a gator around my neck, long sleeve shirt, gloves, long pants and boots. Here I am standing in my UV armor nary an inch of skin showing at a nude beach. The cognitive dissonance was palpable. I turned 180 degrees and slogged back up the dune sure I was being gawked at, eyes probing my SPF 50 outfit.