All About The Estuary

The Oakland Estuary for me has always posed somewhat of a problem. I think of an estuary as a somewhat enclosed, large marshy area where a river empties out into the sea. And the people of Wikipedia would agree with me. Though it is the point where Lake Merritt empties out into the Bay one would hardly know it. The Oakland estuary appears to be more of what I would call a strait. It's a narrow channel of water separating Alameda from Oakland, though a strait more correctly connects two large bodies of water which is not the case here. I'm not entirely sure what word describes the water between a mainland and an island. However I felt much better about the term Estuary when I learned Alameda was once connected to Oakland and the Oakland Estuary was filled with silt. It still would be filling with silt if not for the continual dredging. So Oakland Estuary it is though it's not marshy or enclosed.

This weekend I thought a lot about the estuary as I floated in it while working with my partner to right my kayak. A drill that unexpectedly proved to be the best team work exercise I have ever encountered. We worked in pairs, one person capsized in his or her kayak and the other person was to perform the rescue. The person still in the kayak was in charge and had to perform the task and give instruct the person in the water. The person in the water had to give up control of the situation. The rescuer had to pull the capsized kayak onto her boat, turn it right side up and steady it while the rescuee climbed back in. All the time keeping an eye on the person still in the water making sure she was all right. The rescuee was fine, wearing a PFD hanging onto the rescuer's kayak wearing a wetsuit there wasn't any danger. So the rescuee took on the role of coach telling the rescuer what a great job she was doing, reassuring her that everything was fine don't worry about me sitting here in the water just concentrate on lifting that kayak. As the rescuer that encouragement meant everything in the world. You were able to concentrate on lifting the kayak, righting it, stabilizing it. You had someone who was rooting for you and letting you know you didn't have to worry about them just keep on task. Amazingly every person in our group old or young, fit or not was able to perform the task in a reasonable amount of time. And with that came a wonderful sense of two people working together, achieving a goal that at first glance looked pretty darn difficult. Thank you California Canoe and Kayak for giving us all more than just a lesson in how to handle a kayak.