The Aging Sea Kayaker: Embracing Change, Finding Fullfillment

Introduction. The Aging Sea Kayaker's story highlights the new challenges that come with pursuing a longstanding and beloved activity like sea kayaking as one gets older. Participation in an activity that one loves may change as one enters the senior years. As many baby boomers retire we discover new interests but also discover that some of our preexisting interests and activities may require modification that entails opportunities for personal growth.

While the means of engaging preexisting activities may change due to physical and even mental changes the love doesn’t change. In a sense one isn’t the same person of 20, 30 years before. But can I still do fill in the blank_______? An important question is whether one can accept the loss of not doing in the same manner what one once did and adapt to the current situation so that the love of the activity can still flourish and provide value and fulfillment? The mantra do as you can, not as you can’t seems to summarize the spirit necessary. This blog post explores the journey of an aging sea kayaker and his experiences with decreased physical strength, self-acceptance, and the pursuit of fulfillment in sea kayaking.

The Maine Experience. The story begins in 1998 when I had my first sea kayak experience with a group in Maine. It was a day long event off the coast and was led by two commercial, certified Maine guides - a young woman and a considerably older man. The man, Burke, had grey hair and was retired. On the way to the put-in he allayed the anxieties of some in the group when he casually announced, “by the way, as an ex-Navy Seal I’m trained above, on and below the water’’. I was impressed with his technical skills and Sharon, a novice paddler as well and my girlfriend at the time breathed a hugh sigh of relief. For both of us he had a reassuring presence and as we were to learn he knew how to successfully adapt to circumstances.

An elderly, retired woman in the group (she’d left her husband back at the motel) did fine in the morning but had trouble paddling in the afternoon as we encountered moderately strong head winds. It was no problem though for Burke as he towed her several miles to our take-out destination. His towing presented no obvious challenge as far as I could see and he adapted to the circumstances of the afternoon - both the towing and the waves. I recall he said about the waves, “I like a little chop”. I nor Sharon were sure about the chop but I liked Burke and how he adapted and approached a challenge.

Learning From Others. The Maine experience hooked me on kayaking and on returning home I bought one. Since then I’ve paddled for years, especially with members of the Chesapeake Paddlers Association (CPA). While I’ve taken several classes much of my learning has been derived informally from paddling with others who were more skilled and knowledgeable than I on trips such as at Tall Pines Maryland and at Assateague Island with it’s feral horses.

CPA members are not only generous with their knowledge but are also highly self-reliant as individuals. A frequent paddle bud of mine on CPA trips and on outside excursions was a retired Coast Guard engineer named Bill Dodge. Bill was a wealth of knowledge about all and everything especially the dynamics of water, wind, currents, tides and kayaking. He had sailed but eventually switched to kayaking as he aged when he built his own kayak from wood. Even though Bill moved slow on land, on water it was another matter and he never needed a tow. In looking back but unbeknownst to me at the time, Bill was a role model in how to age and keep loving what you’re doing. Here's Bill.

Another retiree who I’ve admired was Dick Rock below. Neither Bill nor Dick ever spoke of how aging may have affected their paddling - not the touchy/feelie types - they just went out, paddled and enjoyed themself.

Adapting to Change. Then 20 years ago I bought my 3rd kayak made of strong but lightweight Kevlar - the material bullet proof vests are made of. I had bought a condo and the only place I could store the kayak was in it and up two flights of stairs. Also, the former one was not only heavy but 17 feet in length and it wouldn’t fit through the front door. Adaptation required of me to buy one that was lighter and would fit (16 feet).

Current Design Slipstream - 16ft

I’ve decent upper body strength and for years I was able to climb the two flights with the Slipstream without any problem but increasingly it became a dreaded challenge after an enjoyable but energy depleting day of paddling. Adaptation was needed again so a good friend allowed me to store it in one of his barns. I’ve also needed to adapt how I load the boat on top of my car and move it from the car to the water. In the barn I use a cart with wheels to move it to the car. The cart then conveniently stores in the rear hatch once I’m at the water’s edge. Once on the water I’m 40 again!

Lessons Learned. So, what was I learning? As I said above essentially it’s to chant the mantra “do as you can, not as you can’t”. This sounds simple but it can be a mental challenge. It means finding ways to enjoy what you love despite some diminished physical abilities and letting go of the way it was once upon a time.

It takes a healthy dose of self-acceptance and substantially less self-judgement as if to say, I am no longer the same person. In some ways I’m not what I was but I can still find adaptive solutions for successfully adjusting to whatever emerges. Also, a la Bill Dodge, it’s okay to go slow at times (a good opportunity to practice mindfulness). If I can accept slow chances are my companions can as well. I suppose there will come a time when one will stop paddling due to advanced age and/or poor health. But until then let’s plan to continue doing what we love - being adaptive, on the water immersed in Nature and enjoying the adventure and challenges of sea kayaking or whatever is one's passion.

Note: ChatGPT-4 provided technical suggestions for this post.