We met at
the John Wayne Marina South Parking Lot at 2 p.m. and got our
pfd’s (personal floatation devices, also known as life jackets)
assigned to us. Marlin explained some basics about how we would
get the canoe into the water, and which seats we’d be assigned
for the day based on our size (to keep the canoe balanced) and
our strength.
Several of
our number have participated on the Journey before, including
Josh Holden, Steve Johnson, Candy Burkhardt, Jessica Johnson and
of course, our Skipper Marlin Holden. The rest of us, with
varying levels of canoe experience, are new to the journey. We
were in the new cedar strip canoe, which is significantly
lighter in weight than the Laxaynəm, but Marlin wanted us to get
a sense of working as a team before we begin to practice in the
traditional carved canoe, which weighs about 1000 pounds more
than the new (soon to be named) canoe. There are more than 20
people signed up to pull this year, so we will probably take
both canoes on the journey.
It was an
absolutely gorgeous day in the upper 60s, sunny and with a light
breeze that didn’t hamper our paddling at all. We paddled for
close to 2 hours, practicing synchronizing our strokes, turning,
stopping, and pulling alongside a support boat; we even landed,
disembarked, reloaded and took off again from the beach.
It’s hard
work, and requires teamwork and focus. We did well for our first
practice, and we all look forward to improving our ability to
work as a cohesive team and our sense of family as we practice
pulling, singing and drumming over the next two months.
First Day Out, taken by Charlene Dick: Paddling past the marina
are from left: Skipper Marlin Holden, Betty Oppenheimer, Unique
Robinson, Andrew Sampson, John Bridge, Candy Burkhardt, Jessica
Johnson, Irv Mortensen, Steve Johnson (not visible), Jorene Dick
and Josh Holden.
Video by Charlene Dick:
“For their first practice, they’re looking pretty good,” says
Charlene on this video clip. (*Note this may take a
minute to load)
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